Smashing Magazine has posted a list of 25 free quality fonts.  I took a look over them and while some are mediocre there are a a couple pretty nice ones I would recommend downloading. Head over when you get the chance and get some free fonts. 

Uniqlo recently posted all their web projects online in one place.  For those unfamiliar, they have done some really inspiring, innovative and creative work the past couple of years. 

Web 2.0 Suicide Machine is quite a strange and bizarre concept but some how it’s kind of fascinating.  Basically, and I’m not sure who would do this but it deletes all your social networks in a very short amount of time as oppose to doing it yourself manually.  The design itself is very 2.0ish and trendy which makes the whole site a bit gimmicky. Nonetheless, if anyone is tired of being stalked, harassed or spammed to death on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and some reason LinkedIn this is your chance to erase yourself from all the social networks. 

I hope everybody had a great New Year’s, I don’t have too much to say at the moment as I am still trying to settle down and get the hang of things again; it’s been quite some time. I will be a pretty busy the first couple of months in 2010, I have some projects that are kicking off and I have to find a new place by next month.  For those not living in NYC, locating a new place is pretty hectic and can be quite stressful.  But beyond that I am hoping to get a couple of personal projects completed this year, a new blog, site, personal work, etc. as well as continuing to work for major brands and expanding and meeting new clients. 

I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy Holidays this year. What a crazy year it has been despite the slow economy.  I would like thank everyone that I had a chance to work with this year and I look forward to seeing what 2010 brings. Have a good X-Mas and New Years.

Adam

I was going through some files and came across these unused pieces I did earlier this year for a client. Getting in the holiday spirit, these are up for a free download for anyone that can find use of them.  Not sure where they would fit in but perhaps some sports related work or icons.  These are completely customizable .ai files (illustrator). Download here. 

A friend of mine recently came across an interesting photo shoot for Empire Online’s 20th Birthday Portfolio.  The one image that grabbed his attention was the shot of Gerard Butler (Right) dressed in business casual attire holding a spartan shield.  I had a similar idea that I created last year for a Cinemax campaign (Left) that featured the movie 300 as well.  The concept was an everyday person imaging themselves as a spartan in a modern world.  Anyway I think it’s kind of cool seeing a illustrated version and a closely related photograph.

A little late on this but the Underworld Rise of The Lycans, the last project that I worked on while at Big Spaceship has recently won a Pixel Award under the movie category. 

I just got back from Shanghai the other day and I’m trying to adjust to the time difference, jet lag, minimum sleep, weather, you name it and most likely I’m trying to get use to it again. I know I have failed to keep this blog fresh while I was away but now that I am back things will change.  Anyways, for those in the design or creative industry we all come across creative blocks at some point or another.  What we do to get out of this situation is completely up to the individual but for those we may need some extra help, check out Creative Block part of the Monomoda Network.  This slick and clean site offers design ideas (words of wisdom) to help you get pass those long moments of blank. 

First of all I apologize for not updating as much as normal these past couple of weeks.  I know since my last post I said I was going to updating more but obviously that has not happened.  I’ve been pulling in long hours at work this whole week and I think next week will be more of the same.  However, I have been able to go out and explore other parts of the city a little more on the weekends.

Like New York, Shanghai has a huge pallet of cuisine and food that is quite cheap and really good.  The local places may look dingy and dirty but don’t let that fool you from tasting what they have.  The night life so far has reminded me more of Meat Packing District spread across China. Every place seems to be very clubbish with hip hop / techno (house, drum&bass, whatever) dominating the music scene even at so called dive bars. Some places are more laid back than others and the crowd is different as well but you can always be sure that the music is pretty much the same, in a scary way you almost start to get use to it.

Shark tanks are apparently pretty popular here as well, I saw 2 giant ones at 2 different clubs and one in the subway.  Unfortunately, there was one dead baby shark lying upside down on the bottom and I overheard someone say it was taking a nap and I don’t think they were kidding around either.  This upcoming week should be quite interesting as Thanksgiving is approaching and this will be my first time celebrating it outside the U.S (I’m sure the Roast Duck will be replacing the Turkey this year).  I have more photos uploaded as well, either click the ones above or view them on my Flickr here. 

Jing’an Temple

Escalator in the middle of nowhere, part of my walk to work

Drop coins down this for good luck?

Well, where to begin.... My first week of work here in Shanghai has wrapped up and it’s been a very interesting experience thus far to say the least.  Adapting to the whole culture and trying to learn as much about it in a short period of time with a limited amount of Mandarin vocabulary is really something.  I am very surprised at how many Foreigners I have seen so far, they are really all over the place.  For the most part the first few days have been pretty routine, not that it has to be but mainly because of my lack of transition into the new time zone. So far my days have looked a bit like this.

6:50 - 7:30 am : Wake up pretty much on my own which is surprising considering how much I sleep in, in NY.
8:45 - 9:30 am : Grab a coffee at the local cafe (Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf) and people watch a little bit before taking the short 10 - 15 stroll to work.
10:00 - 12:00 pm: The usual work stuff.
1:00 - 2:00 pm: Go out and eat with a group of people from the office, they normally tend to hit up the very local places which has no English on the menu.  The food is always good but since I can’t read I normally just get whatever somebody else gets, but again the food is great.
3:00 - 7:30 pm: Return to and finish up work.
9:00 pm: At this time my body tends to crash on me and that is when I go to bed haha.

I haven’t had too much time to explore yet except for today and just a little bit last night, but so far so good.  I’m looking forward to seeing more around this place and I will try to post more often than once a week.  Check out my Flickr for more photos of Shanghai. 

I recently noticed a couple places have started to develop circus crossings which are cross walks at 4 way intersections that allows pedestrians to cross the road in any direction (straight, right, left, diagonal).  The way it works is that all traffic will come to complete stop for a couple of minutes allowing people to quickly maneuver across the intersection.  I think this is a great idea and I’m sure soon enough it will be adapted to other major cities such as New York.  I’m not sure if you are like me but waiting to cross the street can be a pain sometimes, especially if you have to cross one way wait for traffic to stop and then cross another direction. This will definitely speed up the waiting game.

In just a couple of days I will be departing U.S. soil across the world to Shanghai, China for a couple weeks to do some work.  This will be my first time working out of the country and I am not sure what to expect, except that it should be very interesting.  Working in another country I’m sure will have its challenges but I am excited to see what comes of it.  First will be the language barrier, I’m expecting most things to be written in Chinese so I hope with the help of the iphone, internet, and some apps, I will be able to some how navigate my way around the city. Then, with the contribution of not understanding foreign currency, eating food that is not seen in the U.S, visiting unusual places and working in a all Chinese environment, all these should help make for one hell of a trip. In between a busy work schedule and trying to adjust to the time change (13 hrs) I will try to post as many photos / news as possible.

If anyone has any advice about anything they would like to share that would be great.

Land of Talks new music video titled “It’s Ok” is quite a visually amazing and beautiful piece. If you have sometime be sure to check out this stunning story.

Public Ad Campaign recently took over the streets of NYC whitewashing over 120 unlawful NPA billboards.  A couple of people were arrested during this process however the end result according to the organizers was dubbed great success.  Some of the whitewashed billboards was later turned into art pieces created by various artists around the city.