mariel olivo

Okay, so I found something WAY cooler than the Ne-Yo video. In my Flash animation class, we’ve started a new project on motion typography, and a fellow graphics major introduced me to this video. It’s Jay-Z featuring Santogold (I LOVE her) and the song is called “Brooklyn (Go Hard).” The song, off the Notorious soundtrack, is ooookay…but the video is AWESOME!! The word ‘Brooklyn’ gets spelled out over and over again, each individual letter stacking itself on top of the last. The great part? It eventually starts to draw out Jay-Z’s face in type. I’m talking about reeeeally detailed stuff here. Halfway through the video, it gets erased and Biggie’s face gets its own illustration (complete with the crown, of course). You’ll get it when you see it:

Apparently, director Evan Roth has been turning down requests for Typographic Illustration for five years in hopes that Jay-Z would one day call–and he did! If you want the source code, you can find it here.

I pride myself on being very detailed-oriented, which is why design suits me so well (or so I’d like to think!). Perfect kerning makes me inexplicably happy, and sometimes the delicate swash of the letter makes me lose my train of thought. Behold Cameron Moll, a Utah man with a godly attention to detail.

Basically, this poster makes me drool. Click on the photos for oh-so-necessary close-ups of this typographic representation of the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.

This thing is handcrafted and apparently took over 100 hours to make. ONE HUNDRED HOURS?!?! Makes my all-nighters at the graphics lab seem like child’s play. But 100 hours seems to be an okay price to pay if THIS is the final product.

Excuse me, I think I’m gonna need a minute. If you want to check out some more super sexy detail shots of this piece, click here. It’s definitely worth your time.

So I recently decided that I don’t know a thing about graphic design–which is kind of unfortunate seeing as this is my intended career path. In an attempt to correct my ignorance, I’ve started reading a bunch of design blogs/sites.

During my web travels I came across Sycamore Street Press, a Columbus, OH stationery outfit that hand-prints their cards on a vintage letterpress. I know, right? That’s devotion. The cards are beautifully made, and I dig the muted/earthy color palate, but the clincher here are the messages. I’m one of those people who would rather show up to a party empty-handed than with one of those ‘normal’ birthday cards, so I was instantly drawn to these.

Also see: “Spoiler Alert: Someone got you a toaster” and “I expect a thank you note for this thank you note.”

I think I know where I’m doing my shopping from now on.