Martijn Vreugde's piece of the net

Stunning art from an unlikely material

2010-10-15T11:40:00.001+02:00

Incredibly creative ideas

Posted via email from Martijn's collections of thoughts

“I want to build a website that appeals to the Amish people.”

2010-10-15T11:36:00.001+02:00

A collection of anonymously contributed client horror stories from designers.

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Posted via email from Martijn's collections of thoughts

Steve Wiebe is the King of Kong again

2010-09-21T07:35:00.001+02:00

Steve Wiebe is the King of Kong again http://pop.is/1c5sq

via popurls.com

Posted via email from Martijn's collections of thoughts

"This is America damnit. And i...

2010-08-19T15:54:00.001+02:00

"This is America damnit. And in America when someone come for your neighbor, for his http://pop.is/157st

via popurls.com

Posted via email from Martijn's collections of thoughts

The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Inte...

2010-08-18T07:48:00.001+02:00

The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet http://pop.is/15uy6

via popurls.com

Posted via email from Martijn's collections of thoughts

Honda Witbank had swapped out the engine!!!!!

2010-01-11T11:44:00.002+02:00

I (via Standard Bank) purchased a Mazda RX-8 from the Honda dealership on the 3rd of October 2009.

It was only when they sent their driver a few weeks later to drop off the licence plate and registration papers that I discovered they had swapped out the engine!!!!!

Their driver asked me to sign the changes the Honda dealership made to the finance contract with Standard Bank in regards to changing the original engine's number shown on the contract to the number of the replacement ENGINE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, AGE OR MILEAGE that was put in.

They (Dealership owner: Charlie van Rensburg) had also proceeded to register the car with the replaced engine. I'm quite sure they were obligated to disclose the fact of this most drastic alteration to the car to both me and Standard Bank before the purchase was made, in my understanding of law this is the definition of fraud.

Honda itself don't seem particularly bothered about their brand and how it tarnished by their franchises. They did call only to tell me that due to the fact that it is a franchise and thus a seperate legal entity they are not liable.

Posted on HelloPeter

Google Maps officially launched in SA | TechCentral

2009-10-29T16:24:00.000+02:00

Google Maps officially launched in SA | TechCentral: "

Google Maps officially launched in SA

Google has launched its map service in SA, providing detailed map information, driving and walking directions, transport data, and a range of other services.

Ahead of the 2010 soccer World Cup, the US Internet company has also provided a range of services specifically tailored for international tourists. These include a foreign-language version of the SA maps. The service allows tourists to plan their holidays.

“If you were using Maps two days ago, you will see a greatly different site today,” says Google SA country manager, Stephen Newton.

There are roughly 30 countries worldwide that have their own Google Maps Internet domain, or Web address. SA is the second country in Africa to receive the service, after Kenya.

The service allows businesses, including restaurants, to list their business information free of charge. And users can upload a wide range of information, including photos and live webcams.

Jaroslav Bengi, product manager for Google Maps in Europe and Africa, says a range of improvements have been introduced to the SA maps, which were previously unavailable.

SA now has its own landing page at maps.google.co.za — it no longer defaults to the US view — and searches are assumed to be local, not global.

Google has introduced a range of clever search tools that will help both tourists and local users. For example, a search for “restaurants near Nelson Mandela Square Sandton” will return a list of restaurants in the area. Or a search for “pizza Randburg” will list pizzerias in Randburg.

Users can then click on specific restaurants to get detailed information about the establishment, including user reviews, menus and even photographs.

Once a user has decided which restaurant to eat at, he can get driving or walking directions from their current location.

The new Google Maps service is also available on a range of mobile phones via Google’s mobile application.

Google has extended its “application programming interface” to the SA maps , allowing people to embed Google Maps on their websites. This service is likely to prove popular for real estate agents and other businesses that rely on map data.

Google’s highly anticipated Street View service, which provides a street-level view, will be launched in SA before the World Cup, Jaroslav says. Streets in five SA cities are being photographed using special cameras mounted to a fleet of Toyota Priuses. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral

Surf's up Wednesday: Google Wave update

2009-09-29T20:37:00.000+02:00

Surf's up Wednesday: Google Wave update: "Starting Wednesday, September 30 we'll be sending out more than 100,000 invitations to preview Google Wave to:

Developers who have been active in the developer preview we started back in June
The first users who signed up and offered to give feedback on wave.google.com
Select customers of Google Apps

We'll ask some of these early users to nominate people they know also to receive early invitations — Google Wave is a lot more useful if your friends, family and colleagues have it too. This, of course, will just be the beginning. If all goes well we will soon be inviting many more to try out Google Wave.

Some of you have asked what we mean by preview. This just means that Google Wave isn't quite ready for prime time. Not yet, anyway. Since first unveiling the project back in May, we've focused almost exclusively on scalability, stability, speed and usability. Yet, you will still experience the occasional downtime, a crash every now and then, part of the system being a bit sluggish and some of the user interface being, well, quirky.

There are also still key features of Google Wave that we have yet to fully implement. For example, you can't yet remove a participant from a wave or define groups of users, draft mode is still missing and you can't configure the permissions of users on a wave. We'll be rolling out these and other features as soon as they are ready — over the next few months.

Despite all this, we believe you will find that Google Wave has the potential for making you more productive when communicating and collaborating. Even when you're just having fun! We use it ourselves everyday for everything from planning pub crawls to sharing photos, managing release processes and debating features to writing design documents. In fact, we collaborated on this very blog post with several colleagues in Google Wave.

