Monday 31 October 2011

halloween

This is pretty amazing i think. Not so sure about the music but the visual is very satisfying! Film by Devin Graham, music written by Stephen Anderson.



Monday 10 October 2011

One afternoon for Berlin

I had one afternoon to explore Berlin, We raced around the city exploring all the top sights like the Reichstag, and Brandenburg Gate. We took Europe's fastest elevator up Panoramaounkt in Potsdamer square. I played the absolute tourist and was totally taken in my the beautiful lights in Potsdamer Place as it grew dark.
Even though the architecture is incredibly dominating and defensive and unfriendly, I just love the chunky shapes, especially from above looking at the flat rooftops and jigsaw of grouped buildings.






The Messe Berlin

As the locals and any visiter will comment, Berlin's most obvious characteristic is its scale. Everything is monumental and spacious in Berlin, the roads are wide and the buildings huge. For a visiter it takes a while to understand how long it takes to get places compared to London or Paris. The Messe Berlin, my place of work for three days, is a prime example of this. The security guard told me it takes fortyfive minutes to walk around half of it.
It's an uninspiring yet interesting building. A venue for temporary conferences, shows and exhibitions, it was very plain and clinical, chunky and severe.










Saturday 8 October 2011

Routes Airport conference

I went to Berlin at the weekend to hand out magazines at Routes, an annual international airline conference. I can't say i'm interested in planes or airlines, I read one article from 'Airline Business Daily' magazine I handed out. However the actual conference was fascinating. Airports from all around the world set up a very glamorous stands full of beautiful air stewards and freebies, from pens and badges to massages, cocktails and alcoholic shots. The architecture, design and advertising of the different stands was very telling.

Vegas surprised me...pretty poor representation, a flashing badge was the best you got there.



Changi airport. Pretty but always empty and had to compete with Prague next door.

Prague Airport, hub of the airshow, perhaps because of the free wee, massages, beer and DJ..fun but tacky.


 Prague airport- 'where everything takes off'- horrible structure, horrible advertising but free bottle of indistinguishable spirit.

Just the contrasts between all the different stands crammed together in huge halls was bizarre, a fun experience.

There was only one piece of advertising that I actually thought was any good and it was here at the OMA airport stand. It's clever an visually interesting. 




Thursday 6 October 2011

A lot of lovin

This album cover of red light company's Fine Fascination I have loved since it came out in March 2008. It's a simple and passionate but no sleezy.


Within and Without have just released this album Washed Out with another similar cover which pips red light company at the post. The pose, the stark lighting and the crumpled bed sheets, should make it much more sexual but actually I still find it very serene and beautiful. Perhaps it is the sophisticated typography or the lack of shame of the image. 


Two great albums too, worth a big listen.