Very inspirational what Little & Company, the Creative Agency from Minneapolis, USA, came up with. Very simple but great. They asked “30 of the world’s most inspired creative professionals. Architects, designers, authors and leaders of iconic brands.” two questions and recorded it on tape.

Thirty Conversations on Design: “We asked them two questions: “What single example of design inspires you most?” and “What problem should design solve next?” Their answers might surprise you. But hopefully, they’ll all inspire you. Discover what they have to say. Then share your thoughts. After all, this is a conversation. We’d love for you to join.”

I must admit, I really don’t know a single person but after three interviews I must say it is a great idea. Truely wisdom what the people are telling.

The German typograph Erik Spiekermann talks about font/writing. He sees himself as infected with Typomania. Take a look at his blog, very interesting and inspirational aswell.

1. What is art and What is design?
2. Hi, a real human interface
3. Paper beats internet

I really love this picture and the quote of Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club.

“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”

I totally agree to Mr Palahniuk. We all should create something that will last forever! It could be something creative, something worldshaking, big or small, it could be anything, but it should be something you put your heart into!

And in combination with a picture of “Where The Wild Things Are“, it totally gets me. The story (book or movie) is moving! It is the perfect example of something that will last forever. Imagination is one main aspect in Sendak’s story and imagination is the first step to create something that will live forever! (found via dropular)

1. Where The Wild Things Are
2. (500) Days of Summer
3. never ending design story

When it comes to inspiration, irie is currently one source contributer I like most.

“websites, ideas that hold water and images that last.” is their motto. Within the blog you find a picture of a website, microsite or a campaign, a short sentence about the object, different tags, the colors the object consists of, and a valuation system of five hearts. Sounds simple and is simple. What else do you need?

“irie is showcasing Web Design that stand out in all aspects and that can work out as an inspirational resource for creatives all around the world. The goal of irie is to create the very best and intense collection of design quality in Web Design and at the same time giving interactive designers a platform to search, order and rate the latest trends and efforts.”

It is simillar to my beloved inspiration source notcot.

And I needed to stumble upon this belgian blog to find the great visualisation/animation “20 Jahre Mauerfall in Berlin“, made for Berliner Morgenpost, a German newspaper. Realised was the project by Einhorn Solutions, a small agency for “Editorial Design Print & Online”. Einhorn was also responsible for the new design concept of Freitag, another German newspaper.

I am really impressed by the visualisation/animation “20 Jahre Mauerfall in Berlin“. There are four main apsects: a virtual tour along the Berlin Wall, a chronological report about important events, an infographic about background from the construction to the fall of the Berlin Wall and interviews with contemporary witnesses. I like the interface, the navigation and the way you learn about the phenomenon “Berlin Wall”.

1. UXcamp Berlin 2009
2. Link Drops by DesignNotes
3. Urban Gridded Notebook

In my report about this years Haldern Pop Festival I mentioned Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros (MySpace) already. And I was very fascinated about the crazy show they presented.

But the Album “Up From Below” is so good that I always wanted to dedicate a single post for them. The following video, I found at NPR Music, was the trigger to present this band more closely. There are 10 people from California and they look somehow like Hippies. They even deliver a positive feeling as if the world is purely good, like Hippies. Their sound is called “a mixture of psychedelic Folk, Mariachi and Gringo-Rock“. And some compare them to Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Jim Morrison, The Flaming Lips or I’m From Barcelona. But I can assure you, this band is incomparable.

I know several projects like “La Blogotheque” or “Behind Closed Doors”, where great bands play in unsusal places but the “Tiny Desk Concerts” are new to me. There are several other great Tiny Desk Concerts at NPR, for example Raphael Saadiq or Great Lake Swimmers.

“Surrounded by a whopping eight backing players — at 10 members, this is the biggest band ever to play a Tiny Desk Concert in the NPR Music offices — singers Alex Ebert and Castrinos still find a way to command attention, as they trade vocals amid a warm, shambling concoction of keyboards, percussion, guitars, accordion, trumpet and more. Playing three songs from their debut album (Up From Below), they have little trouble re-creating its intoxicating mix of catchiness and goodwill, even if they had to wake up early to make it happen.” (NPR music)

1. la blogotheque
2. The Big Pink
3. Kings of Convenience live in Hamburg

Wow, this is impressive. The British artist Stephen Wiltshire is painting the entire Manhattan skyline from memory on a 18 foot canvas. I found this brilliant project at La Robotique.

