Chris Hewitt of Dstrukt creates amazing motion work and the title sequence he put together for the OFFF conference in New York is brilliant. Motion graphics is an area of design that continues to fascinate and inspire me. I really should explore it more.

I’ll probably get some flack for this, but I believe some of the best music comes out of Europe. I’m sure my experience in living over there has something to do with that claim and definitely has shaped my musical tastes. One of my favorite bands to come out of England in the past few years is Doves. They’re essentially an indie rock band, made up of 3 members who create some extremely catchy and fun songs. I was able to catch them play a few years back at the Engine Room in Houston where they put on a great live show.

I have all 3 of their albums and they’re all fantastic, but it’s their debut album “Lost Souls” that comes out as my favorite…and it’s not just because it has a great cover (although it really is fantastic). The track below “Here It Comes” is a great one from the album.  It has a great chorus and an infectious, jazzy drum beat.

Doves – “Here It Comes”

This latest piece I created is not only inspired by the sounds and beats of the styles of music I’ve been listening to recently, but it also pays homage to the cover of the first EP released by French-duo, AIR.

I would buy this mustard solely because of how this label looks. Great colors, design and typography. I’ve never seen mustard look so tough.

I mentioned back in this post that Scott Hansen was working on a poster he was commissioned to create by the Obama Campaign. He just posted it on his blog and mentions that he hopes to put together a case study at some point, something I think would be very interesting to read. As with the rest of his work this poster is very detailed, contains gorgeous colors, and makes me jealous.

Sometimes you come across bands that only existed for a short period of time. Some lasted long enough to release a couple of albums, some only long enough for one. A few bands of mention come to mind, bands like “Joy Division” and “Operation Ivy“. In the case of Joy Division, the band split due to the death of the lead singer. Operation Ivy, from what I can tell, just decided to call it quits for whatever reason. I’ve often wondered what would have been had these bands lasted longer than they did, but their short life left us with music that is extremely iconic. Joy Division left us the beautiful song (and well covered), “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. Operation Ivy left us with only one full-length album that has become very influential to many modern punk bands.

But even more interesting to point is the fact that both of these short-lived bands, Joy Division and Operation Ivy, produced two new bands that I’m sure most of you have heard of: New Order and Rancid respectively.

So what does this have to do with the band I’ve titled this post after? Well, “American Football” are one of those bands that flared up and then disappeared, leaving us with only one album to remember them by. In contrast to Joy Division and Operation Ivy, American Football did not go on to form a hugely successful band. Some of the members have released other individual efforts and are still continuing to produce music to this day, but it’s their time spent as “American Football” that I look back on so fondly and choose to remember them by.

Their self-titled album is really nothing spectacular or ground-breaking, but it has an honesty and simpleness to it that I find appealing. It’s mostly slow-going, mild and stripped back from multiple layers of production polish. It’s one of those albums that fits perfectly on a cold, crisp day…where the sun is shining bright and you can see your breath and the world stretching out on to the horizon in front of you. I don’t know where that comes from, but it’s imagery that comes to my mind with each listen. It’s an album that really helps me chill out and relax. I also really like the cover. It fits perfectly with music as it evokes a similiar simplicity and clarity.

Here’s the first track off the album:

American Football – “Never Meant”

I don’t watch American Idol, but I heard that during last night’s show Apple showcased a new iTunes commercial showcasing one of Coldplay’s new songs, “Viva La Vida”. It’s quickly making the rounds today online and it’s gorgeous. Playing up on Apple’s classic silhouette ads, the commercial features Coldplay performing their new song surrounded by almost OSX Leopard inspired light blooms and wisps of color. It’s videos like this that make me want to play more with motion graphics.

It’s also commercials like this that show just how much more kick ass Apple is at marketing than their competitors.