Speaking of ways you could potentially use Google Wave, we're intrigued by the many detailed ones people have taken the time to describe. To mention just a few: journalist Andy Ihnatko on producing his Chicago Sun-Times column, filmmaker Jonathan Poritsky on streamlining the movie-making process, scientist Cameron Neylon on academic papers and lab work, Alexander Dreiling and his SAP research team on collaborative business process modelling, and ZDNet's Dion Hincliffe on a host of enterprise use cases.

The Wave team's most fun day since May? We invited a group of students to come spend a day with us at Google's Sydney office. Among other things, we asked them to collaboratively write stories in Google Wave about an imaginary trip around the world. They had a ball! As did we...

Finally, a big shoutout to the thousands of developers who have patiently taken part in our ongoing developer preview. It has been great fun to see the cool extensions already built or being planned and incredibly instructive to get their help planning the future of our APIs. To get a taste for what some of these creative developers have been working on, and to learn more about the ways we hope to make it even easier for developers to build new extensions, check out this post on our developer blog.

Happy waving!

Posted by Lars Rasmussen, Engineering Manager & Stephanie Hannon, Group Product Manager

Coca Cola Can Concept

2009-09-23T18:47:00.000+02:00

Coca Cola Can Concept: "

Dzmitry Samal designed a unique concept for beverage cans. The shape is much more geometric - featuring facets, instead of the familiar smooth round cylinder we're used to. The new can design utilizes a process called impact extrusion, a process where an aluminum slug (solid piece of metal) is pressed at a high velocity with extreme force into a die/mold by a punch.

The usual cylindrical can is made by a similar, but different process. The cans are generally produced through a mechanical cold forming process that starts with punching a flat blank from very stiff cold-rolled sheet. The flat blank is first formed into a cup about three inches in
diameter. This cup is then pushed through a different forming process
called 'ironing' which forms the can.

Conceptually, Dzmitry's concept could work, but it remains to be seen if it is comparable to the current standard can in price, quality and even feasibility for full-scale manufacture. What are your thoughts?

Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.

2009-09-22T08:27:00.000+02:00

Design You Trust. World's Most Famous Social Inspiration.: "

via http://designyoutrust.com/

New Image Search Results for Feature Phones

2009-08-28T14:52:00.001+02:00

New Image Search Results for Feature Phones: "Earlier this year, we launched new Image Search results for iPhone and Android-powered devices. Since then, we've rolled out the new format to iPhone and Android in 28 countries. Now, the new Image Search results pages are also available for most other phones in 38 languages.

The image results are tightly packed, making optimal use of the screen space on your phone and allowing you to scan eight to fourteen images on a single results page. Clicking an image leads to a details page, which not only shows a larger thumbnail, but also lets you either visit the web page hosting the image or view the image itself in full size. Moreover you can navigate the search results using 'next' and 'previous' links. These features are designed to make browsing and searching for images on your phone easier and faster.

How to use Image Search:
1. Go to google.com and click on “Images.”
2. Do a search query. The results page shows related images, clicking on an image loads the details page.

3. The image details page shows a larger thumbnail and links to the original website and image. You could also navigate to other results using 'Next Image' link.

Posted by Varun Sharma and Jignashu Parikh, Software Engineers, Google Mobile Team

Collaborate on Picasa Web Albums

2009-08-27T14:04:00.003+02:00

I use Picasa quite a bit with storing graphics and sharing images with friends so thought this was interesting:

Collaborate on Picasa Web Albums: "Posted by Thomas Kang, Software Engineer

After a recent trip to Yosemite, I was frustrated to see my traveling companions share their photos in three different online albums on three different photo-sharing sites. What we really needed was a single album to which everyone could add their photos. Google Docs makes collaborating on documents easy. Why not try a similar idea with photos? Starting today, every album on Picasa Web Albums is potentially collaborative: multiple people can add pictures to the same album.

To make an album collaborative, sign in to Picasa Web Albums and add contributors. Just click the 'Share' button, add contributors, and leave the 'Let people I share with contribute photos' checkbox selected.

You can also manage access for contributors you've added to the 'Shared with' list by toggling the 'plus' icon next to their name – when the plus icon is green they can add photos.

Contributors will need to log in to Picasa Web Albums with their Google Account to add photos. When they visit your collaborative album, they just need to click the 'Add Photos' button to start uploading.

Contributors' photos will be attributed to them, and they can rotate, delete, or add captions to the pictures they've uploaded.

FFFFOUND!

2009-04-21T16:55:00.002+02:00

Quoted from: Jason Thielke - Art

www.jasonthielke.com/images/kim.and.jesse.jpg

via ffffound.com

Posted via web from Martijn's collections of thoughts

Lovell Industries 3D Logo

2008-08-08T08:45:00.002+02:00

Lovell Industries 3D Logo, originally uploaded by martijn vreugde.

I had tons of fun building this logo. Had to learn to master Adobe Illustrator CS3's 3D modeling engine to get it looking just right. The client later requested that the color palette of a sister company's logo was used which was gold and purple which came out ok but I still prefer this variation.

VIRTUAL SPORTS EVENTS

2008-08-08T08:36:00.002+02:00

VIRTUAL SPORTS EVENTS, originally uploaded by martijn vreugde.

This was for a brochure I did to be used in a UK gaming conference called ICE. I like the use of negative space to show the text.

Did he have Passion?

2008-03-22T13:08:00.002+02:00

Did he have Passion?, originally uploaded by martijn vreugde.

I heard this in a movie years ago and it stuck with me “You know the Greeks didn't write obituaries, they only asked one question after a man died, ‘Did he have passion?’”. When they ask this at your funeral what will those who know you best say?

