The Christmas Special of Extras saw the final outing of Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais) on our screens and served up an excellent treaty on celebrity culture. You can't help thinking there's a little of Gervais and co-writer in Andy's words.
Gervais appears as Andy in a mock Celebrity Big Brother and is asked by another frothing fame hungry contestant on the show if he would come to her "Hello" sponsored wedding. Enjoy.
Although more than a year ago now here's an interesting story about the Iraqi ballot papers.
The 2006 elections in Iraq presented ballot designers with a unique problem. More than 200 parties or individuals registered to be listed on the ballot, a fact that created a typesetting dilemma for the one-page design. But each party or individual who registered also had to supply a logo by which they could be identified by illiterate voters.
Some logos were turned away, including a drawing of a rifle, a picture of a mass grave, and a representation of a Koran surrounded by a halo.
The result is a very involved ballot; a sample of the 2005 ballot is shown here. More than 72 percent of eligible voters registered so they could put their own very personal "logos"-their fingerprints-on record so they could vote.
Happy Christmas to everyone from Julia and Kevin. Are you feeling the warmth of the little baby jesus deep down in in you heart?
Graffiti artist Banksy has set up his annual Santa's Ghetto in Bethlehem this year, where visitors will be able to buy his work until Christmas Eve. His stencils on the controversial wall separating Jerusalem from Bethlehem have also inspired other artists to make their marks.
Interactive designer Andy Foulds’ studio has produced a series of Flash animations based on Angus Hyland’s logo design for Brandspanking, a London-based media production company that specialises in branded content. The animations play during the introduction to their website, also designed by Foulds.
Angus Hyland designed the Brandspanking identity in 2007 with design assistant Zara Moore.
Since the 1990s, Gursky has concentrated on sites of commerce and tourism, making work that draws attention to today’s burgeoning high-tech industry and global markets. His imagery ranges from the vast, anonymous architecture of modern day hotel lobbies, apartment buildings and warehouses to stock exchanges and parliaments in places from as far a field as Shanghai, BrasÃlia, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.
