The Secret of Drawing is a four-part mini-series from 2005 by the BBC about the history of drawing and how it has been and still is an integral part of our lives. Whether it be the telling of stories, creating technical plans for architecture, or as a tool of exploration, drawing is an important part of the human experience. Parts 2, 3, and 4 are available on Google video, but unfortunately I cannot find part 1 right now. Video after the cut.

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Colourful Notions is an excellent documentary program, for designers and nerds alike, that aired on the BBC television show Horizon in 1984. It explores what colour is, how the human eye interprets it, and how colour is transmitted via RGB channels through your television or computer monitor. The video is after the cut.

via Computerlove

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As I know from my own experience, art can inspire and inform design. What seems more uncommon is when design inspires and informs art. I stumbled upon a book last night called International Lonely Guy by Harland Miller, a writer and painter. It contains an amazing collection of his large scale paintings of penguin and pelican books complete with coffee stains and torn edges. The paintings are very graphic and bold, but have a softness and depth to them. Careful attention also seems to be paid to the content of the original books. The paintings have playful titles that reference authors works or pieces of his own life. The book provide me with a refreshing and inspiring interpretation of art and design.

Some friends invited me along to an opening this past Friday at the Oliver Kamm 5BE Gallery and I’m now recommending it to all. Seonna Hong was the artist who was featured. The work shown mainly consited of whimsical animals, that were sometimes accompanied by a little girl. Her technique was both striking and suddle, and the images she created have lingered in my imagination long after first seeing them.

Super_Collider is the combination of electronic/experimental music producers Cristian Vogel (Tresor/NovaMute) and Jamie Lidell (Warp). In 2002, the German television channel ‘VIVA’ aired an hour long special called SC_TV, which is an experimental audiovisual collage based on Super_Collider’s Raw Digits album. The audio is a mix from Vogel/Lidell that combines their older work with various influences that inspired Raw Digits. The video, animation, and editing for SC_TV were all done by ZEROH and red design, the British design studios that also did the album artwork for Raw Digits. There is a ~2 minute preview available, as well as the entire hour broken into eighteen separate sections.

‘PSST! Pass it On…’ is a collection of films where designers, directors, and animators collaborate to create shorts based on every art-nerd’s favorite game, Exquisite Corpse. The first PSST! project contained six films and was released in July 2006. The next installment, PSST! 2, contains nine films and is to be released online March 10th. There will also be a screening held in Tribeca on Wednesday, March 14th.