Mother Earth's bitch slappin

2008-03-12T07:13:00.003+02:00

What if Earth could hit back, cause you know we have it comin'
Our continous abuse of the planet will come with consequences some day and I'm sure meeting Mother nature at high noon won't be pleasant nor subtle. The background image is from a photo taken of me by Hush Naidoo

The Mounting Pressure of Life

2008-03-11T23:57:00.003+02:00

This is an earthy coloured design reminiscent of WW2 Propaganda posters showing the individual’s world exploding around him while pressure continues to mount. The vector aspects were constructed in Adobe Illustrator CS3 while the color toning and textures where done in Adobe Photoshop CS3

Passion

2008-03-11T23:50:00.003+02:00

Allow your mind to branch out, to expand, to explode, to become passionate. Delve in to the parts that scare you, that entice your dreams and tickle the curl in the corner of your smile.

Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator fun

2008-02-22T12:49:00.007+02:00

This was a wallpaper type design I built for the virtual horse racing game. Was tons of fun to make, the new Adobe CS3 range ROCKS!! The 3D elements constructed in Adobe Illustrator CS3 with the graphic elements done in Adobe Photoshop CS3.

Dirty Harry

2008-02-13T20:54:00.004+02:00

The immortal words of Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan in the cult classic ‘Dirty Harry’ has befallen the ears of roughly every English speaking male on the planet, granted only a fraction have ever seen the movie but the quote is one of the greats. The line in the movie actually is:”I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”

Knowledge infusion

2008-02-13T20:42:00.002+02:00

An Infusion of information into the mind’s eye from the written script of old to the digital data of the modern age.

The Dawning of Wallpapers

2008-02-10T21:44:00.002+02:00

This is first of many designs that I’m making as wallpapers for a good friend of mine who, depending on his secret agent status will be revealed soon (this guy taught that 007 character everything he knows) he has commissioned me for a ton of these for his soon to be utterly awesome site, where you can download among other things wallpapers constructed for all screen sizes including even iPhones, in other words watch this space I’ll be putting a link up soon.

Designs out of hibernation

2007-07-06T12:42:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone sorry for the extended leave of absence from posting on this blog, to say I have been busy would be akin to saying the SA weather is tending slightly to the nippy side (for the international readers, we are freezing down here…yeah…yeah… ok, compared to Calgary we are toasty but us South Africans love our sunny warm weather so this cold front monstrosity is not exactly welcome).
On to other news I have been offered a position at a really cool company which is online based so I’ll be learning more about my mistress the internet as well as actually using all my Google knowledge for marketing and search engine optimization.
The logo you see above is one I designed for some awesome friends who have great taste and are incredibly fun to work with. They have a interior design and construction company called Dolce Diva. They have just started a blog so click on over and check them out.

a stroll on light

2007-04-13T01:17:00.000+02:00

Would it not be simpler if the chasm over which we need to leap when a risk is to be taken were lit, if you knew the gorgeous woman at the end of the bar liked you in return, that the new job offered would be worth the risk, that the investment your lifesavings are in will reap rewards? Of course in life it is purely because the chasm is dark and unsure that we feel so relieved and grateful when the risk works in our favor. However this daunting reality does not make us grateful for the chasm because many a time our fears are justified. Alas to reap any true success in life risks must be taken.

a twisted letter or two

2006-12-08T22:58:00.000+02:00

This is my first attempt at an ambigram, this is a typographical design in which a word can be read in at least two ways usually when rotated 180º. Hopefully you should be able to read the word written here, I would really appreciate it if you would let me know in the comments. I was first initiated to the complexity of ambigrams by the novel Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (of Da Vinci Code fame) the protagonist is the character Robert Langdon whose named after the man who designed all ambigrams within the two books. John Langdon is designer with a strong philosophical approach; he was inspired to do them after seeing the famous yin yang symbol.

singular thought

2006-11-10T18:22:00.000+02:00

A singular thought or idea can start revolutions turn the tides of war, be the seeds of evolutionary breakthroughs in fields from quantum physics to relationships between people. Our ability to conceive abstract ideas is what has allowed us to rule over all other beings on this rock we call Earth (yeah ok so the cats think of us as mere underlings but you get the idea).

hiding away in the shadows

2006-10-19T16:58:00.000+02:00

I’ve been hiding away in the shadows for awhile; I wanted to design something I liked not that just required getting done by the end of the week. This is an adjustment of a self-portrait done awhile ago which I wanted to morph to be more fitting to my style and personality. I’m not truly a dark person; I’m generally jovial by nature, however I have a dark side that is always relishing a chance to be released.
I have been posting some designs on deviant art which is an awesome site for artists and designers. This was my id follow the click on the image to view it.

Dream Scape

2006-09-22T12:56:00.000+02:00

I have been intrigued of late by the other realm in to which we delve when the light abandons us. What our mind is truly doing while we sleep is still a mystery to us, sure there are many theories and these have changed exponentially over the ages but still today we can not say for sure. We all dream, every night, you would go mad if you did not, however some of us are not as fortunate as to remember them.
Dreams have had a profound meaning in many religions and cultures though out time. This is easy to understand since we generally spend a third of our lives lying unconscious completely oblivious to our surroundings and enveloped in a world custom made by our own minds.

