minimalsites.com - Minimal Web Design Gallery and Minimalist Community

After Albert Exergian’s hugely popular minimalist tv show posters, it’s now time for Jamie Bolton’s minimalist movie posters.

UK-based Bolton tried to capture the essence of movies like Back to the Future, Blade Runner, The Shining and Jurassic Park into a single image.

I love how he even ceated extended concepts for the Star Wars series and the Back to the Future sequels. Very smart!

Bolton sells prints of the posters (A3/11.7*16.5 in.) via his webshop. Price per piece: £10.00 (about $16).

Pocoyo is a brightly coloured animated children’s cartoon series. Not exactly minimalist, is it?

Well, there is a interesting element of ‘less is more’ in this cartoon – it has no backdrops, just a plain white background.

It is through smart use of depth and perspective that the makers, the Spanish David Cantolla, Luis Gallego and Guillermo García Carsi, are still able to create a 3-dimensional world.

The benefit of using a plain white background is apparent: the colourful characters really stand out. (Thx, Vasilis!)

A Flickr set with famous floating heads and quote bubbles – what’s not to love? (thx David Kaneda)

Skirting the Glut of iPhone Apps - NYTimes.com:

The average iPhone or iPod Touch owner uses 5 to 10 apps regularly, according to Flurry, a research firm that studies mobile trends. This despite the surfeit of available apps: some 140,000 and counting.

This self realization is what led to my iPhone experiment a few weeks back. I knew that, despite the four pages of apps, there were only a handful I used often enough to warrant placement on my home screen. Seems most people fall into this category. Perhaps you do as well. (thx Matt Thomas)

My Leopard desktop with a little GeekTool action.

(Submitted by Mike)

The Alta Bike, a hybrid between a classic courier and a mountain bike, was designed as a collaboration project between the Norwegian designers Bleed, Norway Says and Frost Produkt in 2004. Initially the Alta Bike was supposed to be a project with a limited production of 50 bikes but Alta soon got so popular that it became the first serial production single speed bike on the market.

“The initial idea behind the Alta bike was to make a light, timeless, fast and durable bicycle that was designed for city use.”

The single speed design means it performs perfect in urban environment as you have rarely enough speed to need to change gears. In case of need to accelerate you can always rely on the handlebar – Alta Bike’s signature feature – giving you the power to fight hills.

They wanted something back to basics and they succeeded. The result of the collaboration is a great singlespeed city racer with a weight of only 9.2 kg, available in various colors.

The Alta Bike has been bought by the Norwegian National Museum as a part of their permanent collection.

A while ago, there was some global competition, and the prize was supposedly ‘the best job in the world‘: island caretaker in the Great Barrier Reef. And although I am very happy for the guy who won the prize, I’m afraid that someone else has the real best job in the world: Iwan Baan.

Baan is the photographer of the starchitects: Rem Koolhaas, SANAA, Herzog & de Meuron, and many more. The Dutch photographer is sent around the world to shoot their latest works, such as the CCTV tower in Beijing, and the Bird’s Nest olympic stadium in Beijing.

So what makes Baan’s work so special? In a recent NY Times article I read the following, which I think says it well:

Mr. Baan’s work, while still showing architecture in flattering lights and from carefully chosen angles, does away with the old feeling of chilly perfection. In its place he offers untidiness, of the kind that comes from real people moving though buildings and real cities massing around them.

For Minimalissimo I have selected a few photos of Baan’s extensive portfolio, but make sure you check out Baan’s website for more architectural goodness.