4 Reel - Samurai Films

I'm gonna start a new feature... themed movie lists. Lists of 4 films that I think are awesome. And rather than try and be a movie critic, I'll think of 4 words that describe each movie, then include the trailer and IMDb link so you can explore them for yourself.

My first theme? Samurai Movies. One of my favorite genres, because the idea of Samurai is so intriguing to me. Grace, honor, violence, pride. These four all contain those elements, but are all quite different.



Onibaba. Eerie, desperate, strange, lonely.






Taboo. Beautiful, ambiguous, obsession, secrets.






Rashomon. Uncertain, Psychological, humanity, powerful.






Twilight Samurai. Honor, sacrifice, family, grief.

photo reflections

Using reflections in pictures is such a neat way to add interest to subjects. It gives photos a new perspective, sometimes distorting the subject, sometimes just multiplying the beauty. After seeing this Smashing Mag post of some STUNNING reflection photographs, I gathered some of my favorites from my own photo adventures:


A random building/street in Chicago.



My BFF with the Washington Monument reflected in her cool shades, from my trip to DC earlier this year.



My cousin and his fiance being silly with a mylar balloon.



Creve Couer Lake in winter. The sky was so amazing that evening. I love how the reflection of it in the lake makes kind of draws your eye in.



My friend Eric's band, So Much Closer, played at this place called The Library. It's a neat venue that was once a bank, so there are these security mirrors on the ceiling. One is right over the stage, so I took a picture of the band reflected in it for a different perspective.

The next three are from the same lake in South St. Louis County:





These are all from the Clouds' Gate Sculpture (also known as "the Bean") at Chicago's Millennium park. I was so totally enamored with this big mirrored bean. Endless options for reflection pictures:







And you know there's a Flickr group for such photos.

Lemonade

Last week, a couple fellow-designer friends and I attended a screening of the documentary Lemonade, put on by some local folks who wanted to get the film's message out, LemonadeSTL. I wasn't sure what to expect. It's a movie about people who have lost their jobs at advertising agencies.

I graduated with an advertising degree, and currently work doing design in-house for a local company. When I graduated from college, I had hopes and dreams of working at some hip agency. I am happy now to have ended up working in a more corporate environment... the agency life is fun for some, but I prefer job stability. So what could I take away from a film about people who have lost theirs?

It turns out Lemonade is very inspiring as far as following your dreams and unleashing your true self. The people the movie took the lemons that life gave them and made lemonade... hence the movie's title. In the end, they all started their own projects/businesses and were all thankful for the opportunities that getting laid off lent them. What a great message! So, even though I am employed at a job I love, the film made me that much more optimistic about life and personal creativity.

One of the people in the movie started the AdRants blog, which I had actually heard of before, and visited sporadically ( I will visit more often now, of course.)

One started an employment site called Please Feed the Animals, which is much more like a support community than your average job-seeker site.

Another started a really neat website called Cards of Change, in which people have lost their jobs alter their business cards to show how they have changed. Here are some of my favorites:






I love the poster for Lemonade, too. It is by designer Brad Kayal. I checked out his site, and there is some awesome stuff in his portfolio. How much do I love these CD covers for the band Fatal Flaw? LOTS.





So, yeah, tons of inspiration to be had from Lemonade. You can watch the whole movie on hulu. Tell me what you think!

Hand Lettered Inspiration

A few months ago I was somehow directed to the blog Ephemera Assemblyman. It's basically collections of really neat, assorted old photos, documents, prints, etc. I love it. Today I saw this post on calligraphy art. So so pretty! And inspiring. I seem to have fallen out of practice as far as drawing since high school. I think doing some lettering drawings would be a good way to get back into sketching. As a graphic designer, I am naturally a typophile, so letters and fonts are art forms to me.



Images from Ephemera Assemblyman

It just so happens that a couple weeks ago I finally watched the movie The Pillow Book. It revolves around a woman who is obsessed with calligraphy, specifically written on her body. She is constantly seeking lovers who have beautiful calligraphy skills, and she also teaches her self to make beautiful word art on men's bodies. It's a gorgeous movie, though disturbing. The lettering are magnificent.




So, hooked on the pretty, I've wandered around the Internet looking for more calligraphy art. Here's some nice examples, and links to a plethora more.


Art by Jordan Jalev, via this Design Roof post.




Art by Natasha Mileshina, via this Smashing Magazine post, which is so very very full of lettery goodness.




Wine label design, via another über-amazing lettery goodness post on noupe (click on each image in that post to see more works by each artist!), which also had more Jordan Jalev:




And this delightful ode to Sir Mix-a-lot:




I love love love this idea that Lettercult is doing. Alphabattle, in which designers/artists can submit their interpretation of each letter of the alphabet. So fun!! Check out some of the A's:







And, of course, there's a calligraphy flickr group, for even more daily pretties. I love me some flickr groups!

Alright, I hope you are as inspired as I am. Gonna go raid my markers now.

butterflies!

One of my favorite places in St. Louis to take photos is the Butterfly House in Chesterfield. Who doesn't like pretty, colorful, whimsical butterflies? At a place like the butterfly house, you are able to get up-close and personal with these gorgeous critters... at times it's eerie. They are insects, afterall. Here are some photos I've taken there...







These two are mating, so right there, awesome picture. It's even more awesome since my friend April pointed out that you can see what looks like a fishie about to eat a little nugget! Can you see it?