Bleeding Eye

2006-09-15T11:02:00.000+02:00

Design of a female face, with the seemingly essence of darkness eminating from her eye. This design was entertaining to make as you can see it is highly layered with intertwining images.
I was inspired by an old email I recieved with this old Cherokee story:
Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between 2 "wolves" inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.
"The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:"Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
- Author Unknown -

Red Lady

2006-09-09T19:16:00.000+02:00

Sorry for my apparent sabbatical from my blog, the creativity neurons roaming the chasm of my mind have been beaten into submission by the stampede of thoughts souring through my scull lately. It is strange how that happens, you reach in your cookie jar of inspiration only to find that fingers grasp only lone crumbs. Well as is obvious by the fact that you’re reading a new post, those neurons seem to have been released from ICU, so here we are: I hope you like.

Beneath the silk

2006-08-20T18:30:00.000+02:00

What lies below the surface... what thoughts flicker behind the missleading eyes. What are the true emotions that tingle along our nerves but are kept at bay by social conforms. Here is the original image from which this graphic came, it was given by milo to both design from please visit her sight and see her version.

Seduction

2006-08-11T22:57:00.000+02:00

Here is another collaboration between Milo from Munich and I of the exquisite Monica Bellucci. The previous design was fun, so we thought it would be a good idea to do it again within the same week no less. Here is the image from Milo which I started with:

Stranger in the Light

2006-08-08T08:47:00.000+02:00

This is a design that I rebuilt for a designer named Milo who lives in Munich. Here is her site please check it out she's learning Photoshop and is very talented. This is what the graphic looked like when I first received it from her:

Last gasp of passionate fury

2006-07-28T16:35:00.000+02:00

This design is inspired by my young niece who is the personification of stubborn resilience. Life can slip away so fast, we all must grab it with both hands and give it our all till our last gasp of passionate fury.

Draconian playground

2006-07-21T16:41:00.000+02:00

In the mist of a quagmire of emotion I always notice aggression seething beneath the edges of my skin, revealing themselves in a dark tint to my vision of the world.

What is Eden

2006-07-14T15:17:00.000+02:00

We each find completely different views of the perfect world. Mostly brought about by our personalities and experience, some love the outdoors some the city and so on. My niece I’m sure would love nothing more to run through the proverbial field of daisies letting the wind flow through her hair and all that, I on the other hand I am not exactly the type that does that. I would rather be walking through the streets of Rotterdam listening to mp3’s discovering new innovations in design. One of you might like clubbing the night away in New York (not completely against that idea either) but you get the point. I asked a while ago what your version of paradise is and received some interesting comments. In the world in which we live today what you would alter if you could change the laws of physics, tell me that not having gravity won’t be fun to try for a bit. What if we had two suns how this would affect us. What if we could assimilate information the same way we did when we were infants, what if we see the thoughts of others. What if…

The house

2006-07-07T16:16:00.000+02:00

I moved into my new place on the weekend. It rocks! Have tons still to do of course but that will take time. Obviously the priorities are done like hooking up the HiFi, TV, Computers etc. Want to get adsl running soon but Telkom will take 4 to 6 weeks (they say). In the mean time there is fun to be had and house warming to be done.

Do vertical lines suit me

2006-06-29T09:45:00.000+02:00

This is a pic I made of myself using my new Sony Ericsson W900i, an incredible phone by the way, recommend to anyone. I then played with in Photoshop CS a bit and tadda... Well ok so there was a point to me taking the picture of myself, I assure you I'm not usually this narcissistic it was designed as part of a card for my grand mother who requested a personalised card from each of her grandchildren.
I like this style when taking portraits, Black and White (with Curves, Levels and Contrast of course) is always the best way to go and the vertical strokes give a little character and encase my name nicely I thought.

Sorry about taking so long to post I have been a touch busy with work and moving house and all that. But on the upside I brought you all a present on the right of the screen you will see my new tenant Mandy's blog it is awesome. Click by and take a look but don't you dare do the quiz those credits are mine ;-)

sitting by the lake

2006-06-15T17:10:00.000+02:00

sitting by the lake, thinking life

Blink

2006-06-09T15:34:00.000+02:00

in the darkness they wait for a moment...merely a moment....

Thought I'd make a scarier one today hope you like.

Beauty

2006-06-05T16:25:00.000+02:00

Beauty is found beneath the eyes

Paradise is relative

2006-05-26T15:26:00.000+02:00

What do you see as paradise?

Secrets

2006-05-19T16:33:00.000+02:00

Secrets...are they not powerful. From relationships to countries they have an integral part in our world. We each have them and keep them from those who we think should not know for whatever reason. We keep them from loved ones, employers, friends and even our children. The complication comes in when you have to compartmentalize information to people depending on what they are aware of so that you can keep the cat in the proverbial bag. How much do you tell that person...how do I structure the words as to only divulge what I need to...this is something we all deal with. This post is dedicated to a blog called postsecret that reveals them on a weekly basis, well at least in some sense.

Exquisite Pain

2006-05-12T14:04:00.000+02:00

I have such a headache. It feels like blades in my scull. Thus no insightful thoughts on... well at this point I couldn't tell you how many wheels are on a tricycle. All my neurons are dedicated to informing me that they are pissed off. I tried to negotiate with them and get food and had long sleep; I even tried bribing them with drugs. Alas these efforts were in vain for they are still enjoying painting the inside of my scull with paint made of sulphuric acid. Excuse me for a sec I'm not sure but think the bastards are going to start the broad strokes with a carefully chosen iron brush....

the inevitable chaos

2006-05-05T16:41:00.000+02:00

One can not help but be amazed how the majority of people in the world who seem to, at least on average, cope rather well with the continuous morphing of their environment. Outside of the exponential increase of technology, the political and economical fluctuations, what I find to be most curious is how social interactions are always fluid depending upon situations, environments, our current emotional state in respect to who we are interacting with. People adapt to their internal (emotional) as well as external (work, home etc) environment and act accordingly. This is all done primarily without any conscience effort. Human minds are very comfortable dealing with chaos we just don't notice.

