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Posts Tagged ‘Figures’

CIPA figures show disappointing October sales, but mirrorless continues to rise

05 Dec

Graph: CIPA

The Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) has released its statistics for October 2017, and in contrast to previous years, we did not see the Black Friday/Thanksgiving induced spike we’re used to seeing, with month-to-month shipments remaining fairly flat (read: disappointing).

In fact, year-on-year total camera shipments in October are down a whopping 13 percent, although we did see an overall year-over-year increase of 11 percent in the digital camera market for the January-to-October timeframe, and 6 percent for ILCs. Part of this development could be due to production coming back online after the Kumamoto earthquake; however, this trend is likely to continue for another couple of CIPA reporting periods or so.

Compared to October 2016, only 78 percent of DSLRs were shipped globally, but 112 percent for mirrorless, indicating that mirrorless is continuing its rise while simultaneously cannibalizing market share from its DSLR cousins. Most of the mirrorless shipments are going to the Asia region, though, which still accounts for more than 50 percent of all mirrorless cameras shipped. Globally, mirrorless is now 36 percent of the total market for ILC.

With smartphones fulfilling most consumer imaging needs and a big manufacturer like Nikon thinking about re-entering the mirrorless segment, we’ll be watching closely to see how those numbers develop over the coming months into 2018.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Applied LEGO: Design Graduate Sends Miniature Figures of Himself as Resumes

23 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

Design and architecture firms are used to getting creative resumes in the mail that unfold into portfolios or assemble into paper models, but this LEGO figurine may be the most creative variant yet.

A designer and artist, Andy Morris decided to make a miniature of himself as a way to stand out to potential employers and highlight his creativity.

His three-dimensional curriculum vitae packaged like a toy figure but also includes graphic elements that convey aspects of his own creative work.

The packaging gives more details on his design capabilities and offers links to his website and portfolio, accompanied by descriptions of his experience and personal design philosophies. Hurry: supplies are limited!

He hopes not only that the figure will help him find a job, but that it will match him with a workplace that mimics his own quirky creative ambitions.

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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CIPA figures for May show more good news for camera makers

07 Jul

The number of cameras made and shipped by manufacturers continues to grow, spelling some positive news for the photo industry. Although the total number of digital still cameras produced in May by members of the Camera and Imaging Products Association was only up by 4.1% in April, the difference over May 2016 was an impressive 42.2%—and by value 38.9%.

Compact camera and interchangeable lens camera shipments grew by much the same amount, but within the interchangeable lens sector almost two and a half times more mirrorless cameras were produced than last May, while DSLRs grew by only 12.1%.

By value, production of DSLRs was flat on last year and mirrorless up by 160%, but the number of DSLRs produced is still well ahead of compact system cameras—628,336 units as compared to just 387,287.

May 2017 figures still fell short of 2015 (the dotted purple line), but far outpaced May of 2016 (the solid black line).

The association’s figures show that the value of cameras shipped in May was up by 54.5% on the same month last year, with the compact system sector growing by over 200%. While the number of units shipped has also grown, these figures demonstrate a (predictable) movement towards higher priced cameras across the whole industry, and particularly in the mirrorless category.

The mirrorless bug seems to be quickly catching on in the USA, with the region showing value growth of 390%, but the actual number of models shipped still lags behind Europe and Asia. America seems to have a taste for the more expensive mirrorless models though, with a mean pre-tax price of around $ 720 per camera compared to $ 480 in Europe, $ 500 in Japan and $ 470 in Asia.

For more information see the CIPA website and our report on April 2017 figures.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CIPA figures for April illustrate steadying of the digital camera market and continued mirrorless growth

10 Jun

DSLR sales continue to decline, but great news: the overall camera market seems to be stabilizing.

The latest figures released by the Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) show that the total camera market remained mostly steady year-on-year for the month of April, and that mirrorless sales are growing against a decline in the number of DSLRs sold. CIPA’s data demonstrates that its member companies produced almost the same number of cameras this April as they did in April 2016, but that they were worth fractionally more.

