catch-22: April 2009

online research art-project

"Crisis in the Credit System is a four-part drama dealing with the credit crisis, scripted and directed by artist Melanie Gilligan. A major investment bank runs a brainstorming and role-playing session for its employees, asking them to come up with strategies for coping with today’s dangerous financial climate. Role-playing their way into increasingly bizarre scenarios, they find themselves drawing disturbing conclusions about the deeper significance of the crisis and its effects beyond the world of finance.

Using fiction to communicate what is left out of documentary accounts of the crisis, the short, TV-style episodes reflect the strangeness of life today in which the financial abstractions that govern our lives appear to be collapsing.

Crisis in the Credit System, commissioned and produced by Artangel Interaction, is the result of extensive research and conversation with major hedge fund managers, key financial journalists, economists, bankers and debt activists."

23/04/2009

a few news

Mac vulnerability to botnets proven in real-world case
NASA images sent with Voyager
Knight news challenge

21/04/2009

illustration competitions

Waterstone's 'Picture this' competition:

The winner of the 'Picture This' competition will win a publishing contract with Macmillan to illustrate Donaldson's latest book, Freddie and the Fairy, which will be published Christmas 2010. The book is about what happens when a boy who won't talk clearly meets a fairy that can't hear well and is told in the same rhyming style as The Gruffalo, illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

The complete text of the story was uploaded onto the retailer's website this morning at waterstones.com/picturethis. Aspiring artists who wish to enter have to submit an illustration for two pages from the story as well as character sketches for the main characters.

The deadline for submissions is 18th May.

terms&conditions
How to enter:

Picture This is Waterstone's search to find a talented new picture book illustrator. Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo and the UK's most successful picture book author, has written a text especially for the competition which is available exclusively online at Waterstones.com. The resulting book will be published by Macmillan Children's Books for Christmas 2010.

Who can enter?

The aim is to find a new picture book talent so the competition will be open to anyone who has not worked professionally anywhere in the world as a colour children's book or children's cover illustrator. This means that anyone else, for example a graphic designer, animator, greetings card illustrator etc would be completely eligible. Entry will be available to UK residents only.

How can I enter?

There will be two stages of entry:

To be eligible, initial entries must comprise full colour character sketches of the 3 main characters plus at least 2 animals (a minimum of 5 sketches in total) plus full colour artwork for one double-page spread (i.e. two facing pages). These entries must be received by 18 May 2009 17:30 GMT.

A shortlist of six candidates will be drawn up by the judging panel, and those shortlisted will be notified.

Entrants who are shortlisted must provide rough black and white drawings for the whole book (approx 12 double page spreads) plus artwork for two more full-colour, double-page spreads on or before the shortlist closing date of 31 July 2009 17:30 GMT (for artwork guidance see the full Terms and Conditions).

Who will be on the judging panel?

The panel will consist of Julia Donaldson, Lauren Child (bestselling children's illustrator and author), editorial director for picture books at Macmillan Children's Books, a literary agent, Waterstone's picture books buyer, and a children's book reviewer.

How will the winner be decided?

The winner will be the illustrator who, in the opinion of the judges, is the most suitable illustrator for "Freddie and the Fairy" and the one who will create the most appealing and commercial picture book for the 3+ age group.

What is the prize?

The opportunity to illustrate the book, (Freddie and the Fairy), written by Julia Donaldson, to be published for Christmas 2010. The winner will be offered a contract with Macmillan Children's Books, along with a royalty advance.

