sectioneighteen blog

This is the first update to the blog all week, my appologies. I spent all day Monday and Tuesday morning driving the Classic Car Club’s Lotus Elise. It’s no ordinary Elise, its powered by a 160bhp K series engine from the MG ZR 160. It also boasts a close ratio gear box, induction kit and sports exhaust. All of this equates to a very speedy 4.8 seconds to 60mph.

Anyway, yesterday was spent catching up with all the stuff in my inbox from Monday hence the lack of blogging. But I cant think of a better way to have spent the bank holiday Monday.

Richie

I’ve spent a few hours looking at unusual business cards hoping to find some inspiration. Here’s the fruits of my labour.

Richie

We’ve finally updated out client list and made a start at updating our portfolio. We should have some photos of the stuff online very soon.

Richie

Ooops! Good old Lorem Ipsum.

Please note: we didn’t put the dodgy green arrows in.

Richie

I found a really cool series of photographs called Horizon by, Sze Tsung Leong. Check out his website - Sze Tsung Leong

Richie

I found a really nice design project for Wrangler called ‘This is Wanted‘ by This is Harrington.

Richie

Jump straight to episode 3 - 2’s not so good.

There’s also an Indian Superman by the same people. Its a Bollywood style take on Superman. Its good but not as good as Italian Spiderman.

Richie

This is too good.

Richie

Click the poster to view the trailer

Richie

I seen this t-shirt which reminded me of a great website and video - Who Needs Designers? A parody most designers will appreciate.

Richie

I’ve been working on a new website for Classic Car Club Scotland. The site is nearly finished except from a few images, I really like the placeholder image shown above.

I’ve put together a before and after to show the difference between the old and new design. All the text is the same from the old site. The structure of the site and navigation has been refined.

Before

After

Next on the list is a complete re-brand of Fantasy Garage and a the re-design of the Classic Car Club blog.

Richie

There seems to be more to the ‘Typography Map’ scene than I first thought. Here’s another great example.

Richie

Modern Guilt has to be one of my favorite Beck albums after only few listens. I’m guessing some hardcore Beck fans might not be so fond of this one as its a little different to his usual offerings.

Here’s one of my favorite tracks.

Richie

Perhaps the coolest graffiti to ever be painted on a train.

Richie

This looks really slick - check out the first episode which will be broadcast on Sunday 10 August at 2100 on BBC One.

Richie

I can confirm the DIY Dog Kit is every bit as good as it looks.

Richie

I found this amazing DIY Dog Kit. Due to popular demand we’re going to make one of Gav.

Richie

Billy Marks, skateboarder and ping pong ball enthusiast shows off his amazing ping pongery in this equally amazing and scary YouTube vid.

Richie

Peter Saville is one of my ‘college days’ heros, so its about time he got some mad props on our blog. This poster, Fac 1, is for gig at the Russell Club; note the mis-spelling of Russell as Russel, the mark of a true designer. This is the legendary poster that appeared in the film 24hr Party People, which arrived late for the opening of the Factory at the Russell Club. This poster is very rare and valuable - a Fac 1 was sold on eBay in January 2003 for £1,500.

Richie

The video for Shit Disco’s ‘OK’ is really well done. Apparently the book used in this video got sold for £30.

Richie

The charity of the 2009 Scumball 3000 Rally is CHASE.

CHASE hospice care for children exists to support families with life-limited children - that is, children or young people who are not expected to reach the age of 19 because of illnesses that are incurable.

The care network that CHASE offers stretches throughout SW London, Surrey and Sussex.

The heart of the CHASE service is its Community Team, whose members are out and about every day of the year supporting these families where it counts most - in their own homes and communities.

CHASE also has its own children’s hospice, called Christopher’s, which is based at Artington near Guildford - a fantastic facility where families can come to spend some quality time together.

Christopher’s can also give the life-limited child some independent time out if the family needs to take a rest elsewhere.

CHASE supports families throughout the illness of their child, and beyond. Without CHASE many families would find it difficult to cope.

It costs around £4 million each year to run CHASE, which has to be raised almost entirely through charitable donations and fundraising. CHASE provides its caring service free of charge, 24 hours a day, every day of the year and in whatever way it is needed.

Richie

…aye.

Richie

I’ve just rediscovered Lemmings - online. It brings back fond memories, so much so I made a little homage. 

