Sapphire Stars Cummerbund

May 15, 2013
Tags: sparkle, sound sensor, prom, cummerbund

Aniomagic friend Jacquelyn Bartels of Sapphire Stars Designs sent us a video of this wonderful sparkle sound-sensing cummerbund. Make a sound or ruffle your jacket to make it come alive!

 
 
 

Business card with LED and battery-switch

April 22, 2013
Tags: battery-switch, LED, conductive paint, business card

Here's a nifty business card made with a tiny watch battery (CR1216), a battery-holder-switch, LED and conductive paint.

What would really take it to another level is ultra-thin batteries (500 microns) from the likes of Blue Spark Printed Batteries. We're patiently waiting for these batteries to become available (and affordable, heh heh).
 
 
 

Why don't we have an app for Sparkle

April 11, 2013
Tags:

With iApps being all the rage for mobile devices, we've been asked time and time again why we don't have an app for programming Sparkle, particularly since we have a web-based UI interface for it. The really short answer is: because we want the freedom to do what we want without being subject to one company's whims. In summary:

• You'll never know if an app will be refused, and for what reason. If it was initially approved, you might wake up one morning to find your app has been unilaterally removed, with little recourse available to the app maker.
• We make improvements in a single-web app, and that change is immediately available to everyone, on every smart phone and PC, without having to remind everyone to upgrade.
• It will still work when you upgrade your smartphone OS, or move to a different phone.
• It will still work when the app store providers decide to cancel their respective stores or change terms.

We've seen trends come and go, and we're choosing to bet on the long-term availability of the WWW.
 
 
 

Fire opal boards mislabel

April 06, 2013
Tags: LEd board

We recently had an issue in production where we made a batch of Citrine LED boards (greenish-yellow) that we mislabeled as Fire Opal (orange color). Which means for the past two weeks, if you ordered Fire Opal, what you got was actually Citrine. We really apologize for the mixup, and want you to know that we will send free replacements to anyone who got the wrong color in March.

Please us, and we'll get things sorted out right away.
 
 
 

A Midsummer Night's Dream/仲夏夜之梦 - Directed by Mitchell Hébert and Yu Fanlin

February 10, 2013
Tags: Shakespeare, Beijing Theater, Sparkle

Late last year, we had a unique opportunity to be part of a completely new interpretation of William Shakespeare's whimsical tale of love and mistaken identity.

The performance - a collaboration between the University of Maryland's School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and The National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts - mixed Beijing Opera, American Folk Music, and Shakespeare to create one remarkable piece of theatre art.

To quote Jessica Vaughan of DC Metro Theater Arts:

"This production is gorgeous and ridiculous and moving and funny. The scenic design by Andrew Kaufman makes a forest out of long lengths of colored cloth, bamboo and the saturated light of Sarah Tundermann’s design. The fairies literally fly, climbing the cloth to do aerial dances choreographed by Andrea Burkholder. The beautiful costumes extend the dream with soft flowing fabrics and coordinated colors for the lovers, which helps with the mad cap plot. Fairies Emma Lou Hébert, Olivia Brann, Anna Lynch, and Riley Bartlebaugh were all wonderful actors. These normally minor roles took center stage during every transition as they danced all around (and over) the stage."

Special thanks to Jen Dasher and her team for their vision in choosing Sparkle for the fairies' costumes.

directed by MITCHELL HEBERT and YU FANLIN
musical direction and composition by AARON BLIDEN and MARK HALPERN
scenic design by ANDREW KAUFMAN
costume design by LAREE ASHLEY LENTZ
sound design by MATTHEW M. NEILSON
lighting design by SARAH TUNDERMANN
photo by STANFORD BAROUH.