[ENG] My video Viva Calaca!! (vivacalaca.com) has been invited to participate in one more festival. This time is the All Souls International Film Festival, based in Tucson, Arizona; USA. The event will take part next December 10th and 11th. You can know more about this exciting festival at the site allsoulsprocession.org.

[ESP] Mi vídeo Viva Calaca!! (vivacalaca.com) ha sido invitado a participar en un nuevo festival. Esta vez se trata del All Souls International Film Festival, que se celebrará en Tucson, Arizona (EEUU) los próximos días 10 y 11 de diciembre. Más información sobre este fascinante evento en la web allsoulsprocession.org.

[ENG] Some of my last works have been featured at the Spanish design leader magazine Arte y Diseño's last issue, number #110. Thanks a lot to Wences from DMSTK (domestika.org) for his help once again!!

[ESP] Algunos de mis últimos trabajos han sido publicados en el último número de la revista de diseño líder en castellano, Arte y Diseño. Mil gracias a Wences de DMSTK (domestika.org), por su ayuda una vez más!!

[ENG] The new issue of Abre el Ojo (abreelojo.com) magazine is already online. It is a cultural magazined edited by the Istituto Europeo di Design in Madrid. This issue contains some photos from the MadinSpain'08 (madinspain.com) festival where I participated. It is free, and you can directly get it here.

[ESP] El nuevo número de la revista Abre el Ojo (abreelojo.com) está ya online. Se trata de una revista cultural editada por el Istituto Europeo di Design de Madrid. Este número contiene algunas fotos del festival MadinSpain'08 (madinspain.com) en el cual yo participé. Podéis descargarla gratuitamente aquí.

[ENG] I have just updated my new temporary site with old Cover works. And I have also added a new button on each music project description. A lot of people asked me where to buy the albums I design, so you can now access to each album online shop by clicking on that new link, and get a copy of the release. Go to iikki.com.

[ESP] He actualizado mi nueva web temporal con algunos trabajos antiguos. Además, debido a la petición de mucha gente de cómo hacerse con una copia de los discos que diseño, he añadido un nuevo link debajo de la descripción del proyecto. Clickando en dicho link podréis acceder a la tienda online de cada uno de los discos. Os espero en iikki.com.

[ENG] As you all know, I was in Ibiza (Spain) last weekend, where my video Viva Calaca!! was played, as part of the Rock Nights party. This event was featured at the Spanish newspaper Última Hora, and you can now see the report by clicking here. Only in Spanish, sorry!!.

[ESP] Como ya sabéis, el pasado fin de semana estuve en la isla de Ibiza donde se proyectó mi vídeo Viva Calaca como parte del evento Rock Nights. El periódico Última Hora se hizo eco de este acontecimiento. Podéis ver la noticia clickando aquí.

[ENG] My studio at my new house in Sopelana, Bizkaia, is taking shape. And you can view part of it on the new Flickr set I have just created. There are still a lot of things to do but things are going well. Click here!!.

[ESP] Mi estudio dentro de mi casa nueva en Sopelana, Bizkaia empieza a coger forma. Aún queda mucho por hacer pero ya se pueden ver cositas. Podéis hacerlo entrando en el siguiente álbum de Flickr; click aquí!!.

[ENG] I am so happy to announce that Viva Calaca!! is going to be played in another festival. This time will be at onedotzero_adventures in motion (onedotzero.com), to be celebrated from November 14th to 16th in the city of London. You can get the festival brochure here.

[ESP] Tengo el placer de anunciar que mi pieza audiovisual Viva Calaca!! va a ser proyectada en un nuevo festival. Esta vez se trata de onedotzero_adventures in motion (onedotzero.com), que se celebrará en Londres este mes de Noviembre los días 14, 15 y 16. Podéis descargaros toda la información del mismo en este enlace.

I have been invited to fly next Friday 31st to the Spanish island of Ibiza, where my video piece VivaCalaca!! (vivacalaca.com) will be played at RockNights party, celebrating Halloween's night with an amazing performance of Mexican kitsch style. More info at rocknightsclub.com.

For all of you that still don't know it, I have to say that I am starting a new life today. I am leaving Madrid after more than 16 years living and working in the Spanish capital. My new home will be the small Basque town of Sopelana, near to Bilbao, at the Basque Country, with some splendid beaches!!

But this is not the only change; new city, new house, new studio, new car, new cell phone (but same number!!), new projects... and of course, a new looking for my website. From now you can visit the new iikki.com and check the most important of the last works. I hope you like this temporary site, the definitive one is still being developed and will be released... some day in the future.

