My observing this week has been curtailed by multiple deadlines, but I did come across a few noteworthy tidbits, from a graphic identity combining hand lettering with edge painted cards to designer crab homes, as well as my current favourite working soundtracks and two beautiful animated shorts.
Art: Hermit crabs living in 3d-printed cityscapes
Artist Aki Inomata designed and printed out new homes for hermit crabs, melding a shell-like form with a miniature cityscape, resulting in beautiful photos of the crustaceans carrying their plastic cities on their backs.
Design: Adlin Inc. identity by Apartment One
Startup consultancy Adlin Inc. has a sexy new identity designed by Apartment One. The dry-brush hand-drawn script logo is beautifully rendered, and it goes perfectly with four(!) colours of edge painting on the business cards.
Music: Pulaski at Night by Andrew Bird
I've had more late nights than I'd like recently, putting a couple of big projects to bed, and this recent EP by Andrew Bird has been on repeat while I work. Beautiful and gentle, it's Andrew Bird at his finest. (Bonus: Hideyuki Hashimoto's Home with its tinkling piano notes has also been in heavy rotation through my long work sessions.)
Video: Marilyn Myller by Mikey Please
I spent my Saturday evening catching up on some animated shorts I'd saved up in my Pocket queue, and Marilyn Myller stood out. Shot in softy lit stop motion using styrofoam models, Mikey Please's film tells the story of a frustrated artist who just can't get her creations sculpted right. It's sad, darkly humorous, and it reminds me just slightly of Clayton Broom, the artist and murderer in Lauren Beukes' recent Broken Monsters. (Bonus: Here's a great write-up on the video.)
Video: Alex Griggs' Phantom Limb
Another short that caught my eye was Phantom Limb, which also happens to be sad and darkly humorous, depicting a man's haunting struggle to come to terms with his significant other's disfiguring injury. The story is sensitively told, and combined with the lovely hand-drawn graphic feel, it makes for a lovely little film from animator Alex Griggs.