'True stories' Cheltenham illustration award (paid)

deadline 8 May

The Awards are administrated by the Illustration Field at the University of Gloucestershire, based at Pittville Studios campus, Cheltenham, UK
* An exhibition will be held at the University of Gloucestershire’s Pittville Studios in October 2009 (exact dates to be confirmed) The selected winners work will be showcased at the exhibition along with other commended images and specially invited professionals.
* Up to five entries per person will be allowed
* Entries will not be returned
* Contact address:The CIA, University of Gloucestershire, Pittville Studios, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL52 3JG Deadline for submissions 8 May 2009. Entries will not be accepted without entry fee
* The University of Gloucestershire reserves the right to cancel the event should sufficient entries not be received for this competition
* Files will not be returned
* Artwork must be supplied digitally on CD-Rom
* All submissions should be clearly marked with your name and contact details in permanent pen
* File format: JPEG high quality
* Include an A4 printout of the image for administration purposes
* Printable size of artwork: Up to A3 at 300ppi
* Judging of entries will take place in August by a professional committee
* Winners will be notified by email or post when possible. However if you have not heard from us by 30 Sept 2009, your entry has been unsuccessful
email enquiries: cheltillustrationawards@glos.ac.uk

20/04/2009

powers of ten

short documentary by Charles & Ray Eames/1977 (Eames office link)

17/04/2009

reporters sans frontieres

RSF - La liberté de la presse au quotidien
+ english, español, arabic, chinese languages

16/04/2009

Tim's birthday video postcard

Video postcard from Julcha on Vimeo.
our collaborative birthday present to Tim

Lamosca

multidisciplinary design collective, lots of data- and infographics.

15/04/2009

goods swapping deals

craig's list
gumtree
swap it shop
iSwap
swap shop
+ London for free

14/04/2009

citizen journalism

Cambridge community (MA) video 'From pamphlet to Blog'
Now Public: crowd powered media
VizEdu: CJ explained visually
CJ: A Primer article
Public journalism & a problem of Objectivity article
International Journal of Web-based communities
All Voices: the 1st open media site where anyone can report from anywhere
Center for citizen media
The Viewspaper (Indian)
Global Voices online
E Pluribus Media: collaborative journalism
Eco 89 (en Français)
Newscri: get free news in real time
You Scoop it: news powered by people
Yahoo: you witness news
Newsotronic: the best way to be heard
Newsmeback
Global reporter: where YOU report the news
I, Reporter

flickr: Citizen Photojournalism

United Visual Artists

"United Visual Artists are a British-based collective whose current practice spans permanent architectural installation, live performance and responsive installation. Research and development is a core part of our process - enabling us to constantly explore new fields, as well as re-examining more established ones."

11/04/2009

censorship & freedom projects

CPJ – Committee to Protect Journalists
Great Firewall of China – test if the website is censored in China
"Because of the ever stricter measures of censorship China imposes on the Internet, the team of www.greatfirewallofchina.org at present can no longer vouch for the reliability of its test tool. We have therefore decided to take the test tool offline."
ChoicePoint – intelligent solutions
opensource.org
Creative Commons
fsf.org - free software (Linux)

SEED magazine: universe in 2009

just what to expect from this year
+ article on pie charts

graphjam

What people do with their Facebook status bar

see more Funny Graphs

Graphs resource

10/04/2009

village type co-op

collective of young type foundries

online subculture

microblogging.com
microblink: news
webcom microblogging article
quantcast.com: twitter demographics
twitter services

the online slang dictionary
lingo2word
lagkills.com: acronyms
internetslang.com

compuserve.com

09/04/2009

'element' extreme experience

Element - bungee jumping and other extreme stuff in Greater London

06/04/2009

sustainability & humanity resources

sustainable table
defra – dep. of environment, food & rural affairs
Human development reports
FAO newsroom: Hunger
FCRN Research library
New Scientist: meat is murder
world population growth statistics
eat less meat

gretchen nash

some good design & typography examples by CalArts graduate Gretchen Nash
a poster for End-of-year show:

water

WATER FOOTPRINT
WATERWISE
GOOD transparency video
water waste
how much water do you use?
re-using water
drugs in my water
exotic bottled water
boxed water is better
Independant news: plastic ocean
clean water as a human right
Slate news: Evian criminals
Tappening
WaterAid
World Water day
Global water network

london on tap
we want tap
refill not landfill
Natural Hydration Council
Bottled water matters
The story of bottled water:

05/04/2009

YCN creative opportunities

graphic designer, London, Royal college of Nursing
create a conspiracy competition
junior designer, London, Marvellous
junior designer, Edinburgh, Canongate books
creative internship, London, YCN

unspeak

'Unspeak' - blog dedicated to the book by Stephen Poole

‘Should be required reading for reporters and editors everywhere’ Slate

‘Compelling... at its satirical best, Unspeak’s implacable rage harks back to the thundering tirades of the Augustan era’ Daily Telegraph

‘Unspeak is in the best sense a stimulus and a provocation. Unmasking unspeak is addictive, and anyone can play.’ Times Literary Supplement

Think tank article
other THINK TANK related resources:
The limits of the 'Think tank' revolution
Answers.com: think tank
List of think tanks in the UK
List of think tanks in the USA
List of World think tanks
Collective intelligence
Blog of collective intelligence
World Economic Forum
Brain trust
Overton window ('a concept in political theory, named after its originator, Joe Overton, former vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. It describes a "window" in the range of public reactions to ideas in public discourse, in a spectrum of all possible options on an issue. Overton described a method for moving that window, thereby including previously excluded ideas, while excluding previously acceptable ideas. The technique relies on people promoting ideas even less acceptable than the previous "outer fringe" ideas. That makes those old fringe ideas look less extreme, and thereby acceptable. The idea is that priming the public with fringe ideas intended to be and remain unacceptable, will make the real target ideas seem more acceptable by comparison'.)
O.W. illustrated
Intro to O.W. of political possibilities

more news design resources

innovation in newspaper design
visual journalism
infographics weblog

04/04/2009

travel stuff

ISIC discounts
Belgian Visa application
1-8 Bateman’s Building
South Soho Square
London W1D 3EN
Application Acceptance Timings:
08.30 to 12.00 hours Monday-Friday [Belgium Visa Application will accept only the 60 applications on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.]
Return of Passport Timings and Introduction of additional documents:
1400-1500 hours Monday-Friday (From 1st April’09 onwards) [Tokens will be issued within the specified timings only]
For information:
0871 376 0023 between 08:30-17:30 hours Monday-Friday
visabelgium.uk@vfshelpline.com for all information regarding the visa process
documentbelgium.uk@vfshelpline.com for all additional documents for your current application.
Insurance
STA travel
Eurostar return tickets to Brussels from £52 (24/04 5:57 – 8:56, return 27/04 20:29 – 21:23)
Belgium cities resource
Hostels:
Brussels hostels directory, Van Gogh hostel, Quality hostel, Hello hostel (8 bed dorm, £17.05)
Brugge: Arthostel (4 bed dorm, £13.26), Snuffel backpacker's (8 bed, £14.21), Passage (4 bed, £14.21)
DK travel: Belgium art galleries
Bruges tourism

Belgium: what's on today

Netherlands visa & country info
Visa Application centre
Amsterdam hostels
Holland Festival (Amsterdam)
June 2009 events
Open lunch theater
Jordaan Shelter hostel
EUROSTAR first capital connect (from £57 return)

Paris hostels:
aloha
3 ducks
Andre Gill
Appihotel
Le Terrage
Puy de Dome

Italy: visa application (visa £25, + £25 charge)
Consulate in London
Info

UK/National express offers:
Cambridge
Bath
Brighton

Eurolines buses (paris-brussels 8 euros, brussels-amsterdam 5 euros),

monica nelson

graphic design by NY Pratt graduate Monica Nelson

02/04/2009

data evolution

articles about data visualisations, e.g. this one on Colour
(subdivision of Dataspora)

statistics 120

information visualisation: PDF slides lectures archive

exploratorium

The Flash Application My Evidence by Exploratorium, Museum of science art and human perception, explores and then visualizes the way we get to know what we know. The user is asked to answer questions about facts that are hard for the individual to experience by himself. For example “Humans cause global warming” is a theory believed by many people but quite hard to proof by one individual. Going further it’s nearly impossible for the individual to know such things if it’s on its own. The answers to these questions range from “I noticed or experienced” to “I heard on TV or radio”. Further attributes of an answer are the place where someone learned it, the person’s gender or age and how much the author refutes or supports the stated fact.