The Vision Of Da Vinci

2006-04-25T08:04:00.000+02:00

This was inspired by the new craze for all things Da Vinci since the Dan Brown book. Leonardo was one of those people that changed the world dramatically because of their minds, a truely visionary man.
I have to admit I do enjoy reading his books, Angels and Demons being my favourite. His books are very easy to read but all have a similar structure in that there is a conspiracy and a higher authority: church (in 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels and Demons) or government (in 'Deception Point' and 'Digital Fortress') keeping the truth from the public.
I was very interested in cryptography after reading Digital Fortress. An effect that always makes me like a book, is it not a great achievement of a book if it drives you to learn more.

Tenebrous typography

2006-04-21T12:41:00.000+02:00

Felt like doing some typography. It means dark and gloomy by the way. As times can be.

contemplation of light

2006-04-13T12:33:00.000+02:00

This post is dedicated to a friend of mine who lost someone dear to her.

birth

2006-04-07T14:15:00.000+02:00

How simplistic and fragile is life. Weather you believe God breathed into the creatures of this world or that a massive electric storm was the initial catalyst. We can all agree that it is amazing this glimpse we have. This design was originally so vastly different from the result that I am truly surprised it ended up so clean but then with a title such as ‘birth’ the canvas should be at its beginning.

the Eternal Blink

2006-03-31T10:37:00.000+02:00

LIFE DEATH
Originally uploaded by martijnvreugde.

The eternal blink of an angel's eye between life and death.

how much do you show the world

2006-03-24T17:07:00.000+02:00

show the world
Originally uploaded by martijnvreugde.

This concept of how we mask our true selves to the world till what they see is but a mere fraction of who we are has been represented in a thousand ways. We all have our masks for the different worlds we live in from the workplace to the family scene. But what happens if we start to believe it and forget that we are more than who we display.

Multiverse Thoughts

2006-03-17T15:20:00.000+02:00

Inward Thoughts
Originally uploaded by ghostbones.

This is not by me, its a design I came across while strolling as I do through Flickr and I just absolutely loved it, the eye, the graphs, the hidden details it’s just brilliant it was designed by “ghostbones” you can see more of his work by clicking the image.
Anyway I’ve been so absolutely busy this week it was wild, culminating on Thursday with pure chaos running supreme. That being my main excuse for not posting one of my own designs this week, I hope you’ll forgive me.
I’ve started reading a very interesting book called “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” by Steven Donaldson which explores the concept of living in two realities which I find fascinating. Did you know that mathematically the multiverse theory has been proven possible. By the way this is not the science fiction one where for every choice made there are two separate universes, trust me the universe could care less about weather Paris Hilton chooses the pink or ultra pink lipgloss. No, the theory works on the quantum level of weather a particle moves to the left of right when hit with another particle (put veerrry simply).
Before I bore you to death with my weird interests I’m going to sign off, enjoy your weekend everyone

martijn vreugde

2006-03-08T10:49:00.000+02:00

martijn_vreugde
Originally uploaded by martijnvreugde.

This is a new logo I designed, what do you guys think. give me the truth no holding back. On seperate news I saw blogexplotion is selling it's site as well as all it's related sites and features, I really hope whom ever buys it keeps it up or improves it since it has become such a well known presence on the blogosphere. On the other hand BlogMad has been launched and is doing well looking very slick and running with alot of momentum.

Barren life

2006-03-03T11:04:00.000+02:00

Barren life
Originally uploaded by martijnvreugde.

What is life? We as humans have tried to quantify it over the ages but we have yet to nail it down. If we say life is something that breaths that consumes carbon then fire would have to qualify. If we take the poetic view then life is when someone is living their life to the full and not just killing time till their bored heart falls asleep on the job. Our world is plagued by people who give no value to life, it might be ethnocentric to say this but in my view anyone who takes a life from another simply because they don’t like what they believe in or what they have to say or publish then they are a truly lost human. There has been much debate on the reaction to the Mohammed cartoons, the last I checked somewhere around 22 people have been murdered over these cartoons. I can understand that in their faith it is disrespectful to depict their prophet and I can understand outrage that someone has indirectly disrespected a follower by doing so however it is absolutely unforgivable to take lives of these people for such an offence. There are thousands of depections of God, Jesus, Budda and many others that have been portrayed in a far more mocking and disrespectful ways in which many followers were hurt and outraged but they don’t resort to killing people because of it. These people have no respect for life or understanding how truly precious it is.

Urban Female

2006-02-20T12:56:00.000+02:00

Originally uploaded by martijnvreugde.

I designed this about two weeks ago on my laptop but I only got around to uploading it to my flickr gallery yesterday. It is a stereotypical view of a streetwise woman one who is comfortable prowling the city. When you look at her do you relate and understand her? Her confidence, her readiness? Is it a survival façade or built in experience?

seduction of chaos

2006-02-15T09:02:00.000+02:00

seduction of chaos, originally uploaded by martijnvreugde.

I wanted to illustrate how we as a species are enticed by what has yet to be explored. We are intrigued by the chaos of the unknown, from the inconceivable aspects of the universe to the complexities of String Theory within the infinite possibilities of quantum physics.

because i feel like it

2006-02-06T16:02:00.000+02:00

because i feel like it, originally uploaded by _rebekka.

This image is perfection in light and shadow. I am posting this with my good friend Hush who is a proffesional photographer and he is sweating ;-). follow the link to see who to find out that this image is actually takin by the model you see.

in the eyes of a child

2006-02-03T17:07:00.000+02:00

Star.....
Originally uploaded by Girl flyer.

