One Hundred and Eight – by Nils Völker


One Hundred and Eight – Interactive Installation from Nils Völker on Vimeo.

One Hundred and Eight is an interactive wall-mounted Installation mainly made out of ordinary garbage bags. Controlled by a microcontroller each of them is selectively inflated and deflated in turn by two cooling fans.

Although each plastic bag is mounted stationary the sequences of inflation and deflation create the impression of lively and moving creatures which waft slowly around like a shoal. But as soon a viewer comes close it instantly reacts by drawing back and tentatively following the movements of the observer. As long as he remains in a certain area in front of the installation it dynamically reacts to the viewers motion. As soon it does no longer detect someone close it reorganizes itself after a while and gently restarts wobbling around.

www.nilsvoelker.com

2.40 x 1.80 m

fans, plastic bags, MDF, relays,

a camera, a computer, a microcontroller

and countless screws

summer/autumn 2010

This is so cool. reminds me a bit of an installation I saw in MMX in Berlin by Elke Graalfs (check it out on artcation).

WordPress Mode + Coda

I just have to say, this is incredible if you work in WordPress and use coda: http://pradador.com/code/coda/wordpressmode/
also, here are some WordPress clips for coda: http://coda-clips.com/category/wordpress
Thanks Dan!

Also, completely unrelated: this site is a great representation of responsive web design: http://hicksdesign.co.uk/
and I just love the colors and the awesome use of jQuery in this one: http://www.seattlesbest.com/

What are some sites you’ve been loving recently?
sara

For The Love of WordCamp / Speaking at WordCamp Phoenix

Over the past year and a half, I’ve dived into the WordPress community and have attended/spoke at various WordCamps. I am just so thrilled to be a part of this incredible community and even more thrilled that I get to share what I have learned and learn from others who are sharing. Growing with WordPress can’t get better than this. The people that attend and speak at WordCamps are incredibly talented and I feel so blessed to meet, learn from, and help them in whatever way I can.

Some of these people I have gotten to know at various WordCamps over the past year and can truly call them my friends.  Thank You! You know who you are! I’m looking forward to making more friends in the years to come in this incredible community.

If you haven’t been to a WordCamp, you should go. Talk to the people around you – see what they are working on. You might could help them with a problem and they might could help you. I guarantee you wont regret it. Also, If I happen to be there, say hi to me! ;)

WordCamp Phoenix

This January I get the awesome privilege of not only attending but speaking at WordCamp Phoenix. There is an absolutely incredible lineup of speakers and an awesome all-day design track. (I almost cried when I heard about this!) I can not wait. I will be speaking on CSS Tips. Come out to my talk if you are going! Here’s the general lowdown:

CSS Tips

You’ve installed WordPress, everything is working how you want it to, you might have installed a custom theme or even your own theme, and now you’re looking for something to either really make it stand out, or professionally refined. I have some CSS tips for you. From the real simple to the intense – designers and developers of all levels will walk away with something they can use. Here are some general topics we will be covering:

- CSS and WordPress
We all absolutely love WordPress – that’s why we are here. (if you don’t, come see me after) In this segment, we’ll take a look at some CSS tips that directly apply to the use of our incredible platform. We’ll be looking at different ways to refine the front end -  take a peek at some great WordPress site examples and inspiration – and go over some practical demos.

- CSS3
CSS3 is here and it can not be ignored! Yes we want some consistency in our site across all browsers, but there’s nothing wrong with taking a wonderful design that works everywhere and adding in some subtle CSS3 pizazz. What a treat for users with updated browsers! We’ll also address some tips on “faking it” in older browsers and fallback.

- Simple Takeaways
Think you know everything? We’ll blast through simple CSS takeaways. You’ll  probably end up using something in this list, or be reminded of things that you already know but are not currently utilizing.


If anyone has any particular tip that they would like me to include in my presentation, send them my way! Also, Thank you to the wonderful organizers at WCPHX as well as the sponsors! I can’t wait.

A Website That Gives Back – Nonstop Advocates

(post syndicated from a post I wrote at scoutbrand.com)

Christian & Small decided to do something special as a holiday gift to their clients this year. Instead of sending a traditional gift such as wine or a gift basket, they decided to give a gift that’s true to their mission of being “Nonstop Advocates” for the community. We designed a card to mail to their clients that contained a unique code. We created a special website, NonstopAdvocates.com, where the code can be entered to direct a gift to one of the three charities. The gift is then made in the client’s name. The website features dynamically updating totals to show the real-time impact of the gifts. Clients can check back often at NonstopAdvocates.com to see the progress. This was a very rewarding project for Scout to be involved with. On a technical note: we used WordPress to power the site and PHP/MySQL to power the forms and code validation.

Clients choose what charities Christian & Small will donate to as their gift.

Clients get to read about the charities that they are choosing from and decide to give.

Clients will enter the code that they were mailed in this form.

Thank You Page

Nonstop Advocates also features what different Attorneys at Christian & Small are doing in the community. Keep checking in to read more about what they are doing as time goes on.

“The Nature of Analysis” Print in Urban Outfitters Print Shop

My Digital piece “the Nature of Analysis” is being sold in Urban Outfiter’s Print shop.  I still can’t decide if this is really cool or if I’m a hipster sell out. Just Kidding! (or am I)

Also, I’m selling extremely high quality larger ones on stretched canvas in my Etsy shop if that’s more your beat. :)

Video: “American Software” by Gianluca Fallone

From Partizan director Gianluca Fallone

Here is American Software, a short film inspired by the towering giants behind the American software industry. That is, if Steve Jobs was a rebellious punk rectangle, with guitar in tow, taking on King Bill through a rock-off within some parallel counter-realist 8-bit geometric vision of our world.

For more on Gianluca, visit

http://partizanlab.com/partizanlab/commercials/?gianluca_fallone

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Gianluca Fallone: direction, illustration, animation, grade & post

Music by Ratatat (Sunblocks from LP4)

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via The Post Family

The Tools I Tend To Use

Weather you are a carpenter, a chef, or a graphic designer, everyone has different tools that they use to work with. Here is a list of what I use / find to be helpful in what I do in my daily work routine. (In No Particular Order)

Web Development:

  • WordPress (CMS/Platform)
  • Coda (development)
  • Versions (for SVN communication)
  • Parallels (for browser testing)
  • Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator (graphics)
  • Firebug (for css debugging)
  • Typekit (for webfonts)
  • Linotype Font Explorer (for computer fonts)
  • Lighthouse (for bug tracking)
  • Beanstalk (for external SVN repositories)
  • Harvest (for time tracking)

Communication:

  • Thunderbird (work email)
  • Skype (conversations with peers)
  • Colloqy (for IRC Chanel group discussions)
  • Cloud App (for screen shot and layout sharing)
  • Skitch (for quick image references)

Other:

  • Rdio (for music)
  • Airfoil (for air-tunes synchronization)
  • Keynote (for presentations)

What are some of the tools you use? Would love to hear about what you find to be useful and helpful no matter what the function. :)