Clarendon : Posters

Clarendon : The Clarity of Clarendon - Greg Lookerse

Clarendon - (clarendon experience) Orlando Aquije

Clarendon : Design

Clarendon : Opinions

Clarendon is not campy or Retro, yet it embodies the mid-20th-Century. And maybe that is the secret of its resurgence. Maybe, like the nostalgic bending of reality that attended the Reagan internment, the sudden reflowering of Clarendon reflects a longing for a simpler time — or at least, for a time we can nostalgically pretend was simpler and less dangerous than these days.

Oh Claredon! The font I used repeatedly through my studies has become a personal favourite. When I needed to communicate a clean, yet retro feeling, Clarendon was often my choice. I love the bulbous character of this typeface - it's a strong yet friendly font that really sits well with me.

Mayan Civilisation : Apocalypto Trailer

Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

Mayan Civilisation : Calendar

The Maya kept time with a combination of several cycles that meshed together to mark the movement of the sun, moon and Venus. Their ritual calendar, known as the Tzolkin, was composed of 260 days. It pairs the numbers from 1 through 13 with a sequence of the 20 day-names shown below. It works something like our days of the week pairing with the numbers of the month. Thus you might have 1-Imix (similar to Sunday the 1st) followed by 2-Ik (just as you would have Monday the 2nd). When you get to 13-Ben, the next day would start the numbers over again, thus 1-Ix, 2-Men etc. It will take 260 days before the cycle gets back to 1-Imix again (13 x 20).
THE 20 DAY CYCLE
The symbols shown below represent the 20 day-names and are identified with their Yucatec names, pronunciation and approximate translation. The name, meaning and symbol can vary in different Maya languages. Also, each day can be represented with more elaborate glyphs known as "Head Variants" - a formal writing system which can be loosely compared to our script alphabet versus our print alphabet.
The Tzolkin calendar was meshed with a 365-day solar cycle called the "Haab". The calendar consisted of 18 months with 20 days (numbered 0-19) and a short "month" of only 5 days that was called the Wayeb and was considered to be a dangerous time. It took 52 years for the Tzolkin and Haab calendars to move through a complete cycle.
These are the Mayan words for periods of time:
Day = Kin (keen)
Month of 20 days = Uinal (wee nal)
Year of 360 days = Tun (toon)
20 Tuns = K'atun (k' ah toon)
20 K'atuns = Baktun (bock toon)

http://www.criscenzo.com

Mayan Civilisation : Numbers

Above you will find a sample of how the Maya could write numbers of any size using only three symbols, the dot, bar and a shell to represent zero.

http://www.criscenzo.com/jaguarsun/numbers

Mayan Civilisation : Gods and Deities

There is a vast pantheon of gods worshiped by the Maya. Different areas had different gods, and some were more important in one area than in another. Each location would also have it's special patron god. There was probably some sense of competitiveness between locations, where they felt that their patron god was stronger or more beneficent that others. When one area overtook another through war or politics, they would impose the worship of their favorite gods on their subjects.
Some of the gods that archaeologists and anthropologists have identified are:

Hunab Ku
The supreme diety - the creator god

Cizin
Death god - (an ancient god of violent sacrifice, such as decapitation

Chac
Rain god -rain & lightning

Itzamna
Aged god - priestly knowledge, divination, writing

Hun Hunahpu
Maize god - (one of the Hero twins)

Xbalanque
(pronouced schpah-len-kay) The other Hero Twin of the "Popol Vuh" - the Maya creation story

Kin or Kinich Ahau
Sun god - a younger version of Itzamna

Ik
Wind & Hurricane god

Chack Chel or Ixchel
Old Goddess - fearsome genetrix - Old Goddess of fertility and birth. Rainbow Goddess -patron of weavers

Young Moon Goddess
Patron of fertility and love

Kawil
(pronounced Kah-wheel) God of Rulers - patron of dynastic descent, fire & lightning (also called Bolon Dzacab)

