Like many designers, I’m a big fan of whitespace. Where some folks might see emptiness and nothingness, I see atmosphere and elegance. When used properly, whitespace can add so much to a design, by spacing out the various elements and giving them room to breathe and do what they need to do—which results in a design that is more pleasing to the eye, easier to understand and navigate, and less overwhelming, even if that registers only on a subconscious level.

I’m also a sucker for good typography: for the pleasing arrangement of letters and the spaces between them, for the right use of right typefaces for the right jobs, for the use of type in lieu of “normal” design elements to communicate in ways beyond the actual words used.

Unfortunately, while it’s fairly easy to manipulate and master whitespace in web design, typography is trickier. Much of that is due to the limitations of the medium; at best, CSS gives designers only the most rudimentary typographic control. We’re basically limited to things such as font size, font weight, style, line-height, and letter-spacing.

Future versions of CSS promise more typographic control, but widespread support is still a ways off. So we’re basically stuck with rudimentary typography on websites, that is unless we want to use images for everything. (But there are so many things wrong with that approach, I won’t list them here.)

So what does all of this have to do with Astheria, Kyle Meyer’s website? Well, put simply, his site shows a stunning mastery of both whitespace and typography.

The whitespace is pretty obvious. Meyer gives the elements on his site—headlines, entry text, logo—plenty of room to breathe. And while there a few inconsistencies in his design’s grid, the grid layout nevertheless is so sharp, you could slice bread with it. His design isn’t centered, but between the gracious whitespace on the left and the very subtle background on the right, you’d never know it. Everything is nicely framed, but the framing and layout aren’t obvious or heavyhanded.

The only place where things get a little awkward is the Archives page (see above). The archives are sorted by month and year, and the spacing between the individual headlines represents the amount of time elapsed between their postings. Which sounds really cool in theory, but visually, it’s unbalanced and uneven, and a little odd compared to how rigid and composed everything else in the layout is.

As far as typography goes, he uses the ultra-big lettering that’s become something of the rage these days, but the mixing and matching of weights keeps the larger headlines from being overbearing. Furthermore, subheadlines keep the entries balanced. And a judicious use of color—I’m not normally a fan of pink, but it works well here—adds just enough of a splash to keep the white and grey from becoming too mundane.

Meyer writes a lot about typography and design—his articles on portfolio designs were especially convicting for me—and so it’s obvious that he practices what he preaches. All in all, this is a design that I love looking at, but what’s more, it challenges me to make sure that my designs are as elegant and refined as possible—be it in the whitespace, typography, or anything else.

I’d like to say that I was training up my budding cineaste in the way that he should go by watching a Tarkovsky film together, or that I was exposing him to the wonders of imagination found in a Miyazaki title, or heck, that I was giving him a pop culture baptism courtesy of Spaced.

The truth? We were watching Independence Day.

As you may have heard by now, two new films set in the lands of Middle-Earth are coming our way. The first is an adaptation of The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien’s precursor to The Lord Of The Rings, and the second is a film bridging the 60 year gap between The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings. Naturally, it was assumed that Peter Jackson would be returning to direct the two films, but when he announced that he would only be producing them, the Intertubes became abuzz with discussion as to who would occupy the director’s chair.

It has now been confirmed that Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) will be taking over directorial duties. And personally, I couldn’t be more excited. While del Toro’s films have certainly been darker and bloodier than perhaps The Hobbit warrants, I’m hard-pressed to think of a director who gets fantasy and fairy tales as well as del Toro. Just watch Pan’s Labyrinth or The Devil’s Backbone if you don’t believe me.

Both Jackson and del Toro recently did a huge web chat in which they answered many fan-submitted questions concerning the two new films, including: del Toro’s vision for Middle-Earth, Jackson’s role, which actors are returning from Jackson’s trilogy, and so on. And I have to say, I’m even more encouraged. I just think that, minor quibbles and concerns aside, these two men have got it figured out. You can read the full transcript of the chat here, and I certainly suggest that you do so, but I’m going to highlight a couple of interesting sections.

Regarding The Hobbit being a lighter, more children-oriented tale, as opposed to the darker and more somber Lord Of The Rings:

Guillermo del Toro: ...the book, I believe, in echoing the “loss of innocence” England experienced after WWI, is a passage form innocence to a darker, more somber state- The visual / thematic progression should reflect that in the camera style, color palette, textural choices, etc.

