Using Flickr.com
April 16, 2008
Time to write about Flickr.com, the online photo sharing site. In the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly of Web 2.0, Flickr is the good.
Recently came across two examples of using Flickr that caught my attention — for being both theme driven and focused on something local.
The first uses an individual Flickr account to take a quirky look at the history of an art institution, the second creates a Flickr group to document the fate of a local landmark. We often think of Web 2.0 applications as being geographically non-specific. Using very different approaches, these make use of Flickr to explore and share images that focus on a specific sense of place.
Every Chair at the Visual Studies Workshop is a project by Luke Strosnider that includes over 500 images. The Midtown Plaza group is organized to document Midtown Plaza in downtown Rochester — the first urban shopping mall built in the 1960s, and now slated for demolition.
The “Every Chair…” Flickr account functions as both exhibition and catalog. With all the added benefits of being on Flickr — including the ability to use online commenting to share thoughts with with the artist and others viewing the images. A lot of photographers might hesitate to publish work online this way. To address this, the uploaded image sizes are limited to 600 x 800 pixels, and each full-size view includes “© All rights reserved.”
The Midtown Plaza group includes a discussion page that allow people to share information about the Mall, including one thread on trading photographer’s experiences dealing with security and another with a link to a 1963 promotional film on Rochester featuring Midtown Mall.
A single image on flicker can be linked to — and viewed from — another website. Flickr feeds can send groups of images to another blog or website. Both save on server space, since the individual image files remain stored on Flickr.com.
So if you have a digital camera and/or digital image files to share, why wait? Check out — and make use of — Flickr.com.
Graphic Design in Film
March 17, 2008
For those of us who missed the sold-out screening of Helvetica in 2006, the film returns to the Rochester area as part of the upcoming Dryden Theatre film series A Curious Type: Graphic Design in Film
“For this series, we’re hoping to uncover the elements of graphic design in cinema by exploring artists and examples that exhibit great design.” – Michael Neault, Associate Programmer, Motion Picture Department
The program includes:
- Thursday, April 3 — a program of short films by Bauhaus masters Hans Richter and László Moholy-Nagy
- Thursday, April 10 – British Television Advertising Awards 2007
- Thursday, April 17 – The Films of Charles & Ray Eames
- Saturday, April 19 – Helvetica — With 7:00 pm lecture by Charles Bigelow
- Sunday, April 20, 5:00 pm — Helvetica
- Thursday, April 24 — Saul Bass and the Art of Title Design, followed by Bass’ award-winning short, Why Man Creates?
All films are screened at 8 pm, with the exception of Helvetica (shown at 5 pm) at the Dryden Theatre, located at 900 East Avenue, Rochester, NY.
Happy V-Day!
February 12, 2008
From us to you!
Click image at left to access a full-size, printable version of the Valentine’s Day card.
And to help celebrate further, here’s a sample of online smooches — from movie history to animated film to flash website. Enjoy!
- The lost kisses scene from Cinema Paradiso on You Tube
- ‘Tulips’ from The Animated Life by Jeff Scher on the New York Times Blog
- New Yorkers pucker up at www.ny-kisses.com
Designing What’s Right
February 10, 2008
It’s nice to see a consumer advocate for good design. It’s something all people who work in design-related fields face constantly: how much — if at all — do I compromise in the interest of time, money, sanity, demands of the client?
The only question, then, is why manufacturers don’t actually bother doing what’s right. I’m sure they have all kinds of excuses for compromise: “That would cost money,” “That would set us back a month,” “That would limit sales in Eastern Europe” whatever.
In his weekly email newsletter, The New York Times technology columnist, David Pogue describes the difficult process of comparing and reviewing a personal technology product. At the end of his post (not the review) comes a brief but reasoned — and at the same time impassioned — plea for good design: Designing What’s Right for Consumers.
From those of us who face using constantly evolving technologies on a daily basis — as well as those of us that make design decisions for a living — thanks David!