mini-hiatus

(last time i was home, I had a bonding session with the kitten)

It's finals time. The last finals for me. So since I barely have enough time to sleep, I won't have time to find things to share. So thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back once I fire this puppy up again but until about May 5th, I shall be signing off. 

(I might sporadically post random star wars stuff because...well I think I have a problem)

oh! sometime in the next few weeks my website should be up! so check out http://www.karolmiekina.com/ and eventually you'll be able to see what I've been up to! Or you know...twitter me for fun. (I'll mostly be freaking out about school and life. )

Friday Movie Morning : Great Star Wars Mashups!

Maybe I should just start a star wars blog?

Ok ok, this video is called snatch wars (teehee) 

Mash up between Star Wars and Snatch. REALLY well done and kind of hilarious: 

For a more instant gratification, here's a short mash up that's not as good but still kind of hilarious! 

Hahahahah...I REALLY LOVE THE INTERNET:


and finally...i kind of like this too. A lot of great dubbing. Not every time but a lot of it:

Frank Chimero & his united states of america

I really enjoy these. Frank Chimero takes the silhouette's of states and finds an image that fits within them. A lot of these are really lovely. Frank is an illustrator and designer based out of Missouri and has a client list that includes Starbucks, Fast Company Magazine and American Airlines. Pretty nice. 

no blog but some words

paraphrased from "My Dinner with Andre"

"The 1960's represent the last burst of the human being before it was extinguished and that this is the beginning of the rest of the future. From now on there will be all these robots walking around thinking nothing, feeling nothing. There will be almost no one around to remind them that there was a species called the human being with genuine feelings and real thoughts."

Umm...wtf?

Umm...what is going on here? Is that what I think it is? Is this some sort of butt cream? Somebody clue me in! (click on pic for bigger version)

I love this man

and the wonderful things he wrote. 

you are forever remembered and revered. 
:(

America and political correctness are becoming synonymous

Friday Movie Morning Time! (sort of)

As far as advertising is concerned, that statement is very very true. Americans are afraid of nudity, taboo, innuendo and even anything that can be taken the wrong way. Oh yeah, and anything that can be considered inappropriate for children (by the way, by the time the average U.S. child starts elementary school he or she will have seen 8,000 murders and 100,00 acts of violence on TV.)

We have an economic shit storm happening outside yet somehow everyone and their mother knows and has time to get offended by a certain "special olympics" comment (I must admit, I got offended too- I bowl 100 and it's celebrations all around so you better celebrate that 129 mister!)

Aaaanyway. These are some commercials from around the world that wouldn't be shown in the good ol' US.  (sorry for the grainy quality....youtube is not my friend when it comes to crispness): 

The Axe Effect:

HILARIOUS commercial for washrooms:


Polish commercial (at the end is says "Time to find your own place?)  :


Spanish Bic Commercial:


This one is REALLY grainy but pretty damn good:

Pygmy Excitement!

This motion graphic is meh (mostly due to the legibility problems..or maybe not. I dunno, I'm just not feeling it. To me, it feels like it could've been awesome but then something happened...) BUT I'm sooooo excited for this to come out! 

Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club and Choke)

Comes out May 5th! 

Tropfest Winner 2008

This is a little old but I thought it was a very nice short film. And great use of the typography we see in our day to day lives to convey a message.

Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. It was founded at Sydney's Tropicana cafe in 1993 by Australian-born filmmaker, John Polson (swimfan, Hide and Seek, Tenderness) and now has a single-night attendance of around 150,000 in Australia each February, as well as thousands more in New York and other cities at other times of the year. It is known for being the world's most exciting platform for up and coming film makers to gain international exposure.

Quizno's too racy?

Anyone else notice that the original Toasty Torpedo commercial by Quizno's has been modified? Was the original to racy and suggestive? What gives? 

This is the original: 

The current has the same video just a little redubbing done to the Hal-esque toaster. The new commercial has something to do with not rubbing the machine with a shammy (??) and instead of saying it "sexy" it is now "with more passion". 

Quzino's has always had pretty good commercials, I'm just curious as to what happened here? Was the guy looking at his crotch and saying "I'm not doing that again, that burned" too racy? Was it the "put it in me " line? Are we too stogy for this to be acceptable? 

Things I love about Poland

That just about every polish person knows at least the first 30 seconds to this song: 

Example: Here is a stadium full of people singing it at a soccer game.


