Archive for November, 2009

Tuning in to Free Internet Radio Websites

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009


Not talking about any statistics in particular, but a general consent would agree that music piracy began a very long time.  I ran across an article on A Little History on Music Piracy, and it got me to think what has the Internet done to help fight this problem. Not to dispute who is right or who is wrong, but to find an alternative for music lovers.

I came across Pandora sometime back and loved the idea of free music streaming from my browser or my Blackberry. The idea is to be able to listen to your favorite artists and similar music related to that genre. As I researched more into this, I found that there are many sites on the world wide web which cater to this audience in need. Each site was evaluated for it’s usability and design for the end user.


Pandora

One of the most well-known music streaming site, Pandora uses Flash to implement the layout and functionality of their radio streams. Choose an artist and Pandora will do the rest for you by playing similar artists in that genre of music.

Pandora Radio

The Pandora website has a clean blue, silver, and greys color scheme and uses advertisements in it's web page by implementing different ads which show to the right of the player screen. At a song change, the ad changes to another. Very clean integration of the ad, as it catches the user's eye and at the same time, keeps it away from it's main purpose. You can make as many different radio stations as you like by simply entering your favorite artist.

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Cool Globes at Discovery Green in Houston

Friday, November 6th, 2009


Cool Globes is a non-profit organization aimed at raising awareness for global warming and to inspire solutions for a community. “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet” is an event taking place from October 8th, 2009 - December 31st, 2009 at Discovery Green in Houston. Matt Binns is the sculptor behind the globes, which were then handed down to the participants to be used as a canvas. Each globe is five feet in diameter, seven-and-one-half feet tall and weighs 2,300 pounds. Because we are all about design in all forms of media, we decided to check out some amazing work done on these globes.


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The Signature Moves of Quentin Tarantino

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009


What makes a Quentin Tarantino film stand out?  Exactly what is his signature?  Some could argue it’s his funky and notable tunes he features on his soundtracks, or the out-of-order editing of his films.  Even Tarantino’s dialogue is recognized as being edgy, relatable, and intelligent.


Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir DogsHis first release Reservoir Dogs showed that he wasn’t afraid to mix and match the storyline.  He brought the audience through the story and the evolution of the characters and then back tracked later in the movie to fill us in on who was really who.  Only Quentin Tarantino could film an entire movie about a bank robbery and never show a character robbing a bank!

Since this was one of his first main, individual projects, his budget was tight for advertising.  He sent the film to festival contests and quickly became widely recognized for his unique film.

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