Boats, Brutalism, and Bee’s Knees
Boats, Brutalism, and Bee’s Knees
Plus an update to a previous article
Hi again, I hope you’ve had a nice April. Here are some of the cool things I’ve found in the world of design and tech 👇
Generate your own AI songs 🎶
First text, then images, now catchy music. Udio is a service that allows you to quickly generate some impressively polished songs in a matter of minutes. To give you an idea, please enjoy my Pixar-quality animation below (sound on!):
And it’s not just weird jingles. I’ve successfully created rock, metal with weird time signatures, and 80s jazz-funk about Pringles. It’s completely free while in beta, so I’d heartily recommend having a play around with it, regardless of musical ability 🕺
Plants ‘n’ concrete 🌲⬜️
As the name would suggest, Brutalist Plants by Olivia Broome is, a book of plants… and brutalism! It reminds me strongly of Fuel’s Soviet Bus Stops, but with a lot more green. The raw, geometric forms of brutalist structures are juxtaposed with the soft, flowing lines of plants. It’s delightful eye candy, and I’ve been a fan of the publisher (Hoxton Mini Press) for years.
If you don’t have space on your bookshelf to lovingly place and admire this book, fear not. Olivia also runs a popular Instagram account with the same images.
Arc arrives on Windows 🖥️
Back in November, I sung internetty praises for Arc, a web browser with a fantastic interface design and beautiful aesthetics. Article below if you’re interested. The great news is that it’s now available on Windows 11 too.
Raise your glass to seagrass 🐟
Finally, London’s Boundless have designed a beautiful special edition bottle for Plymouth Gin. The bottles support the Ocean Conservation Trust’s Blue Meadows project, protecting seagrass in south-west England.
The swirly, warped appearance of the plants is a great decision, in my opinion. It feels like a delicate and considered tie-in that doesn’t detract from the main brand. An affectionate, fitting tribute to the ‘lungs of the ocean’ supported with each purchase ⚓️
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Shell-Out. I say edition with the cockiness of someone that now has an AI-generated theme tune. Feel free to reply to this email with any of your own musical creations — you don’t know that you’re a bagpipe drum and bass fan until you try it 🏴🔥
Best turtley wishes,
Tom 🐢
👥 Socials
👔 LinkedIn
📸 Instagram
🌍 My website