A few months ago I had my rear bicycle wheel stolen leaving me stranded. A few months before that, the part of the front wheel that keeps it on the bike was stolen, also disabling the bike. I've seen friend's bikes completely stolen off the rack, often in the middle of the day in a heavily trafficked area. It always infuriates me and I dream of being able to catch someone in the act so I can stop them and, if I'm feeling particularly vengeful, punching them in the nose.
Today I was walking though Yerba Buena park to get lunch when I saw a somewhat disheveled man with a crooked cigarette and a coffee walk up to a bike rack and crouch down next to the lock. There was a conference at Moscone Center so lots of people were walking around, sitting on steps and eating lunch. The only reason I noticed him was because he looked a little strained in his crouch. Then I saw the flash of the wire cutters and a short *clip* and the cable lock was cut. "Hey!" I said as I walked directly up to him:
Me: Hey man, what do you think you're doing?
The man jumps up, his coffee spills everywhere; he's confrontational:
Him: This is my bike
Me: No its not, I just saw you cut the cable
We go back and forth a bit with him denying what I saw and then:
Him: Common man, I'm just trying to get by.
Me: I don't care. Walk away.
Him: What's it matter to you anyway, its a rental.
Me: I've had my bike stolen before. It sucks.
Him: Oh ok, yah.
Me: Now walk away
Him: Its cool, you don't have to get down on me
I stood by the bike and watched him walk away until he turned the corner of the next building and was out of sight for at least a minute. I looked around me; nobody had noticed, nobody cared. I had fulfilled my dream to save a bike, but now I realized that I couldn't protect it forever. I had no idea when the owner would return. Here it was with a broken lock in a sea of indifferent people and I was on my way to get lunch. I'd leave and 10 minutes later the homeless guy would be back to pick up where he'd left off.
So I did the only thing I could do and left for lunch. I was sure that I had done all I could but I was also thinking what was the point? I had bullied some homeless dude who probably wouldn't change. I had temporally saved the bike but for how long? At the very least I had done something and I guess that's enough.
For the past 3 years I've been helping out Heart Deco both at Burning Man and during the off season for events and parties. I've done this in between my own projects because its such a wonderful and supportive community. So when Adam Ebel asked me if I'd be willing to create a 3 foot, LED back lit version of an emblem he'd designed for the recreation of Heart Deco into Heart Phoenix, I couldn't say yes quickly enough. The following is a rundown of what I did and how I did it.
The concept for the new design retains both the heart metaphor and Art Deco stylings and re-envisions this tear down and build up literally as a phoenix rising from the flames. Here's the initial artwork for the emblem:
There are a lot of layers here and to create a physical object from this requires identifying where to actually layer material and where to just imply layers. I needed a vector based version of this file which would let me increase the size of the phoenix as much as I need without losing any detail. Here's that version of the emblem:
I decided I would make this as two separate layers; the outer wings would be the back layer and the inner wings plus body would sit in front as the foreground layer. This would give it some depth without being overly complex. I also decided I would make it out of steel to reinforce a feeling of strength in the design.
First I needed to separate the outer feathers from the body. Because the front feathers obscure the back feathers, I needed to extend back feathers to a point where they could be connected. This way they would stay together when cut out. Here's how that that looks, with all shapes represented as outlines rather than solids:
I then scaled up the design so that the phoenix would have a wingspan of about 3 feet. At this size I could cut the outer wings from one sheet of 24" x 24" steel and the body from a second sheet of 24" x 24" steel. Here are the part diagrams arranged for cutting out on their respective sheets:
To cut the steel I used the Flow water jet cutter at TechShop in San Francisco. This machine directs a very high pressure, very narrow jet of water mixed with abrasive garnet at the material to be cut. It can cut through inches of steel, rock (granite and marble for flooring are popular materials to cut) and, if you're not careful, your fingers, in seconds. Luckily its entirely computer controlled so there's no need to get up close and personal with this machine while its operating. This also means that I can cut out exactly the shapes I want.
Here's the first steel sheet in the Flow water jet ready to be cut:
Beneath the steel are metal slats sitting in a pool of water. The slats hold the material being cut while exposing as little surface area against the onslaught of the water jet as possible. The water helps absorbs the force of the water jet as it exits the rear of the material.
When the jet starts, it hits the material with about 40lbs of force, concentrated on an area of about 1/20th of an inch. For this reason the jet always starts outside the boundaries of the design so that the crater formed does not disfigure the final object. Here's video fo the jet starting:
Here's additional video of the machine slowly cutting one of the wings:
Here are the wings just after they've been cut from the steel:
The brown material on the steel is the abrasive garnet that was washed over the surface as the jet roiled the water in the pool up and over the steel.
