Monthly Archives

September 2011

GorillaPod Micro is Getting Some Love

By | New Product Launch, Uncategorized | No Comments

Our new little buddy the GorillaPod Micro has been showered in love since its launch on Wednesday. Our goal was to create a super-versatile, ultra-compact and totally revolutionary tripod design, and it seems that folks agreed that we’ve done it. We couldn’t be happier!

Here are a few snapshots from this week’s press and fan buzz.

Best Praise: “The GorillaPod Micro 250 and GorillaPod Micro 800 take portable and compact tripods to a whole new level. A must have for any on-the-go photo enthusiast, these tiny tripods are a great way to gain some stability without adding clutter or weight.” – Cool Hunting

Best Customer Feedback: “GorillaPod Micro will be so very convenient for all of my family’s photography and videography needs!” – Cindy White

Best Hit-the-Nail-on-the-Head Comment:  “New, super-compact tripod that fits in the palm of your hand. Cool indeed!” – Emily Kiberd

Best Headline: “Wee Tripods Cling to Your Camera Bottom” – Gizmodo

Best MySpace-Photography-Jab: “The new Joby Gorillapod Micro 800 and 250 fold themselves up kind of ingeniously to hug the base of the camera, almost integrating into the camera body so you can slip it into your pocket or case … It means you won’t have to hold your camera up in front of your face for self portraits anymore.” – Gizmodo

Have a wonderful weekend! I’ll be back at you next week with some fabulous photography finds!

New GorillaPods! Tiny but mighty!

By | New Product Launch | No Comments

Hello friends!

We’d like to introduce the newest additions to our GorillaPod Family: GorillaPod Micro 250, GorillaPod Micro 800 and GorillaPod Hybrid! We are proud to expand the scope of our GorillaPod line into supports for hybrid cameras and also into always-on tripods.

Now, let’s get to know each of these great new products a bit better.

GorillaPod Micro 250!

GorillaPod Micro 250 is the solution to all of your forgotten tripod woes. Tiny but mighty, the GorillaPod Micro 250 is the first always-on tripod that offers the stability, range of movement and versatility of full-size supports. With GorillaPod Micro, you have a durable tripod when you need it, and a lightweight, always-on tripod for when you don’t. Elegantly concealed beneath the base of the camera, the sleek form is convenient to carry and easily fits in any camera case or pocket. The aluminum and zinc alloy construction is engineered for dependable stability, quick deployment and precise ball positioning. Plus, rubber grips provide rock-solid footing on any surface. Now you can capture crisp low-light landscapes, join group portraits and record time-lapse party scenes, wherever your adventures take you.

GorillaPod Micro 800!

 

Picture perfect photos, without the extra baggage! GorillaPod Micro 250’s bigger brother, GorillaPod Micro 800 is designed with compact system cameras in mind. Durable enough to support the extra weight and power of your hybrid camera but still sleek enough to fit into your pocket or camera case, GorillaPod Micro 800 is the perfect on-the-go solution to your photography needs.

GorillaPod Hybrid! 

 

Everyone’s favorite flexible, wrappable legs meet precise ballhead positioning for your compact system camera or hybrid camera. The perfect companion for your CSC, the GorillaPod Hybrid is the most versatile, portable tripod out there. Its rock-solid stabilization and precise ballhead positioning allow you to capture professional-quality images without the size and weight of a traditional tripod system. Whether you’re staging a last-second street portrait, shooting time-lapse photos, or recording shake-free video, GorillaPod Hybrid lets you unleash the power of your hybrid camera.

Our press release detailing the product launch of GorillaPod Micro 250, GorillaPod Micro 800 and GorillaPod Hybrid can be found here.

A few more rad GIFs

By | Photography | No Comments

Hello friends! Happy Monday!

It seems like pretty awesome animated GIFs are taking the internet by storm nowadays. I wrote a while back about Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck’s Cinemagraphs and I thought I would share a few more artistic GIFs.

These are by NYC-based photographer Ignacio Torres. His work explores youth, identity  and science all in one neat bundle. These images are from the series Stellar and have an obvious cosmic bent. His GIFs in the series One of Us! are also well done — a bit more subtle black and white portraits.

And if you’re more in the mood for still images of  attractive, moody teens, check out his Youth series. I would consider the images Avedon-esque and they are definitely worth exploring.

 

The Lytro Camera—Revolution in Photography

By | Photography | 2 Comments

Happy Friday Friends!

