FOREVER 21 WILL TRANSFORM ANY INSTAGRAM PHOTO WITH SPOOLS OF THREAD

Want to see yourself in thread? This is some of the most imaginative marketing I've seen in a long time. The prototype company Breakfast has created an insanely complex billboard made up of spools of colored thread. 6,400 spools, to be exact, with 36 different colors that can mechanically create any Instagram image that is tagged appropriately with the hashtag #F21ThreadScreen. And clothing company, Forever 21, will display your image on their billboard for the world to see for free! Yes, you heard me right. You can have your image displayed in 60 x 60 pixels for the world's eyes. That's nearly 5 bit glory.



This nifty bit of engineering came from the creative minds at Breakfast, a Brooklyn based company, that has become known for their innovative use of hardware to build installation pieces for Instagram.  So what is this contraption? It's 2,000 pounds of mechanical genius that's made up of 6,400 spools of colored thread and 200,000 parts. There's over 6 miles of total thread and when you take into account soldering joints and such, it takes that parts count up to over 600,000. To say that this thing is complex is really an understatement. Just look at the breakdown of a sliver of the machine in the image below.

If you want to see your Instagram images built on the Forever 21 Thread Screen live, simply mark your image with the hashtag #F21ThreadScreen and hop on over to the official live Thread Screen page to watch it happen. But hurry, this campaign will only last from now until July 28th.

ROCKET ROOSTER'S FILM EMMULTION PACK IS CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE TO VSCO

The art of photography is priceless and the cost of creating it is nearly the same. Cameras, lenses, speed lights, strobes, modifiers, software, plugins. The list goes on and on. Finding budget friendly options isn't always easy, especially when it comes to quality. One company is specifically tackling that problem. Rocket Rooster is that company.

Rocket Rooster is a digital filter company that produces incredibly affordable plugins for Adobe's Creative Suite. They first produced a number of different styles for cinema purposes and the quality looks pretty good. They then decided to set their focus on creating products for photographers using Lightroom and they're latest release, the Analog Film Pack, just might give VSCO a run for it's money, or rather your money.

The pack includes 20 old school film presets with over 100 variations there after. Like the VSCO, Rocket Rooster's film emulations allows digital photographers "to create the subtle nuances in color, texture and feel of analog photography." Within the variations you'll find expired and faded rolls, and Rocket Rooster even threw in some cinema film stocks for some really unique looks. For a full list of what's included in the pack, check that out here.

FJ Provia 400X Alt

Kodak 400 TX

Ektachrome E100 GX

Agfa Vista 800

FJ Provia 400X

Kodak Ultra 400UC

FJ Velvia 100

VSCO has long been the heavy weight champion when it comes to the world of film emulations. I have them. I use them. They're beyond amazing! But, let's face it. They're not cheap. Their emulation packs cost $119 each and that can add up if you're interested in getting your hands on as many options as possible. That's money many of us could put towards new gear or just your daily bills.

Like the VSCO, Rocket Rooster's film emulations allows digital photographers "to create the subtle nuances in color, texture and feel of analog photography." But the cost is significantly less. If you're interested, you can pick up the pack for $35 (as a promo the RR is offering it discounted to $26 for the launch, but you'll have to act quickly. I believe it's only for a week.) These emulations look great to me and you can't beat the price.