Kagan McLeod

Another great illustrator to check out is Kagan McLeod. After graduating from Sheridan College he has worked for Canada's National Post newspaper and had his work featured in magazines worldwide.

See him here at www.kaganmcleod.com

Re-Blogging

Today is the day that Gareth Dunt enters my blog. He has gone insane on his own blog, adding a crazy amount of posts. Today is also the day I post my first 're-blog' or 'chain-blog' terms I have heard but never really done. Basically blogging about a blog, spreading the word of one blog creating a chain.

All because of the fantastic post by Gaz of the illustrator/

designer Zach Johnson.

Here is an example of his extremely expressive work and a this is the link to his website, check him out people!

Word of the day

The message of the day is:

"Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart."

- Pablo Casals 

The word of the day is:

'sprung rhythm'

function: noun
meaning: a poetic rhythm that imitates the rhythm of speech 

Re-inventing the Wheel

It seems bizarre but Chinese inventor Guan Baihua has made a bicycle with one pentagonal and one triangular wheel!

Sounding like something out of Back to the Future or the Flintstones, Guan believes there is a real market for his invention as it requires more physical exertion to ride than a regular bicycle. Making it presumably more appealing to those wanting to keep fit.

Despite it's appearance the wheels of the bicycle provide a surprisingly smooth experience, not causing any oscillation as the seat remains at the same height throughout. This is down to their ingenious shape. Named after German inventor Franz Reuleaux they are Reuleaux Polygons. The side are not flat, but curve outward to echo the shape of a circle and if measured by diameter remain the same all the way round, defined as a shape with a 'fixed radius'.

Franz Reuleaux originally originally invented these polygons to be used in machines that turn one type of motion to another, but what you may not know is that you most likely come across these Reuleaux Polygons every day in the UK. The 50p and 20p coins are both Realeaux Polygons, made so that when dropped into a slot machine their diameter can be exactly calculated along with its size and weight to determine its value.

They can also be seen in Urban Planning, architects adopted the shape for manhole covers when not wanting to use the convention circular design. Problems occur with shapes such as squares which have a longer measurement of their diagonal, making them very easy to drop down the hole if turned; which is physically impossible with a Reuleaux Polygon.

Guan has high hopes for his bicycle but is already planning his next entrepreneurial quest, a social networking site to rival the greats of Facebook and Twitter, so they'd better watch out! This guy is nuts!

Creative Academy??

When searching for Graphic Design jobs in Cardiff on the Gumtree search, one of the first results I was given was this, the Creative Academy. Lovely, but it's not in Cardiff... not even anywhere near!

IT'S IN MILAN!

The cheek of it! I'm outraged! But also a little intrigued, it seems a pretty funk place, so I quickly let it off and decided to blog it. My dream is to own a studio that looks like theirs, it looks awesome.

Click here for the site.

Huw David Design

They're a locally based (Cardiff) design company who I am still investigating into. So I might blog again if I find out if they're any good and worth looking for work experience with! But, what I do like is their to do list on their website, it makes a really interesting feature and is definitely a consideration for the possibilities of my own site.

Click here to see their site.

Message and Word of the Day

Message of the day is: 

"As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out." ~ Mark Twain,

Word of the day

- immure -

function noun
meaning1.To enclose within walls, or as if within walls; hence, to shut up; to imprison; to incarcerate. 2. To build into a wall.
3. To entomb in a wall.