Shoreditch street art video

Great video representing East London street art.



Discover incredible street art hidden in Shoreditch, including works from Banksy, D*face, Obey and space invader. The closer you look, the more you see!



If you're feeling creative but don't want to break the law, why not try this Grafitti cross stitch!

Typography

A great source of inspirational graphical work within the context of typography.

Typography has recently really started to fascinate me. When I see a good example of Typography, I wonder why my designs sometimes don’t showcase that amazing element. Similar to our previous talk on minimalist design, typography is often overlooked as an easy task, however it is often the opposite. A tremendous effort is put into making graphical type based work eye catching, bold and powerful. Whether it’s spacing, font choice, position, kerning, it’s often difficult to get that look. I am always looking for designs that showcase amazing typography, below are examples of what I have found inspiring in my quest to achieve typography greatness.

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Libro

QR code iPhone

iPhone and Android's QR codes reach Spinning Hat.


Spinninghat.com QR code. Scan it!

Check out Spinning Hat's rad new QR code above! If you have a smart phone (such as iPhone or Android) scan the QR code using your 'bar code scanner' app and it will take you straight to Spinning Hat's website!


Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinning Hat

Pokemon Challenge!

If your sitting around the house bored and waiting for that big New Years eve party to kick start then check out this fun little game! It is a game against the clock where you have to name as many of the original 150 pokemon characters in 12 minutes!



Its a lot harder than it sounds! I managed to name 76, thought I was more of a geek than I actually am.

Here is a link to the game. Let us know how you do!

Forward this blog post onto your friends to challenge them! Use the grey icons just below

Creative packaging

Various forms of creative packaging from cartons to carrier bags.

The Spinning Hat design team draw inspiration from many areas. Below are a collection of innovative types of packaging.

Nail biter


Donut puzzle box


Lorry illusion


Juice carton


Penguin juice box



Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinning Hat

The best character based origami from around the world from yoda to iron man.

Check out this collection of fantastic origami creations!

Pikachu origami


V for Vendetta origami


Iron man origami


Lord of the rings origami

NU METAL vs. THRASH

December was a big month for the thrash and nu metal calendar but which out shred's the other?

THRASH - Were not 100% sure what constitutes thrash - Bruising rhythms? Finger-breaking solo's? either way we like the combination of heaviness and aggro.

NU METAL - Nor are we exactly sure what makes music nu metal. Is it the piercings and dreds? guitars with rapping? Red hats? either way we like its rididiculousness!

The Big Name

Slayer - Arguably the best of Thrash and boasts the best guitarist, Kerry King and Dave Lombardo, who came together after the latter delivered the former a pizza!

Slipknot - Nice masks, jars of dead crows, vomit and upside down drum kits, Slipknot are so absurdly brilliant in the flesh that it's easy to forget how ace they are on record.

INCREDIBLE OR TERRIBLE ARTWORK?


THRASH


NU METAL



This Month:

Municipal Waste tour: This month the US thrashers came to Glasgow, Nottingham and Bristol.

Taste of Chaos tour: Also, Disturbed and Papa Roach showed their faces at Birmingham, Manchester and Plymouth.

WINNER? - Our office voted and decided upon Thrash. Bigger riffs, better artwork and no fat blokes in red hats. Thrash might not have the 'jumping around a room while drunk' fun of nu metal, but there's more naughtiness than good when it comes to our rapping nu metal friends.

What's your vote?

Michael Jackson song "breaking news"

Debate over the authenticity of Micheal Jacksons "breaking news". Listen to it here!


'Michael' album cover

Well, here it is! This is the MJ song everyone has been talking about – The never heard song titled “Breaking News” and according to Sony Music it was recorded at the home of music producer Eddie Cascio, when Jackson was staying there during 2007. The track appears on the King of Pop’s postdeath album, “Michael“. “Breaking News” will not be released as a commercial single, it’s just a promotional teaser. Having heard the song now, I have to admit it does sound like MJ’s voice, however his family claim this is a fake. Think about it though, would Sony really make a fake MJ song? If the public did find out then it wouldn't look too good for them. So the debate’s goes on....... What do you think?




Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinning Hat

Lego art

Collection of the best creations made from Lego.

Spinning Hat have surfed the web to bring you the best pieces of Lego art. Some people have been getting very creative and clearly have a lot of time on their hands. Amazing stuff!

Lego Nintendo DSi


Lego Predator


Lego Escher


Lego Mario


Lego Obey

Classic Comic Books

Read these now:

We at Spinning Hat love our comics, and think you should too. Here is a list of our recommendations for entering this amazing world.

WATCHMEN by Alan Moore: Watchmen is usually a great first one for people to read. It's perfect for people who say they don't care for comics - they usually read this and realise comics can be something completely different to what they'd expected.