During the period from January to the end of April CIPA members actually produced more cameras than they did in the same period last year, and even though the difference was only 3-4% by volume and value, it is still very positive news.

The decline in the Japanese market rather drags the worldwide shipping figures down from 8.4% by value, when Japan is excluded, to just under 4% when looking at the whole world. Outside of Japan the market grew year-on-year for the period Jan-April by 3% by volume and 12% by value, indicating the cameras being shipped are higher in price than last year.

While the interchangeable lens camera market grew by 7.4% in volume and 4.5% in value for the month, the bulk of that growth came from the ‘non-reflex’ sector. CIPA includes mirrorless cameras, compact system cameras and rangefinder cameras in these figures, though without the membership of Leica or Hasselblad we can assume that most of the category is compact system and other mirrorless cameras that have interchangeable lenses – such as Fujifilm’s GFX.

Asia remains by far the largest market for these cameras and sold almost as many bodies as Japan, Europe and America combined.

This non-reflex category jumped in value by 37.5% in Japan but in the rest of the world that growth hit 80.5%. An area designated by CIPA as ‘Other’, that doesn’t include Asia, Europe, Japan or the Americas, saw mirrorless growth of 141% by volume and 136.5% by value – though the actual figures are relatively small. Asia remains by far the largest market for these cameras and sold almost as many bodies as Japan, Europe and America combined.

While only 89% of last April’s SLRs shipped this April, the worldwide market for these cameras is still just less than twice the size of the mirrorless segment, though in Japan the value of DSLR market was only 57% of what was managed last April – a really significant drop.

The good news, of course, is that the market didn’t shrink.

For more information see the CIPA website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Art History in Contemporary Life: Classical Figures in Modern Scenery

14 Feb

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

classical paintings modern photos 8

Dressed in garments from centuries long past, figures from classical paintings peer out the windows of metro cars, vend souvenirs, browse comics and otherwise interact with unlikely scenes in modern-day Naples, Italy. Artist Alexey Kondakov is back with another round of ‘Art History in Contemporary Life,’ his mash-up series that gives the world a new perspective on paintings from the distant past.

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The Ukrainian artist is known for relocating angels, royals, knights, the Virgin Mary and other subjects from classical works by artists like Hans Holbein and William Bouguereau into modern-day scenes with careful attention to light and shadow for a convincing result.

classical paintings modern photos 5

classical paintings modern photos 8

classical paintings modern photos 10

Though the subjects remain painterly and the backdrops are crisp photographs of everyday city environments, the blended images read less like Photoshopped collages and more like finished works ready to be hung on museum walls.

Given this new context, the figures suddenly seem more real than they ever did before, as if we really could come across them playing harps in subway stations or hanging out in grungy bars.

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classical paintings modern photos 8

Naples is a fitting choice for the latest series, simultaneously giving a nod to Italy’s history as birthplace of High Renaissance Art and illustrating how much the city has changed over the past 500 years. Previous iterations of ‘Art History in Contemporary Life’ were set in the artist’s hometown of Kiev, Ukraine. Check out more images from the Napoli Project at Kondakov’s website or Facebook.

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Yoga Joes: G.I. Action Figures Posed in Complex Meditative Positions

18 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

yoga rock stack

G.I. Joe and other toy soldier figures are rarely found in anything but anxiety-prone positions, ready to do battle with the imaginary enemy. But in this quirky collection, they tackle a fresh foe: difficult and sophisticated yoga positions.

yoga in nature

yoga position solider

yoga action figure

yoa pose joe

These posed characters can be found doing downward-facing dogs, lotus headstands and scorpions but also more complex positions like firefly, scorpion, peacock, side plank and king pigeon.

yoga silhouette

yoga figurine

yoga headstand

yoga and lizards

Started in 2014 by artist Dan Abramson, the collection has grown to include ever more sophisticated poses and postures which, in many cases, require more work for the figurines’ creator in making their molds. The pieces are sold in themed collections, ready to be used as toys or staged in nature for funky photo shoots.

