The Millennial Trains Project: Crowd-Hitch A Ride To Explore America's New Frontiers (video)

This August, 100 selected millennials will hop aboard a train travelling from the Bay area across the nation to Washington D.C. Aboard the train will be a group of mentors that are leaders in various fields, economists, journalists, researchers, educators, editors, designers and architects. As they travel across America, they will stop to discuss the changes in the American culture and landscape.

Every millennial that applies has to have a mission, a plan of what they will share, an eagerness to learn and to take the experience and share it with others. Once your bio and project is accepted, you are loaded to the MTP site and there you begin crowd-hitching funds to hop aboard.  

This is, by far, one of the coolest millennial campaigns and events I have come across. To be able to share your stories and goals with some of the top mentors in the world aboard a train for 10 days is in itself an incredible journey. Check out some of the applicants and support the ones you like. I can't wait to follow this as the train arrives and the journey begins. 

The Millennial Trains Project from Millennial Trains Project on Vimeo.

Who Needs Paint When You Have Tape? (video)

Art director and graphic designer Koji Iyama has been staging installations across Japan to promote the multifunctional uses of mt-masking tape. His latest installation arrived in Sendai, almost 2 years after it was ravaged by the devastating tsunami.

Staged within an old warehouse, and utilizing its high ceilings, Iyama hung hundreds of rolls of masking tape from the ceiling, delineating space and affecting the flow of people. He then proceeded to cover the entire floor with masking tape as well, including all objects in his way, like bicycles.

(Spoon & Tamago)

Corporate Logos That Contain Subliminal Messages

I love this piece by Dominic Greene for Business Insider that I have to share part of it here. Some of these I knew, some are a cool surprise. There's always a strategy behind every design - big, small or subliminal!

The FedEx logo hides an arrow in its negative space. Even a glance subliminally inspires thoughts of efficiency and forward motion.

This cool logo for Sony's computers represents the brand's integration of analog and digital technology. The 'VA' is designed as an analog waveform, the 'IO' is binary code.

This logo, introduced in 2005, cleverly uses the company's initials to advertise its number of ice cream flavors (31).

Slightly more abstract than the other examples, the Tour de France logo contains a well-integrated biker.

See the dancing bear in the mountain? The design is a tribute to the Swiss town where the chocolate was developed.

The cleverness of this logo is twofold. The arrow points from a to z, referring to all that is available on Amazon.com, and it doubles as a satisfied smile (with dimple).

For more, check out Business Insider. 

Cut Food Photography

We all eat and drink, but have you ever wondered what your food and drink really look like from the middle? Cut Food is a photo series by New York-based photographer Beth Galton in collaboration with food stylist Charlotte Omnès. I'm curious as to how they captured some of these, but I suppose that is what makes them the artists. The milk swirl in the coffee and ramen are spectacular. 

(via Feature Shoot)

Kombucha Dog

Some of you are thinking "huh?". Or maybe, "oh, some fermented tea and a hot dog?". Well, Kombucha Dog is fermented tea and the "Dog" part is a clever strategy to help get local dogs in need of a home adopted. Good cause, great design, healthy drink! 

Besides the healthy, organic, raw, hand pressed goodness, every dog on the bottle is a local (Los Angeles area) dog that is currently in need of a home. And as you can see from the beautiful dog portraits on the label, Michael, the founder was a commercial photographer turned kombucha producer. Each dog has it's own page on the website under "Adopt K-Dogs".  If these dogs don't get you to try kombucha, I'm not sure what will. 

They are a hyper-local brewery and product so all you LA people, go show some love and help find these dogs a home while you're getting all this probiotic goodness.  

Learn About Branding...Literally, Learn About Branding

We talk a lot about branding. But have you ever thought about "branding". Really? Like branding cattle. There are actual guidelines in designing a "brand". I thought this was really interesting as it's one of the oldest forms of using symbols to create ownership. This is from the Texas Brand Registration.  

How To Design A Brand

The best rule to follow is to keep the image simple. Simple brand designs are easier to read and are less painful for the livestock.

A brand design consists of 2 or more symbols. Many brands have 3 units in the design. Few brands have more than 3 units.

Brands records include the design of the brand and its position on the livestock.

Left or right:

Brands are based on 4 kinds of marks, used alone or in combination.

• Letter of the alphabet
• Numbers
• Lines and circles
• Pictures

Brands are read from left to right, top to bottom, from outside in.

Sometimes when the letters or symbols are joined, the word "connected" is included in the reading.

Samples:

However, often the symbols are read as though they were separated by space.

Samples:

We might know this as a hashtag these days, but it's a pigpen.

Four rails are read as pigpen

There's a whole strategy in combining characters to create a unique and ownable brand. It's not so far off from our more advanced world of branding...considering they have one color to work with. A history lesson worth learning!

Watch “The History Of Typography” by Ben Barret-Forrest (video)

Created from 291 paper letters and 2,454 single photographs painstakingly arranged in 140 hours of work, this amazing animated short by Canadian graphic designer Ben Barret-Forresttells the captivating story of typography. Tracing it back all the way to Johannes Gutenberg and his revolutionary invention of letterpress printing, he gives a brief account of all the signficant developments of the last 500 years, including the introduction of italics and serifs, san-serifs and pixel type.

(Highsnob)

Invisible Hieroglyphics...Turning Our Digital Swipes Into Art (video)

Invisible Hieroglyphics is collaboration between Andre Woolery and Victor AbiJaoudi II.  This is a fascinating project that transforms our modern ways of communication and turns it into a cultural print, a work of art that preserves the digital lives we currently live.

ABOUT

Art is everywhere. 
As the world becomes more digital, we pull further away from an analog, handcrafted world. However, the one remaining human component of the digital experience is touch. Our hands have become the communication conduit through devices with a series of taps, swipes, and pushes. Left behind are the oil-stained remains of finger smudges on a screen. We have extracted these marks and transformed them into vibrant, acrylic prints.

WHY THE TITLE?

Hieroglyphics is a system of writing that serves as a form of communication. They represent an imprint of the world as it was told in the past for the future to decipher and understand. These writings are a window into another world. Today, the touchscreen interface is our window into another world and the writings are smudged onto the screen instead of carved into stone. Its subtle, but if you strip away the hardware and software, what’s left is a finger painting that illustrates the story of how we communicate.

Facebook App Art

Fruit Ninja App Art

Paper Toss App Art

To see more, please visit Andre Woolery Art and Invisible Hieroglyphics.