Member Pursuits // Noah Wall Creates A Video For "Blue Station," Plays Live Shows Friday And Monday

When we caught up with new 3rd Ward member Noah Wall back in December, we talked with him about both his award-winning web design work and his recent musical pursuits, including the September release of his album Hèloïse, which he celebrated with a scavenger hunt through Manhattan that spelled out the albums name. He also told us that he had a few more musical projects in the pipe. One of those was this video for the Hèloïse track "Blue Station," which premiered on The Fader last week.

Just as fascinating as his scavenger hunt (and, naturally, his web design work), the video employs a mysterious technology, "Colormind," which has its own equally mysterious website stating that it "uses SOUND, SHAPE, HEAT and subliminal COL☯R to condense TIME and bind EMOTIONAL RESPONSE." To demonstrate the technology, the video for "Blue Station" takes the classic Paul Newman Western Hud and "condenses" it into two and a half minutes. Here's The Fader's take:

It's dizzyingly beautiful and the swirling gradients over black-and-white are charmingly anachronistic, though reducing everybody's facial expressions to mood ring colors and debatably evocative shapes renders the actual film that whizzes by mostly illegible. Which is pretty much the fun part, how hard it is to figure out what's supposed to be simple.

Wall also has some live shows coming up. He'll be performing not to far from 3rd Ward at Diamond Mouth Surprise (30 Maujer St. #2C) this Saturday, January 14, and Williamsburg DIY venue Death By Audio on Monday, January 16. We don't know if he'll be able to recreate the Colormind phenomenon on stage, but we're sure he'll put on a fantastic show.

-- John Ruscher

NEW MEMBER WELCOME // Noah Wall Takes Web Design To The Next Level

Noah WallWe're thrilled to introduce you to one of our new co-working desk members, web designer extraordinaire Noah Wall.

Wall started the cleverly named Knowawall in 2007, and his company quickly established itself as a leading name in creative and cutting-edge design. Clients have included iconic filmmaker David Lynch and renowned artist Maya Lin. Knowawall's website for Lynch's Interview Project received two Webby Awards for Best Documentary Series.

Working on such high-profile projects has been a unique and valuable experience. "I'm so lucky to have worked with some really talented folks," Wall says. "Many of our clients are so heavily invested in their own work that it can feel a bit like cradling someone else's child sometimes. There's also a lot of opportunity for close collaboration which I've definitely benefited from as a designer."

With plenty of impressive work under his belt, Wall has recently been taking a break from web design to focus on some personal projects, particularly his music. In September he released the album Hèloïse and created 38 Figures In Hiding, a scavenger hunt throughout New York City to promote it. "I hid 38 copies of the LP and cassette all over the city," he explains. "The locations of each corresponded to points on the Manhattan grid that, when connected, spelled out the name of the album." The project naturally attracted lots of attention, including a feature on WIRED.

Wall tells us that he has more musical projects in the works, including a couple of videos and "a 'memory catalyst' EP that includes scratch and sniff packaging for triggering memories."

Luckily, he hasn't abandoned his design exporations. "In the web world I've been trying to focus less on custom sites and pursue some web apps geared toward 'creatives,'" he says. "These ideas have been brewing for a while and should finally see the light of day in 2012!"

Either way, let's extend a hand to to Wall for taking the initiative to make these things happen. We think he'll prove a vital addition to our new co-working space.

-- John Ruscher