Pass the time with this Street View Hyperlapse

If you've managed to tear yourself away from the last time-waster we shared with you, Google's 3D marble Maze, then perhaps it's time you had a play with another Google favourite; Google Street View Hyperlapse.

Developed by the team at  Teehan + Lax, a Toronto based digital utility designer, the hyperlapse works by taking images saved on Google Street View, then speeding them up.

To create your own, you choose a location, select starting and end points and then a focal point, the focal point is the icing on the cake, it will allow you to see an image as the camera approaches and passes, simply recreating a car journey as you pass a point of interest.

Watch the video from Teehan + Lax below, then have a go yourself here.

Google Street View Hyperlapse from Teehan+Lax Labs on Vimeo.

Seat's money saving brakes

Car manufacturers sometimes have a hard time relating the latest money-saving technology in their cars to their customers every day lives. Seat Germany may have managed it with the help of Grey Worldwide Dusseldorf.

To demonstrate how their new "Brake Energy Recovery System" which saves the energy normally lost during braking and reuses it when the accelerating, they fitted out one of their Seat Alhambra's as a taxi, added some cameras and a special glitch with the meter.

A clever marketing ploy to show consumers how they can save money, the video is definitely one to watch.

See it below.

Get the most out of your LinkedIn Company Page

Professional networking site LinkedIn has produced a useful little slideshare which gives the top ten tips for Company Pages.

They asked for tips from some of the 2012 Best Company Page winners, which included Adobe and Hubspot.

At the end of the presentation LinkedIn summarise their 3 main tips for better engagement;
1. Add an image
2. Post status updates
3. Add products or services

The reasoning for these three? Imagery speaks more to people, hence why Pinterest and Instagram grew so quickly. Status updates keep you in the mind of your followers and of course having your products and services allows people to see what you do without having to click through to your website.

Other comments to take away from this would be:
'Before posting an update, ask yourself - "Would I want to read this story? Would I want to share this with my connections?"'

'Listen to your audience. Look at the Company Page Insights, read comments, make connections'

Take a look at the full list here and let us know which tips you like the most.

Photographer captures artistic design of airports

New York based photographer Jeffrey Milstein has captured the design of two well known airports from above. In his series entitled 'flying' he has captured scenes of Newark Liberty Airport and JFK International Airport as well as a couple of shots of the city.

The images allow us to see the true artistic design of airports, which at ground level can seem sterile and daunting. Seeing them from above grasps the true nature of the design.

Milstein was inspired from his childhood, which was spent filming planes at LAX, and he is now renowned for his images of the underbellies of planes.

Milstein’s work was on display at the AIPAD Photo Show New York between April 4-7, 2013. View the full portfolio for 'flying' here.

70's style beer adverts for a soft drink?

The new ads for Dr Pepper Ten look more like a beer commercial from the 70's, featuring a rugged woodsman living off the land and at one with the animals.

In reality it's a comical remake to advertise a low-calorie version of the popular drink. Continuing on from their previous strap-line of 'it's not for women' (very similar to the UK's Yorkie slogan) they introduce a character who can only be described as a 'man's man' in a series of ads by agency Deutsch.

Funny and part of a current trend hitting the U.S to make ads that mimic the style of old ads.

Watch the series below.

Sheep breaks away from the herd for new ad series

Corona Light has produced a series of new ads with an unusual spokesperson; Sully the Sheep.

The character Sully first appeared in a spot for the brand last year, called "Stan", where he was part of a dream sequence, however his brief cameo was a hit with YouTube viewers and so the team at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners decided to produce four 15 second videos making him the star.

Take a look at how he gets on below.

Expedia announces luggage tag competition

After they produced a new advertising campaign that created clever words from the IATA codes found on luggage tags, Expedia.co.uk has launched a new competition on its Facebook Page.

The competition asks entrants to try and create their own slogans or phrases using over 9,500 available IATA codes, as seen in the campaign which we previously featured, in an effort to win a £2,000 Expedia holiday. Entries are made through an app on their page, where you can also view entries by others. The competition will run for four weeks, with a winner chosen at random.

The original campaign was the idea of copywriter Jon Morgan and art director Mike Watson at Ogilvy & Mather.

It is a clever way to build on what must have been a successful campaign for the company and, in turn, will increase their visibility on  Facebook as people need to 'like' their page before being able to enter.

