CrocodileJock's Blog

I'm the Creative Head at an Integrated Marketing & Design Agency in Staines, Middlesex (Orckid.com). A graphic designer at heart, a husband of a beautiful wife and father of a set of amazing 6 year old twins. WI like northern soul, southern hospitality, eastern promise and way out west.

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October 14, 2011

Nine – hold on – TEN cool type games for designers

UPDATE: Hot on the heels of "Kern me" here come "Shape Type"… Where you have to drag the bezier curve tools to shape well loved letter forms. So that's TEN. Any more for any more?

This post is a bit of a cheat this, as I have already posted "EIGHT cool type games for designers" ages ago, http://crocodilejock.posterous.com/eight-cool-type-games-for-designers and all the links still work (i've just checked). And they're worth a play, even if you're not a designer! But there's another great one that's doing the rounds on the interwebs, the adictive "kern game" . So that makes NINE. Know any more? Let me know!

Filed under // Type fonts fun games graphic design graphics kerning typography

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September 8, 2011

Road legal bumper cars

A guy in San Diego has built seven street legal cars from old bumper cars from an abandoned amusement park. They're street legal (in California), and pretty cool.

They run on modified motorcyle engines… and one is reputed to have a top speed of 160mph… which just sounds silly to me. 60mph would be scary in one of these!

Although I do like quirky, and I do like small cars, I think on balance, I'd rather have a Morgan Threewheeler… or, ideally, if it gets into production, a Smite.

From DalesDesigns via my twitter pal Purple Karan

(download)

Filed under // America Bubble car Quirky USA car fun microcar repurposing

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September 8, 2011

Defusable alarm clock.

I don't know why these appeal to me so much. Maybe it's because when I was about six or seven, I used to make 'bombs' out of biscuit tins, old batteries and wires I had collected. Probably watching too much Mission Impossible*, DangerMan or The Persuaders. Or maybe it's because the IRA were always on the news.

Luckily, these never left the house, and were quickly dismantled and defused by my parents. They probably weren't quite as convincing as these alarm clocks. When they start to go off, you have to 'defuse' them. I think the novelty of that could wear off pretty quickly, I don't know if you can set them to have a regular 'snooze' or off function. That would make them more usable.

One word of warning, I wouldn't want to take one of these on a plane. Or the tube. Even posting them is problematic… Actually, if you have the slightest worry that your house may be raided by the old bill, probably best not to get one of these. Maybe stick to the Stephen Fry "Jeeves" alarm.

Originally on Paranoias.org via DesignYouTrust.

Filed under // Quirky alarm clock cool fun industrial design silly

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August 4, 2011

The new Lambretta, and why I'm not posting so much (here) anymore…

Mostly because I've been bitten by the Lambretta bug, for the second time in my life. For most people, this is an ailment that they get out of their systems in their teens, but for a significant minority, the reinfection can occur at anytime, although it usually strikes in the late 30s or early 40s.

Anyway, I'm posting a lot of stuff over at my Lambretta blog – including the ongoing saga of the new Lambretta LN, a scooter which as I write this, has a uncertain future. The owners of the Lambretta brand name have decided it is a copyright infringement, and not a proper, licensed Lambretta scooter after all. All the controversy, along with a ton of images, a pdf brochure and video are over at the other blog, so if you're at all interested in the rebirth of a style icon, and the difficult delivery it is having (I'll stop the pregnancy analogies now) pop over and see.

In the meantime, Crocodile Jock blog isn't dead, I'm just being a little more focused about what I post. So if you like it, thank you, stay tuned.

If you like scooters, and related stuff too, why not subscribe to both. Go on.

Filed under // Lambretta Lambretta LN New Lambretta Scooter blog icon industrial design

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August 4, 2011

Typographic Maps of London

These stunning maps combine two passions of mine, London and Typography. They are by Ursula Hitz, a Swiss born, London based artist and designer. Check out Ursula's website here for more maps, including New York, Paris and Zurich. Or follow her on her blog. Ursula has also designed a range of hand crafted typefaces, available here.

(download)

Filed under // Art Infographics London Type graphic design map typography

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August 4, 2011

Great comments thread

Capn, you have mastered the art of the witty put down, go to the top of the class!

From a Cult of Mac article on iPad performance.

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July 19, 2011

Apple family tree infographic

Love this infographic by Mike Vasilev so much, I nicked it from Mashable. It's gloriously simple, but there's a lot in there.Although there's a few things missing… the original LaserWriter printers were Apple products, as were the QuickTake digital cameras… anything else?

Filed under // Apple Infographics Mac geek iMac iPad iPhone iPod illustration tech

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July 8, 2011

Want one of these

Pencil sharpening will never be the same again.

Failing that one of these:

Note: if you caught this post early, and saw a weird Italian James Bond type movie, that's my fault, it's something I meant to post to my Lambretta blog. Here.

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June 17, 2011