Peter Jackson: As I said earlier, I personally feel that The Hobbit can, and should have a different tone. The “tone” of these stories shouldn’t be defined by the pressure our characters were under in LOTR. The world is a different place at the time of the Hobbit. The shadow is not so dark. However, what should stay the same is the reality of Middle-earth, and the integrity we bring to it as film makers.

Regarding the material for the second film:

Guillermo del Toro: The idea is to find a compelling way to join THE HOBBIT and FELLOWSHIP and enhance the 5 films both visually an in their Cosmology. There’s omissions and material enough in the available, licensed material to attempt this. The agreement is, however, that the second film must be relevant and emotionally strong enough to be brought to life but that we must try and contain the HOBBIT in a single film.

Peter Jackson: I’m really looking forward to developing Film Two. It gives us a freedom that we haven’t really had on our Tolkien journey. Some of you may well say that’s a good thing of course! The Hobbit is interesting in how Tolkien created a feeling of dangerous events unfolding, which preoccupy Gandalf. There’s an awful lot of incident that happens during that 60 year gap. At this stage, we’re not imagining a film that literally covers 60 years, like a bio-pic or documentary. We would figure out what happens during that 60 years, and choose one short section of time to drop in and dramatise for the screen. I’m really interested in how it effects The Hobbit - do we show what happens to Gandalg during his trips away? We’ll see. We may well have seeds for Film Two that we’ll subtly sow during The Hobbit.

And finally, regarding which actors are coming back to The Hobbit:

Guillermo del Toro: Obviously, at this stage, the second film is still being figured out- so the actors that have been approached may or not have appeared in the HOBBIT as a literary work but still may appear in the second film as it “blends” into the Trilogy and expands. Therefore what can be said is: Unequivocally, every single actor that originated a role in the Trilogy will be asked to participate and reprise it. If Health, availability or willigness become obstacles - and only in that case recasting would be considered.

Peter Jackson: Like Guillermo says, apart from extreme circumstances, we would never recast a character who appeared in the LOTR trilogy. You can read The Hobbit and pretty much see which characters play a part. The unknown facter is Film Two, which we are still developing. If we wished to write one of the LOTR characters into the narrative of Film Two, we would only do that with that actors blessing, and willingess to take part. Otherwise we’d take the writing in another direction.

Both of the new films will be made back-to-back, with The Hobbit set to be released in December 2011 (ten years after Fellowship Of The Ring came out in theatres) and the second film released in December 2012.

As much as I hate to admit it, Renae and I have become rather big TV hounds as of late. For better or worse, it’s just so easy to plop down in front of the ol’ idiot box while feeding Simon (though we like to think that we’re starting early on making Simon a pop culture savant). But to our credit, the lineup of shows that we watch with any regular basis is pretty limited.

One show that we’ve only recent discovered, via re-runs, is USA’s Burn Notice. Slick, polished, and clever, Burn Notice is the kind of show that one could call a “guilty pleasure”, if it wasn’t so enjoyable and well-made.

Burn Notice follows the exploits of Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan, who has more than a passing resemblance to Guy Pearce), a spy who finds himself suddenly and inexplicably blacklisted (or “burned”), stripped of all credentials, and stranded in Miami. His only allies are an ex-girlfriend who just happens to be a trigger-happy ex-IRA agent, and an old friend who was also a former spy but is now informing on him, and his rather dysfunctional family. To make ends meet while trying to find out who “burned” him and why, Westen takes various odd jobs for which his “unique” skills come in very useful.

Take equal parts MacGuyver and Alias, toss in some fancy Tony Scott-esque editing and glamorous Miami scenery, and a healthy funny streak that’s both sardonic and tongue-in-cheek, and you’ve got Burn Notice. And did I mention that it stars man-god Bruce Campbell as Westen’s boozing, womanizing pal, Sam Axe? ‘Nuff said.

Season One, consisting of twelve episodes, will be released on DVD on June 17, 2008. Season 2, with 13 new episodes, will be airing on the USA network on July 10, 2008.

Iceland’s favorite sons have just released details about their upcoming full-length, Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (which translates into English as “With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly”).

Með Suð... appears to be a significant departure from Sigur Rós’ previous albums. It’s their first album to be recorded outside of Iceland, their first album to feature lyrics sung in English, and whereas previous albums have found the band laboring over every detail, Með Suð... was done in a much looser manner:

Inspired by the unfettered feeling of the acoustic performances filmed during Heima, Sigur Rós decided to adopt a looser approach in the writing and creation of Með Suð. The material for the album was written, recorded and mixed entirely in 2008 and is being released just one month after its completion. The album glows with the perfect imperfection of live takes, the sounds of fingers playing guitar strings, cracked notes, and a stark, upfront presence not found in previous Sigur Rós recordings, moving away from reverb-soaked guitar sounds towards something altogether more affecting. The record also contains some of the most joyous music the band has ever recorded.