I found this image in my stroll through flicker and it's endless supply of memories and snap shots of human life. The exquisitely beautiful and the weird aspects of homosapiens that make us human. I have a young baby niece who stares at our world with such wonder that I feel a loss to think I have grown to take it for granted.

Flicker

2006-02-02T08:53:00.000+02:00

I have just found flicker an awesome online photo hosting and sharing site. I know, I know, most of you bloggers knew this already but I only now made an account to post (read: humbly show off) my designs. I've made a link from this image to my gallery as well as a link on my side bar under the creativity oozing title of: Gallery. So go over and make a comment on any of the designs. I'll be loading more but so far I have uploaded 12 designs. It flows well with Blogger and you can even post via email or from your cellphone. Hope you like my designs.

BlogMad

2006-01-30T12:48:00.000+02:00

Register at Blogmad right now, they are the new blog traffic site to enter the blogosphere however this one is not one of the regulars. These guys are going to be massive competeing with the likes of blogexplosion and getting them nervous as hell. They will be launching soon so register now and be one of the initial members. It's very quick and simple less than a couple of seconds to enter your email and password. . . Your still here??? move!

Time - the chaos between tic and tock

2006-01-27T14:14:00.000+02:00

I posted the last image just to see how well Picasa worked. However I have to say the pic was a little dull, it comes from a brochure I did for Cartier while at varsity. Anyway I did some work on it, to spice it up and make it interesting (got a tad carried away) and thus here is the updated design. You can barely see the remnants of the initial canvas but then who cares. Named it Time after the image of the watch. The line at the bottom reads "tic...tock...tic..." which is the last line from a favourite poem of mine in which Death is a friend patiently waiting reminding you that he is in no rush, but urges you to be in a rush to Life.

Picasa

2006-01-25T13:58:00.000+02:00

I have just found Picasa in the new google pack and may I say DAMN is it cool. It searches all your images and displays them in neat thumnails that are zoomable. It is freakishly fast, and smooth the interface is soft and userfriendly. I truelly recommend it to anyone especially bloggers since it has a cool 'Blog this' function but I think it only works with Blogger for now. chow guys I'm off to play...

HAUNTED HOUSE

2006-01-25T08:47:00.000+02:00

Hi guys this awesome design by Morten Bak is just one of the reasons to visit the Haunted House the new blog renting space on my blog. It is the official site of the writer Jeremy C Shipp who has a very surrealistic style. Check it out just below my links tag on the right.
In other news blogexplotion has developed there own hosting site which will share advertising payments with all who host with them. Since Adsense only gives you a very small percentage of the advertising profit this is a great new way for us bloggers to get cash for what we do. Ok, ok so most of us don't do it for money but I think we all would like to have a little extra at the end of the month.

The seductive lick of the flame

2006-01-19T15:40:00.000+02:00

Here is me exploiting Images to express an emotion, any guesses as to what that could be. Going off to sip some Jack Daniels soon, my ambrosia. Hope you like the design.

Unicorn child

2006-01-16T16:31:00.000+02:00

I'm sorry to anyone else who bid to rent my blog but Unicorn Child is a fellow designer so...you know... we gotta keep together, you understand. Anyway she’s cool apart from being a designer she likes to help others and consult women on various issues. Oh yeah and she hates Mondays and is a workaholic so she's definitely one of us. So click on her site thumbnail on the right of my blog under links, do not click the post pick that won’t get me any credit for being an awesome landlord/bloglord.
By the way Dreamweaver 8 (as in the new studio 8) is brilliant it is much smoother the work flow is awesome and the new features are cool, things like you can zoom in on a site, as a designer that really helps. Small features like that make such a difference. Obvious needed improvements like being able to continue working while it is uploading are great.
Well we have survived another Monday congrats to all. Well those of us nearing the end of the day anyway, good luck to you guys in the states.

Dancing along my neurons

2006-01-12T10:22:00.000+02:00

I woke up with a headache today, it has been with me since yesterday afternoon and it is beginning to vex me quite a bit. It’s a sharp pain behind my left eye (if that helps any of you who might know where it comes from) I’m assuming it is from starring at a computer all day but why only yesterday I do this everyday. Here is an image from the awesome Worth1000.com guys that perfectly expresses the exquisite feeling that is dancing along my neurons.
Well let us get back to the actual post instead of me complaining. I just got Macromedia Studio 8, nice set of toys I might say. The Freehand 8 seems to have no real new features from the Freehand MX however the Flash 8 and Dreamweaver 8 are quite cool however I need to play more before I can really say anything, will let you know.

chiseled perfection

2006-01-08T16:48:00.000+02:00

I love this design, the icon in the middle I made a while ago and have used in many designs since the Breath design. Hope you like.

