2DO Before I Die

Learn Something Everyday

'Learn Something Everyday' is a new site dedicated to illustrating various trivia using Sharpie drawings.

Did you know that Shakespeare was dyslexic? Or that the space between your eyebrows is called the 'glabella'? How about that most cars beep in the key of F...?

Not sure how useful those facts are, but the drawings are fun...

Playing the building...

David Byrne has just brought his latest installation 'Playing the building' to London's Roundhouse. Connecting a small organ to various parts of the building's structure via a series of pumps and automated devices, Byrne manages to turn the whole building into a musical instrument. The results may not be as catchy as some of his Talking Heads hits, but it's nice to see someone making music with girders for a change.

Below is a Wired video with Byrne explaining the original NYC installation, and click here to check out the full article on Creative Review.

Playing the Building is on show at the Roundhouse until 31st August.

'This Column Will Change Your Life'

Oliver Burkeman's weekend Guardian feature "This Column Will Change Your Life" often hits a note that regular readers of this blog might appreciate. His is a sharp-witted, anti-fluffy approach to the tricky topic of self-improvement, with a healthy store of scepticism for the quick-fixes and miracle cures of the self-help industry.

In the past, he's scrutinized topics such as life-goal obsessives, the virtues of being ordinary and those suspiciously convenient case-studies featured in almost all self-help manuals. This week he looks at the twisted priorities of modern life, how being eager to please can keep you from your lifelong goals and the perils of sharing your ambitions with those around you. Click here to read the full article...

Image courtesy of plan59.com

13 Tips for Taking Photos in a Developing Country

Blogger, Photographer, and world traveler Brendan - aka 'Cashewman' offers 13 great tips on how to take good photos when traveling in developing countries. Here's his 12th tip: if in doubt about taking a photo, ask if it's ok: 

This is an important one for me. There are larger debates about photography etiquette and our responsibilities as visitors and photographers. I'll leave that for another time, but a golden rule is: if you're unsure whether to take a picture of somebody, then ask. In some areas, it's considerate to leave a small gift or amount of money as a thank you. Your call.

I missed one of the best shots I have ever come across, because I asked whether it was okay to shoot. Picture an old Senegalese grandmother, piercing green eyes within a face etched with thin white contours. Headscarf, clutched just below the chin with a flowing, boney hand. She was sitting in front of an earth wall with soft evening side lighting. When I asked if I could take a picture, she said no, with a subtle smile. I still wish I could have taken the shot. But she didn't want me to, so I'll just have to remember it instead.

13 Tips for Great Photography in a Developing Country (photo by Cashewman)

Director Guillermo del Toro on the Future of Film and Storytelling

Wired magazine interviews writer-director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) and he has some intriguing ideas to share about the future of film and storytelling.   

An excerpt: 

"In the next 10 years, we're going to see all the forms of entertainment—film, television, video, games, and print—melding into a single-platform "story engine." The Model T of this new platform is the PS3. The moment you connect creative output with a public story engine, a narrative can continue over a period of months or years. It's going to rewrite the rules of fiction..."

Click here for the full story.

Tight Times Loosen Creativity

The New York Times web site recently requested artists to share how the economy was affecting their lives and work. 

As the Times says in a feature out today: "Perhaps most striking about the comments was the considerable number who were defiantly upbeat despite grim circumstances. Many artists testified that the recession had strengthened their commitment to their work or allowed them to concentrate on their art — since the time spent on side jobs had diminished — or had even been a source of creative inspiration....Said one: 

“Nobody wants me to do anything, so I’m just doing what I want,” she said.

Click here for the full story. 

Interview with David Lynch

Today's Guardian includes an interview with filmmaker/artist/polymath David Lynch, by Gaby Wood. 

Excerpt: "Sometimes I get an idea for cinema. And when you get an idea that you fall in love with, this is a glorious day. That idea may just be a fragment, but it holds something. It might be a scene, or a part of a scene, or a character, or a way the character talks, a light or a feel ... You write that idea down. And thinking about that idea will bring other ideas in – there's a hook to it. And things start to emerge. And then you see, one day, a script. A script is just words to remind you of the ideas. And you follow that, but always staying on guard, in case other ideas come in, because a thing isn't finished till it's finished. And one day, it's finished."

For the full interview, click here. 

Creating a Magazine - Notes on Monocle

Whether you're a fan of the magazine Monocle, or like me, fascinated by the process in which magazines and stories are developed, here's an interesting piece I just came across that provides considerable insight in to what's involved in creating a new magazine. 

What kind of thought goes into editorial and design when planning an issue? How do contemporary magazines get started?

Click here for the full story. 

 

Ideo's David Kelley on 'Design Thinking'

Good article from Linda Tischler published this month on the inspirational David Kelley, founder of the design firm, IDEO. Bringing a human-centered approach to design (what do people really need? why do people make the choices they do?), has resulted in enormous acclaim for IDEO's innovation across a range of disciplines.

Recently, Kelley was diagnosed with cancer - in this Fast Company piece he comments on how this experience changed his perspective and continues to influence his approach.

"When they tell you that you don't have that many more years to live, you ask yourself, What is it that I want to get done? What is it that's going to make me feel good?," he says, sitting in a neo-yurt at Ideo's Palo Alto headquarters. "Given a finite amount of time, how do I spend it?"   Read the full story here.

Also, you might read 17 career lessons from David Kelley here.

'Want to try something hard?' - Drawing WIth Your Voice

Wow - Ze Frank has invented a 'voice-drawing' tool. Using the mic on your computer, it responds to the volume of your voice to create a variety of lines and squiggles, according to the pitch (a low volume turns the line counter-clockwise, and a higher pitch will give you a straight line). It's in Beta stage, but still, very cool idea, and the results impressive.

Check it out here - the voice drawing tool.

And for more of an introduction, go to Ze Frank.