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yoga joes

“My hope is that advanced Yoga Joes inspire beginners to reach for the stars or, at the very least, to reach for their foot backward over their head” says Abramson. “I hope they inspire seasoned yoga masters to expand their own practice by showing off next to them on Instagram. But whatever your skill level, I truly hope they inspire calm and focus, and hopefully more than a few smiles and laughs.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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Artist Socks Series: Wear Pairs of Figures from Famous Paintings

24 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

artist socks abstract

Simple stripes, colors and patterns are all that is visible when you are wearing shoes, but kick them off and you can show off famous figures from classic paintings. They may not be fit for formal wear situations, but are certainly fun for everyday occasions (and a great idea for sock puppet shows).

vincent van socks

artist sock box

These series of silly socks from ChattyFeet is equally informal about their titling of the various pairs. Famous artists are given name twists, resulting in Andy Sock-Hole and David Sock-Knee. Other pairs include Frida Callus and Feetasso (from Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso).

andy sock hole

david sock knee

From the designers: “The master of modern art David Sock-Knee is on hand (or foot) when you want to impress with your knowledge of home-grown British artists. They are just the thing to wear to that exhibition opening event and don’t forget to snap a ‘sockie’ photo when you visit famous galleries. Follow in this famous face’s footsteps by recreating your favourite holiday scenes in acrylic – just don’t splash any on your socks!”

art fun socks

artist feetaso

ChattyFeet is a quirky brand that offers “silly sock personalities” for adults and children alike. The studio’s line of cheeky characters colorfully drawn onto comfortable cotton socks.

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

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Living Light: Human Figures Dance Inside 3D-Printed Zoetrope

02 Jul

[ By SA Rogers in Drawing & Digital. ]

zoetrope gif main

All it takes are a few highly focused beams of light and a spinning zoetrope to make a human figure spring to life, walking or even dancing in a barely-visible translucent circle. ‘Process and WALK’ explores the relationship between time and movement, taking a two-dimensional image of a person and applying it to a three-dimensional object. In effect, the person’s movements are stretched out to take up the entire circle, each fraction of an inch containing its own particular shifts of the arms and legs.

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zoetrope light 2

Artist Akinori Goto lays out the whole process in the video above, showing how he transforms a animation of a person walking into a 3D axis that can then be translated into data for a 3D printer. The result looks like no more than a warped piece of plastic mesh, with no discernible shapes embedded within it. Place it on a turntable and it still won’t look like much – until beams of light highlight just one segment of the edge.

zoetrop gif 1

Once that happens, the walking figure appears. Every few seconds, the illuminated figure seems to multiply, sending additional figures to other points along the zoetrope. It’s simple and complex at the same time, pairing a pre-film animation device that’s been in use for centuries with cutting-edge small-scale manufacturing technology

[ By SA Rogers in Drawing & Digital. ]

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Drawn Together: The Evolution of Architectural Scale Figures

18 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

architectural selfies

As they evolved, illustrated figures in architecture (sometimes called ‘scalies‘) have grown to have more personality, color and life, serving as more than a means to measure relative distances, heights and widths in renderings.

architectural scalies figure void

abstract scales

Historically, architectural drawings rarely featured people and, when they did, these were simplified constructs, often just outlines or silhouettes, designed simply to give the viewer a sense of scale.

scalies from gizmodo

scalies

Over time, start to see figures sitting in furniture, holding books (or recently: mobile devices), groups interacting and other strategies to bring these two-dimensional people to life, and the architectural scenes they inhabit along with them.

