Machinarium

--> Play Machinarium

Amanita Design, the creators of Samorost and Questionaut, may have outdone themselves. The point-and-click gameplay is similar, the world equally impressive, but now you collect an inventory of items. And only grab items within reach. Fun to play so far.

Also of note, Boing Boing featured a post detailing a comeback of sorts of point-and-click gaming. Check it out here.

We Think

Peter just passed this on to me. It's a video/trailer for a book by Charles Leadbeater that puts into perspective the potential of the Web and how it continues to bring like minds together and spread ideas so effectively. That's definitely one of the primary goals of Creative Juices. It begins "Welcome to the world of We Think"...and continues "The Web gets really interesting when people pool their ideas...then they start to be really creative." It proclaims that where the 20th century was about Mass Production, the 21st century will be about Mass Innovation. Also, instead of you are what you own, it becomes you are what you share.

...an interesting way of communicating the message in its own right, too.

Here's a link to We-think where you can download and read the first 3 chapters.

My Influences, by Dan Meth

My Influences from Dan Meth on Vimeo.

This is some kind of fantastic trip down cartoon lane...all sorts of cultural and visuals references clipping by at a fun pace. Blissful, really :)

via Drawn

Deadlines got you down?

...take a note from Glen Keane, Disney animator extraordinaire. There is a great article about him on Lineboil.

My favorite portion of this article:

Do you have any routines for uncorking your creativity?

GLEN: Get away. That’s what I need to do when I am stuck. I go for a long walk and refresh my soul. I go to a museum to remind myself that I am an artist and need to think like one. Often the thing that can happen to someone working for a big studio like Disney, or any studio for that matter, is that you can forget why you love this art form. It can quickly become about meeting a production goal. Schedules and deadlines are important, even essential, because they create a fire and heat that seem to force you into your best ideas. However when you feel creatively empty and uninspired, the deadline mentality will say “It’s okay just let it go. So what if it’s not your best work - you’ll get another chance next time. Hand in the scene and at least you can feel good about hitting the numbers.”

I reject this voice and instead do something that feels entirely counter-intuitive. I take that seemingly all too precious time and walk out the door of the studio, hop in my car and drive to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. I marvel at the Rodin sculpture at the entrance. I study the Degas pastels and figurines… I start to remember that I am an artist first and animator second.