via Youtube

Seriously. Want. Now.

The Inkling's creation will mean that it will save so much time for concepts, whether it maybe brand identities, logotypes, architecture, illustrations. This will definitely be on a lot of creative's Christmas List this year.

Buildings by Ana Serrano

Beautifully created cardboard buildings by the talented artist Ana Serrano, which rather also aptly would like to redirect these beautiful pieces of work back to the article that I read a few days ago, on designtaxi of this blog called Try Helvetica, where its aim was to improve legibility and accessibility of signs across Brazil. That article, judging from the comments there, was slated for its misinterpretation and blantant misuse of Helvetica.

Ana Serrano understands and absorbs the cultural influences that she was brought up with, and reflects such back onto her cardboard creations, reviving and promoting the cultural flair and diversity each community can offer so differently and colourfully, without caring for the need to promote clinical uniformity, but rather celebrate the plethora of personalities they have.

Original article found via designtaxi

Who wouldn't want a futuristic kitchen like that?!

It's always wonderful to see how figures of the past visualise the future. This diagram is a mechanical construction by the Venetian engineer Giovanni Fontana, called the Castellum Umbrarum, also known as "Castle of Shadows", created in 1420.

The structure and components is equivalent to the modern-day virtual reality room, with

walls made of folded translucent parchments lighted from behind, creating therefore an environment of moving images. Fontana also designed some kind of magic lantern to project on walls life-size images of devils or beasts.

Why "devils or beasts" one is unsure of , but aiming to understand it from a historical point of view, we can interlink the reason for usage of such, or try, at least.

• Giovanni Fontana portrayed himself as a Magus (a Greek word), a follower of  Zoroastrianism, or a study of the stars, and manipulating the fate that the stars foretold. Their fascination was within both astrology and magic, but the non-believers of such following meant that the word "magian" gained a negative connotation and often associated them with tricksters and conjurers.

• Creating this contraption during the Renaissance, a time for cultural rebirth between art and science, which often interlinked with each other. The creativity for Renaissance artists became more experimental and practiced by the principles of balance, harmony and perspective. Perhaps if I mention the iconic artist of our time, Leonardo da Vinci, was active during this time then it'll be clearer.

• Crusaders returned with a better understanding of the world from their crusades, writers produced works that emphasised on intricacies of humans. The Renaissance era was understood to be the time of transition between the Medieval to the Modern times.

• I mention that the word 'Magus' derives from Greek due to its meaning: the Greek word mágos, or "magian", or the better known "Magician" was influenced by the Greek word goēs(γόης), which was an older word for a practitioner of magic.

• Italy was heavily influenced by Greece, particularly as Italy was also known as the Magna Graeca, or 'Great Greece', as it was a rather important part of the Hellenistic civilisation. (Greek civilisation beyond Classical Greeks that ruled; even when Romans took over the whole empire, the elite among the Hellenistic civilisation still spoke & read Greek as well as Latin).

• Perhaps a tenuous link would be that Greek Mythologies would have also played a role, those that are aware of such would be aware that it is filled with beasts, mythical creatures, heroes and Gods; Mount Olympus ruled by Zeus, the Seas by Poseidon, and the Underworld by Hades (might I also mention Kronos's rule of The Elysian Fields, the resting place for the blessed dead). There is therefore a plethora of devils and beasts within the mythologies that would have fuelled the imagination of the one Giovanni Fontana to bring stories alive with his Castle.

But I digress, there is a more formal explanation of the Castellum Umbrarum on BLDGBLOG.

More reading:

Giovanni Fontana