Tim Hetherington’s Diary

I didn’t know Tim Hetherington well, but over the years I’ve spoken to him enough times that the news yesterday of his death threw me. I’ve rarely met a clearer, fiercer, more honest intellect, dedicated to understanding some of the most difficult aspects of the human condition through direct experience without looking away from the ambiguities.

He was also one of the nicest guys it’s been my privilege to meet and I know what a huge empty space his death has left for our shared friends in the Panos and foto8 family. I can’t imagine what that gap feels like for his immediate family but I’m so sorry for them, and for the family of Chris Hondros who was killed with him. My thoughts are with the other photographers who were injured alongside them and the people of Misrata who continue to be injured alongside them.

The video above was made by Tim recently as a reflection on his 10 years of covering conflict around the world and the nature of passing through those worlds and the ones most of us are used to. A deeply personal document, it seems the most fitting, and most troubling, way to come to terms with what is undoubtedly a huge loss.

Bike Boom Boxes

Made In Queens is a short film by Nicolas Randall and Joe Stevens documenting the BMX-mounted soundsystems built by a group of teenagers in Queens, New York. It was selected for the 2008 Edinburgh film festival.

The film’s promo really seems to fit the subject, with screenings and partnerships with magazines and club nights as a way of touring it.

Not to mention, great photos of bikes loaded up with massive speaker boxes!

Via Adventure Kid

“The Internet is doomed to fail”: Don Norman extrapolates wildly

A recent post by Don Norman on Core77 continues a series that seem designed as provocation.

Jason Spero (Admob, Google) talking about mobile

Jason Spero, formerly of Admob and now Google talks about why it’s still early days for mobile and what brands can do to stand out.

Kim Jong-Il looking at a radish

Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody played on old computer parts by James BD594

Peculiar - an icon set made entirely by CSS

This is pretty amazing. An icon library created entirely in CSS.

Dave Mead’s photographs of the 2009 World Beard and Mustache Championship contestants

A collection of portraits by photographer Dave Mead from Austin, Texas of the 2009 World Beard and Mustache Championship in Anchorage, Alaska.

Branislav Kropilak

I love this series of train images by Branislav Kropilak. Take the time to browse through the other series on his site.

The birds!

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot’s installation for The Curve in the Barbican is just beautiful.

A flock of zebra finches cohabit with hooked up electric guitars and other instruments, nesting in and around the gear.

As they do so, they are continually creating sound.

Birds seem to get loops pretty instinctively!

Get Excited And Make Things!

In response to the phenomenon of knowingness that was the Keep Calm and Carry On posters, Matt Jones designed an alternative that wouldn’t take things sitting down.

Newspapers need pay ecologies, not pay walls

A lucid argument from Evan Rudowski, CEO of subscription content portal, SubHub, for newspapers and magazines to experiment with mixed revenue models such as freemium instead of taking polarising stands for pay walls or advertising only models.

World Cup branding winners and losers

Jimmy Vamos writes on the Ruby Pseudo blog about the branding efforts surrounding the Fifa World Cup.

Crowd Control at The Market Estate Project

The Market Estate Project is a ‘temporary community of artists and designers’ that are bringing their creativity to the bowing out party of the Market Estate in Islington. The estate is soon to be demolished.

Rich’s installation uses found materials to evoke the estate’s history of ‘marches, protests and vandalism’. Satellite dishes as police shields is inspired thinking!

Tickets are sold out for the event, but a limited number are on sale on the day (6th March).

Check out Rich’s work at Counterwork and the Market Estate Project here.

The business of Creative Commons

Foto8’s Leo Hsu has posted a writeup of commercial photographer Jonathon Worth’s experiment with the business model of Creative Commons licencing.

Best wishes for happy festivities and a lovely new year!

Nearness by Touch and Berg

Touch & Berg present nearness, a digitised Goldberg contraption that adds networks to the mix of forces.

Around the moon seven times: getting to grips with big numbers

This Fast Company post by Dan and Chip Heath points out that communicating big numbers isn’t about comparisons to other huge concepts, but about finding a comparison to something everyday and comprehensible.

Everybody should climb Fuji-san once

I’ve nursed a desire to climb Fuji-san for a number of years and this year’s Japan trip coincided with the summer climbing season so I made plans to complete the pilgrimage with Gaku, a friend who grew up in the prefecture surrounding Japan’s tallest mountain but had never climbed it.

Top of Japan

I just got back from climbing Mount Fuji.

There are loads of pictures to edit upload (on top of the hundreds from Tokyo) and I really want to write a proper account to contribute to the mass of blog entries that helped me plan for the trip.

Anticipating that that will fall into my usual schedule, here is a quick picture of the view of the Japanese Alps from the top of Fuji-san.

Tokyo check-in

Just a short note and a photo from Tokyo.

We’ve been so busy here that I haven’t had much time to process pictures or write anything.

As it’s been such a busy time preparing for this trip I haven’t posted much recently anyway, so I guess that doesn’t matter.

This weekend I am climbing Fuji-san, so I am spending this afternoon packing and preparing. I should get at least some of those photos online pretty soon.

That’s what everyday is like in our studio!

This is fantastic! Apologies if you’ve seen it before, but I couldn’t resist this Friday design studio in-joke from Eepybird.

It’s Nice That - 18th June 2009

It’s Nice That is a talented team of publishing inspiring work from across the creative sphere. They run a monthly talk, each event hosted by a guest speaker who brings two friends to showcase recent projects or thoughts.

One reason why newspaper are headed for extinction

Here’s one reason why newspapers are headed for the history books. This image of a outdated delivery system says it in the gut.

Thanks for the image grab Newsnight.

Summer’s here