.toolbox is a free online training program where designers and developers can learn to create Silverlight applications using Expression Studio and to apply basic UX concepts to their solutions.

Check out the original post by Adam Kinney and the main site.

Happy Silverlighting!

  

Do you remember?.. The first time you played with pieces of modeling clay, melting them in your hands and going deeper and deeper into the colourful plasticine world where your imagination was the only limit. Since the 19th century, when Franz Kolb and William Harbutt independently of each other invented plasticine (modeling clay), it has been used in almost all fields of art: illustration, web design, typography, claymation, installation design.

Plasticine artworks can be found just everywhere: advertisements, book/magazine as well as CD/DVD covers, movies / TV series, music videos, computer / console games, and even web design elements. Below you will find a collection of beautiful plasticine artworks that hopefully will inspire you and give you an idea about how this material can be used in your next design project.

[Offtopic: By the way, did you know that Smashing Magazine has a mobile version? Try it out if you have an iPhone, Blackberry or another capable device.]

Plasticine + Photography / Illustration

Advertising

Nike Italy by Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Faber Castell plasticine Advertisement by Unitas RNL Santiago (Chile)

Onida Washing Machines Advertisement by McCann Erickson Mumbai (India)

Freya Lingerie Advertising by Stuart Jackson

Becks Advertisement by Scholz+Friends Hamburg (Germany)

Forma Total Gym by Artplan (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Nicorette Advertisement by DRAFTFCB KOBZA (Austria)

Aniquem Advertisement by McCann Erickson Peru

Stamyl Advertisement by Maruri Grey (Ecuador)

Magazine Cover Design

Esquire (March 2009) – 30th birthday of plasticine character Morph

Poster Design

“The Summer Reading Club” Poster for The Toronto Public Library by Barbara Reid

“Young Audience” Poster for Theatre Direct by Barbara Reid

Flyer for The Ovnis by Pablo Alfieri

Book Illustrations

Barbara Reid

Artworks

Amy Vangsgard

Irma Gruenholz

Anna Villalba

Manuela Martin

Charlotte Oh

Tammy Durham

CactuSoup

Plasticine + Animation = Claymation

Clay animation, or claymation as it is popularly known, is one of the types of stop-motion animation which is extremely laborious. Each animated piece is sculpted in plasticine clay. Some of the best-known clay-animation artists and studios include Will Vinton, Aardman Animation, Art Clockey and many others.

Animatied Movies / TV Series

The Gumby Show (1957 – …)

Closed Mondays (1974)

Morph (1977 – …)

The Adventures of Mark Twain (1986)

Wallace and Gromit (1989 – present)

Wallace and Gromit in “A Matter of Loaf and Death” (2008)

Creature Comforts (1989)

Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase (1992)

Loves Me… Loves Me Not (1992)

Purple and Brown (2006 – …)

Shaun The Sheep (2007 – …)

Chess Game “Poole – HAL 9000″ (from the “2001: A Space Odyssey” movie)

Pigeon Pilfer (2009)

Plasticine Crow (1981) [RU]

Last Year’s Snow Was Falling (1983) [RU]

From Iljitsch to Kuzmich (2000 – …) [RU]

Movie / TV Opening Title Sequences

Freaked

Spokoynoy nochi, malyshi! [RU]

Advertising

Levi’s

Sony Bravia: Play-doh

Chevron Cars

American Express: Modelling Clay by OgilvyOne London

Xbox 360

Music Videos

Frank Zappa – Baby Snakes (1979)

John Fogerty – Vanz Kant Danz (1987)

Grizzly Bear – Ready, Able (2009)

Paolo Nutini – Pencil Full Of Lead (2009)

Computer / Console Games

Claymates (1993)

ClayFighter (1993)

Primal Rage (1994)

The Neverhood (1996)

SkullMonkeys (1998)

Platypus (2002)

Gumby vs. the Astrobots (2005)

Cletus Clay (2006)

Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures (2008)

Shaun The Sheep

Plasticine + Web Design

Microsoft: {You shape} it

lauren.brandcubator

malum

Plastilina Creativa

Zaramella

Plastilin Event

Plasticine + Typography

Further Resources

• http://www.bombastudio.pl/index.php?/identity/plastelinowa-typografia-new/
• http://www.behance.net/Gallery/plasticine-typo/310776

Installation Design

James May’s “Plasticine Paradise” garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2009 on May 19-23, 2009 in London, England.