But I don't leave Madrid forever, as I am the new Director of the Motion Graphics Master at Istituto Europeo di Design of Madrid. I was asked to do this work and I of course accepted, being it a great opportunity. It is a lovely and, of course, new experience. So I will be usually travelling from Bilbao to Madrid and back.

Big hugs to all and let's stay in touch!!

New work for a cd artwork. Art direction, photography and design of the new album by the music project Tunisia, formed by Pamelia Kurstin and Pat Mastelotto (King Krimson, KTU, Tuner...).

I invite you all to play Vector Defenders, the new online game / graphic adventure created by the Flash gurus studio OnClick (onclick.es). Click on the following link and fight against the LeChaterie girls!!: VectorDefenders.com.

I have created a short video for the Vectors Defenders (Vector Defenders) project, by OnClick studio (onclick.es). It is a tribute to the Dada artist Marcel Duchamp's visual experiments, and music has been taken from the album Bailes Vespertinos. To be seen in Motion section at iikki.com.

I have updated the Covers section of iikki.com with the last work for the Norwegian prog metal band Leprous, Tall Poppy Syndrome, to be released soon.

I have a created a teaser screen for the Spanish music artist La Boa. You can check it at the following address, laboa.info.

As we had imagined, this year's edition of MadinSpain was a big success. I am so happy of having been part of this big event, participating on the Panel Discussion. Now you can check all the official images from the festival, following this link to the MadinSpain Flickr page. Enjoy them!

Heart is the title of the new album by the German artist Bernhard Wöstheinrich aka The Redundant Rocker, to be released very soon. I have already uploaded the artwork for this album on the Covers section of iikki.com.

I have the incredibly big honour of having been invited to participate at this year's edition of the festival MadinSpain (madinspain.com). Now that OFFF has been moved to Lisbon, Portugal, MadinSpain is the only big design event celebrated in Spain. It will take part on September 12 and 13 this year, in Madrid. Some of the best designers all over the world will be here, including Albert Folch Studio, Helio Vega, Joshua Davis, Waskman... My conference will be a Motion Graphics Panel with Tavo Ponce, Cocoe, Boolab, TBWA and Digital +. Thanks a lot to the MadinSpain crew for their support!!

Hey friends, we have just came back from a week in Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands, in Spain. I have already created a Flickr set where you can find most of the best pictures I have taken in this lovely island. You can have access to it by clicking here. Enjoy them!!

I have created the official logo for the new American company Caliveras. The name is made from the state of California and the panish name for skulls, Calaveras.

I will be out with my friends, from today (August 8th) to next Monday August 18th. Let's talk when I am back!!

I am so happy to announce the new official poster for the 2008 edition of Motstøyfestivalen, one of the most important Extreme and Prog Metal music festivals, to be celebrated in Notodden, Norway, next October 10th and 11th. Go to Print section of iikki.com to check it out.

I have the big honour of having been featured at Spain in Motion, the new special issue from the AyD collection, exclusively dedicated to Motion Graphics in Spain. It is a more than 160 pages magazine with reports and interviews about the most important Spanish Motion Graphics designers and studios, including Tavo Ponce, Espaun, Dvein, Vasava... and many more. There you will find a extended report about my work (5 pages) and also some of my video pieces included on the attached DVD. Thanks a lot for the support.

I am happy, and pleased, and honoured, and proud, and everything... of introducing you to my last cover work, as I am sure it is going to be one of the best music albums of 2008. I am talking about Müüt, the new masterpiece by the duo Tuner, formed by masters Markus Reuter (Centrozoon) and Pat Mastelotto (King Krimson, KTU...).

This project is so special for me as I am a truly fan of Tuner and this is the first full album I entirely design for the band, while Totem was an updating of original artwork. Müüt was recorded alive in Estonia in 2007 but it only contains original tracks, no live versions of past songs, so it can be considered the third album of the band, after Totem and Pole.

Be sure to check the full artwork at the Cover section of iikki.com. Thanks to Markus and Pat for their ongoing support!!

So sad news today. I have never been a big fan of comics, but Michael Turner one of the very few authors that made me buy some collections in the past, Fathom and Witchblade, unfortunatelly died some days ago at the age of 37, after 8 long years fighting against cancer disease. Rest in peace Master, thanks for your work!!

This year I have been teacher for animation skills at a Motion Graphics master at Istituto Europeo di Design in Madrid. Last night, it was the final event of showing all the students projects. We had a lovely experience during the playing and the rest of the night. From here, I would want to wish all my students the best luck on this new step of their lifes. Big hugs and thanks for being so good people!!

There is a new set on my Flickr account with pictures from San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Matxitxako, Bermeo and other lovely places at the coast of Bizkaia (Biscay), the Euskal province where I was born. Check the set here.