Richie

…is a really cool website that sells t-shirts inspired by and pay homage to places, corporations and companies in modern fiction. I just bought ‘The Winchester’ - the pub from Sean of the Dead & ‘The Slaughtered Lamb’ - the pub from American Werewolf in London. Check out Last Exit To Nowhere

Richie

I’ve always been fascinated by stereoscopic photography ever since I saw it in some book at high-school. If you’ve never heard of it then your probably not alone, heres the Wiki page for the full story. These stereoscopic photos have been made into animated GIFs, which works quite well.

Richie

Here’s a classic piece of functional design. The subway map was completely redesigned by Massimo Vignelli, and on August 9th 1972 was released to the public.

More info from: subway.com.ru

Richie

We finally got our hands on a copy of the Drum, heres the write up about sectioneighteen.

Click on the image to read the full article.

Gav

Here’s a little history about the greatest soup ever made!

Tomato soup is a soup made from tomatoes. It is commonly used as an ingredient in more complex dishes, and, unlike most savory soups, it may be served either hot or cold. It can be made from chunks of tomato or with only a puree. The canned condensed version of the soup is one of the leading styles in the U.S. and the UK, Heinz Tomato Soup is one of the archetypal comfort foods. Many people enjoy tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. Many toppings can also be used, such as sour cream, shredded cheese, crackers, or salsa.

Eat it with broon loaf and enjoy!

Gav

Lykke Li (born Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson), better known by her stage name, is a Swedish indie singer.

Li was born in Ystad, Skane, in Sweden, in 1986 and was raised by artistic parents; her mother was a photographer, her father is a musician. The family moved to Stockholmwhen Li was a toddler and later moved to Portugal when Li was six, where they lived for five years; the family also spent time in Lisbon and Morocco and spent winters in Nepal and India. She moved to New York for three months when she was 19, where she recorded her album, before returning to Sweden.

Gav

Yeasayer is an experimental band based in Brooklyn, New York. Live performances include trippy, psychedelic visuals projected in the background.

The band members are Anand Wilder, Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton, and Luke Fasano. They describe their music as “Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel”

Buy the album: All Hour Cymbals 

Gav

We’re featured in the new issue of The Drum and on the website. We can’t find a copy of the magazine anywhere in Edinburgh, but you can read the article on the website if your logged-in.

Richie

Take Out, a new film by Sean Baker & Shih-Ching Tsou, is a day-in-the-life of Ming Ding, an illegal Chinese immigrant working as a deliveryman for a Chinese take-out shop in New York City. Ming is behind with payments on his huge debt to the smugglers who brought him to the US. The collectors have given him until the end of the day to deliver the money.

It was released in the US on the 6th, I’ve no idea when its due out here. It looks pretty good - check out the trailer.

Richie

The Journal of Popular Noise is a semi-annual audio magazine. Its a pretty brave, well crafted piece of work.

Within the package are 3 issues, each in the form of 7″ vinyl records. Every issue conforms to the same prescribed editorial structures but is composed by a different artist or group. The packaging folds out to a beautiful letter-pressed poster containing information about the Journal, the musicians, and the recording/compositional process.

Richie

I’ve been a fan of David Shrigley for years but I’ve only just discovered his photography. Its very cool to see how his style works in this medium.

The image above was used as the cover for Malcolm Middleton’s ‘A Brighter Beat’ album. And I’m guessing, was also the inspiration for the video.

Richie

This is pretty old but work a look if you’ve never seen it - its pretty self-explanatory and I’m too lazy to write a description. Just watch it…

Richie

I’ve been working on some self marketing material right now. So I’ve made the best bit into a desktop wall paper for everyone to love and admire every day.

Richie

Finally, a meat based typeface.

Check out more fine work by Robert J. Bolesta.

Richie

I’ve no idea what the story is behind this photo, a great photo none the less.

Richie

Its been ages since I’ve seen any eBoy stuff, until today when I stumbled on this bad boy - its been cropped to fit our skinny blog - click on it to view its full beauty. eBoy currently has an exhibition running until the 30th of June at Concrete Hermit in London.

Richie

Not so much an update as I’ve found some high quality stills from the animation. The You Tube size video doesn’t do it justice.

Richie

Apperently there’s going to be a G.I. Joe film, with Snake Eyes played by Ray Park. You’ll have to wait until 14 August 2009 to see if its any good. I’ve got a hunch it’ll be poor. But I hope I’m wrong.

