Posters
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Onehundredforty wants to sell you your tweets as arty posters
Tweets are usually forgotten quickly, replaced by the next thing-du-jour -- and frankly, most of us like it that way. However, a startup called Onehundredforty thinks that your succinct observations (or someone else's) can become permanent art posters for your home. "The average lifespan of a tweet is 18 minutes, then it's gone," the company says. "There's way too much magic happening out there to just let them die out in an archive, or even worse, disappear in a feed."
NASA's recruitment posters are looking for Mars explorers
We wish these NASA recruitment posters for Martian workers were real. Alas, we've yet to send humans to the red planet, and these were but part of an art exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex in 2009. While you can't work as a technician, a teacher, a surveyor or as a farmer on Mars at this point in time, you can at least download high-res copies of these posters today. The space agency has made them all available on its website, in case you want to print them out for your walls or to use them as wallpapers on your phone. If you're still feeling a bit miffed that you can't actually go to Mars, well, just think of Mark Watney and be thankful that there's zero chance you'll get left behind on an alien planet.
NASA's space tourism posters will make you want to suit up
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has a knack for space-themed travel posters. A little over a year ago, its "Exoplanet Travel Bureau" series made its debut with an homage to the iconic WPA prints of the 1930s. This year, the JPL commissioned Seattle-based design firm Invisible Creature to be part of a project/gift for staff. Invisible Creature designed three "travel posters" to be included in the "Visions Of The Future" 2016 calendar. Among the collection are visuals for a multi-planet tour, a stop at Mars and exploring Enceladus, Saturn's icy moon.
SpaceX's Mars travel posters make us want to explore the red planet
SpaceX has released a few Mars travel posters in the same vein as NASA's vintage exoplanet ones, and they're making us sad we were born too early for space exploration. Valles Marineris the "land of Martian chasms and craters," as the poster says, is an enormous series of canyons. Olympus Mons is tallest peak and biggest volcano we've seen in the solar system, thus far, at thrice the height of Mt. Everest. Finally, Phobos and Deimos are the planet's two moons, though we've explored the former more between the two. Elon Musk announced earlier this year that he doesn't only plan to go to Mars, he also wants to establish a city on the red planet. We might all be too old -- or you know, too dead -- to live there or visit when the time comes, but maybe these posters can help you imagine how it would be for our children's children (sniffs). [Image credit: SpaceX/Flickr]
NASA made travel posters for real exoplanets, and they're superb
NASA's Kepler telescope is still discovering new, distant exoplanets in our corner of the Milky Way, but oftentimes they're hard to visualise and easily forgotten about by some of us normal folk. Now, to get everyone dreaming about these potentially habitable worlds, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has drawn up a trio of beautiful posters by the "Exoplanet Travel Bureau." All three echo the WPA's iconic travel prints from the mid-1930s, with classic typefaces and swathes of flat, contrasting color. Given we don't know exactly what each planet looks like, the designers have taken some creative liberties here -- but they should still be more than enough to spark your own imagination and curiosity in the stars.
World of Warcraft vows faster expansion development
Many Azerothian eyes are fixed on tomorrow's release of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, but what happens after that? Will players face a severe content drought as they just did while they wait for expansion #6? Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas said that the team is pushing to increase the pace of expansion development: "Our goal is certainly to release expansions a little faster than we have been... we've increased the size of our team, and we feel like we're in a place where we should be able to move faster than before." He also fielded the eternal question of a hypothetical World of Warcraft 2, saying that the team would need "a different vision" and mechanics that allowed for new types of gameplay. To help with your Warlords of Draenor countdown, Blizzard put out a few expansion-themed posters as well as an Age of Iron trailer that you can watch after the break!