Jaguar gods
Lords of the underworld - associated with caves, night, hunting (shamans often are depicted transforming into jaguars. The Olmec - worshiped were-jaguars - a combination of human and jaguar

Ek Chuah
Patron of merchants

Pauahtun
4 gods who hold up the sky

Hun Batz & Hun Chuen
(monkey gods) Patrons of scribes

http://www.criscenzo.com

Mayan Civilisation : Overview

INTRODUCTION
Of the many pre-Columbian civilizations of the western hemisphere, the Maya civilization alone developed a writing system that provided a complete expression of their language, thus they are the only indigenous people of the Americas with a written history. While only four of their folding-bark books survived the fanatical purges of the Spanish priests, their writings in stucco, stone and pottery remain. But the voices of the ancient Maya stood silent for centuries, waiting for the advances in decipherment made in the past three decades.
WHAT DEFINES THE MAYA?
The Maya civilization was never united under one governing body like the Aztec. Instead, independent city-states shared many traits and beliefs that categorized them as Maya. In addition to their writing system, they had a calendar system that consisted of a Long Count divided into five cycles, along with a 260 day ritual cycle and a 365 day solar calendar. They had a comprehensive knowledge of naked-eye astronomy and charted the movements of the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the constellations through the night sky, and marked the position of the sun along the horizon.
A UNIQUE VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE
The ancient Maya had a complex pantheon of deities whom they worshipped and offered human sacrifices. Rulers were believed to be descendants of the gods and their blood was the ideal sacrifice, either through personal bloodletting or the sacrifice of captives of royal blood. The Maya vision of the universe is divided into multiple levels, above and below earth, positioned within the four directions of north, south, east and west. After death, the soul was believed to go to the Underworld, Xibalba (shee bal bah), a place of fright where sinister gods tested and tricked their unfortunate visitors.
AGRICULTURE AND DIET
While the Maya diet varies, depending on the local geography, maize remains the primary staple now as it was centuries ago. Made nutritionally complete with the addition of lime, the kernels are boiled, ground with a metate and mano, then formed by hand into flat tortillas that are cooked on a griddle that is traditionally supported on three stones. Chile peppers, beans and squash are still grown in the family farm plot (milpa) right along with the maize, maximizing each crop's requirements for nutrients, sun, shade and growing surface. Agriculture was based on slash and burn farming which required that a field be left fallow for 5 to 15 years after only 2 to 5 years of cultivation. But there is evidence that fixed raised fields and terraced hillsides were also used in appropriate areas.
ARCHITECTURE
Limestone structures, faced with lime stucco, were the hallmark of ancient Maya architecture. The Maya developed several unique building innovations, including the corbel arch which was a false arch achieved by stepping each successive block, from opposite sides, closer to the center, and capped at the peak. Tombs were often encased within or beneath Maya structures. Frequently new temples were built over existing structures. A honeycombed roofcomb towered above many structures, providing a base for painted plaster that was the Maya equivalent of the billboard. In addition to temples, most Maya sites had multi-roomed structures that probably served as royal palaces as well as centers for government affairs. Historically significant events, such as accessions, the capture or sacrifice of royal victims and the completion of the twenty year katun cycle, were recorded on stone stelae and tablets.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
There was a distinct class system in ancient Maya times. Between the ruling class and the farmer/laborer, there must have been an educated nobility who were scribes, artists and architects. Evidence of their skill and innovation remains in works of stone, stucco, jade, bone, pottery, obsidian and flint. There is no evidence of a priesthood and it is likely that priestly duties were performed by the ruler.

http://www.criscenzo.com

Mayan Civilisation : Architecture

From top to bottom:

1. A late bloomer in the Maya world, the city of Uxmal in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula continued to flourish in all its splendor after the fall of Tikal, Palenque, and the other great cities to the south in the ninth century. A ruin with ornate roof combs known as the House of the Doves showcases the Puuc architectural style, named for the hills of the northern Yucatán Peninsula.

