Have you guys read BrandFlakesforBreakfast yet? If not, you should.

Thanks to them for passing the news along about this new, innovative Web site from the folks at Modernista. This Web site is actually not much of a site, as much as an online bookmark of sorts for all of their social media and Web 2.0 sites. When you visit the site, the first background image you’ll see is actually their Wikipedia page. NOTE: However, when you click on the link from our blog, our blog becomes the background. Amazing. Here’s what it looks like:

Their work is all shown on either YouTube for video or Flickr for print or other work. There’s a link to their Facebook. Click on the link to read news about Modernista, and it takes you to their Google news feed as the background. Really the only semblance of an normal Web site is the itty bitty navigation up in the upper left hand corner of the page.

www.modernista.com. I recommend checking it out. It’s a neat idea and I think we’re going to be seeing more of it as time goes on.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Hi everyone, happy Friday (at this point, almost Saturday). We just left the office of our good friends and Web partners Fastspot, after reviewing the logo concepts we developed for them and the Orange Element Web concept that they’ve developed for us. I can honestly say that both the logo and the Web site are going to be incredible. It will probably be several months before our new site is launched, but when it is….watch out!

This week was crazy at Orange Element. We’ve got lots of fun new projects going on and a few really good opportunities in the works. I’ll keep you posted on that as we hear more, but the first half of 2008 is shaping up to be a REALLY busy one. After the stressful week, it’s nice to be sitting here on Friday night from the comfort of my leather recliner. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

In the meantime, check out Fastspot’s demo reel - it’s pretty awesome. Nice work, guys, and thanks for a great meeting today. We’re onto something big!

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Let me start this post by saying that I am 5′7.5″ and I haven’t measured, but I probably have about a 6″ vertical leap. I am no basketball star. In fact, in pickup leagues, I get picked last. Even still, I want these, just for the cool factor. Have you heard about Nike’s new basketball shoe worn recently by Steve Nash that is made entirely by recycling manufacturing waste? It’s the most environmentally conscious shoe Nike has ever made and it is dubbed the Nike Trash Talk.

You can read more about them HERE. I wonder how many of the street ball players in Baltimore already snatched these up?

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Thanks to Ande for passing along a great blog post from the folks over at Pentagram about their work with Saks Fifth Avenue. In the post, Pentagram discusses how they took a visual brand from one that was drab, lifeless and gray to one that sets the tone for the products the venerable establishment carries. I personally like this case study because I tend to gravitate to historical references in design. I appreciate when design takes something old and makes it new and current. I think Pentagram did just that when they took this Saks logo from 1973:

And did this to it:

Scrambled the grids up to create this:

Which when applied to packaging, products and ads, resembled this:

An amazing result using decades old design. Here’s the post: http://blog.pentagram.com/2006/12/new-work-saks-fifth-avenue.php

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

I found this site and wanted to pass it along. It’s a blog aggregator that lists tons of great blog sites from around the world. I’m a big fan of Google Reader as an aggregator, but I REALLY like this site because it allows you to search for blogs in different categories–Great if you’re looking to find more blogs to keep up on. I’ve submitted a request for this blog to be listed, so hopefully we’ll be listed there very soon.

http://www.blogcatalog.com/directory/business/graphic_design

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

You guys remember my post about my electric car obsession, right? One of the car manufacturers I spoke of in that post, Tesla, has announced that it has actually just begun regular production of that vehicle. That means enviromentally conscious car lovers everywhere can begin to snatch these up. Congrats to the team over there.

Now, Tesla, give us a call so we can do some stellar work for you.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com