A stop-motion music video featuring coloured pencils? I’m in. Film maker and animator Dropbear (otherwise known as Jonathan Chong), created this soothing and happy-inducing ode to a classic art supply for Melbourne-based band Hudson. I’ve always had a feeling hanky-panky was going on in my design supply boxes…

(thank you florencia!)

A big story in the news this past week was global population hitting seven billion people. There have been plenty of charts and graphs created in response but I don’t think I have seen anything like this two minute coloured water approach. A great visual infographic by Adam Cole and Maggie Starbard at National Public Radio that makes it all very clear and very colourful.

(video via npr)

I can’t think of a music video that required more dedication to craftsmanship than this one for “In Your Arms” by Kina Grannis. This stop-motion spectacular was created over the course of 22 months by 30 people and required 1,357 hours of work. Oh and 288,000 colourful jelly beans! Sure, it would have been much easier to just employ some CGI and green screen magic but director Greg Jardin was adamant that every single one of the 2,460 frames be assembled by hand and shot individually. Insane, brain-exploded level of commitment to handmade design and crafting a true stop-motion piece. (I love the jellybean test pattern at the end of the video!)

The making of video is a must-watch. How great are those individually marked tubs of jellybean colours?

(spotted on peta pixel)

These colourful ads by Ogilvy & Mather for 103.5 KISS FM in Chicago caught my eye for the bold and colourful typography as well as the clever copy. It’s true, the lyrics of current dance music is pretty bizarre when you take out the beat! I don’t think that last song by Usher is going to win any songwriting awards anytime soon…

(images via i believe in advertising)

I hadn’t really thought about it until today but it is quite amazing how many shades of brown you can achieve when toasting a piece of bread. For his series ‘Toasted’, photographer Henry Hargreaves created large-scale portraits of pop culture icons with hundreds of pieces of toast. The level of detail and eye for subtleties of hue are quite astounding. A glimpse at the level of work can be seen in the last shot where toasted crumpets are being meticulously arranged to create a portrait of Pippa Middleton. I may never look at a piece of burnt toast the same way again! (Bread toasted by Angela Barrow and Osvaldo Ponton)

(from top: Marilyn Monroe, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Che Guevara, Jim Morrison and Pippa Middleton)

(spotted on feature shoot & smilepanic)

What a beautiful album cover and inside photography for French artist Ornette. Personally, I think any great art project ends with hands that look like that. I would be so intrigued to see an entire book or editorial done in this style featuring music icons like Madonna, Elton John, Prince or Lady Gaga. It would be stunning! Kind of makes me want to try a new “look” tomorrow too… Design and art direction by Leslie David, photography by Gregoire Alexandre and make-up by Anthony Preel.

(thanks for the inspiration joseph!)
(photographs via it’s nice that)

The FAME Festival in Grottaglie, Italy hosts artists from all over the world for one to four weeks during the spring and summer months to create street art installations, screenprints, ceramics and large-scale murals. The festival has produced some fantastic pieces of street art including what might be my very favourite, this tiny clothesline. Last week, artists Brad Downey and Akay collaborated over six days to create some imaginative and colourful pieces including this beautiful pasta curtain and ‘tipping point’ installation featuring dramatically linked cans of paint. Throwing pots of colour off a roof to create a spontaneous colour palette is officially on my life list…

(see more of the collaboration here)

Advertising the new Westfield Stratford City shopping center in London, this film captures 100 years of East London style in 100 seconds (as well as popular dance styles). I love the level of detail like the male dancer going off to war in the 1940′s section. It also makes me wonder what the heck went on in the 1990′s and 2000′s. Was it that dull fashion wise? It makes me wish for a comeback of the fashions featured in early to mid 1900′s portion of the piece! The 2011 outfit is rather chic so perhaps we are at the start of another great fashion era. What a fantastic film showcasing brilliant styling as well as British fashion and its dominant colours.

