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Two design favorites (so, a two-for-one here): the striking design of the Forth Bridge ("the dinosaurs are coming/going!") and the minimalistic (in the style of the classic railway art of the 30's and 40's) expressive/impressive graphic prints of Peter McDermott.
Alfons Mucha was a Czech Art Nouveau (master) artist that left us a while ago (1939) but not without leaving behind a distictive (and remarkable) body of work.
Below is but one of his unmistakable creations:
A design classic and, also, a personal favorite: Tintin's (Hergé's) rocket from "Objectif Lune" ("Destination Moon").
Favorite all-time short story!
"Profession" is a 1957 novella by Isaac Asimov, about education, teaching, drive, vocation and creativity. It first appeared in the July 1957 issue of "Astounding Science Fiction".
A small fragment follows:
All over Earth, George knew, Olympics would be taking place and young men would be competing, matching their skills against one another in the fight for a place on a new world. There would be the holiday atmosphere, the excitement, the news reports, the self-contained recruiting agents from the worlds beyond space, the glory of victory or the consolations of defeat.
How much of fiction dealt with these motifs, how much of his own boyhood excitement lay in following the events of Olympics from year to year; how many of his own plans –
George Platen could not conceal the longing in his voice.
It was too much to suppress. He said, “Tomorrow’s the first of May. Olympics!”
And that led to his first quarrel with Omani and to Omani’s bitter enunciation of the exact name of the institution in which George found himself.
Omani gazed fixedly at George and said distinctly, “A House for the Feeble-minded.”
Full text after the 1st jump.
One of those pieces that transcends its origins (soundtrack for the movie "A Beautiful Mind") and time itself.
Rosheen Du/Roisin Dubh/Dark Rosaleen is a "lost" gem by Chameleon, appearing in their debut album and in the 1991 mini-series Chimera.
Featuring Olive Simpson's heavenly voice.
A vanship is a type of flying machine from the animated series Last Exile. It is often referred to as a "flying boat" in that it does not fly by means of aerodynamics like planes do, but rather by floating on the air and propelling itself through the use of a substance known as Claudia.
[...]
It is, also.
A beautiful steampunk/dieselpunk design.
The USA chest badge logo, constructed using the 26 degree chevron from Nike heritage, is meant to be wildly different than anything ever seen on a USA uniform before. Its upward movement references high-flying athleticism, and its composition is meant to evoke the badging of super hero costumes. The uniform is blocked in various 26 degree angles, which also inform the custom typeface, developed in three weights and a full character set for international uniforms.
Adding on top of that, what I like about it is that it seems to have a spatial quality about it, "hinting" at a (or several) possible representation(s) along (all) the 3 dimensions.
Detail of the exquisite/intricate clock face of the Big Ben.
Designed by Augustus Pugin.
Max Lapteff proposes an alternate/imaginative/inspired/evocative/beautiful redesign/reimagining of NASA's image/identity/brand.
Time for another (design) classic. This time, the very British red telephone box.
Design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
• The clash of opposites;
• War ending, spherical, time stopping (and, thus, travelling), stasis fields;
• The archetypical mind-machine interface/melding;
• Holograms of loves lost;
• Tiny video-cameras that are spread in the wilderness, clinging to any species that moves, allowing for unmatched surveillance capabilities;
• Progress "stopped" (an oxymoron?) by edict;
• An unlikely (as they are) anti-hero;
• War as peace and peace as war;
• Technology (and the lack of it) and ingenuity;
• Artificial intelligence;
• ...
Oh! And the genious of Vernor Vinge, of course!
One of the best filmed versions of Shakespeare's Othello.
The first 100 minutes:
