Thursday, July 29, 2010

World Strange Places (Part 4) - Rare Photos and Information...

White Terraces



Natural Wonders from New Zealand that just memories because destroyed by the Tarawera volcanic eruption in 1886. The natural phenomenon of warm water that formed by geysers that blast down the hillside across the thickness of ice left, the largest pool of warm water was recorded around 3 acres. Before the destruction of this phenomenon, It belongs to ” The Eighth Wonder of the World “.











Bathing at the White Terrace



Before the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886, the Pink and White Terraces at Rotomahana were a spectacular tourist attraction. The terraces had natural silica basins where you could bathe. When English novelist Anthony Trollope sampled one of the pools in the early 1870s he wrote, ‘The baths are … like vast open shells, the walls of which are concave, and the lips ornamented in a thousand forms … I have never heard of other bathing like this in the world.’ Here, three men (one Pākehā and two Māori) share a bath at the White Terrace, about 1880. Racially mixed bathing became less usual in the later 19th century.





Rice Terraces



In Luzon Province of the Northern Philippines, through mountains and rice terraces, the road ends at a church, in a small town called Banaue. 4,000 feet above sea level in Banaue sits a small market village in Ifugao province. Located north of Manila in the Philippines, Ifugao province is famous for the handiwork of its people, who increased cultivable lands by carving gigantic rice terraces from the sides of mountains. For over 2,000 years, the people of Batad have built these terraces, one stone at a time.





This growing, living stairway stretches far beyond what the eye can see. Taking an estimated 2,000 years to build, the still-productive rice terraces rise from the valley floor to heights of up to 3,000 feet, a feat of engineering so substantial that some call them the eighth wonder of the world. The only man made wonder which was literally sculpted from the earth. A scarcity of water has led to some rice patties drying up.The mountainous rice terraces of Banaue and vicinity in the Philippines are mankind’s grandest scaled engineering feat. The vertical distance between bottom and top rows exceeds the height of the world’s tallest building. If the terraces were laid end to end, they would stretch half way around the world.







Banaue is known for its rice terraces built along the mountains sides like stairways reaching the sky. 2000 years ago Ifugao's constructed it by using their bare hands and & wood as tools. The terraces are located in Banaue, Hungduan, Kiangan & Mayoyao. Banaue rice terraces are dubbed as the 8th Wonder of the World . Batad is a popular for its amphitheater-shaped terraces & the cascading Tappiyah Waterfall.















Wednesday, July 28, 2010

August 2010 Free Wallpaper Calendar

Computer monitor with August 2010 Wallpaper Calendar




August is a month of hot summer and bright flowers. We often seek a shady nook in the dog days to escape the heat. This creamy stucco garden wall is catching the last rays of the day and beckons one to pause. The flowers become vivid and light up as the shadows deepen on the dappled wall. Where do you find respite on a hot day?









August 2010 Wallpaper Calendar
download your free desktop wallpaper calendar for August 2010 here

Easy Instructions
After clicking on the above link
you will be at my Flickr page. Simply click on
"Download the Original size"
at the top left of the page.
The file will then download to your desktop!




Etsy
Buy Handmade
JulieMagersSoulen

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Packaging Analysis: Juices Inspiration

Hooray!!!! Finally a DSL connection. It has been hard and we still have something to adjust but it works.

Here another short analysis about packaging. Inspired by the beautiful season and need of freshness I’ve listed some beautiful, or less ones, juice packaging.
Please read and comment!

Cambria Juice

I don’t like this packaging very much. It introduces a mechanical aspect that is unusual but, imho, not inspiring. Creating a packaging for a juice the message that you want to communicate is its freshness, the natural and pure fruit from it is made of. I think that Cambria misses this idea. 
cambriajuice
photo from: Packagingworld
packaging from Hangar Studio

Optimum

I like the swirling graphic and the color lights and shadows from the Optimum juice packaging. The bottle shape looks ergonomic. By the way, nothing in the main visual put in evidence the freshness or the fruit percentage. In this way customers don’t know if it is a pure juice or simply a fruit flavor drink and need to read the product specification to know that. This require time and, on a supermarket shelf, when the customer is in a hurry to go away, this may penalize the bought.
optimum
http://packagingworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/optimum-juice.html
Designer / Agency : Jose Auso / Richard - Auso SCP

Minute Maid

Minute Maid is a leader of the orange juice, obviously because it comes from Coca Cola brand. Nothing really innovative. Nice the idea that, cutting the orange shapes, the packaging creates an interlocking visual of whole fruit on shelf.  This evokes the fruit department of a market or a grocery and their freshness.
The half open orange and the little drop beneath help to visualize the “100% pure squeezed orange juice” declaration, giving strength to the message.
minute maid 1 minute maid 2
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2009/11/cocacola-launches-new-packaging-for-minute-maid.html

Cawston

Cawston juice is an apple-centered product. The various juices are a mix of apple and something else. The modern packaging shape is in contrast with the old style lettering and the general design that remind a journal but this is the interesting thing: Cawston Press. The meaning is double “press” as “printed journal” and “press” as “pressed apple”, a juice coming from pressed fruit and not from water+concentrate juice. Real juice.
cawston 
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2009/12/cawston-press-apple-juices.html

First Juice

First Juice packaging is fresh and colored. The “hand sketched” style is aimed to the target of little boys going around with their bikes. What’s the best thing to drink after a crazy cycling? A fresh juice!
first_juice_copy
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2008/04/first-juice.html

Romantics

Romantics has changed its bottle label replacing the “angel apple” with a tree, they also changed the font. BY the way I think that they made a mistake with this restyling. They have not strongly changed and the result is that it looks like another product.

OLD PACKAGING
romantics

NEW PACKAGING
romantics2

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2009/04/before-after-romantics.html

Exotic Planet

Much better the restyling of the Exotic Planet smoothies compared with Romantics ones. They turned and ordinary smoothie packaging in an elegant experience. New lettering, shiny silver color, beautiful and brilliant fruit shot as a planet to mean the company name, and a sophisticated matt black as background.
exotic planet
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2010/05/before-after-exotic-planet.html
I really suggest to read the graphic agency WonderlandWPA description of their job.

Loaded

Nice and simple packaging. I appreciate the colored top of the pack that stay for the fruit but a little bit too plain.
loaded
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2010/06/loaded.html

Froosh

Again a simple packaging but I found attractive the different headlines that characterize each different smoothie. “No bad stuff” “In fruit we trust” etc. Good idea! The straight-talking spread its message directly without distractions and emphasize the 100% fruit content of the product.
froosh1 froosh2
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2010/07/froosh.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDieline+%28TheDieline.com+-+Blog+-+World%27s+%231+Package+Design+Website%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

ICA

Just as simple as “Loaded” but I prefer this packaging compared with the other. It may be the slim and tall pack or the way in which the designer has divided the 4-side charging each one with a message: in one side you can see the fruit, in the other the pouring action of the juice, in the third the full glass and, last one, the nutritional info.
ica ica2
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2009/03/silver-out-of-stockholm-designed-this-new-packaging-for-icas-new-juicesthe-design-is-a-little-story-that-is-told-arou.html

ITO EN Gotta Juice

Again this packaging is colorful and modern but it looks like it is a vegetable smooth more than fruit’s juice.gottajuice
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2008/10/ito-en-gotta-ju.html

Butterfly on Catmint

Framed orange butterfly on purple catmint flower.After a series on sunset lit architecture and a commentary on snakes, I am returning to more flower photos for awhile. Today I want to share with you my latest "Butterfly on Catmint." I am not sure what type of butterfly this is but they are very common in my garden. Do you know?

The flowers are catmint, a member of the Nepeta family that also includes catnip. I no longer have a kitty, but I do know they love to roll around in these plants. The honey bees love catmint too and the plants are always humming with their ceaseless activity. I hope you enjoy my latest!










Orange butterfly on purple catmint flower.
Butterfly on Catmint
An orange butterfly is perched on the top of a stem of vivid purple catmint flowers gathering nectar. I am not sure what type of butterfly this is but they are very common in the foothills of Northern Colorado.
click here for purchase information on this photograph





Etsy
Buy Handmade
JulieMagersSoulen

Black Sand Beaches - World's Strange Places, Amazing Photos...



Although black sand beaches are generally less known than their white sand beach counterparts, if you are looking to change things up a bit from the typical tropical vacation, they can be a wonderful alternative. Black sand beaches are volcanic in origin and are formed very differently from their white sand counterparts which are coral in origin. Therefore the grain size and color of the sand vary, even on the same stretch of beach.





Black sand beaches are becoming more and more popular, particularly among travelers who are looking for an experience off the beaten path and ecotourism enthusiasts (ecotourists). Here are some reasons why black sand beaches totally rock:

Black sand beaches are usually more secluded because everyone else is on the white sand beaches. Therefore, you are likely to have your own private oasis on a black sand beach.
Countries where black sand beaches are found are usually great for hiking and ecotourism activities, because of their rugged terrain and volcanic nature.
When you choose a black sand beach, you are likely to experience something that is unique and that most of your friends have not experienced.
The grains of sand are usually a bit bigger so provide great exfoliation for your feet!
Beach treasures are more easily visible against the black backdrop of the dark sand.



Black sand beach - Kalapana











Black Sand Beach From Kahului



Black sand beach near Hana on Maui



Honokalani Black Sand Beach, part of Wainapanapa State Park