Advice to Writers (and designers)
Here’s a quick follow-up to my earlier post “Overcoming Creative Block”
American poet Billy Collins gives his advice on finding inspiration… and I think this is something I find very true, and I do a pretty good job of sticking to it. Either that, or I swing to the other end of the spectrum. I encourage you to try both, find out what works for you.
wash down the walls and scrub the floor
of your study before composing a syllable.
Clean the place as if the Pope were on his way.
Spotlessness is the niece of inspiration.
The more you clean, the more brilliant
your writing will be, so do not hesitate to take
to the open fields to scour the undersides
of rocks or swab in the dark forest
upper branches, nests full of eggs.
When you fiind your way back home
and stow the sponges and brushes under the sink,
you will behold in the light of dawn
the immaculate altar of your desk,
a clean surface in the middle of a clean world.
From a small vase, sparkling blue, lift
a yellow pencil, the sharpest of the bouquet,
and cover pages with tiny sentences
like long rows of devoted ants
that followed you in from the woods.
(Quote via Swissmiss)
Illustration by Jen Collins (also good advice)
Posted by: Josh Abe on March 4, 2010
Filed under: Design, Miscellaneous | No Comments
Smell Like a Man
This isn’t really indie or hipster or anything that nobody has ever heard of, but it’s the best ad I’ve seen in a long time… and I’ve been showing it to everyone lately. The writing is perfect, the actor is perfect… hilarious.
Posted by: Josh Abe on February 23, 2010
Filed under: Miscellaneous, Video | No Comments
Hipster Collective on Facebook
You may have noticed that the frequency of posts has diminished significantly lately. This is due mainly to the fact that I rarely get a moment to breath or get away from my computer at my new job, so when I get home the last place I want to be is on my computer. It’s also due to the fact that I’ve constructed my calendar in such a way that I only have monday nights and friday nights free, and I find that a great way to keep from getting burnt out is to maintain a healthy social life. The bottom line is that I haven’t been able to post as much as I’d like lately, and that’s going to change as a result of a three part initiative:
First of all, now that I’ve kind of gotten into the swing of things at work, I’ve been able to keep my head above water and I’ve found that I am a little less tired after work. Practically, this means that I’ll be making more of an effort to get back to sharing the hippest content around with you good people out in internet land. It’s something I’ve neglected, so it’s as simple as making a change in that area, and I intend to do so.
The second, and most immediate phase of this initiative is a brand new feature I’m booting up. I created a facebook page for Hipster Collective a while back, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to use it to its fullest potential. I don’t want to just have a facebook page for my blog because that’s what everyone does, I want to really utilize the space and involve the community, because that is what social networking is, after all.
Here’s how it will work: You read the blog, you know what kind of stuff we’re interested in, now share whatever you found with us on the Hipster Collective facebook page.
It’s as simple as that. Post a link or a photo or a video, whatever you want. This is really the “collective” that was originally intended for this blog. It’s going to be a group effort from now on. I’ll be curating content from stuff everyone posts on the facebook page, and you’ll get credit for what you post, so make it good. This will help me be able to post more often, and it will be a great way for everyone to have a little bit more discussion.
I don’t know for sure if it will work or not, but let’s give it a shot and see how it goes, okay?
The third phase is probably the largest part of this whole initiative, but I’m going to keep that a secret for now. I hope to roll out this phase in the next few weeks or so.
That’s it! Thanks for reading, everybody. Hipster Collective wouldn’t be as fun without you all, and I can’t wait to see how this all goes. It should be tons of fun.
Posted by: Josh Abe on February 23, 2010
Filed under: Miscellaneous | No Comments
Micky Adams
Look at this effing hipster singing a song with his guitar and orange hat. His name is Micky Adams, and this video was shot at a gallery in LA called This, Los Angeles. I dont’ have much information about the gallery other than what I pulled from their website:
THIS is a group of 5 artists pooling their resources under one roof to provide an outlet for themselves and other creative people. The intention of THIS is to provide a gallery space which brings friends and family together in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles not just for traditional gallery shows, but a venue for artists to speak about their work, to interact with their audience and facilitate a creative atmosphere in the community.
It sounds like a pretty cool project where artists or celebrities can stop by and do something creative in front of a camera. At the very least, the video brought a smile to my face, and I dare you to watch it without feeling a little bit better about your day.
Go check out the blog to see other people having fun.
Posted by: Josh Abe on January 13, 2010
Filed under: Miscellaneous, Video | No Comments
Kate MccGwire
Hey! Check out this incredible installation work by an artist named Kate MccGuire from London. Whenever someone puts this much time and effort into their work, it always shows.
Go check out more of her work.
Posted by: Josh Abe on January 10, 2010
Filed under: Design, Miscellaneous | No Comments
Mag+
This is an interesting concept video that has been making the rounds lately, and I wanted to open it up for discussing to my viewers.
We’ve seen things like the Kindle and the Nook that put thousands of books into a single device, and provides the opportunity to purchase new books within seconds… but is that an acceptable format for reading?
I have a Kindle, and it have come in handy a few times, and proved to be very enjoyable… but there’s just something very romantic about holding a great cover and turning physical pages. Every time I get a new book, the first thing I do is open it up to the middle and stick my nose down into the gutter (designer speak for the fold in between the pages). There’s nothing like the feeling of holding and reading a real book.
At the same time, I have limited space in my briefcase, and I enjoy hopping between books depending on my mood. There’s no way I’d be able to carry around even 3 books at a time in my briefcase, but the Kindle allows me to have 20 books (or more) at my fingertips whenever I’m in a pinch.
I think the more we convert our entertainment into purely intangible formats, the less connection we have with the experience of it all. I still collect vinyls because of that beloved process of selecting the album from my shelf, pulling out the sleeve, sliding the record onto the spindle, and setting the needle down into the grooves. There’s therapy in the process, and I think we’ve lost a lot of the romance with the ability to download things instantly.
Entertainment is about enjoyment. Technology in entertainment seems to help us rush the process, and what happens is we don’t allow ourselves time to enjoy our music or our books, which really, is the whole point isn’t it?
So what do you think? Is there benefit to the convenience and expedience of digital media, or do you prefer the experience of an old fashioned book or vinyl? I’d love to sample the climate of the entertainment industry’s consumers.
Posted by: Josh Abe on December 19, 2009
Filed under: Design, Miscellaneous, Tech | 1 Comment
Mobile Mobile
This is a really slick installation of mobile phones hanging from the ceiling that play one tone each to make music. It’s along the same lines as the microwaves I posted last year. Filed under: obligatory christmas cheer.
Posted by: Josh Abe on December 19, 2009
Filed under: Miscellaneous | No Comments
