Top 5 Archive — 11
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Before our Tip 5 there was our Top 5. These are the archived pages from our 5 weekly hot tips from yesteryear.
1: Photographer of the Fatherland
Jan Dirk van der Burg takes typical Dutch photos. Or he takes pictures of what is traditionally Dutch, that's how you can see it. The photography that is now familiar to everyone in terms of style, subject and atmosphere; unmistakably the Netherlands as you first saw it in the 90s in *Carp, later in the NRC, de Volkskrant, actually every Dutch medium. The trigger to put it in our top 5 was the series ‘Home’, but that could just as well have been ‘Enjoyment’. Or ‘Elephant Paths’, ‘Office Culture’ (shoot me please!), or the beautiful ‘Yesterday’s Youth’ - sob -
2: Game on
Gaming in the 80s and 90s: beating bosses, setting new records, wobbling joysticks and all while watching low-res pixels in 32 colors on a discarded TV for hours on end. That clumsy beginning of digital life was frustratingly limited. But those limitations – as so often – also presented challenges and opportunities. For example in designing typography. Games had their own fonts, usually capital, usually bold. Highlights in this book.
3: Applying in The Valley
Great when a hype concept like gamification is applied in a cool way. Because the way web/design/campaign agency Ueno does it, gamification is good. Showing in a cool and accessible way what you are for an agency; informal, funny, little hierarchy. Shortage on the labor market makes you creative, take a look.
4: Consider it baked
Japan, strange country. Fascinating country, sensitive country, traditional top-heavy country, land of aesthetics, of minimalism, of bizarre land prices and poetry in almost everything you see. Look at this little bakery. Or rather: look at this bread boutique. The shop itself looks like a freshly baked loaf of bread; pure and extremely tasty! Nice work from I IN Inc.!
5: Animated weirdos
Weird animated series are a recurring subject in our studio. South Park has been providing one-liners, songs and jokes for years, and we keep on repeating them. But Spongebob Squarepants, Family Guy, Cow & Chicken and the ancestors of weird cartoon series Ren & Stimpy can also count on our sympathy. Lesser-known stars that are highly regarded by us are Uncle Grandpa, Mr. Pickles, Bojack Horseman and Rick and Morty. The aesthetics of most of these series are not very technically advanced, but the storylines and twisted humor more than make up for it. For the enthusiast: new episodes of Rick & Morty from Monday (on Netflix probably only later in the year).