National Film Board of Canada

The venerable NFB has a beautifully designed, Flash-based website which is well worth checking out. They also have a call for digital animation entries on at the moment (though as the deadline is January 16 you'll need to hurry finishing that masterpiece). Really inspiring to look at––you can see why the NFB has been such a good thing for Canadian animation (and why it continues to garner so many awards in this area). To the left is Herb Taylor's photo of the first team of animators at the NFB, in 1950.

Classics of Everyday Design 1

Jonathan Glancey has an interesting series of articles on the Guardian's art blog called Classics of Everyday Design. Number 1 is the catseye, invented by Percy Shaw (1890-1976). Glancey writes: "A simple concoction of glass, rubber and cast iron, this reflecting road-stud has saved countless lives. Seemingly inert and largely invisible by day, the Catseye comes brilliantly to life in the gloaming and after dark, as it lights up in feline fashion when picked out by the headlamps of cars and other vehicles."