Ignite – This great concept reminded me of TED, only that Ignite is more bite-sized, offering five minute videos and talks of inspiring and insightful ideas and theories. Ignite is not so much a website as it is an event and phenomena; Ignite events have already taken place in over 100 cities worldwide, where presenters “share their personal and professional passions, using 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds for a total of just five minutes.”
Ignite events are sponsored by Bing and Facebook, and I strongly encourage you to visit the site if only to explore their video section of past Ignite talks and events. The next couple Ignite events will take place in Portland, Phoenix and Denver (Sep-Oct 2010), so if you’ll be around these locations this and next month, I suggest you stop by. See the video below I enjoyed watching, by Julia Grace on Are You Really as Cool as You Seem on Facebook? Happy discoveries…
Scouting New York – The Scout (who wishes to remain anonymous) works as a film location scouter in the Big Apple, and if you read the blog’s About page, you’ll learn he or she has seen it all; basements and subway tunnels, luxury penthouses and former factories turned into residential apartments in Brooklyn.
This scouting job niche is very intriguing, and we’re lucky the Scout has decided to share his (or her) unusual findings with us. New York is not just a concrete jungle; it’s filled with gems if you know where to look. Thanks, Scout for sharing. And if you’re living in NY and have an interesting property you’d like to offer as a film shoot location, email the Scout: nycscout@gmail.com.
By the way, Scouting New York is the Weekly Blog that scored the most clicks, so that’s how it made it to last week’s Weekly Faves spot. Congrats Scout! Below are some pictures of the Weird Little House on Lafayette Street.
The Decorista – Interior design can be a blessing if it’s done right, and conversely, a terrible collection of mismatched items if you don’t know what you are doing. Thankfully, The Decorista, created by the professional and talented Ashlina, is here to help. Don’t rely solely on Ikea to make your home the beautifully designed crib you’re looking for. You’ll need the assistance of the creative eye on this one.
Ashlina gathers all the best and most inspiring interior design ideas on the Web and neatly presents them to her readers. I just love her taste and I can only wish I could have made my own apartment look like the photos you’ll find on the Decorista. Armed with a degree in interior design and experience of decorating people’s homes, Ashlina offers a decor gem worth exploring. See the photo below of Art + Room taken from Lona de Anna. Lovely!
Photography Served – Brought to us by the always satisfying Behance Network, Photography Served can only mean yet another form of visual bliss. The site describes itself as a collection of “fresh works from leading creative professionals,” and that’s a gross understatement. You will find nothing short of top notch, magazine quality photography here, and each photo is even more inspiring than the previous one.
Below are a couple of photos I was mesmerized by and wanted to share. In addition, I recommend exploring our Photography mini page for additional photography resources and how-to’s if you are interested.
Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright; photographed and retouched by Greg Bennett
Earth by Navid Baraty
Woulda Coulda Shoulda – About six years ago, a newly divorcée and single mom, who also happened to be a superb writer, decided to write a blog as a way to cope with it all. Today, Woulda Coulda Shoulda is Mir’s “way through it, laughing at myself as much as possible, trying to make sure that I end up with only the right regrets.”
Mir’s candid and engaging blog is all about great reads. I encourage you to read at the very least five different posts -you’ll thank me later. As an example, read Kettle, you’re so difficult, with which the dog owners among you will certainly happily identify.
Since I developed a particular admiration to Mir and her way of dealing with life’s curve balls, I’d like to point out she’s a full time freelancer. If you need the services of a seasoned writer, check out Mir’s professional blog.
Lotie – Probably one of the best and most talented illustrators on Earth, Lotie lives in and works from Paris. Her amazing works scored top notch campaigns such as Smart (the mini car), Absolut Vodka, Duplo, Ferrero (the chocolate), and many others. In fact, even France’s First Lady, Carla Bruni, paid for Lotie’s talent to promote herself.
So what would you imagine the website of a globally renowned illustrator to look like? Nothing short of amazing, and Lotie.com is exactly that. This is one of the most beautiful websites you’ll see for a while. Help yourself and explore the works of the virtuoso Lotie.
From Loti’s illustration for Flavor Magazine, No. 5 Chanel
Bandcamp – Where do new music artists and bands go to publish their music online? MySpace for the most part. It’s not a bad service; there’s the textual content you can publish as a band or a performer, chat with fans, and upload your music using the MySpace music player. However now there is a much, much better alternative. I dare call it the best online solution available for upcoming musicians, singers and bands.