“Since monday October 26th Wiltshire began filling in an 18 foot canvas
at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. The drawing is expected to be complete by friday.
You can follow his progress through the live webcam here.” (via DesignBoom)

I think this is incredible. The painting is so detailed, I couldn’t make it even if was sitting right infront of Manhattan.

“Stephen Wiltshire is an artist who draws and paints detailed cityscapes. He has a particular talent for drawing lifelike, accurate representations of cities, sometimes after having only observed them briefly. He was awarded an MBE for services to the art world in 2006. He studied Fine Art at City & Guilds Art College. His work is popular all over the world, and is held in a number of important collections.

Stephen was born in London to West Indian parents on 24th April, 1974. As a child he was mute, and did not relate to other human beings. Aged three, he was diagnosed as autistic. He had no language and lived entirely in his own world.”

Until friday you will be able to see Stephen Wiltshire painting live via the following Video:

1. Wooster Collective Talk
2. green community exhibit
3. Mulheres Barbadas live painting

Often I hear the question “Why are you doing all the web2.0 stuff?” Over and over again. “Why are you blogging?”, “Why are you using twitter?”, “Why are you on facebook?”… “Why are you presenting yourself to the whole world?”. So, I thought about it.

I could say something about the shift of media/communication/our culture. But I am not.

Basically my intention of using social media is best represented by a quote of George Bernard Shaw:
“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”

And right now I wanna thank people who are often sharing ideas with me. These people give sense to the whole web2.0 thing. (Or at least are always in the mood for a good joke!)

Thanks to:

Malte, Kai, Steffen, Nils, Ben, Christina, Sebastian, Ralf, Johannes, Alex, Florian, Torsten, Jonas, Youna, Philipp, Paul, the people of Whitetapes, Jeriko, Philipp, Marc, Jan-Marco, Nils, the people of fakeguru, Oliver, Cornelius, Marcel and many more.

And what I really like that most of the ideas cross the border to the real world. That’s what I like most about social media / web2.0 / social web, whatever you want to call it.

I must admit, this blog post is in the status “draft” for seeveral weeks. I was working on it yesterday and decided to publish it today. And just minutes before pushing on the button “publish”, I stumbled upon Jessica’s decleration of love to the internet and I am stunned. In my opinion you can forget all the internet/web2.0 manifestos out there, Jessica gets it:

“I think there are six main categories of “opportunities for prosperity and pleasure” you can get online. I think they are these feelings or experiences:

- Being fascinated, engrossed, delighted
- Research/Analyse/Fan
- Play/create/remix
- Express yourself/build identity/curate your personality
- Make friends/connect
- Have your say/Achieve Change”

Truely, she vocalises what I think!

Clay Shirky also talks about the positive sides/chances of social media:

And at Johannes Kleske’s blog tautoko I found the documentation “Us now” about social web:

“Us Now takes a look at how this type of participation could transform the way that countries are governed. It tells the stories of the online networks whose radical self-organising structures threaten to change the fabric of government forever.”

The picture above is from PMertens and under cc-license.

1. Störteblogger – sharing ideas not apples
2. It’s time for a change!
3. Link Drops by DesignNotes

When it comes to creativity the London based director Alex Turvey is a guy I totally admire. He is not just a director but also a designer and illustrator. His works are spreading creativity right down to the last detail. Take a look at his blog.

You may know his works, for expample in the Ford Ka commercial. Or the video of Bright Eyes – Lime Tree.

What I really like about his work is the combination of material and ways of diplaying. He basically uses everything: Illustration, Crafting, Sewing and Stitching, Paint, Tinkering. Everything is different but you can still see his style: fantasy is sure one main aspect.
He describes his own style as: “surreal folk horror with sequins”

Take a look at file magazine, they made a very interesting interview with Alex Turvey.

This is the description you can find on several websites:

“Recently gaining recongnition as one of 15 creatives who will define the future of arts in Britain by the Independent. Alex Turvey is a director, designer and illustrator with an eclectic oeuvre of projects ranging from music videos to illustrated charity cereal boxes. Having grown up by the sea in Cornwall, he now lives by the river in London where he started his career at Precursor, then co-founded the Norway-UK partnership Elefant Art and now runs his own eponymous studio. Alex likes nothing better than textural landscapes, anatomical drawings and glitter; and his surreal visions have been applied to work for the likes of Dazed & Confused, Polydor Records, Ford, MTV, Topshop, Budweiser and Nike. Alex has also recently gained recongnition as a top young creative entrepreneur by Dazed, aswell as being highlighted as a leading new director by Boards and Shots, And was recentley invited to be a jury member for the prestigious D&AD awards.“

His work remind me a bit of HORT and their fabulous creativty.

