Online

GRAPHIC NOVELS, 'Tanatos'

Graphic novels are becoming a very popular film genre. The likes of 'Sin City' and most recently 'WatchMen' have been world wide successes due to their original special effects and surrealism.Black and white film is often used with a splash of colour for dramatic effect, and visually I find this very stimulating. A lot of immagination is present in Graphic Novels, and it would be interesting to perhaps create one of my own someday.

I came across this graphic novel website which is updated every week with a new chapter, so far there are 3 chapters and 10 scenes.
Created by Tom Drabick, the idea is very intreaguing as it is getting his comic strip seen world wide. Some may think reading comics and graphic novels a 'geeky' hobbie, but recently, the genre has developed and become more 'graphic' in the sense of violence, language and sex.
In design terms, the artistic work is dark and moody which creates a tense atmosphere, even just viewing it online. I assume Drabick's hope is that ultimetly his strip can be made into a film.

You can view the novel at www.tanatosonline.net

YOUTUBE, Broadcast yourself 

I know this may seem as an obvious choice of website, but in allhonesty, I think its one of the best websites in the world, as it allows everyone from all over the world to share their ideas about things that inspire them.
Of course there is tasteless and unnecessary videos uploaded on there, but just searching through you can come across really imaginative things.
Three of my friends who run the Leeds University Union Circus Society made a video called 'Diabolo, Strain 63'. This is because they are passionate about their circus skills and wanted to share something that inspires them with anyone else who is interested in diabolo, juggling and poi for example. Here is their youtube video:



Youtube is also great, especially if you're a student as it stimulates the imagination when boredom sets in! Also, if you're looking for a clip from an old T.V. show or a music video you like, you are almost certian to find it here, so it becomes a very useful tool when researching, or simply trying to get 'inspired'.

WEBSITES, 'Cool websites'
Whilst doing my work experience at a graphic design company last summer, The Crumpled Dog Design Team, based in Old Street, London, one of the guys I was working with, Clive, told me about this website:

www.coolwebsites.dk
The website is pretty self explanatory, it shows the best web pages from all over the world, and provides all the links and reviews so that viewers can check them out. This in itself, I find very helpful as a design student, as I can browse through hundreds of websites to get ideas and inspiration for my own designs. Simply sign up for free and get email notifications concerning new web designs and helpful resources like photo shop help websites.

Web design interests me a lot. So much time and effort goes into designing and making websites, and recently, the used of programmes such as Flash and shockwave make these website more interactive and exciting.
Coolwebsites.dk has 1,914 links to the most popular and original websites, with a 'site of the month' spot for the best. This month the website is:
http://www.mariokart.com/wii/launch/ so take a look.

One of my favourite website shown on coolwebsites.dk is www.urbansilo.com
The simple lines and colours of this web page, and the imagery of price tags, linking you to other sites where you can view advertising campaigns for dozens of brands is easy to use and the design is very effective. One of the links is for Nike, showing some of their new spo

rtswear campaign which i think is also a very effective Ad Campaign, and will explore this later in the blog.

LOGO POND website

www.logopond.com is a great website that helps stimulate your imagination when thinking about logo design. As a design student, we often have to create our own logos, but its always helpfull to check out some that are already exist.

This website has 30,343 logo designs from all over the world, so you can browse through for hours to get some inspiration.

Personally, I like logos to be simple and communicate the charcter or tone of voice of the company/ product.
Here are two of my favourites featured on logopond:
 

GORILLAZ  

The Gorillaz are a virtual band thought up by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This idea in itself is very original. All the music videos involve the cartoon characters, and the artist work is very imaginative.  The 'band' is made up of four characters, and the genre of the music is a collaborataion of alternative rock , hip hop and dub. most of the vocals are sang by Damon Albarn (formally of brit pop band, Blur), but Gorillaz often feature other recording artists. 

Because I like the band and what they stand for in terms of creating a new genre of pop group, i decided to check out the website, and, unsurprisingly, the website is also innovative and inspiring. A lot of Flash is used which grabs your attention, and you can also get a virtual tour of Kong Studios, and play games.

Take a look: www.gorillaz.com/Scene.php 

Another unique thing that the band and makers of Gorillaz carried out was a hologram performance on the MTV Awards which has never been done before which is very inspiring!