Why? Czterej Pancerni i Pies is basically the greatest and most popular series to ever come out of Poland. It's about 4 tank men (yeah I don't know the correct terminology) and their dog (it's name is Szarik. Due to this fact, half the German Shepards in poland are named after this dog...he was our Lassie)and their lives in the army during WW2. The characters were really wonderful and you basically go through the entire war with them. Filmed in 1966, it's still regularly played on tv. I think the last time I saw any of this was when I was 13 or younger and would definitely love a marathon. 

Saved By The Buoyancy Of Citrus

This HAS to be Mitch Hedberg inspired. HAS TO BE. If you don't know who Mitch Hedberg is, youtube him. He was a great comedian who was excellent at one liners. Even when the joke wasn't funny, it was funny. 

This is the quote I'm suggesting was the inspiration to this picture by Frank Gannon (if you don't laugh, seriously, youtube Mitch. The way he does his jokes is priceless): 

"(Talking about his drink) Look at all the limes in this god damn thing! This fuckin' thing is tropical! Look at the limes, how they float. That's good news. Next time I'm on a boat and it capsizes, I will reach for a lime. Like I'll be water-skiing without a life preserver, people will say "What the fuck?" and I'll pull out a lime, and a lemon too. I'm saved by the buoyancy of citrus."

World Wide Fund for Nature and it's surprisingly good advertising

The World Wide Fund for Nature, formally the World Wildlife Fund (but still WWF) is the world's largest independent conservation organization. And unlike many organizations of this type, they've opted not to go with the heartbreaking images of suffering animals that make many people turn away instead of act. ( I love animals but when that Sarah McLachlan song comes on and images of suffering, shaking dogs are juxtaposed in I often find myself needing to go do something in a different room for the next 30 seconds) The intention is good but the execution is not. 

WWF chose a great and simple image for their logo, the panda. Even if you know nothing about the animal world, it's safe to say that the panda is one the most well known species to be endangered of extinction. Especially due to the fact that they have major issues mating and reproducing in captivity so when it actually does happen, celebrations and media frenzies follow. The fact that it's a cute image also helps in this genre. 

Anyway, here are some of the ads put out by WWF in the past that I think are extremely well done. They get a very strong point across while not making the viewer uncomfortable--just aware. (click on them to view the bigger version)

This last one is my favorite. The compilation of three meanings made by one image is truly beautiful and well executed. 

Scrabble Posters

These are great! Honestly, I can't think of a better way to visualize Scrabble through images instead of words.




Oh P.S--did you notice the scrabble redesign? I'm sure The Dieline readers remember it but here it is again. Could..that be a smile we see?

Wild Polar Bears and Sled Dogs=

friends? 

Great Aids awareness ad

Haha, get it?

Can I...?

XD genius!

Friday Movie Morning with Voltaire

Aurelio Voltaire Hernández, aka Voltaire (whose song video I featured Monday) is not just a musician. He's also a director, stop-motion specialist, author and professor at SVA! 

Here are a few examples of his stop-motion work: 

I love this style. Transrexia (the second video) reminds me a bit of Clash of the Titans, which really is not surprising considering Sinbad was Voltaire's initial inspiration to start doing what he does. At the tender age of eight. I wish I had the patience to do stop motion because the results can really be beautiful. I am, however, so happy that the art hasn't been put to the grave yet (this year's Coraline was beautiful beyond words and I highly recommend it...which is saying a lot because I was expecting to hate it going in). 

Voltaire has also done a lot of spots for channels like SciFi, Cartoon Network and TLC:

Hmm.. sensing a theme here...

And finally here is Voltaire's song and video for Happy Birthday (my olde friend):  

I must say that his voice reminds me of a certain skeleton king's. Can you guess to whom I'm referring?

I like boys

Is it weird that this little doodle made me smile? 

Craig Robinson and Flip Flop Flyin'

I have been following Flip Flop Flyin' since high school. The man behind the website is Craig Robinson. He does a lot of cute and sometimes disarmingly heartbreaking illustrations and mini stories/animations.

Stuff like the Minimoma (the old one...click on the entrance to enter!), his charts, Boy Meets Pixel, and Flipcam are my simple joys in life. I'd recommend giving this site a real chance...looking through all this stuff, it never gets old. And I love how low tech everything is. 

Craig is also a super nice guy. I emailed him once a few years ago to ask him about this vh1 campaign and if it was his or did some body rip his style. He emailed me back saying that yes it was his and gave me kudos for recognizing his stuff. It's kind of amazing how he's made a career out of pixels and I just adore all of it. 

Seriously what are you still doing here?! GO check his site out!