Richie

There’s more to typography humor than I first thought…

Richie

This is a pretty neat typographical world map. I’ve no idea who created it, nice work whoever done it.

Richie

I found this while browsing the web and it made me chuckle. What does it say about you when you find typography jokes funny? What have I become? God help me.

Richie

I’ve been working on a logo for Claire Wingfield, a freelance copy writer from Edinburgh. I’m really happy with the result.

Richie

I found this amazing animation of a Lennon interview. I’m determined to do a similar style animation soon. It’s so amazing. The story behind it is that in 1969 when John and Yoko were in Toronto as part of their bed-in for peace tour, a 14 year old Beatles fan with a tape recorder called Jerry Levitan knocked on every door of the hotel where he knew Lennon was staying until he found him at which point Lennon was good enough to give him a 40 minute interview. The tape of the interview gathered dust for around 35 years until Jerry Levitan met a young animator called Josh Raskin whose work impressed him sufficiently for him to allow Josh to make a film to accompany an edited section of this Lennon tape. (Thanks to Adam Buxton for the background blurb).

Richie

We’ve spent a while updating the portfolio section of our main website. Check it out.

Richie

The secret lives of invisible magnetic fields are revealed as chaotic ever-changing geometries. All action takes place around NASA’s Space Sciences Laboratories, UC Berkeley, to recordings of space scientists describing their discoveries. Actual VLF audio recordings control the evolution of the fields as they delve into our inaudible surroundings, revealing recurrent ‘whistlers’ produced by fleeting electrons. Are we observing a series of scientific experiments, the universe in flux, or a documentary of a fictional world?

Made by Animate Projects

Gav

I finally got some shots taken with my tunnel new vision lens. Its every bit as good as I’d hoped.

Richie

I’ve just discovered a pretty cool photographer by the name of Alexey Titarenko. He does a lot of long exposures on what looks like medium format monochrome. Unfortunately his website sucks the sweat from a dead dogs ass - Alexey give us a shout if you want a decent site.

Richie

I’ve just done some design for Bridgend Garage that I’m really happy with.

They are a great garage, I’ve been using them for years, highly recommended:

Bridgend Garage
Longridge Road
Whitburn
West Lothian
EH47 8JA
Tel: 01501 744012

Richie

I’ve been quiet for the first time in ages so I’ve finally got round to doing another Teetonic t-shirt. Vote for it now!

Richie

I just found this really cool Clockwork Orange graphic while browsing the tiniterweb. I don’t know anything about it other than its a photo of a print. And I just bought a clockwork orange t-shirt today, shame it didn’t look more like this, oh well.

Richie

I found this ace website, Retro Skate Stickers, it has skate sticker artwork from when skate stickers began. I can remember loads of them from when I was about 12. It also has photos of old school shoes that have gone ‘full-circle’.

Richie

Channel 4 has staged an ambitious live television advert during an episode of reality show Come Dine With Me.

A team of skydivers had just three minutes and 20 seconds to spell out the brand name Honda in a series of formations over Madrid.

PS - I thought I better mention that someone emailed this to me before you make the assumption I watch Come Dine With Me.

Richie

This Will Destroy You is an American instrumental post-rock band from San Marcos, Texas. The band is made up of guitarists Chris King and Jeremy Galindo, bass player Raymond Brown and drummer Andrew Miller with Brown playing the keyboard for live performances.

One of the greatest bands I’ve heard this year!

Gav

I’ve just watched the new Coors Light advert and I feel sick - its a really bad rip-off of Flight of the Conchords. The ad is almost identical to the first clip ‘She’s so Hot’.

If your not familiar with the work of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement then heres some of their best bits…

Richie

This clip was put together by Adam Buxton and Radiohead as a bit of non-profit promotion. Its a tweaked version of the end scene of David Fincher’s Seven.

Richie

I love the look of medium format infra red film. Nick Brandt puts it to good use in his work in East Africa.

Richie

Bon Iver is the stage and recording name of indie folk singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. The name, Bon Iver, is a bastardization of the French, bon hiver (good winter). He independently released his debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago in 2007, which was recorded while spending four months alone in a remote cabin in Wisconsin.

Buy It!