Bandcamp truly is the ultimate virtual stage for musicians, bands and singers seeking professional and effective publicity, not to mention interaction with their fans. The music advertisment dominance by MySpace has come to an end, succeeded by a comprehensive multi-functional, multi-opportunity, beautiful music hub for artists and bands. Bands are provided with an array of tools including visitor statistics, excellent sound quality music player, music sales platform, different music download formats your fans can choose from, mailing list and loads, loads more.
Why settle for the mediocre when you can get the absolute best in every possible aspect? Bandcamp should be your 1st choice. Actually, your only choice. See the screen shot of a featured band called Mars Argo I came across Bandcamp, and also be sure to check out the site’s video which shows Bancamp’s power in a nutshell.
Everyone – One of the most inspiring media projects I’ve seen in a while, Everyone is a production company based in NY and Los Angeles. Having an impressive history of past clients such as NPR, Radiolab and Mediacom, Everyone is a visual content virtuoso, cleverly presenting the subtlety, oddity, beauty and narratives of the modern human culture.
There is no other way for you to understand what I’m referring to without sitting down for a couple of minutes and seeing the majestic power of superbly edited and shot, short movie stories of Everyone. See Words, my current favorite, below (by Everyone, in collaboration with WNYC’s Radiolab and NPR; directed by Daniel Mercadante & Will Hoffman; Supervising Producer: Robert Krulwich; Original Score: Keith Kenniff (unseen-music.com).
Becoming Minimalist – This amazingly inspiring blog by Joshua Becker is my new RSS this week. Self-explained by the blog’s title, Joshua’s web diary of his family’s minimalist approach to life is beautifully written and extremely engaging. According to Joshua, Becoming Minimalist aims to “inspire you to live with less. And find more life because of it.”
Living in America in this day and age while consumption is at an all time high, we ought to praise people like Joshua for being the voice that reminda us what’s really important in life and how to maintain it. To get a glimpse of the great posts you will find on Becoming Minimalist, start with my favorite, The 10 Most Important Things to Simplify in Your Life. And if you’re interested in discovering what led Joshua and his family toward minimalism to begin with, read this.
Life with Dogs – Created by Neil, Life with Dogs is here “to fetch the most interesting and relevant dog news and video for your consumption.” But that’s not all Life with Dogs is about. It’s also about drawing rescue stories, dogs up for adoption, and user stories into the canine lovers spotlight.
Keeping high levels of interest via diversified post topics, excellent photos and user participation, Neil does an amazing job in maintaining a blog that’s not just another dog enthusiast web diary. It’s compelling, funny, witty, political at times but all in good taste, spoken by a true animal lover. Great blog. I urge you to subscribe. If you are a dog owner yourself, you’re invited to submit your Fido’s pics and/or videos -check out the Submissions page.
Exploring the content on Life with Dogs led me to this interesting article on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in war dogs. It’s fascinating. Also be sure to watch the video below. It’s the most compelling story of an abandoned dog, saved by good people. The video below is part 2. To catch up with the 1st part, click here.
Expedition Titanic – The world’s most famous sunken ship is known to most of us, and I think it’s safe to say 95% of all women in the Western world (including me) have seen the Hollywood movie Titanic. The tragic story of this grand ship thought to be unsinkable, has reemerged in 1985 when the wreck was discovered by a joint American-French expedition, led by Jean-Louis Michel (Ifremer) and Dr. Robert Ballard (WHOI).
Expedition Titanic is brought to us by Christopher J. Davino, President of RMS Titanic Inc. Having some of the world’s leading experts and scientists on the team and using the forefront of technology, Davino and his team wish to “create a portrait of the Ship unlike any that has been created before…” Navigate through the depths of the Titanic’s wreck site, explore the ship’s parts, the wreck’s environment, and learn more of the Titanic’s grandness prior to its fatal end. Expedition Titianic is a masterful commemoration and educational site, remembering and celebrating the Ship that will be forever cherished.
CreativeApplications.Net – With the aim of bringing together “applications that challenge the ways how we share and engage with information,” CreativeApplications.Net identifies the best creative apps out there, suitable for PCs, Mac, iPhone, iPad and other devices, and presents them to us in the most appealing way possible.
The slick interface and the terrific posts make CreativeApplications.Net a must stop for both creative professionals and savvy technology/Web users. See the uber-cool Sound Yeah post for an example of CreativeApplications.Net’s sweetness (click on the post’s photo below to read it).
