Data + Design Project

Historical Figures Get a Modern Makeover

Monday 05.06.2013 , Posted by

1-Elizabeth I

To celebrate its new series, The Secret Life Of …, the UK’s history TV channel Yesterday commissioned artists to work with historians to provide a modern characterization of some of the most famous figures in history, as if they were alive today. The remixed paintings provide an educational account of what each figure was like which is stretched to assume how they would dress and carry themselves today. Modern day Queen Elizabeth I sports a Hilary Clinton hairstyle with a stylish, designer suit and keeps her notoriously hideous teeth concealed with a straight face, though it’s likely she would have veneers in today’s times. William Shakespeare would surely be a hipster and he is shown with piercings and hair plugs to keep up with the actors of today. [Read more...]

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: Art, Painting
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Visual Bits #433 > The Tall And Short Of It: Vintage Times

Sunday 05.05.2013 , Posted by

Check out your links after the jump.
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: News, Photography, Up Close, Video/Film, Visual Bits, Yesteryear
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Vintage Panorama Honors NYC Historic Landmarks

Monday 04.15.2013 , Posted by

Robert Moses New York Panorama 2

For people who haven’t visited, the Queens Museum of Art houses one of the most fantastic treasures of New York City… at least for the map obsessed. Their “crowning jewel” is the Panorama of the City of New York, a massive (no, behemoth!) model of the city built for the 1964 World’s Fair that covers a staggering 9,335 square feet (867 sq meters). The model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs, encompassing 895,000 individual structures. Now this historic map is being used to highlight the cities landmark historic districts and encourage preservation in a city known for its vibrant history. [Read more...]

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: Design, Faces and Places, History, Maps, News, People, Travel
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Mad Men or Mod Men? Comparing the Show to Now

Monday 04.08.2013 , Posted by

Mod Mad Men Shutterstock 1

It’s only a matter of 26 episodes before the phenomenon that is Mad Men ends… so it’s only appropriate to reflect a bit on how the show has effected our culture. Because of the gorgeously styled and expertly acted mid-century series, we’ve seen endless artistic tributes, design influences, and throwback fashions. The 21st century has a serious love affair with the 60s, and since we’re currently so enamored with that era, the cool folks at Shutterstock recently asked just what the 21 st century version of the long running show would look like. Their resulting images are entertaining and even a bit revealing. [Read more...]

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: Design, Graphic Design, History, News, Technology, Vintage Design
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A Russian Museum of Architecture’s Smart Ad Campaign

Friday 04.05.2013 , Posted by

Schusev State Museum of Architecture Advertising Campaign 1

With the smart tag line “Discover the Full Story,” the Schusev State Museum of Architecture in Moscow recently released a seriously slick advertising campaign. Created by Saatchi & Saatchi Russia, it sees historic Russian buildings extending far into the ground as if the part we’re familiar with was only the peak of a much larger building. It’s as if archeologists had one day explored deep into the basement and discovered they were really in the attic. [Read more...]

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: Art, Design, Digital Art, Graphic Design
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London Underground Posters at the Transport Museum

Friday 03.15.2013 , Posted by

exposicion_poster_art_150_1231x2000

The iconic London Underground is celebrating its 150th year of operation this year. The “Tube,” which opened all the way back in 1863, still serves the city with trains packed to capacity at rush hours, shuttling people to places both central and more remote. Almost as famous as the trains themselves is the design that has sprung up alongside the long running system – so to celebrate the anniversary, the London Transport Museum is showcasing 150 Underground posters from the past. [Read more...]

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: Art, Design, Faces and Places, Graphic Design, History, Maps, People, Typography, Vintage Design
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Vroom! Vroom! A Brief History of Video Game Driving

Wednesday 03.13.2013 , Posted by

Confused-video-game-driving-visualnews

The thrill of driving an elite sports car to the brink of its mechanical limitations is something many of us will only watch on TV – or if you’re a real diehard for rumbling engines and impressive speeds, the grandstands. For those of us who fiend the need for speed — but don’t have the capital to hop into a sports car — video game racing has been wetting our appetites since 1974. The games we play today have come a long way since that time, each year increasing in complexity and visual appeal. The world of pixelated race cars, shoddy steering, and throwing banana peels has been transformed into games like Gran Turismo 5, with it’s 1,000+ cars, 26 locations, 71 tracks, top-notch handling and graphics. Read on to learn more in this brief history of video game driving graphic. [Read more...]

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: Infographics, Visualization
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Visualizing the Russian Meteor Blast

Monday 02.18.2013 , Posted by

russia-huge-meteorite-bolide

For those that missed it (and considering the massive impact few could), a huge meteorite hit earth last week in Russia. In the land of the dash camera, videos far and wide captured the very rare event in its full shining glory – a missile like streak through the sky and an incredible window breaking crash following soon after. For the Russian population the event was one that stirred memories of the not so distant past, one of the tree flattening Tunguska event in Siberia just over 100 years ago. That blast was the largest impact event on earth in recorded history. [Read more...]

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: Faces and Places, History, Infographics, News, People, Visualization
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A Brief History of Illustration

Thursday 02.14.2013 , Posted by

8 Off Book PBS

As the world becomes increasingly more digital and photography makes up the majority of print, the field of illustration is becoming highly competitive and the creativity in the field is climbing to new heights. Editorial illustrator Yuko Shimizu’s motto is, “If I come up with an idea that would look better as a photo, then my idea is not good.” Illustrations have the power to be more captivating than a photograph because they have no bounds; an artist can express so much in a drawing and we have seen that first hand. In this short video by PBS, some of the top illustrators- Steve Garnaccia, Yuko Shimizu, Sean Murphy, and Molly Crabapple discuss why they love illustration and what it has become. [Read more...]

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: Art, Illustration, Video/Film
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Albania: A Bunker for Every 4 People

Tuesday 02.05.2013 , Posted by

From the series "Concresco" by David Galjaard

Although it was chosen as the No.1 Destination in Lonely Planet’s list of ten top countries to visit for 2011, Albania is still a country unexplored and unknown to most. The small coastal nation, wedged between Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Greece, was once home to a long-running government overseen by Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha. When Dutch photographer David Galjaard recently visited the country, he created Concresco, a series based on one of the lasting reminders of that regime – over 750,000 cement bunkers. [Read more...]

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: Art, Faces and Places, History, People, Photography, Yesteryear
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