Today I wanted to share with you a truly new technology in photography—the Lytro Light Field Camera, a camera that turns light into living pictures. When I first read about this technology, I thought it seemed impossible (but still totally amazing). But, at the end of this year, Lytro will debut the first light field camera designed and manufactured for the regular consumer. Before reading about the Lytro camera, I’d never heard about light field photography (or light field science for that matter), so let me break it down for you.

The light field is a core concept in imaging science. The light field fully defines how a scene appears. It is the amount of light traveling in every direction through every point in space – it’s all the light rays in a scene. Conventional cameras record a scene in two dimensions and only capture a small fraction of all the light available. Light field cameras capture the color, intensity and vector direction of all of the light traveling through a scene, which means the sensor records the entire scene in three dimensions. It records a “living” scene, almost like you are standing right there in it again. All of this information is then processed by a powerful software that uses crazy algorithms to allow the photographer to make use of the full light field, to take advantage of all of the information captured.

So what does this actually mean for the photographer? It means that many aspects of  light field pictures can be manipulated after the fact. The data captured allows both the picture taker and the viewer to focus pictures after they’re snapped, shift their perspective of the scene, and even switch seamlessly between 2D and 3D views. With these amazing capabilities, pictures become immersive, interactive visual stories that were never possible before – they become living pictures.

What’s more, Lytro’s consumer camera condenses what was once a room full of cameras and computers in a university lab into a small, portable package—completely revolutionizing digital photography as we know it.

I could continue espousing the revolutionary capabilities of this camera, but it is much better for you to them see for yourself. Click on different points in the images below and you’ll see first hand what the Lytro Camera can do.

If you are interested in learning more about the camera or reserving one of your own you can visit the website of the Lytro project. I cannot wait to test one of these out!

JOBY | Peter Stathis at Propeller

By | JOBY|Peter Stathis Venture Collaboration | No Comments

For the month of September, San Francisco plays host to the Architecture and The City Festival, a festival dedicated to exploring how progressive design and creative problem solving can address society’s current challenges and lead to a more sustainable future. The festival features a variety of lectures, films, tours and discussions all centered around the theme “Architecture of Consequence” with the goal of demonstrating and discussing the positive impact architects and designers have on our communities.

Last night,  Propeller Modern—a home design store that features local designers in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco— hosted the JOBY | Peter Stathis Venture Collaboration lighting line and designers Peter Stathis and Phillip Wood in a discussion about the unique design culture of San Francisco and green LED technology. Peter Stathis is a wonderful speaker with quite the sense of humor. That coupled with his deep understanding of realities of designing today made for a very interesting lecture. I enjoyed the discussion and wanted to share with you some of Peter Sathis’ comments.

Designing Today vs Designing Yesterday

Peter Stathis has been part of the design community for 25 years. He began his career in New York and about 10 years ago moved to San Francisco. 

Previously, designing in the US was linear and limited. You could only design what you could make.  But, with the disengagement of manufacturing and distribution, the playing field has changed. There are opportunities out there, space for collaboration across borders, across countries. Design is global again.

East Coast vs West Coast

New York doesn’t make things. New York makes ads for things. There is real opportunity in San Francisco. The scope of what you can achieve is phenomenal because of the culture and the community here. What three to four people can achieve here in San Francisco, it would take 20 to 30 people to do in New York. San Francisco is very permissive, less structured and traditional. It is an incredible place with highly collaborative people and advanced technology. Having that at your fingertips is fantastic. There is also a sense of trust here that is unique—people take bigger leaps.

The JOBY | Peter Stathis Venture Collaboration is a perfect example of  this permissive business culture, this collaborative spirit. The way we worked together was not traditional. It was very dynamic. The products we created in just 18 months could not have be possible without collaboration.

On the Trapeze and Obus

The Trapeze and Obus are simple in appearance, but made with very sophisticated technology. They are designed from the inside out. The LED light panels are remarkably efficient, but the design is also playful and self-evident. We wanted to take light and put it anywhere, similar to what JOBY offers with its GorillaPod line.

On His Design Philosophy

I’m into aesthetics. I spend a lot of time making my products as simple looking as possible. There is not a lot of shenanigans going on. My products are built for efficiency, durability and to be intuitive—like a tool. But, I also understand that there is a level of engagement beyond sheer function. There is an emotional engagement, and the outward appearance of the product taps into that. It is magic—hiding very useful and sophisticated technology in a simple appearance. I want to offer a new experience to the people that purchase my designs.

On Green Design

Being green is not first in my mind when I design, but the objects that I design are green. I design as simply as possible — there is nothing superfluous to remove from my designs. I am also designing to last. My products are durable. They are meant to be around for 15 to 20 years, not just a few seasons. I also use recyclable materials; the LEDs in my products are extremely efficient in terms of energy use. For example, the Trapeze is made of  90% recyclable materials, the LED light panel has a life span of 20 years.