Gav

I created this graphic to be used on the unfinished pages on Victorias Nightclub while it was under construction. I liked it so much, now the sites finished I thought I’d stick it on here.

Richie

I cant remember where this came from but its been lying on my desktop for ages so I’ve finally got round to posting it. What a cool sequence of photos.

Richie

We’ve been doing loads of design for Victorias Nicghtclub in Glasgow. I’m pretty happy with the ‘retro electro’ look I came up with for The RE:LAUNCH party. It looks better on the actual site.

Richie

I found theses really cool book jacket illustrations by Jaline Sritharan. I don’t know if they’re for real or just a personal project - either way they’re pretty sweet.

Richie

A friend of mine left this on my ‘Fun Wall’

Cool eh?

Gav

I’ve been waiting on this album for ages, and I’m pleased to say its been worth the wait. There aren’t many Hip Hop albums with a track about Tommy Cooper. Buy/download/steal it now: Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip.

Here’s one of my favorite tracks:

Richie

Just when you thought the whole ‘change the warning on a fag packet to something funny’ thing was done to death:

Richie

After much deliberation we’ve decided to get a Mk2 MR2 for the Scumball 3000. It’s the best piece of kit we can get with the £500 budget. Plus its mid-engine and rear wheel drive set-up make it a top sports car.

Richie

Another top album cover from Mark Farrow - Spiritualized’s Songs in A&E. Farrow was inspired by Jason Pierce’s brush with death after a bout of double pneumonia. The whole thing has taken 18 months to prepare and features a 32 page booklet and poster shown below.

Richie

I’ve just entered a few photos into the latest Lomography competition, Stolen Portraits. These photos of my old work mates make me chuckle - thanks T, G & Wheels. If I win anything I’ll let you look at it.

Richie

I found this helpful illustrated instruction leaflet on Wikipedia while researching the origins of the Molotov Cocktail. The arrow pointing at the Policia shows how really good graphic design can communicate more effectively than words.

Richie

Its official - sectioneighteen are in the Scumball 3000! We’ve just paid our entry fee for the 2009 Scumball. 

If you haven’t heard of the Scumball 3000 it’s a road rally across Europe over four days raising money for much needed national charities.

The event takes place on the 16th April 09 - We’ll have a micro site up and running soon so you can check out all our plans. In the meantime if your feeling generous get in touch with us about sponsorship. Although this years official charity hasn’t been decided yet here are the previous years: 

2006 The Sussex Snowdrop Trust 2007 Winstons Wish 2008 Whizz Kidz

To quote the official website “This is the scumball rally… you don’t have to be rich or famous… you just need the balls to survive if you’re shot at in some God forsaken, prostitute infested, war torn country”.

Richie

For the last couple of days I’ve been listening to ‘John Peel: Right Time Wrong Speed’ and its reminded me how much I miss John Peels radio show. One summer I listened to nearly every show. I was working for a magazine at the time doing 3pm - 11pm, fortunately everyone there was like minded so John Peel was on the radio every night.

So this desktop is inspired by the late, great, John Peel - and one of my favorite quotes from him.

Richie

I’m just back from the Pub where I had a few drinks and a chat with a couple of fellow designers. The subject of the ‘Free Pitch’ culture came up. I was told about a horror story involving Stirling council inviting 114 design consultancies to pitch for the layout of a quarterly business newsletter; which has a £50,000 budget over three years. I just read the article from ‘The Drum’ website for myself. This is pretty nuts, its totally damaging to our industry. Here’s the whole article from The Drum’s website: linkygoodness

I’m so excited - I’ve just redeemed the voucher I was awarded for my Lomo Home of the Day by ordering the TunnelVision Lens from the Lomography Shop. Thanks to the nifty magnetic ring system I can use it on my Holga 120N and my Lomo LC-A. Its primary job is wide angle conversion - effectively multiplying the lens’s focal length by 0.45. So, the Lomo LC-A’s 32mm lens is blown out to an approximate 15mm with the TunnelVision capping it off. The Holga’s lens moves from a 60mm to 27mm view - which in medium format terms is roughly equivalent to the Lomo’s 15mm view. The macro portion of the TunnelVision can be unscrewed to enable its up-close-and-very-personal capabilities. 

Plus it comes with a healthy warrenty - In the words of the Lomo Shop “The warranty on this guy? - 10 long years, sucka”.

Check out the tasty shots:

Richie