After cutting both wings and the body out of steel, the parts had to be welded together. I arranged the parts to match the original vector file and clamped them all together:
I decided to use a TIG welder to join these peices because I was worried the MIG might lay down too thick a weld and be visible in certain places through the cutout portions of the heart. I was also worried that it would be too easy for me to blow a hole through the design on the MIG, so I erred on the side of caution.
As it turns out I was too cautious and many of my initial welds were too cold. Fixing that made the resulting weld lines pretty ugly, so I won't show that here. However, here's the finished product from the front:
The next step was to paint the front red. Hidden in the above photo are two 2" x 4" pieces of steel welded perpendicular to the body and with 1/2" holes cut in them. These are meant to mount the emblem but also came in handy to build a painting rig. This let me work on adding LEDs to the back of the emblem while keeping the front off the ground until the paint dried fully.
Here's the painted emblem in the rig:
Next I flipped over the work and attached several LED strips, one for each wing and several on the body:
I then wired each LED strip together. I made a decision to solder the negative side of each strip directly to the steel. This was to cut down on the amount of wire I needed to route on the back. Turned out this was a bad decision; the thickness of the steel made it impossible for the soldering iron to heat the steel enough for a proper solder joint. Additionally the smoothness of the steel made it difficult for the solder to stick. I have the feeling I'm going to need to rewire this some point soon. Here's the final wiring:
With this done, it was time for the Phoenix to rise from the flames! Here's a test lighing from the back:
Its a little hard to tell how bright these lights are given that my camera is metering the lights alone. Here's another shot from a bit futher away:
And finally, its debut at the Heart Phoenix fundraiser party at Monarch:
I'm pretty pleased how this turned out. Its bright enough to really make the Phoenix look like its on fire! If you'd like to see more, these photos, plus a few extra are on my Heart Phoenix Flickr set.
Back in November I got a new motorcycle, but between the rain and the holidays, there hasn't been a good weekend I haven't been busy when I could take a few pictures. This weekend I had some free time and the weather is great so here it is, my new 2005 Triumph Thruxton:
Some might recognize this is as the same location I used 5 years ago when I got my last bike fixed up, the 1975 Honda CB200 (bumble bee):
Its a lot of fun to drive and doesn't require the constant maintenance that the Honda does. Now I just need to come up with a name for it!
Because you didn't ask for it, I've compiled a list of all the words used in the song lyrics of Best Coast's album "Crazy For You" and their frequency. Their songs are catchy but the lyrics are ... well, lets say she borrows liberally from herself between songs.
My hypothesis was that among the top 10 words used would be "you", "crazy", "lazy" and "weed". However, I found that, after tossing out uninteresting words like 'the' and 'and', the top 10 looks like this:
I : 165
you : 145
happy : 41
me : 36
my : 32
I'm : 28
you're : 25
want : 24
end : 24
he : 22
It seems its more about her. I was actually pretty surprised about 'happy' becauase lead singer Bethany Cosentino sounds anything but happy. It turns out pretty much all of those 'happy's happen in a song called 'Happy' which ends with one final lyric, 'No'.
For those who would like to pour through this treasure trove of raw data, here is the complete list:
i : 165 you : 145 the : 75 happy : 41 but : 37 me : 36 my : 32 and : 30 to : 30 i'm : 28 that : 26 you're : 25 when : 24 want : 24 end : 24 he : 22 miss : 22 all : 20 so : 20 just : 20 love : 19 not : 19 is : 17 this : 17 till : 16 how : 16 was : 16 that's : 16 tell : 15 wish : 15 deal : 15 much : 14 a : 14 don't : 14 honey : 14 never : 14 know : 13 make : 13 be : 13 about : 12 always : 12 have : 12 crazy : 12 boyfriend : 12 feel : 11 goodbyes : 11 alone : 10 wanna : 10 your : 10 with : 10 time : 9 will : 9 can't : 9 day : 9 yeah : 9 at : 9 in : 8 go : 8 fall : 8 home : 8 first : 8 mine : 7 back : 7 on : 7 hate : 7 something : 7 away : 7 him : 7 promise : 7 waiting : 7 it : 7 summer : 7 could : 7 fun : 6 wall : 6 very : 6 get : 6 leave : 6 really : 6 we're : 6 even : 6 say : 6 do : 6 lazy : 6 for : 6 everything : 6 are : 6 every : 