One of my favourites is the video for Lilly Wood & The Prick – Down The Drain:

Another great example is the video for Cheatas – Warrior:

1. Ink Calendar by Oscar Diaz
2. christian lessing
3. Hi, a real human interface

Have you ever had this feeling, when you are at a concert, a certain song is coming up and the rest of the world is stopping right then? This feeling that anything else is irrelevant. The noises all around you become silent, time stops and it even feels as if your heart stops beating. It’s just you, the band and the song. Goose bumps is the constant side effect for three or four minutes.

I’m sure you have had this feeling! If not, I feel pity for you. Either you have been to the wrong concerts or you can’t get lost into music like me. But I am sure that most of you at least once had that experience.

But the good thing is that even when the concert is over and you hear the same song a while later you get that feeling again. A smile is coming into your face and you are wondering why you get in such a happy mood. Then you remember the concert, the song. And BAMM, the goose bumps are back. Today I was sitting in the bus and was listening to exactly that kind of song. I was smiling the whole trip back home from work. Happy about anything, just because I made this experience at the concert. And even if the band, that played that kind of song would become mass murderers that still won’t change that feeling (ok, that would be a bit tough, but I think you get the point!). Songs that make your heart stop beating.

There are several songs of that type for me and I want to share some of them with you. And please tell me the songs, bands, shows that gave you THAT feeling?

1. Metallica – Nothing Else Matters
It was my first concert ever. 1993 in Düsseldorf. That event influenced me for my life.

2. The Killers – All The Things That I’ve Done
I saw The Killers twice, once in New York and in Frankfurt. Sadly the music got worse with every album.

3. Kings Of Convenience – I’d Rather Dance With You
The latest concert I’ve been to. Incredible show.

4. The Streets – The Escapist
Mike Skinner is a great entertainer and knows how to run the crowd.

5. Bon Iver – Skinny Love
I saw Bon Iver at this year’s Haldern Pop Festival. Amazing how this band can cause goose bumps in series.

6. Blackbox Revelation – Never Alone / Always Together
I saw the show in Hamburg earlier this year. Jan Paternoster was pretty drunk but made a great show anyways.

7. Johnossi – Execution Song
Well, I saw Johnossi three times so far and I am always impressed by the power of the band. They slam one song after the other, impressive!

The photography above is under copyright of Stylespion. I asked for permission to use the picture.

1. johnossi at the knust
2. Kings of Convenience live in Hamburg
3. the blackbox revelation

Well, I am a huge fan of Jamie T. And (maybe) I don’t lie if I would say that I listened to his first album “Panic Prevention” about a hundred times. The Song “Calm Down Dearest” was is so damn good.

And the new album “Kings & Queens” is maybe not as good as the first one, but still incredible good. Jamie T was supposed to come to play in Hamburg on 28 October 2009 but the whole tour was postponed because poor Jamie is suffering from a bout of laryngitis. I am very sad that the concert is not taking place and I hope that I can attend on the rescheduled date.

But a little encouragement is the new EP and its new video: “The Man’s Machine”. I found the video via Florian, a faithful reader of Better Taste Than Sorry. He tweeted about the video. Thanks!

1. Kings of Convenience live in Hamburg
2. Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros
3. Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson “Break Up”

Ok everybody, thanks to Filter Magazine from Los Angeles, USA, I will now make my first contest where you can win something very cool.

I hope you have recognized my report about the upcoming movie (Untitled). Now you have the chance to win:

- 1 full size movie poster
- 1 official soundtrack sampler

of the probably funniest movie of the year.

Just leave me a comment with your name and email until friday 23rd 2009, 20.00h (Berlin Time). And as soon as the winner is chosen randomly, you will receive an email. Good Luck!

The soundtrack sampler will contain the following songs:

“Cheating, Lying, Stealing” –  Bang of a Can All Stars
“Press Release” – Ev Ziporyn
“Wed” -  Lisa Moore and David Lang

(Great music for annoying your room mate or neighbour or just freak out the next party!)

And the poster will look like this: (only bigger and on real paper!)

1. (Untitled) – the movie
2. Where The Wild Things Are
3. HOME