There's something weird about this ordinary man plushie
Owning a stuffed version of a perfectly ordinary man in a nice suit is kind of weird. This Octodad plushie is 10 inches long and even comes with little magnets in its hands, so you can hang this well-coiffed gentleman on all kinds of things (mostly refrigerators). This adorable bit of Octodad merchandise is available exclusively at Fangamer, along with two classy t-shirts and a "How to Prepare Tako 'Tosan" poster. These are all up for pre-order right now, with the plushie, poster and Cephalopadre shirt due to ship by late November, and the Dad on Deck shirt shipping by mid-late December. The plushie is $18 alone, or $23 for it and a PC download code of Octodad: Dadliest Catch, courtesy of Humble Bundle. The shirts are $23 each and the poster is $16 (no game code options there). [Image: Fangamer]
Super Smash Bros. posters up for grabs from Club Nintendo
Sitting on a pile of Club Nintendo coins, just waiting for some worthwhile physical goods to show up in the program's online store? Hopefully you've got some open wall space, because a new, Super Smash Bros.-themed poster set appeared earlier this week, offering the above spreads in exchange for 700 coins. The set features familiar art with a few crossover tweaks. Sure, you've seen Rosalina and Mario soar through space, but ... hey, which yoga pose gives you the power of flight, Wii Fit Trainer? Isabelle also seems keen on Mayor Villager snatching up a Smash Ball to banish Link, Mario and Kirby from the homely Animal Crossing town. Each poster is 22" x 28", with sets due to ship two to three weeks after coins are cashed in. For those that have never used Club Nintendo, coins can be earned by registering Nintendo games and systems with a Club Nintendo profile. Reward amounts vary, but registering 3DS and Wii U games generally grants 30 and 60 coins respectively, with post-play surveys and smaller, eShop-only games serving up smaller coin stacks. If you've already lined your walls with past poster sets, well ... at least there's still that Smash Bros. soundtrack to earn. [Image: Nintendo]
Recall past stages, enemies with these Mario prints
If we tried to roll our Mario memories into a neatly-compacted ball, the result would look much more crude then artist Christopher Lee's efforts. Each 16x20" piece in Lee's Mario Madness set of prints recalls the environments and enemies from one game from the Mario Bros.' NES trilogy, Super Mario World or Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins. The 190-piece sets were made using offset printing and come with an embossed, gold foil replica of Nintendo's Seal of Quality. Lee is also including his take on each game's box art with orders of the related pieces, but it's not just prints that are up for grabs here - Lee is including "a bunch of loose stickers and a single unopened pack" of Merlin brand stickers from 1989 in each order. He's also throwing vintage enamel pins into random orders, so make sure to practice whichever luck ritual you follow before clicking the order button. Both the stickers and pins are available while supplies last, so if you order late and don't recieve stickers, everyone else beat you to it. Grabbing your favorite piece from the Mario Madness series will cost $25, or you can cave and get one of each series for $100. Update: Lee has reached out to explain the relation of the Merlin brand to the stickers he's including in orders while supplies last. The post has been updated accordingly. [Image: Christopher Lee]
Captain's Log: A Star Trek Online player uses math
On the heels of last week's revelation that Star Trek Online will be releasing its first ever expansion, Legacy of Romulus, many people were apparently waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop so they could rage when their expectations weren't met. That happened within seconds after the release of a special Ask Cryptic blog written by Executive Producer Daniel Stahl last Friday. Massively received a tip or two informing us that there was a Thread of Rage on the Star Trek Online forums, one that arose after the Ask Cryptic revealed that characters in the upcoming Romulan faction will be forced to choose to ally with either the Federation or the Klingon Defense Force and share in their fleet capabilities instead of developing fleets of their own. With the help of my accountant husband, I took on the challenge of dissecting this alleged Thread of Rage to determine how many people really did express feelings of rage, anger, or even disappointment with the news. You might be interested in the results of our analysis. If you are, take the jump!
Layar chief exits CEO spot in favor of print guru, edges closer to augmented reality magazine dreams
Layar previously signaled that it wants to get into augmented reality print media, and its founder Raimo van der Klein is putting his money (or at least, his title) where his mouth is. He's leaving the CEO position in favor of Quintin Schevernels, who comes from the print publishing world as VNU Media's COO. Van der Klein will hang around as Creative Director to keep the company pushing forward in new directions, but he sees most of the money-making coming from print-friendly tools like Layar Creator -- it only makes sense to have someone who's well-steeped in the medium (and who can turn a profit) running the show. Schevernels hasn't signaled any grand strategy changes in his first few hours on the job, although he might not be in any rush following the launches of apps like Stiktu. We'd just be ready for a whole lot of augmented reality magazines and cereal boxes in the near future.
Vault Decoration 101: Free printable Fallout posters and vectors for the masses
Let's face it, a nuclear fallout shelter isn't exactly the brightest, most cheerful place to spend an eternal global winter. The walls are cold and metal, the halls echo and there's a terrible draft from the oxygen recycler, not to mention the dog-sized cockroaches. There are some things you can do to spruce the place up a bit, however. If your shelter is equipped with a printer, for instance, printing out and hanging up these free safety posters and advertisements will give your new home a little bit of the consumerist flair that has now been turned to ash on the surface. Scalable vector logos are available as well, which means you'll be able to keep your Vault-Tec home looking good as new as its logos and markings fade over time. Be sure and join us next week on Vault Decoration 101, where we'll teach you over 1,000 different games to play by yourself in a pitch black room. See you next time!
Huge Apple memorabilia collection up for auction on eBay
TUAW reader Kray Mitchell sent along a link to let us know he's posted a whole bunch of his collection of Apple memorabilia from over the years on eBay, and even if you don't have the cash to pick up this stuff at all, it's at least interesting to browse through it. He's got an original Newton MessagePad up there to look at, a box of those Apple playing cards that we've seen before, lots of promo materials like this original iMac poster, and even a ... Service Award for the PowerBook team from 1991? Huh. If nothing else, it's a pretty interesting walk through some of Apple's history. We can't vouch for the prices on any of these things (the playing cards are already up to $100 and might go even higher), but just getting the chance to see some of this stuff after almost 20 years now is pretty cool.