5 would : 5 wouldn't : 5 phone : 5 there : 5 why : 5 everytime : 5 up : 5 if : 5 makes : 5 anything : 5 'cause : 5 one : 5 we : 5 ooh : 4 talking : 4 of : 4 stand : 4 i'll : 4 i'd : 4 out : 4 apart : 4 falls : 4 then : 4 mooooooooooody : 4 each : 4 sleeping : 4 instead : 4 talk : 4 loved : 4 like : 4 name's : 4 walking : 4 friend : 4 house : 4 friends : 4 meant : 4 place : 4 guy : 3 see : 3 there's : 3 way : 3 knows : 3 by : 3 won't : 3 maybe : 3 doesn't : 3 sun : 3 brat : 3 take : 3 our : 3 wake : 3 worst : 3 shine : 2 baby : 2 night : 2 though : 2 girl : 2 thought : 2 only : 2 favorite : 2 mind : 2 nice : 2 cry : 2 as : 2 couldn't : 2 hard : 2 into : 2 weed : 2 now : 2 been : 2 blood : 2 we'll : 2 fine : 2 lost : 2 think : 2 you'd : 2 same : 2 through : 2 nothing : 2 cranky : 2 or : 2 soon : 2 pick : 2 such : 2 world : 2 high : 2 drive : 2 buy : 1 took : 1 dropped : 1 what : 1 gaze : 1 she : 1 cheatin' : 1 said : 1 college : 1 man : 1 couch : 1 wait : 1 i've : 1 left : 1 no : 1 kill : 1 sitting : 1 cause : 1 walked : 1 sorry : 1 everyday : 1 thank : 1 eyes : 1 care : 1 tv : 1 day's : 1 has : 1 gone : 1 matter : 1 stars : 1 good : 1 hop : 1 bunch : 1 remember : 1 bottom : 1 little : 1 since : 1 shirt : 1 went : 1 new : 1 t : 1 told : 1 wasn't : 1 other : 1 stuff : 1 cute : 1 seventeen : 1 ever : 1 songs : 1 boys : 1 there'd : 1 together : 1 plane : 1 week : 1 can' : 1 which : 1 come : 1 didn't : 1 better : 1 losing : 1 sucked : 1 sit : 1 hope : 1 watch : 1 last : 1 off : 1 17 : 1 wants : 1 sunrise : 1 prettier : 1 myself : 1 worse : 1 money : 1 skinnier : 1 his : 1 low : 1 anyone : 1 she's : 1 mean : 1 block : 1 because : 1 who : 1 listen : 1 convince : 1 cat : 1 her : 1 real : 1 job : 1 stay : 1 bed : 1 lows : 1 kiss : 1 sweet : 1 wonder : 1 mama : 1 else : 1 highs : 1 sending : 1 he's : 1 degree : 1 slipped : 1 above : 1 long : 1 empty : 1 picture : 1 without : 1 than : 1 mom : 1 freak : 1 other's : 1
If you've gotten here and think I'm nuts, keep in mind I code for a living; creating this list took an internet lyric search and 5 minutes of programming. You might still think I'm nuts ...
NEW YORK CITY - Five injured in attempt to create the shiniest, puffiest, blackest winter jacket. The jacket that was temporarily created, simultaneously absorbed and reflected all light. Authorities say injuries from the resulting explosion would have been far more serious if those nearby had not all been wearing such puffy outerwear.
Sources say the group will abandon jackets and switch focus to work on creating a tinier accessory dog.
I recently rediscoved some old recordings I had made with my friends sitting around my apartment with microphones and beer. This song featured Heather who came up with these lyrics on the spot. I had forgotten what a beautiful voice she has:
The latest PoBPaH has been really growing on me. Songs like this, full of nostalgia for past summers make me want to go play on the beach and forget about anything but sun, ocean and sand.
Do a search for Minimalist Movie Posters on Google these days and you'll get quite a few matches. The first time I saw a set of these over a year ago I appreciated the simple, clever take on posters that can sometimes be visually cluttered and busy.
However, creating your own set of movie posters seems to now be a rite of passage for every graphic designer. They have begun to clutter every design and culture site I visit, editors gushing with praise for each "innovative" take on movies of the past.
Now, you too can join in the fun! Here's what you do:
1. Pick a movie - Star Wars is a good start. Not only is it an obscure movie from the 80's that no one remembers (great indie cred!), but its one of the few minimal movie posters nobody has done yet!
2. Pick between 2 and 4 colors - Muted primary colors are good, black is best. Nothing is more minimal than black, except maybe white.
3. Pick a geometric shape - This shape should vaguely represent some character or scene from the movie. The more abstract the better. This way when people recognize it, they can praise you for how well you were able to capture such complex concepts with so little design. Circles are good.
4. Add the movie title - Make the title text extremely large and let Helvetica do some of the heavy lifting in your design. OR make your title extremely small to emphasise the negative space of your spartan work.
The Dum Dum girls lead singer's vocals remind me a lot of Neko Case but from the New Pornographers rather than her more country solo work. I like the simplicity of this video and its go-go 60's aesthetic.