A special thank you to Peter and Phillip from JOBY for such an interesting discussion! If you are in the Bay Area and would like to attend other Architecture and The City events similar to this one, the festival guide is available here.

JOBY is on TV!

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hello friends!

We are excited to share that JOBY is making its television debut with a fun ad campaign in South Africa!

The TV ads will be shown on all major South African TV networks several times a day and we are very excited about this fantastic new publicity. Check out the videogame-themed TV ad below.

Now doesn’t that GorillaTorch Flare look cool!

Contest + Giveaway! GorillaMobile for iPhone 4 at Apple Stores

By | Contests, Gorillamobile | No Comments

Happy Friday Creactives!

A little birdy told me that our GorillaMobile for iPhone 4 is now on the shelves at the Apple Store! This is huge and exciting news for all of us here at JOBY- because let’s be honest, Apple is like the way cooler older brother. But there is one little problem. We don’t know which Apple Stores across the US carry our products!  This is where you come in …

Help us map our Apple Store presence by visiting your local Apple Store, snapping a quick photo of the product at the store (on the shelf or posing with you – your choice), and then upload your photo and the store location to our Facebook page. We realize that this is no small favor so as a token of our gratitude, three lucky entries will win a product of their choice from our GorillaMobile line.

We’re at the San Francisco Stockton Street Store!

Ready, set, go and help us map the GorillaMobile for iPhone 4 at Apple Stores!

Contest runs through next Friday, September 16th, 2011.

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And one last thing! Tomorrow is the last day to vote for our Trapeze in the California Home + Design Hit List Contest. Please help us make the glossy pages of their winter issue!

Happy weekend!

Midweek Photo Break

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hello Creactives!

Why is it that the work week after a long weekend somehow seems longer than a regular week? Mind boggling. It’s Wednesday, and I thought you all might be feeling the same as I do—in need of a zen photo break.

These images were shot using the Instagram App for iPhone by our Pro Team Member *Safe Solvent. Hipster though it may be, I am a fan of the Instagram app and think these photos are just beautiful. The self portraits below made great use of the GorillaMobile for iPhone 4.

Ahhhhhh. Don’t you feel better now? I hope you’re refreshed and ready to get back to work!

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Finds: Cinemagraphs + LED Lighting Love

By | Friday Find, Photography, Press | No Comments

Happy Friday Creactives!

I’m sure you all remember GIFs—the animated clip art or photos that made their debut on every late 90s/early 2000s webpage? Oh, you forgot how cool those were?!? Let me share a favorite with you!

Awesome, right? Well, artists Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck have transformed the world of animated photos from tacky and mildly obnoxious to subtle and rather beautiful. Their “cinemagraphs”, named for the cinematic quality their process lends to the traditional photographic image, are more than a photo, but not quite a video. The artists say that “a cinemagraph is an image that contains within itself a living moment that allows a glimpse of time to be experienced and preserved endlessly”. Often, the movement in the scene is just perceptible, unlike the superhero-cat scene above. Burg and Beck have only been working with this process for the past few months, but have already created some really incredible images. Their subtle touch seems to lend itself to pretty much any subject matter, ranging from fashion to food, from cityscapes to beer brewing. Here are a few of my favorite cinemagraphs, and you can view the rest of their portfolio on their website.

Just gorgeous!

Our friends at Photojojo have caught onto this new trend of making animated GIFs that aren’t atrocious, and they’ve written a tutorial that explains how to use multiple exposures to make still photos that look like movies. A word of warning, this step by step tutorial is not for the faint of heart. Like most art forms, making a cinemagraph is a rather intensive process. I haven’t gotten up the courage to try to make one myself yet—hopefully inspiration will strike soon!

Enjoy your long weekend! And, if you end up throwing together a cinemagraph on your day off, send it our way!

Trapeze is a Finalist in CA Home + Design Hit List!

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

We are excited to announce that our Trapeze LED Table Light is a finalist in the California Home + Design 2011 Hit List!  The Trapeze is a collaboration between JOBY and famed industrial designer Peter Stathis and a new product that we are extremely excited about.

Readers of CA Home + Design nominated 2011’s most stunning and innovative products, places, websites and design. The nominees were then narrowed to 21 finalists by the editors. Our Trapeze is among those top 21.  And now, it’s time to vote for your favorite! (We’re secretly hoping your favorite is us). Voting is open until September 10th and you can vote once per day.

The winners will be featured in our November/December 2011 issue and we’re aiming to see our Trapeze printed on those glossy pages!

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