However, that doesn’t mean the band has become any less ambitious in their music. One track—“Ára bátur”—has been touted as “the largest musical undertaking in the band’s career”, having been recorded in one take with 90 participants, including members of the London Sinfonietta and London Oratory Boy’s Choir.

You can certainly hear the band’s more “unfettered” sound in the album’s first single, “Gobbledigook”, which was released today as a downloadable MP3 and a very not work-safe video—click here for both.

A commenter over at Stereogum described it as “Animal Collective covering Dave Matthews Band”. Throw in some Steve Reich, and I’d say that’s a pretty apt description, FWIW. You won’t hear any of the band’s trademark crescendos and orchestral sturm und drang, just lots of yelped vocals, acoustic guitars, and tribal percussion. It definitely takes some getting used to, and if it’s at all indicative of Með Suð...‘s general direction, than this will easily be the band’s most divisive album to date.

Með Suð... will be available for pre-orders on sigurros.com on June 2, available in streaming format from the website on June 9, and will be released on CD on June 23. A special edition of the album will be released later in the year.

If you peruse Colour Kane’s MySpace page, you’ll see this little descriptive phase: “flowery jet ears on cloudbeats”. Which, in all honesty, comes pretty close to describing the Belgium-based trio’s music quite aptly.

On their debut full-length, A Taste Of (2007, Fade The World), the group’s blissed-out beats do little to add a sense of rhythm or propulsion to the songs. Rather, their focus is on defining even more airy, voluminous space for gossamery, shoegazer textures, effects-drenched guitars, and the voice of Marjan as she sings about lazy days and butterflies—when you can understand her glossolalia, that is.

Not surprisingly, the band has collaborated with Robin Guthrie, and even supported him on some tour dates. Guthrie’s influence, both via his solo work and the halcyon days of the Cocteau Twins, are all over these songs. It’s easy to dismiss this music as too frilly for its own good, and it’s certainly an acquired taste. But on a lazy Friday afternoon, when you’re nursing a growing headache, the gentle caress of music this light and gentle is a pretty welcome thing.

God bless those folks at Twitch. They’re always turning up new gems, and this one just made my week: Lazer Ghosts 2: Return to Laser Cove. Here’s the synopsis:

In this spectacular sci-fi sequel, the emotionally-fractured Trance (Matthew Kennedy) must overcome the demons of his past and once again wage war on the evil spirit of Einstein and his army of laser-wielding ghosts. Together with the ghost of his dead comrade (Conor Sweeney) a rogue cop (Adam Brooks) and a sultry scientist (Meredith Sweeney), Trance must return to Laser Cove and make a final stand against the technologically-advanced forces of evil.

The folks behind this trailer do a bang-up job of capturing the look, sound, and feel of all of those crappy direct-to-video sci-fi/horror gems that you used to be able to find in the back corners of your neighborhood video shop. You know, the kind of stuff that companies like Golan-Globus and American International Pictures churned out in the 1980s.

The whole thing is just a ton of fun, and it’s pretty obvious that the filmmakers had a blast doing it. Be sure to watch out for all of the movie references (Ghostbusters, Terminator 2, Evil Dead)—with a lazer-centric twist, of course. And be sure to prepare yourself for the introduction of the Lazernomicon, replete with mindblowing special effects. ILM, eat your heart out.

Mark Verheiden, a co-executive producer of Battlestar Galactica, has read the series finale’s script:

It’s simply… amazing. The sort of script where, when you finish, you just fall back in your chair in a daze, then call anyone in the loop and spend hours talking about how satisfying and powerful and (pick superlative of choice)... usually I would be a little mindful of raising expectations or succumbing to excessive hyperbole, but that’s not going to be a problem here. Of course, I’ve seen what’s coming up for the rest of season four, and I think it’s all mighty powerful stuff (not to mention exciting, heart-breaking, “etc.”), but to know it all culminates in something so remarkable… well, the bar for great television just got notched up another level. No kidding.

Call me “cautiously hopeful”. I’ve found season 4 somewhat slow going, even oppressive: so many of the characters seemed stuck in arcs that didn’t really go anywhere, and all of the constant doom and gloom got a bit much. It wasn’t until the last two episodes—“Faith” and “Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?”—that the season really started to click for me, and got me excited and intrigued about what’s to come. Sucks that we’ll probably have to wait until 2009 before we see how everything wraps up.