Hidden smirk

2005-12-27T17:52:00.000+02:00

Now that merriness of the salesmen is gone and the tinsel is swept away, what is left, what do we remember of this season that has past? Is it not mostly the time we spent with our loved ones and our relatives (sometimes one and the same ;-) sometimes not). Ok so the presents are always welcome but what really make the difference between the years are the relationships that have grown and fallen away as each year wanes again. We humans are a truly weird lot continually altering our desires in what we need and desire from those we care for.
As the year closes up shop and we all find some excuse to sneak some time away, it is inevitable that we do a quick survey of the year and where we are in our lives in comparison to where we would like to be: sometimes we are ahead, sometimes behind and sometimes we are just where we want to be. This is usually done (at least in my age group) in reference to our career and relationship status, both of vital social importance in the western world. Hence the high suicide rate that comes with this time of year, around the world there are people like you and me sitting in a chair and staring into space thinking … some have a smirk, some have a tear. I am not jumping up with ecstasy but I have a hidden smirk. Don’t get me wrong I’ve had some really hard times this year some of the hardest in my life by far but alternatively I have made some really good friends this year, they were already there but I have learned which are the real ones if you know what I mean. I hope you have a hidden smirk too…

mythical eye

2005-12-18T17:33:00.000+02:00

Less scary but definately cool

Awesome eye

2005-12-14T11:36:00.000+02:00

This an example of the power of photoshop, alas I did not design this but, Damn is it cool

What is up with these people

2005-12-08T11:09:00.000+02:00

I am constantly amazed by loyalty/stupidity of some of the people here in SA. Our leading political party is the ANC of which the vice president Jacob Zuma is charged with corruption (ok fine, a politician no surprise) then this week charged with rape (a crime I think should get life after castration). Now personally I don’t think this is a guy I want in charge of a high school lemonade stand never mind a good portion of the control of a country. So the ANC has dropped his power and is vice president in name only (until conviction) however there is a group called the ANC Youth League who actually still “back him 100%” and still think of him as the next president. I mean come on, seriously people…. Am I missing something? I know…I know innocent until proven guilty, but I think anyone who knows the Shaik trial knows the first charge is accurate and as for the second more serious one he has admitted he did have sex with the victim but of course says it was consensual, however no lawyer or police commissioner is going to make such an accusation without some substantial evidence to back it up. In all fairness I shouldn’t judge the guy till the court has seen all the facts, but after all is said and done a man who has been legally accused and charged of such crimes should not be in political office.

New tenant

2005-12-08T08:37:00.000+02:00

Jeepers these things go fast, I have a new tenant from across the world. This blog (which looks awesome by the way) is by an American professor in China discussing what is happening there from the political climate to the festivities in the region. It is an exquisitely designed site but what really made me pick this guy was the content of his blog. Check it out for yourself, by clicking on the thumbnail of his blog at the top of my links section.

These words hit home for me

2005-12-06T16:30:00.001+02:00

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.
-- William Butler Yeats

Firefox 1.5

2005-12-06T13:28:00.000+02:00

Is freaking awesome, the speed is great. As a designer I absolutely love the Noia 2.0 (extreme) theme. It is so incredibly cool. These guys rock serious kudos to the designers. Go to the links section on my blog and you will see a link to get Firefox believe me you won’t regret it especially if your on that archaic Microsoft IE

Mark's Avatar

2005-12-01T13:07:00.000+02:00

Made this MSN avatar for a friend of mine. He's living in London and working there for awhile. Say's there’s good design work there.... have to say I'm interested. However would have to hear from a designer what the industry is like. Anyway liked the look so thought I'd post it. I have made avatars for a few friends, have to say its fun. The only real things you have to consider are that its relatively eye catching and that it still works when it's reduced to around 50 pixels. Oh and by the way he loves, I mean absolutely goes nuts over massively gigantic over the top buttons ;-)

Marguerite Jasmin's site

2005-11-30T15:24:00.000+02:00

I have a new tenant. Who I think is awesome (might possibly have something to do with the fact that she voted for my logo, hint, hint ;-) today’s your last day). Another aspect which shows me she's cool is that she's also a Firefox supporter. She is using her blog to meet people from around the world. Check out her posts and say Hi, especially those of you who are from SA. If you can, say you’re visiting from my blog.

fresh and awake

2005-11-30T08:21:00.000+02:00

I feel so fresh and awake this morning, (no it’s not because it’s payday). I think has to do with the general zero stress in my life right now. I can’t really complain: no dept, have a nice place with a pool and South African summer is here, about to have my holiday from work in two weeks. So generally life is cool, don’t get me wrong it has room for improvement but for now I’m all good. Hope you guys have an awesome day.

Blue Lady

2005-11-28T15:37:00.000+02:00

This is a wallpaper design I made, found the black and white image of the girl while surfing and immediatly knew what I wanted to do. Let me know if you like it.

Animation

2005-11-28T15:23:00.000+02:00

I have made some slight changes to the top bar of my site. Press refresh (CTRL+F5) to check out the animation. It's on a 5 second cycle so give it a sec to move. Hope you like

Please vote for my logo

2005-11-26T13:46:00.001+02:00

If any of you are members of blogexplotion could you PLEEEESE!!! vote for my

logo

The beauty of raw Power

2005-11-25T09:46:00.000+02:00

This Image shows how immense those storms in the US were. I have to admit I would shiver the thought of seeing this coming over to visit my home.

.:Nephilim FORBIDDEN:.: Scary Extremes

2005-11-25T09:11:00.000+02:00

.:Nephilim FORBIDDEN:.: Scary Extremes This post on Falconmyst's site shows how seriously warped some people can view christianty, and whats worse this idiot is preaching his stupidity.

stuffAround

2005-11-23T08:12:00.000+02:00

stuffAround Is a site of a fellow south african who has some pics and jokes of the SA life. check it out.

blogphotohut.com logo

2005-11-22T09:23:00.000+02:00

This is my entry for the blogphotohut.com logo

What passengers need to hear

2005-11-21T13:32:00.000+02:00

Thoughts while creasing my pillow

2005-11-18T17:10:00.000+02:00

In this quagmire we call life what are really searching for, a question asked by every person who lives long enough to really grasp how vast the world, knowledge, science, GOD is.

