A few years back, actually almost a decade ago, companies began to take notice of the importance of design when it came to business. Since then there has been steady growth and recognition about the effect good design has on products, brands, experiences, and so much more.
“Design Disruptors” by InVision is a new documentary film set to be released later this year. It focuses on 15 disruptive companies who’s combined worth is more than a trillion dollars. The trailer below looks promising with valuable insights in the short sound bites you get to hear. The film will focus on customer centric design that is emerging, disruptive, and focused on the future. My favorite quote in the trailer is from Jenny Arden Lead UX Designer at Google, “At it’s best design is human. It’s not about does it have drop shadows, is it pretty. It’s more about the connection I have to it.”
You can sign up to find out when the movie will be coming to a town near you here.
This is such a simple idea, and it is executed so well. Each of the stingers for the 10th annual Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival were inspired by the the photography of Pol Ubeda Hervas. Director Omar Khalifa the metaphor of empty shoes as a testament to those filmmakers who are filling them and creating phenomenal documentaries around the world. The shots are simple. A slow, small tracking camera movement, with the action taking place in the shadow. Each visual represents an individual award: Best Director, Best Cinematography, Editing, Jury Award etc. Once again keeping it simple renders solid results. Love them.
Director: Omar Khalifa
Producer: Shereen Ali
Senior Producer: Jaime Siordia
Director of Photography: Chris Moon
Art Director: Yasmin Al-Naib
Assistant Producer: Ashiq Khan
1st AC: Cenon Costales
Editor: Rob Nield
Motion Design: Vlad Illiescu
Music: Pierre Serafini, The Shift
Driver and Support: Ibrahim
One of the ways I helped pay my way through college both times was working at Streetside Records, and working at the college radio station KJHK. This was back in the day when the radio station had stacks of vinyl and archives of thousands of records. I would say 80 percent of the music I played was spun on a turn table, and more than half of what sold at Streetside was not a CD. I used to spend hours going through the stacks of records discovering new artist, reading liner notes, pouring over cover art, really discovering the music and musicians.
The video below is the trailer for “Records Collecting Dust” by San Diego based musician and filmmaker Jason Blackmore. It documents the record collections of 30 plus underground and alternative music icons, and based on the trailer it looks like it is going to be epic. Below the trailer is a list of all the musicians interviewed.
The film is set for a theater release, winter 2014 via Riot House Pictures. No word on which cities will get it first, but there will probably be updates on the official Facebook page here.
One week ago I gave up my stewardship of a Studio 804 house in Kansas City Kansas and downsized, moving to a loft downtown. The contrast in architectural styles and size is pretty dramatic. The loft however does a really nice job of blending minimal modernism with the architectural style of a building that was erected in 1905. Eventually, what I would really love, is to be living in a modest, modern home on the central coast of California.
I have always been drawn to California modernism for a number of reasons, and I am quite excited by “Coast Modern” an independent documentary by Mike Bernard and Gavin Froome. Their film travels the West Coast north from LA to Vancouver showcasing the pioneering architects that invented West Coast Modernist Architecture. The film shows the interior and exteriors of iconic modernist masterworks and shows how the buildings were designed to work in collaboration with the natural environment.
The film doesn’t have any screening dates here in Kansas City as of yet, but hopefully that will change. Based on the trailer, this looks like an exciting documentary for all architecture fans.
Modular 4 