Want to make an impression on your website? I came across this simple to use plugin called Tubular that means you can set up a video on YouTube and then use it as a background on your site.

The blurb says:

Tubular is a jQuery plugin for creating full-size video backgrounds from YouTube videos. Usage is straightforward. The client browser needs to have JavaScript and Flash installed and enabled and you can embed any video with just the YouTube ID. You can use it for anything from promotional videos to simple moving backgrounds.

The developer is a chap called Sean McCambridge based in Chicago. Nice work, Sean!

I can see a lot of uses and applications for this – though the need for Flash may be a limiting factor. But still, worth sharing.

The Retronaut is an interesting site, a veritable miscellany of an archive with no particular theme other than “That’s interesting – let’s see more where they came from” that I can see.

But that’s what a good archive site should be – an eclectic mix, where you have no idea of what is coming next.

Its founder, Chris Wild, is obviously a man with a passion for letting the site do the talking.

The images range from (mainly) the 20th century onwards and cover a huge area of topics and themes. Be warned that it’s one of those sites that you can happily spend hours on, all in the name of ‘research’.

Take a look and see if you agree.

Upside Down, Left To Right: A Letterpress Film from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

I recently came across this sweet film about how traditional letterpresses are seeing a resurgence.

Hard to believe that a few years ago you could probably pick these type trays and presses up for their ‘junk’ status, but now designers are once again discovering the unique way that the traditional compositing methods lend to a piece of work.

Apart from the olfactory delights of the ink and the oil from the presses themselves, there are the tactile treats too.

The mixing of the ink and prepping the galley.

The way the press actually ‘presses’ into the paper giving you that embossed depth that no digital medium can match.

The slight imperfections in the inking and the subsequent texture of the type – especially noticeable on the wood block characters.

Not to mention the texture and feel of a sheet of handmade paper.

And to top it all, the sheer joyous SLOWNESS of it all.

OK, I remember using all this equipment and learning the art from way before Macs appeared, and part of the joy of this film is seeing an almost forgotten art again. And I bet I could pick it up again pretty quickly.

But of course, more important is the way a new generation of designers are discovering the joys of letterpress for themselves.

Thanks to JB for the link and  Danny Cooke and Plymouth University.

At present, the cameras are only available in the US but I guess it won’t be long before they can be seen over here.

So what’s so amazing about these pictures? Well, to fully appreciate what they can do you’ll have to go to the website to try out the samples there, for if you click on any area of the picture it then becomes the focal point of the entire shot.

Sounds weird if not impossible?

Here’s a screenshot from the website:

See the tree and foliage is in focus while our friendly squirrel is not?

Well, click on the picture on the website and it has a little think about where you have clicked and then refreshes the shot with the new area sharply in focus, as here:

Yes, it’s interesting isn’t it and requires you to completely revise how you see a shot done this way.

I can only really liken it to how it was when I saw a hologram for the first time. You simply cannot fully describe it, you have to take a look and see.

So, is it the future of photography? I’m not sure as yet, but at least you read about it here first!

A lovely ‘lost in translation’ from Japan to entertain you in the dreary days of January. (Credit to Jake Adelstein and others for this!)

A department store in Osaka must have thought they were really tapping into mainstream culture when they came up with the signage to promote the January sales this year. Apparently the locals were completely bemused by the delighted camera snapping Zarina Yamaguchi who happens to be bilingual in English as well as Japanese.

What the former Marketing Manager is doing now has not been reported.

Pitney Bowes? Those people that make franking machines? Well that was their core business a long time ago but these days they’re a bit more sophisticated than that. They fully admit their image is decidedly seen as not particularly inspiring, and to show that they have a sense of fun asked us to collaborate on producing a viral game in time for Christmas.

In collaboration with our partners on this, Toroblu (ace marketing) and Little Greta (totally brilliant coding and build), we came up with a variation on the old ‘space invaders’ game. Rather than aliens from space we decided to go for the current hate figures – the Fat Cats and their even fatter Christmas bonuses! With a simple and easy to use interface, you can zap the baddies and catch the goodies – the nice cats that need looking after.

Anyway, why not try it out for yourself. I am a cat lover but some cats you just want to hear them squeal! See if you can get on the Leader Board too at www.zapacat.com - but be warned – it’s pretty addictive!

OK, OK, so I am a dreadful sucker for these sorts of things and found myself quite misty eyed at the tribute by the BBC to David Attenborough that will be coming to your screens shortly. But what a lovely brief and what a great little film.

It’s hard really to think of anyone capable of replacing such a figure as Sir Dave – Kate Humble or Bill Oddie are not really in the same league are they?

Congrats to the team at RKCR/Y&R and creatives Ted Heath and Paul Angus.

If the animation above doesn’t play, just click on it to view in a new window…

I came across this on the ever excellent ffffound but cannot credit the source other than that.

The growth and (presumably inevitable) death of the CD is quite remarkable to watch, as is the surge of upstart ways of listening to a track.

Any guesses on how this chart might look like in a few years time?

First off, here’s The Facebook (as everyone surely knows by now, it started off with a ‘the’ before the name). Amazing that the current site still nods in the direction of the original design.

Next is the original Twittr before the name change. Little resemblance to what it has morphed into these days.

And finally, the original 1997 Google homepage boasting an amazing 25 million pages – but soon to be much bigger! Well it does contain a few more pages now, but still eminently recognisable…

If you look at the post on Jason’s site and click on the Yahoo one it’s less of a screenshot and more of a live page which makes me wonder if it’s a spoof. But what the hell, a fascinating insight into web history and a reminder of how fast things change.

Better get on with a redesign for this site soon.

A Danish bus company called Byturen offers a late-night shuttle service and has put up a website that shows a man and woman throughout an evening on the town.

The video illustrates how they think they’re acting as they get progressively more pissed, but if you mouse over the video, you get a reality view of how they’re actually being seen.

You need to go to the website itself to view in all its hellish glory but the stills below will give you an idea of what goes on in the movie.

Designed by Bocca in Copenhagen. Thanks to Gilli Fellows and Adweek for pointing out the link.