Notes

Now here's something I didn't know... our "funny money" is about to get a facelift and a new skin!

According to the nice infographic provided by our national bank (above), you can see that we'll be seeing new bills in circulation as soon as next month. Well, I don't expect to personally be seeing too many $100 bills, but you know what I mean.

As you can tell, we'll be keeping the same colours and sizes of the bills, but the material on which they're printed is going to change. These new polymer notes are 2.5x more durable that the notes we currently have in circulation, so there is an immediate environmental benefit to them. We've also managed to pack in a whole bunch more security features, including frosted a maple leaf, more micro-printing, a far more detailed holographic image and so on.

The Bank's website shows detailed images of the forthcoming $100 and $50 bills; the new look of the remaining bills will likely be on-line sometime next year. The current series of bills is considered the "Canadian Journey" series; these new bills are designed around the theme of Canadian spirit of innovation.

» Found at: The Bank of Canada

Angry

I've never played Angry Birds – heck, I don't even have a device able to play the game – but I know this is a pretty solid homage to the game. I'm a sucker for this sort of inked, scripted, coffee-stained, weathered, faux-classic colour plate style. However, this isn't the only piece of art that Shane Parker has done; it's certainly worth your time to check out his Flickr stream if you're a fan of geek pop culture such as Team Fortress 2, comics and classic video games.

It was his Overlook Hotel kids placemat that drew me to his site via a link I found on Daring Fireball today... but it's worth sticking around to see what else is there.

» Found at: Zero-Lives blog

Quotes

Society6 is an organization that helps artists by producing, packaging and shipping their art out to buyers so they, the artists, can "focus on creating more art"  Something of a 'full service' eCommerce site for the arts community I guess.

Unfortunately, I don't remember where I found out about 37 Posters by Jerod Gibson, but he has a really great series of movie posters going which features an iconic silhouette of something (or someone) from the film, inside of which are a collection of memorable quotes.  Much like a word cloud, the more well-known the quote, the larger and more prominently placed it is on the poster.

Other than the one shown above, my favourites are probably: the Goonies and Ghostbusters.

» Found at: 37 Posters @ Society6

Shread

 

I don't quite remember how I stumbled on this image this morning, but it's one of a series of three images created by Rethink, a Canadian ad agency, for the Vancouver-based Sparrow Guitar company. If the design company's information page is to be believed, "in 2009, more Guitar Hero guitars were sold than actual ones." That's a pretty scary claim, but I don't know if I believe it... whatever the case, it's a pretty solid ad campaign in my eyes!

According to the website, members of Pride Tiger and You Say Party are using Sparrow guitars.

» Found at: Rethink Canada

Soap

Adam Sidwell has challenged himself to create a new illustration of a "bad dude" each week in 2010. These range from video game villains to movie baddies to television evil doers. Regardless of where the inspiration comes from, the artwork itself is top notch.

The image above is from Fight Club and, if you've seen the movie, you'll notice subtle clues that connect the two images ... which tells me that the artist doesn't just grab any ol' scoundrel and draw them up; there is some good thought put into each piece.

» Found at: 52 Bad Dudes (Tumblr)

Droids

Sure, these movies might have come out 25-30 years ago, but it doesn't mean someone can't create beautiful art in honour of them. Illustrator Andy Helms has created a trilogy of posters for the original Star Wars trilogy of movies and I think they're just incredible, especially as a series of three posters. As if the artwork itself wasn't enough, he's selected the perfect title for each image:

• You're Our Only Hope (Star Wars: A New Hope)
• Never Tell Me The Odds (The Empire Strikes Back)
• Fully Armed and Operational (Return of the Jedi)

Each poster is/was available for purchase through the artist's Etsy store (click on the titles above for ordering information and a closer look at each poster).

» Found at: Sparkwood & Twenty-One (LiveJournal)

Octopus

Sometimes you see something and it makes you smile. This is one of those times. I don't need any more websites or portfolios (as it is, I'm not updating most of them), but this one has some really talented people using the service and such a great, colourful, fun website to boot.

The sign-up buttons are my favourites ... "Sign-up for Meh." and "Sign-up for Whoo!" (complete with unenthusiastic period for "Meh." and over-the-top exclamation mark for "Whoo!"). Perfect.

I don't know anything about the company, but if you're looking for a nice, simple photo/art/video portfolio site, perhaps you should check this one out.

» Found at: Carbonmade.com

Tour

I just learned today from i(heart)music that the follow-up to the Ketch Harbour Wolves wonderful ep, Dead Calm Horizon -- still available for free on their website, I might add -- is coming out shortly. Their first full-length will be titled, Anachronisms.

i(h)m had this to say about the new release:

I can say, without any kind of hyperbole, that Anachronisms is everything I could've hoped for and then some. Not only do Ketch Harbour Wolves capture everything that made Dead Calm Horizon special, they go even further and show that they're capable of much, much more than they showed on their sophomore EP.

Seemed only fitting that I grabbed one of their excellent tour posters for inclusion here today.

» Found at: Ketch Harbour Wolves offical site

Jetpack

Sometimes, simple is good. Simple words, simple images.

» Found at: Exploding Dog

Seattle

I could save just about every image/post that ISO50 (aka Scott Hansen) posts to his blog. He has an amazing collection of stuff and, to give credit where due, is probably a strong inspiration for me starting this random collection of images, etc.

In this case, the 'art deco' style (is that even correct?) always really grabs me. I would love to produce images in this style. In this case, these travel posters are the work of The Heads of State.

» Found via: ISO50 Blog