scalies in new rednerings

Their evolution is not accidental: scalies are often used with very explicit aims, from trying to give people a sense of the use that will take place in a finished building or space to conveying a broader vision of its popularity. Developers, for instance, may want to sell investors on how well their project will do financially, and thus pack drawings with figures to create that impression.

loitering scalies

On the flip side, architectural students may take things to opposite extremes, setting lewd, crude or generally absurd scenes for shock value and collegial entertainment.

scalies package

While some architects simply photo-edit their own scalies out of various images, there are professional makers as well, who take pictures against green screens and sell them in bundles, like “100 Business People” or “100 Casual People.” With the rise of 3D modeling, some companies are starting to capture and sell three-dimensional figures as well.

scalies in extreme environmen ts

sad keanu architecture rendering

Increasingly, other ‘support’ objects have coming into play, from cars to carried accessories. Some designers go out of their way to make scalies stand out, using scantily-clad models, impossible characters (like dinosaurs) or famous figures (like a sad Keanu).

scalies example

Taking the larger view, scalies show us a great deal about times, places and cultural norms; in the mid-1900s, you find men golfing and women in kitchens, dressed (of course) in period attire. Today is no different, but we notice the cultural cues less since these are now our times and places (Images via Gizmodo, Curbed, The New York Times and DesignObserver).

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Famous Figures: How 21 Different Architects Draw Scale Humans

30 Mar

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

norman foster figure

Many contemporary architects cut and paste scale figures into their renderings to show depth and dimension, but in cases where they draw their own, aspects of their style and personality become apparent in the radical differences between their approaches.

frank gehry figure

walter gropius figure

steven holl figure

Frank Gehry’s figure, perhaps predictably, is a mess of forms and shapes. Walter Gropius’ betrays a Bauhaus bent, all angles and boxes. Steven Holl, of course, is a lovely little watercolor, expressive and reflective of his well-known habit for creating daily water-colored sketches.

renzo piano figure

alvaro siza figure

New York architectural designer Noor Makkiya has collected twenty-one such examples for a series dubbed simply Figures, isolating them on neutral backgrounds to allow for easy side-by-side comparisons.

sanaa figure

mies van der rohe figure

The variations are dramatic, between highly-stylized forms to simplified human figures or completely abstract sets of shapes forming nearly-illegible avatars, all showing something about the architect behind them and how they choose to represent their work.

santiago calatrava figure

lenoardo de vinci figur

From the collector: “Human figures are typically used in an architecture rendering to provide a clear scale for the common eye. Thanks to new technologies like Photoshop we have lost our “ontological dimension”, and the copy paste method we use makes it easier for us to fill architecture renderings with a desultory crowd of figures.”

peter cook figure

oscar neymeier figure

le corbusier figure

“True architects since the early centuries used human figures not only to describe the quantity and the quality of the environment but also for deeper purposes of study and expression. Some used it as means of architecture inspiration, demonstrating the divine power of the human order. Other architects use human figures to emphasize on the activity within the space, sometimes it is important to depict the spatial properties of a design. Architects project themselves into the human figure. So if we compare drawings from different architects, we frequently find differences in body shape and body activity, for practicing architects often represent their own ideologies as a reference for understanding the human physical condition.”

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Posts Tagged ‘Figures’

CIPA figures show disappointing October sales, but mirrorless continues to rise

Applied LEGO: Design Graduate Sends Miniature Figures of Himself as Resumes

CIPA figures for May show more good news for camera makers

CIPA figures for April illustrate steadying of the digital camera market and continued mirrorless growth

Art History in Contemporary Life: Classical Figures in Modern Scenery

Yoga Joes: G.I. Action Figures Posed in Complex Meditative Positions

Artist Socks Series: Wear Pairs of Figures from Famous Paintings

Living Light: Human Figures Dance Inside 3D-Printed Zoetrope

Drawn Together: The Evolution of Architectural Scale Figures

Famous Figures: How 21 Different Architects Draw Scale Humans

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