PrintWarcraft.com offers original WoW posters
It's time for me to put my money where my mouth is. A while back, I tweeted that if they released official prints of the Gnomeregan propaganda poster, I'd buy one. I'd like to thank Blizzard, because they are now offering a large selection of original posters through Printwarcraft.com. Selections include the Gnomeregan and Echo Isles propaganda posters, as well as artwork from many past major patches and in-game events, even as far back as the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj and the Shadow of the Necropolis. Most of the art is actually familiar, having appeared on various websites and art books long ago, but it's still pretty awesome stuff, and more than worth hanging on a wall. If your home or office has some bare walls, this might be a good excuse to fill them. You can check at the selection at PrintWarcraft.com.
Join the cause with '80s arcade propaganda art
Forget about minimalism, it's time to join the fight! Illustrator Steve Thomas has fashioned four propaganda-style posters urging all of us to push back against '80s arcade all-stars Donkey Kong, Joust, Frogger, and Dig Dug, contending you should "Find your place among the flying elite!" and "Defeat the beast!" For prices ranging from $11.95 to $41.95 (starting at 11"x16" and getting as large as 35"x52"), you can snag yourself one of these beauts -- there are even framing options, should you be so inclined. That said, given the flood of folks rushing to purchase Justin Russo's aforementioned posters just last week, we'd suggest getting in on this one early before they're all gone. [Via GameSetWatch]
Print Warcraft opens its doors
The newest in Blizzard's ever-expanding line of customizable merchandise, Print Warcraft just opened its doors to the public. Like FigurePrints, the site allows you to create merchandise based on your in-game characters, this time art like posters and prints. While we've been having a bit difficulty accessing the site, likely due to launch-day growing pains, we know that the service allows a ton of customization options. Start by selecting your character, realm, and print size. Then choose from a number of templates, borders, backgrounds, character poses, pets, and more! The prices range from $17.99 for a 12x18 print to $29.99 USD for a 40x27 poster. If you're actually able to place an order, please let us know how it comes out when you get it in the mail! If the price is right and so is the quality, it might be a decent Winter Veil gift to deck somebody's walls with. Or yours.
Prince of Persia film posters look decidedly unterrible
Posted after the jump are two completely surprising pieces of advertising imagery -- movie posters for the Bruckheimer/Gyllenhaal joint, Prince of Persia. Why "surprising?" Because they look completely and utterly fantastic. Yeah, we know. We were just as surprised as you. Don't get it twisted -- the movie won't be good. It can't be good. However, its advertising looks very professional, its font choice is delightfully non-cheesy, and its Prince looks very Princely. That's an achievement in and of itself. Check out both posters after the jump.[Via Kotaku]
Dungeon Fighter Online heading to land of comics and cosplay next week
Nexon is taking Dungeon Fighter Online to Comic-Con next week with a preview of the game, plus contests and -- surprise -- girls dressed in game-related costumes. We had a pleasant experience with the game at E3, so if you're attending and wondering whether or not you should go, we'd recommend stopping by to play a little.Oh yeah, those girls dressed in Dungeon Fighter Online costumes? They'll be handing out discs with five bucks of Nexon cash. Additionally, Nexon will be making daily presentations at 1pm where fans can learn more about DFO and it's arcade-y, hacking, slashing and looting ways. So drop on by, grab some loot (we heard game posters will be at the booth) and enjoy yourselves. We'll just be sitting here letting our envy slowly overtake us until we destroy an inanimate object in a fit of jealousy.%Gallery-65064%
WoW Insider Show Episode 94: More zones than we can remember
Our podcast was live on the virtual airwaves last Saturday as usual, and it was a pretty wacky affair -- Turpster, our newest blogger Eddie "Brigwyn" Carrington, and I dissected those mount changes that dropped last week, the Mountain Dew Battle-bots and how you can get your hands on one, and how scammers can get past your Authenticator (and how to stop them from doing so). We answered your emails as well, including tips about how to make sure one of your characters finally gets to 80 and all kinds of movie posters from Turpster's little "Ocean's 87" script idea a little while ago. You can check out all of the fan-submitted posters in the gallery below.Download the show via any of the links below, and do make sure, if you haven't yet, to stop over in iTunes and give us a nice review telling us what you think of the show. It's been a while since we had any reviews go up over there, so mixing in some new voices will probably do us some good. Thanks for listening as always -- we'll see you next week!%Gallery-66021%Get the podcast:[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Listen here on the page:
The Daily Grind: Your favorite MMO art?
As MMO fiends, many of us tend to gather game art up as we move from title to title. For some of us, it can be as simple as a folder full of screenshots of particular MMO moments that spoke to us - the first time we saw certain places and admired a designer's vision. Others may have MMO art as a matter of history - we just happened to be around and playing when this game or that started up, and we got a special item they mailed out. Still others of us devotedly pick up Collector's Editions for the bonus included soundtracks or art books. Beyond that, there are posters, fan art and even tattoos based on MMOs. This morning we thought we'd ask what some of your favorite bits of MMO art are? Did you particularly enjoy certain art books? Do you have a big collection of maps from worlds you've traveled in? Perhaps you love an MMO so much that you went and got some ink, or created your own art based on the imagery? What are some of your favorite bits of MMO art?
