Cozy Cuteness for Little Noggins. Neff's Yo Gabba Gabba Winter Beanies for Kids.

Neff's officially licensed Yo Gabba Gabba winter hats are an adorable way to keep those little keppies (keppie is yiddish for 'head' in case you were wondering) warm this winter.

The 100% acrylic stretch-to-fit beanies come in 7 youth styles, the five fun characters from the wacky children's show (Muno, Plex, Toodee, Brobee and Foofa) and two general versions (boombox and all the characters).

Muno:

Brobee:

Foofa:

Plex:

Toodee:

Boombox:

Characters:


Buy them here.

Our Fonts, Our Friends. A Film From the Folks At Veer.

Veer has just released this fun animated short film to market their font selection. "Our Fonts, Our Friends" is the first in a series of retro science films from the stock photo, image, illustration and typeface company. In this installment, the narrator discusses font styles, how to choose your font, and where to find an endless supply of affordable fonts.



Veer is one of my favorite type and image houses for their style, selection, attitude and design. Photography, illustration and all sorts of fonts are available to purchase and download. In addition to a wonderful array of type styles, they offer a few stylish gifts for fontophiles, lots of fun free images, wallpapers, fonts, book and more.



above: Ampersand cufflinks and Font coffee mug are both available online at Veer



Veer

Mario Bros. Comes Alive as Graffiti on a Sidewalk (and how it was done).

This video was part of Andreas Heikaus' Bachelor thesis at the University of Applied science and art in Hannover, Germany. In his project, the Super Mario Bros. game, released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, is no longer bound to the television screen and becomes interactive in a new environment. The emphasis of Andreas' thesis was on the process of matching CG elements into live-action footage.



How he did it:


Andreas Heikhaus:


The talented young compositor is looking for a job. Interested? Contact him here.

A Paper Theater Brought to Life With Light Projection. The Ice Book By Davy McGuire.

Davy McGuire is a director of film, theater and video art. He creates productions for stage, screen and exhibition spaces that blend elements of film, animation, theatre, puppetry, installation art and good old-fashioned illusions.



His latest piece, created with choreographer and dancer wife Kristin, uses light projection on a series of small paper cut out pop-ups combined with film projection and animation for a hauntingly beautiful effect.






The Ice Book is the story of a princess who lures a boy into the forest in order to warm her heart of ice.



His showreel:

Davy McGuire

via W&LeCie via NOTCOT

30 New York Statues Sport Cloaks To Promote NBC's The Cape (GALLERY)

above: The James Stranahan statue donning NBC's promotional "cape"


As part of a marketing push for the new NBC series "The Cape" (two-hour premiere tonight, Sunday, January 9, 9-11p.m. ET), 30 New York public statues and monuments have been cloaked in black fabric capes accompanied by a temporary kiosk or plaque that gives a brief mention of the figure's history along with the story of The Cape (Vince Faraday, a valiant cop framed for murder played by David Lyons) - linking the two "heroes".



The blue-black capes began appearing on statues all over the city on Januaray 5th. City Parks Department officials allowed NBC executives to create hype for "The Cape" by draping the frocks on sculptures of historic figures until Sunday in exchange for a $120,000 donation to maintain public art.

The locations:

NBC's interactive map tells you which statues have been cloaked.

Vickie Karp, Director of Public Information for New York City Parks & Recreation, says "The new NBC series is a novel way to remind even the most jaded New Yorker that heroes are all around us."

For those of you who don't live in New York, here's a look at some of the various "caped" statues:

President Lincoln:


Admiral David Farragut:

Frederick Douglass:

Christopher Colombus:


Harriet Tubman:

Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva:

Eleanor Roosevelt:

George M Cohan:

Horace Greeley:

General Fowler:

Fiorello LaGuardia:

James Stranahan:


William Henry Seward:


Statue visitors will also be able to enter the “Hero Behind the Cape” giveaway contest using FourSquare and Twitter. Participants can enter the sweepstakes by visiting any one of the 30 caped statues all over New York City and checking in via their FourSquare account. Also, visitors can enter by taking a photo of themselves at any of the statue locations and posting their photo to Twitter. Users will simply need to direct message the official Twitter handle (www.twitter.com/NBCTheCape) or use the hashtag #herobehindthecape when they post their picture. You'll have a tough time beating Pete Labrozzi, though.


above: Pete Labrozzi has been diligently posting images of himself in front of the statues for the past few days.

You can get directions to all the cloaked statue locations here

Of course, had they cloaked Lady Liberty, I'd reeeeally be impressed.

above: digital art by laura sweet

Special thanks to the following sites and blogs for the images:
http://www.dnainfo.com/
http://online.wsj.com
http://www.nydailynews.com
http://www.brooklynpaper.com
http://www.wnyc.org
http://gothamist.com/2011/01/05/citys_statues_get_caped.php
http://emanatepr.com
http://prospectheights.patch.com/

New Nathan Love Animated Thanksgiving Promo For NBC

The latest collaboration between illustrator/director Nathan Love and NBC to wish their viewing audience a Happy Thanksgiving holiday is this 30 second promo which starts airing today.



Client: NBC Artworks
Director: Nathan Love
Creative Director: Joe Burrascano
Art Director: Anca Risca
Animation Director: Ryan Moran
Rigging: Dan Vislocky, Frank Naranjo
FX Animation: Stieg Retlin
Sound Design & Music: Drew Skinner

South Park Style In Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's New JC/DC Collection

I love writing about the fashions of designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac because they are so downright fun. Wacky and irreverent, JCDC plays off of pop culture in his couture and RTW fashions. Lego®, Disney characters, Hello Kitty, The Muppets, Snoopy, celebrities, singers and most recently, Bambi have been featured in his collections. He even designed an Obama dress last year. His clothing has always enjoyable to admire but are rarely affordable.

However, earlier this year Castelbajac created a new diffusion line called JC/DC by JC de Castelbajac. A creative, pop-rock, playful, quality, and affordable clothing line for a new generation, available through a new online store.


above: Charles de Castelbajac, photo by Kathy Le Sant

For the second season (Fall Winter 2010/2011) of his JC/DC line, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac chose the characters of South Park to be the music icons of his collection “Holly boys and naughty girls”.

”I discovered South Park and Nirvana at the same time; I would mute my TV to play “Smells Like Teen Spirit”loudly. The fusion of the two made perfect sense for me! My JC/DC line is about rock and roll; and South Park with its characters, its colourful range, its brutality and its noisy drawing seemed to encapsulate the world I wanted to portray.” -- Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.

The playful and affordable collection incorporates Kenny, Stan, Kyle and Eric (even Butters, Token, Chef, Jesus, Timmy, Wendy, Mr. Hat and more can be found in some of the designs) into cotton and silk shirts, knits, dresses, and outwear for both men and women.
















Shop for the South Park JC/DC clothing and more here.