2. Set into the side of a mountain in southern Mexico, the elegant site of Palenque marks the western extent of the Maya territory. Many of its structures were built by the king known as Pakal, who was interred deep within the Temple of the Inscriptions (at left) with one of the greatest caches of jade ornaments yet found in a Maya burial. Allied with Tikal, the city faded around A.D. 800 after it was defeated by Toniná, in league with Tikal’s rival Calakmul.

3. With Polaris as a hub, stars streak through the night in a time exposure of the House of the Magician at Uxmal. Sophisticated sky watchers, the Maya tracked the movements of the stars and planets closely and created an accurate solar-year calendar based on their observations. The heavens also had metaphysical significance for the Maya. They believed the Milky Way was the path to Xibalba, the underworld, and they scheduled momentous events such as battles and sacrifices around the journeys of Venus and perhaps Jupiter.

4. Kabáh, in the Yucatán, shares the same ornate architectural style seen at Uxmal, to which it is connected by a sacbe, or stone causeway. Its most famous monument, the Palace of the Masks, displays 260 images of Chac, the long-nosed rain god. Repeated on many buildings in this arid site, this motif was likely meant to summon rain. The snouts could have held offerings of copal, the sacred incense.

5. The Temple of the Warriors projects a message of power at Chichén Itzá, which flourished as a trading center past the year 1000, long after cities to the south had fallen. Murals inside the temple show merchandise moving by land and sea, and the square columns outside bear armed figures with feathered headdresses.

6. A pyramid called La Iglesia (The Church) soars into the canopy of the rain forest at Cobá, in the Yucatán. Only a fraction of this little-known site’s 30 square miles (78 square kilometers) has been cleared of the tangled cover that overtook all Maya cities, and few visitors arrived until the promise of tourism brought a road in the 1970s. Now day-trippers from resorts on Mexico’s Caribbean coast climb the crumbling ruins, once reserved for priests and kings with godlike powers.

Mayan Civilisation : Sculptures and Objects

From top to bottom:

1. The death mask of Pakal, the great lord of Palenque, immortalizes the vigor of his youth with 340 pieces of jade, four pieces of shell, and two pieces of obsidian, most likely arranged on a wooden backing that has since rotted away. Inscriptions record that Pakal spent eight years of his seven-decade reign preparing his lavish burial. When he died, on August 28, A.D. 683, he was laid to rest laden with jade—this mask, a large pendant, earplugs, rings, necklaces, and bracelets—beneath a temple where he would be venerated for generations to come.

2. An incense burner’s ornate lid takes the shape of a warrior outfitted in Teotihuacan style, with a butterfly nosepiece and a helmet shaped like a bird—most probably an eagle. Many such objects have come to light near the modern town of Escuintla in southern Guatemala, where Teotihuacanos appear to have settled among the Maya.

3. Objects such as this jade vessel crowned by the likeness of a king—Jasaw Chan Kawiil II of Tikal—testify to the Maya’s artistic skills and their far-flung commerce. Luxuries for the elite—including jade, the pelts of exotic animals, and brilliant feathers—were traded throughout the region and into central Mexico.

4. A vessel from cacao country, the Pacific coast of Guatemala, takes the shape of a goddess personifying the cacao tree, with pods sprouting from her much as they do from the trunk of the tree. Real cacao pods contain rows of slippery white seeds, or beans. The Maya used the beans as money and made them into a bitter, spicy drink that the nobles quaffed during ceremonies. Today the beans are fermented, dried, and ground to make cocoa and chocolate.

5. A helmeted dwarf, crafted in about A.D. 600, was discovered in a royal tomb at the site of Waka, in northern Guatemala, along with 22 other figurines—dwarfs, courtiers, ball players, a shaman, a queen, and a king. Archaeologists believe the burial belonged to a ruler who may have been named Tzih Bahlam (Emergent Jaguar). “The figurines appear to represent a court scene of conjuring, appropriate for sending the soul of the deceased to his ancestors,” says Southern Methodist University’s David Freidel, the site’s lead archaeologist. “They could be ancestral figures, or the contemporary court.”