Try out the app for yourself here.

Sunken platform gives different view of lake

An observation platform in Vöcklabruck, Austria is giving visitors a new perspective over a picturesque scene.

The platform is set below the water level in the middle of a lake, giving those from the shore the impression that people are below the water line.

The platform is a huge attraction for visitors to the region and consists of a ramp from the shore down to the cirlular enclosure which has seating provided for tourists to sit and enjoy the beautiful views. 

National Geographic launches 'Found'

To celebrate their 125th anniversary National Geographic have dug through their archives to create a new Tumblr Blog called 'Found'.

The blog contains many photos that you will have never seen before as they have never been published.

The blog showcases photographs that reveal cultures and moments of the past and allows for contributions. Due to the age of some of the photos background information has been lost so visitors are invited to fill in the blanks.

The collection is a great window into the past and is like a journey through the history of photography from the last 125 years.

Take a look at the blog here.

A visual exploration of Google Image Search

In her latest and ongoing project, artist Dina Kelberman has created a fantastic blog that documents patterns found on Google Image Search. 

Called 'I'm google' the project involves a seamless link between pictures found via image search, from one subject to the next based on similarities in form, composition, colour, and theme.

The result is a colourful and intriging compliation of images that links pictures of planes dropping fire retardant to orange kayak to a bridge, which all feels so natural when you go through the blog.

The Tumblr blog came out of Dina's natural tendency to spend long hours obsessing over Google Image searches, collecting photos she found beautiful and storing them by theme.

Often the images that interested her are of industrial or municipal materials or everyday photo snapshots, not those that appear to be intentionally artistic.

Follow her blog here.

Touchscreen gestures brought to life

An artist has decided to immortalise gestures used with touchscreen products. In her project 'Multi-touch gestures', Gabriele Meldaikyte built 5 different sculptures that used the main gestures associated with touchscreen devices.

The gestures, which seem to be becoming second nature to most, including some babies trying to swipe a magazine to read it, are also seen as a signature of the Apple iPhone.

Gabriele believes that these will be completely different in 10 years time so wanted to immortalise them by translating this interface language of communication into 3D objects which mimic every multi-touch gesture.

The Shed at the National Theatre

A new temporary venue has been built on an unused plaza  of the National Theatre in London.

Called 'The Shed', the venue will show new productions that it deems "adventurous, ambitious and unexpected".

Open for a year from April, The Shed provides a new way to watch theatre, offering seats from £12 up to £20, with special days planned, including talks before or after shows. 

Seats are either located at stage level or in a gallery providing patrons with an intimate view of the productions.

The building was designed and built by Haworth Tompkins, who are also incharge of the current redesign materplan for the artistic hub, and the design would seem to match the type of productiosn they plan to put on, with its vibrant colour and shape.

To find out more watch a video of lead architect Paddy Dillon talking about the design below.

haworth tompkins: the shed at the national theater, london from designboom on Vimeo.

Pop-up craft shop in Farringdon

Tobyboo is opening a pop-up shop in Clerkenwell for a week commencing on April 8th. The shop will showcase their work in bags and accessories, tableware and stationary among others.

They have been previously commisioned by the Museum of London for their Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men exhibition as well as creating a special ballerina box for a chairty auction by Coutts.

Founded by Tina Crawford, who does all her own design work and embroidery, the company sells unique pieces made in Britain.

Find out more about what they are up to on their blog.

Edinburgh's giant balloon sculpture

A sculpture made completely of balloons has been unveiled as part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival at the National Museum of Scotland.

The piece was designed and built by American artist Jason Hackenwerth, who is known for his organic and biological forms made from latex balloons.

The sculpture, titled Pisces, is the artist’s interpretation of the legend of Aphrodite and Eros: in Greek mythology, Aphrodite, the Goddess of love and her son, Eros, escaped the fearsome monster Typhon by transforming into a tightly woven spiral of two fish, a figure which later became a constellation called Pisces.

The piece is made up of 10,000 balloons, which took 3 staff members 6 days to inflate before Jason and his assistant Leah Blair wove them carefully into this three dimensional structure.

Pisces will be on display in the Grand Gallery of the National Museum of Scotland through April 14th, 2013. More images are available on Flickr.