Plasticine Art Tutorials

• “Working With Plasticine” Tutorial by Barbara Reid
• “Making Plasticine Pictures Video” Tutorial by Barbara Reid

What do you think?

What is your opinion on plasticine art? In case any exceptional plasticine works haven’’t been covered, please feel free to use the comments area to share your thoughts and suggest other beautiful works. We are looking forward to your feedback and your thoughts!

© Aygul Zagidullina for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine
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In 2 weeks the ESRI Developer Summit will start in Palm Springs, if you haven’t register, there is still time.

Created for Developers
by Developers

Prepare for tomorrow's challenges at the ESRI Developer Summit (DevSummit). It's the place to be for developers interested in using spatial technology in their applications.

Bring your toughest questions for the ESRI engineers and hear insightful user presentations given by your peers. Register today

Hope I’ll see you there.

Cheers

Al

<UserControl.Resources>

    <Style x:Key="myButtonStyle" TargetType="Button">

        <Setter Property="Background" Value="Blue" />

        <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Green" />

        <Setter Property="FontSize" Value="24" />

    </Style>

</UserControl.Resources>

Then, you have to set the Style property on the Button control you want to apply the style to:

<Button Content="Button 1" Style="{StaticResource myButtonStyle}" />

Now, what if I want to apply that same style to every button in my application?  Well I would have to go and find every single button in my application and set the Style property accordingly.

<Button Content="Button 1" Style="{StaticResource myButtonStyle}" />

<Button Content="Button 2" Style="{StaticResource myButtonStyle}" />

<Button Content="Button 3" Style="{StaticResource myButtonStyle}" />

How many buttons are in your application?  What a pain in the you know what.  Well not anymore.  New in Silverlight 4 will be the ability to set your styles implicitly.  What does this mean?  It means that you can now declare your style, give it a TargetType, and exclude the x:Key; then it will apply that style to any instance of the TargetType control type.

<UserControl.Resources>

    <Style TargetType="Button">

        <Setter Property="Background" Value="Blue" />

        <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Green" />

        <Setter Property="FontSize" Value="24" />

    </Style>

</UserControl.Resources>

<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">

    <StackPanel>

        <Button Content="Button 1" />

        <Button Content="Button 2" />

        <Button Content="Button 3" />

    </StackPanel>

</Grid>

Notice that I don’t need to set the Style property on my button controls individually anymore.

Well what if I have a style that I want to implicitly use, but I have this one special button that I want to give a different style?  Well in that case, just create a new Style and give it a x:Key, then set the Style property on your control.

<Style x:Key="myOtherButtonStyle" TargetType="Button">

   <Setter Property="Background" Value="Orange" />

   <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Red" />

   <Setter Property="FontSize" Value="12" />

</Style>

<Button Content="Button 1" />

<Button Content="Button 2" Style="{StaticResource myOtherButtonStyle}" />

<Button Content="Button 3" />

Now, your special button will use your new style, and all others will remain themed.

Sneak Peek: Silverlight Application Themes

Tim Heuer has recently given us a preview of three new theme packs coming to Silverlight.

“GrayScale”

“Windows Theme”

“Metro”

Thanks Tim!

read more

The UX Kit is unique because while many technology-specific repositories exist, this is the first kit that helps “map” the Microsoft ecosystem, technology, and tools stack to that of the user experience, agency, and creative world.

Included in the UX Kit is a range of collateral and resources including: videos, reference implementations, sample code, live demos, installable tools, presentations, whitepapers and more. Featured technologies include Silverlight, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows 7 Touch, Microsoft Surface, Windows Phone, SharePoint, Expression Studio, and Microsoft Advertising. Topics covered on the kit range from Rich Media Delivery using Silverlight and Deep Zoom to Multi-Channel Digital Marketing using Windows 7, SharePoint, Windows Phone, and Surface.