THE FILTH by Grant Morrison: A lot of Grant's work is stuff you read after you've been indoctrinated a little bit into the world of graphic novels. Once you get his work you will find that comics can and do sometimes go to a whole new level!







THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS by Frank Miller: If after reading Watchmen you want to scratch the itch a little, I would suggest this. This postmodern classic depicts Batman in a frighteningly different light. It's incredibly dark but superbly written - it really takes the medium and elevates it.








THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY by Gerard Way: Gerard Way is more well known as the front man in My Chemical Romance but he has also built a sizeable reputation in the comic world, after winning the Eisner & Harvery award. So I guess it looks like he is OK after all!

Get your friends into comics! Share this post using the icons just below!

Minimalist Design

Is it a Trend or are we Being Lazy?



Minimalism is often wrongly percieved as an effortless task but only graphic designers know it isn’t that easy. Minimalism involves extreme conceptualism and abstraction. Minimalism if used without any relevance and purpose can be quite harmful. Sometimes, just to rush the design, graphic designers pass off an average design as minimalism. So how can minimalism become dangerous?

Kat Von D - The Tattoo Chronicles

Lady of Tattoos Does a Book!


The magnificently cool Kat Von D has unveiled a shiny new book based on her inky exploits, and we can tell you now its a bloody great read. At least, the pictures are nice for those of who never learnt to read.

Thankfully, the tattoo chronicles is also crammed to the nads with awesome pics of some of her best work and the cream of her celeb clients, including Lemmy, nutty Bam Margera and the scary Mike Vallely. There's a few boner-popping shots of Kat's oily torso chucked in there for good measure, too.



Overall a great book - and we particularly like how she managed to include a photo of an albino squirrel too.

TRON Inspired Design

Electrified TRON Suite Opens in Sweden



With the much anticipated 3D TRON: Legacy coming out in theaters, a team of British designers are celebrating the Disney movie with a suite at the famous IceHotel above the Arctic Circle in Sweden. The electric blue Tron-inspired lighting scheme is achieved by cutting grooves into the ice, inserting energy efficient EL wire and then icing over the wire to keep it in place. Ben Rousseau and Ian Douglas–Jones' art suite at the IceHotel, "Legacy Of The River", is part of their campaign to launch a new line of illuminated furniture and interiors products due out early 2011.




Tom Kelly-Lord
Spinning Hat

Top Football Goal Celebrations

Spinning Hat Looks Back at the top 5 Football Celebrations


Peter Crouch

1. Peter Crouch
TV star James Corden was a big fan of the robot, and during Comic Relief, gave the striker some tips of how he could improve it. One of them – the rope – was performed by Crouch following his goal against Ukraine.
Watch: YouTube

Lunch time graffiti in Shoreditch London

Whilst walking to Brick Lane for a classic lunch time salt beef bagel I stumbled upon some cool graffiti.

You can find these designs on Holywell Lane and around Great Eastern Street.







If you know the artist let us know or if you have some other designs you want to show.

Movember - Once the Dust/Hair Settled

Brushing Up on Your Grooming Tips



This past Movember (the month-long moustache-budding campaign to raise money and increase awareness for cancers affecting men), was a prickly success. In addition to being a fun way to let your facial hair grow long in support of a valiant cause, it also allowed our creative staff to showcase their grooming talents. Aside from a few prepubescent peach fuzzes, no thrilling handlebars grew in the office this year (too many baby faces I presume) but check out Spinning Hat's winning attempt at Movember last year!

Secret Santa gifts

Lets imagine the office secret Santa. You're set a £5 limit and must buy a present for someone you have barely ever spoken to. Well there is no need to worry because we have a wide range of products that will suit everyone from Boring Barry in accounts, to Eco Emma, we have everything that they could want, and loads more great Christmas gifts. Plus, get 20% off with coupn code HOHOHO at spinninghat.com

Music Mike: For music lover's why not give them a taste of the past. 70's, 80's and 90's Music Trivia are retro quizes that will take you back to the golden days of music, presented in mini collectable boxes.




Eco Emma: For the eco warrior, give them a smile this christmas with some stylish retro Vinyl Coasters - recycled from classic vinyl records and cut into handy coaster sized drink mats.




Stressy Steve: Give your over-worked colleagues some stress relief with the Anger Management stress ball set.






Dinner-Party Diane: For people who love being the host with the most, help them impress their guests with a side order of Napkin Origami.






Golfing Gary: Everyone knows this guy! Get him a golf gift this year that he'll thoroughly enjoy. Have some fun with Camo Golf Balls!






Skid mark Steve: For the friend who once had an awful mistake that they'll never live down, get them an Emergency Toilet Roll, just in case it happens again!





These are just a few of the brilliant gifts Spinning Hat has to offer. Click here to view the full product range!