Each of us are trying to just get through today, make the best of it, catch a few laughs along the way, if we are lucky get to spend some of our day with someone we love. But in the dead of night when we go to bed and create creases along our pillows, we are essentially alone with our thoughts and it is then that we (well I do anyway) contemplate what we are really trying to find, attain or learn.

As a person who loves learning new things I hope it is to acquire a clearer perception of the patterns that happen in my environments i.e. socialistically, scientifically and in my beliefs. In the Christian belief (as far as I humbly see) it is to see all of his works and truly understand the magnificence of them and thus worship GOD.

Personally I am not a fan of reading the bible ( I know ,I know, the shame) but I really find the way it is written slow and most of it is reiteration of the same concepts in different forms i.e. Love everyone and all that that entails(hard one, that one). Personally I am more for getting through the day and be able to say at the end of it that I lived it with honor and that the world (ok the tiny spectrum of my world for now) is a little better because I got up this morning.

I want to know the real purpose of this experience we call life is? Is it a learning camp for something? If so why are people put in such different camps i.e. the daughter of a billionaire or the son of starving Ethiopian refuge. These two examples will have very different perceptions of life and it’s meaning if you were to ask them why they were given life what would there answer be, and which do you think is most grateful for each breath.

Personally I’m very thankful for my life and that I have the capacity to see the magnificence of the design of the world around me from the way the human physiology works to the ubiquitous Fibonacci numbers. But still I lie there making creases wondering why? Really what is the end purpose? Why this methodology of such vastly different lives?

Why does is it take so many generations to learn how truly intricate each aspect of our universe is. Why do I get to know things that a hundred years ago was not even dreamt of and of course the opposite being true of why don’t I get to know what will be common knowledge in a hundred years. Well maybe we aren’t meant to know as I have heard so many people say but I find that so excruciatingly frustrating but then we are a young species with such little knowledge of our world and terrible responsibility with it so I guess God is saying “I’ll tell you when your older son”.

All the guys say it with me.....OOOOWWWWW

2005-11-16T16:36:00.000+02:00

Lifes cruel

2005-11-16T16:33:00.000+02:00

This Is Going To Be Bad

2005-11-11T10:22:00.000+02:00

This Is Going To Be Bad

Quest

2005-11-10T11:22:00.000+02:00

Made this in Photoshop CS no reason in particular just felt like it.

Illustrator CS or 10

2005-11-10T10:30:00.000+02:00

A designer friend and I are trying to learn Illustrator since it has great compatibility with Corel and Freehand in its AI format and obviously with its Adobe brother Photoshop. We can’t find where or how to emboss an object which is a reasonably common function in vector programs. If you could mail me a tutorial on how to do that as well as any others on illustrator that are cool it would be appreciated.

Poor chick

2005-11-03T12:40:00.000+02:00

The rebel

2005-11-03T08:31:00.000+02:00

Twin Engine Trouble

2005-11-01T08:05:00.000+02:00

I was flying between Toronto and Ottawa. It's only a 9 minute flight and so, to save money, I flew with a small airline in a little, twin-engine plane. About two minutes into the flight the pilot announced that we were going to have to turn back due to some engine trouble.

The nervous passenger I was seated next to turned to me and said, "Oh-h-h m-m-my G-g-god. If we l-l-loose an engine, how f-f-far d-d-do you think the other o-o-one will t-t-take us?"

I told him, "One engine? Oh, I'm sure it'll take us all the way to the scene of the crash. Hell, we'll probably make good time too. I bet we beat the paramedics there by at least a half hour!"

Building a Solar System

2005-10-27T11:01:00.000+02:00

I’ve been building a solar system in maya, quite cool, this program is so vast it is amazing. But I’m learning more every day getting moons and planets to rotate on there own axis as well as moons around the planets and those as a group around the sun is quite cool. However I must say I’m continuously humbled by the fact that I know bugger all compared to what this program can do. Want to download some models from the net however most places I look have only 3D Studio max models. Let me know if any of you know were to get them (for free, important). As well as textures those are awesome.

this looked so cool

2005-10-18T15:22:00.000+02:00

I want to start by saying this is not mine (seriously wish it was though) found it on the net and put some layers over with luminosity and added the text. But I can in no way take credit. Looks cool though doesn't it, want to build this in Maya and do the touches in Photoshop.

Maya 6

2005-10-12T08:08:00.000+02:00

Hi, sorry been awhile since I made a post. Life is a little hectic at the moment. Anyway on the graphics side I just got Maya 6 (which for you who are not in the graphics field is the best animation program in the world, think starwars) it is very powerful I have a few tutorials which I want to go through to get the basics down, if you know where more tutorials are (not the quick time ones which can't be saved) I would appreciate it. You can make a comment and paste the link to the site there. This looks like a program that takes years to master. I’ve been working with photoshop for 5 years I even teach it and I am still learning stuff, this program is way more complex. So bring on the challenge.

Photoshop CS2

2005-09-29T11:02:00.000+02:00

Hi there sorry for the long delay in posts, been a tad busy. I now have Photoshop CS2 which is so cool, the warp function is awesome and the bridge helps workflow so much, there is also this perspective feature that will help quite a bit as soon as I can find a place to use it. Anyway that’s the main exciting thing right now haven't made any new designs with it more just playing around with it seeing what’s new and how it works. I am really trying to learn illustrator to since it is very prominent in the states and Europe. However I only have version 10 but for the basics I think it should be fine to learn with. Did do a cool design which I called Draconian Kindness however it’s on my laptop and constantly forget to put it on my USB.

2005-09-16T16:14:00.000+02:00

I just helped a great friend of mine Hush Naidoo design his blog Jade Photography Not many Pics now but He takes brilliant images and I'm sure they will be up soon.