(spotted on notcot)

Le Droit de Suite (The Resale Right) is a fantastic animated short about artist resale rights in Europe. Using colourful typography full of personality, designer Pierre-Emmanuel Lyet made a somewhat dry topic became vibrant and just plain fun. I hope these characters become a series that explains other legal and financial situations. I have a feeling they could do quite a number on mortgages…

(spotted on notcot)

Love this video directed by Nick Thompson to advertise Melbourne music festival 2012 Summadayze Colourfornia. Throwing colour powder in slow motion is pretty damn mesmerizing. Fashion meets the Holi festival! Great looking typography and identity at the end of the video too. Oh and the song “Colours” by Calvin Harris has some rather perfect lyrics: “I don’t care what you dress like or what you wear but please make sure, you’ve got some colours in there”. Couldn’t agree more. In my head, Calvin will perform this song at the Summadayze festival and the crowd will start recreating this video in thousands of pigment hues. Yep, I think I need to go to Melbourne next summer…

(Thanks for the inspiration Joseph!)

Black music notes sprinkled across a white page have their own beauty deeply rooted in tradition and history. However, I am always intrigued by news ways to visualize music – particularly with colour. Designer Laia Clos, of Barcelona’s Mot Studio, created a visual language called “SisTeMu” that turns every note of music into a system of geometric shapes and bright colours. Laia has explored several pieces of music in creating this language but perhaps most notable is her interpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Using the lead violin position, a system of colours are used as musical notes and the tempo of the music dictates the size and placement of the circles. While I can’t say I completely understand SisTeMu, Laia’s language really gives a sense of “seeing” music in a uniquely mesmerizing and colourful way. I would love to get my hands on Laia’s booklet explaining how the system works! I would also love to see this idea applied to modern music. Can you imagine a gorgeous coffee table book devoted to the hits of The Beatles, U2 or similarly iconic artists? Hmm… perhaps one day a conductor will ask his orchestra to start again from the turquoise section!

(you can buy limited edition posters and stamps from mot’s store)
(images via mot studio & co design)

Computer enhanced or CGI work dominates a lot of the visual effects we see in film these days. I love when designers and artists illustrate how much magic can be created using everyday materials and big dash of imagination. The Universe Is As Big As Your Mind by Eran Hakim creates an ethereal world of colour and shape using water, oil, alcohol, ink, energy drink and watercolours. A truly dreamy world of hues that looks computer generated but is completely created with household ingredients. Hoping we can make more films with this imaginative spirit in mind!

(ingredients used: 2 litres of water, 1/2 litre of oil, 1/4 litre of alcohol, 1/5 litre of ink, 50 ml of mana portion energy drink, 6 ounces of watercolours)

(found via not cot)

This book and video of the Wimbledon Men’s Final (Federer vs. Nadal) by designer Bryan Ku is the perfect merger of three of my very favourite things: books, tennis and cleverness. How brilliant and creative to interpret a sport this way. Love those sport scores in iconic tennis ball yellow-green too. Here’s hoping Bryan ponders doing a whole sport series!

(video via vimeo)

Sometimes something so delightfully random and creative comes along that proves just how insanely awesome the Internet is. The Cosby Sweater Project is a site dedicated to cataloging and illustrating the crazy and colourful sweaters won on The Cosby Show. I love the fantastic interpretations of those patterns. Whomever is behind this site: I officially love you. (p.s. when I started this week, I had no idea there would be two Cliff Huxtable references by week end. You never know what a week will bring…)

Did your breakfast this morning look anything like this? I hope so! With the goal of “showcasing food in a beautiful and unusual way”, studio Bruton Stroube created this stunning video. I love the dreamy atmosphere but I think what captivates me most is the graceful movement of the food and the moving palettes created. Did you see the orange juice, raspberries and blueberries mix mid-air? A beautiful colour scheme. As our meals usually sit fairly still, it is easy to forget that each food has its own unique qualities that, with a bit of imagination, can turn into gorgeous art. I had no idea pancakes in motion could be so elegant!

(Take a look at Bruton Stroube’s site for behind the scenes photos. How they created this piece is fascinating!)
(via tasteologie)

My classical music knowledge is probably not as strong as I would like it to be but there are many pieces that I really love. One in particular is Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune”. I have loved that magical song for as long as I can remember. Upon visiting Black Eiffel last week, I was reminded of the fantastic Music Animation Machine. The site turns classical works into graphic bars of colour that represent the length, complexity and emotion of each note. It is extraordinary how this allows one to “see” a song via colour and animation. It really sheds light on how these works of art are constructed and created.

(see more interpreted songs on the Music Animation Machine YouTube channel.)