6. Sitting on a stool of bones, an aged god holds a human head in his hands. This spooky ceramic incense burner comes from the early fifth-century tomb of Tikal’s King Yax Nuun Ayiin—son of Spear-thrower Owl, the man who masterminded Teotihuacan’s incursion into Maya territory. When the burner was filled with smoldering incense, smoke issuing from the god’s mouth enveloped the head. The figure may represent a creator god breathing life into a human head.

7. Played in every city, large or small, the Maya ball game required heavy padding for competitors who hit a heavy rubber ball around a large court using just their upper arms and thighs. Often played with two teams of two or three members, the game was sometimes seen as representing the movements of the sun, the moon, and the planet Venus. It was also a metaphor for a mythical contest involving the maize god and characters known as the Hero Twins. At its most desperate, it became a ritual replaying of war, and matches ended with the beheading of the losers.

8. Wearing the sarong associated with the moon goddess, the divine essence of beauty and fertility, a young woman positions a lidded jar to pour a drink—perhaps the spicy chocolate favored by the Maya elite. Her elongated head reflects the custom of shaping the skull from birth to resemble an ear of corn, the sacred substance from which the Maya believed all humans were created. Likely buried with someone important, this figurine was meant to offer sustenance to the deceased for eternity.

Mayan Civilisation : Carvings

From top to bottom:

1. Commissioned by a Tikal ruler named Stormy Sky, an inscribed stone pillar known as Stela 31 tells of Fire Is Born’s arrival years before—and the death that same day of Tikal’s king, surely ordered by the conquering warlord. When this monument was discovered in 1960, Maya writing was just starting to be deciphered, so Fire Is Born’s name glyph (above left) was first read as Smoking Frog—a simple description of the design. Since then the Maya code has been cracked more fully, and Stela 31 has revealed its long-held secrets.

2. In a terrifying expression of royal power, a stucco mural at Toniná shows a turtle-footed skeleton grabbing the hair of a severed head—with portrait-like features, perhaps of a real person—and a mythical rodent holding another head in a ritual bundle. These characters were the wayob, the affliction-spewing alter egos of kings that were used to curse enemies. They work here amid a scaffold bearing the heads of human sacrifices.

3. One of the last great kings of Cancuén, Taj Chan Ahk, presides over a ceremony in September A.D. 795 on a recently uncovered masterpiece of Maya art. With hundreds of sites still to be investigated, many more such testaments to the glory of the Maya civilization await discovery.

IdN - 15th Anniversary Edition

IdN - IdN Extra

About IdN Extra:
As a continuation of its mission to amplify and unify the global design community, IdN is publishing a series of special editions (entitled IdN Extra) that explore in-depth a particular theme or project.

IdN - 100th Issue

100th Issue Content:

10 DESIGNERS / 10 CURATORS
We have asked 10 top-of-the-class creatives to answer a couple of questions — how do they view today's design scene, and what advice would they offer newcomers to it? Not only that, but our Top 10 have been generous enough to pick out 10 peers whose work they believe deserves greater prominence for your enjoyment. A feast of inspiration, then, for everybody in the art and design business.
Featuring:
Antoine+Manuel | Big Active | eBoy | Maurice Broomfield | Jason Brooks | Paul Budnitz | Stanley Donwood | David Dowton | Non-Format | Genevieve Gauckler | Marcus Hofko aka The Rainbowmondey | John Jay | Jeremyville | kennardphillipps | Elisabeth Kopf | Simon Oosterdijk | Tom Sachs | Stefan Segmeister | Peter Stemmer aka Peekasso | Viktor Timofeev
Contents:
Motion: IdN 100th — Get down, IdN friends, it's party time!
Creative Country: China — Coming to terms with a cultural legacy
Exhibitionism: PICK Me Up — A 'first' for the UK - but it certainly won't be the last
Studio: Toykyo — Made in Belgium, inspired by Japan
Pick of the Month
Specifications:
102 pages
6 varying paper stocks
4C process, spot UV
91 minutes DVD Video included