And more recognition for the VivaCalaca!! project. Apart of being featured at hundreds of blogs and sites from all over the world, an interview about the creation process of the piece has been published at the online version of the well known design magazine Digital Arts (digitalartsonline.co.uk), from the UK. Digital Arts is the 'UK's leading title for digital creatives across all disciplines', from their own works.

And the piece will also appear in a future edition of the printed magazine. Thanks a lot to them for the big support!!

Read the interview here.

Some people have asked for it, so I have updated the Download section of VivaCalaca.com to add some wallpapers with the skull symbol. Hope you like them!!

After posting my Top Power Metal albums some days ago, this is time for Black Metal, which was the next style I liked after Power. I have to say at first that I am not a typical BM listener, as I don't like raw releases with just a couple of black and white photos. I love well produced albums, with quality sound and some symphonic elements. So let's go, these are my Top Black Metal albums:

- Dimmu Borgir, Spiritual Black Dimensions (1999). Some purists could kill me because of this one, but that is what I feel. This album is Magic for me, Black Magic of course. I can still remember the first time I listened to it lot of years ago, and I can still feel those poisoned atmospheres. One day I said that I would want to die listening to this release. It was a pity that Dimmu stopped working on those magic atmoshperes. After this one, Puritanical... was still an amazing release, but the following ones did not say anything to me.

- Emperor, IX Equlibrium (1999). And it is more or less the same with this masterpiece. Critics would say that it is Emperor's worst album but I can only tell you that it is just perfect for me, and feel the same as with Dimmu's, I still remember the first listening, and that only happens with jewels. The only difference with Dimmu is that all Emperor's albums could be on this Top, but this is without any doubt, my prefer one.

- Cradle of Filth, Cruelty and the Beast (1998). Before they turned into a very commercial band, CoF made some good albums, as Vempire, Dusk and her Embrace, Midian and this release over all of them. Good conceptual album in a different way of playing Black Metal than Nordic bands. I was not interested in their stuff after Midian.

- Anorexia Nervosa, New Obscurantis Order (2001). This is the only album I like a lot from this French band, but what a brutal release!! Maybe the perfect album when mixing extreme music and romanticism. It is like a rose, so beautiful but with hurting stings...

- Arcturus, Le Masquerade Infernale (1997). Even when not being a pure Black Metal release, this MASTERPIECE (with capital letters), could be at the top of this list without any problem. They invented a new way of playing music. And their next albums, more oriented to Black Metal, were still treasures. Just genius.

- Limbonic Art, Ad Noctum (1999). This band has always be a very special project for me, because I have always adore them even when they are not at the top of the genre. After two amazing symphonic releases, they surprised the public with this album; something extreme, and probably, the hardest Black Metal album I have ever listened to.

- Covenant, Nexus Polaris (1998). Not so much to say about this album that had not been said before. Considering the music style change of the band after this one, it can be seen as an unique treasure.

And that is all, there are other good releases but they would never be on my Top. Next chapter, Death Metal!!

We, the little skulls of Viva Calaca!! (VivaCalaca.com) would want to say 'THANKS!!' to everybody, beacuse of the incredibly good reviews that the video has got all over the world. It has been featured in dozens of design sites and blogs and there are only good words for it.
Thanks a lot again, and we can only promise, that due to this people's support, there will be more skulls soon!! Stay tunned!!

And Viva Calaca!! is already here!! As you know, Viva Calaca!! is a personal project by the young Art Director and Digital Designer Ritxi Ostáriz (iikki.com) with music by Voltaire (voltaire.net). It is a 3 minutes animation video, based on the Day of the Dead, celebrated every year in Mexico.

You can see the video and get more info at VivaCalaca.com

Some of you keep on asking me what music do I listen to, or which are my prefer albums. So, from now, I will regularly post here about this. I cannot talk about some definitive Top Albums because it depends on the style we are talking about.

I am going to sart with Power Metal. I don't listen to a lot of Metal now, but as it was the first music style I loved a lot of years ago, I think it is a good starting point. These are my Top Power Metal albums:

- Blind Guardian, Nightfall in Middle Earth (1998). This is the biggest masterpiece ever!! Not only because of being a big fan of Tolkien (this release is based on his books) but beacuse of the magnificent of the album. They will never make again another album with this complexity, but I also think nobody will do it...

- Gamma Ray, Somewhere Out in Space (1997). Kai Hansen's top creation, and that is so much!! There is no song on this album with lack of quality. Also the lyrics, based on an extraterrestial race got my attention when it was published. Kai never did, and will never make, something better than this release.

- Helloween, The Time of the Oath (1996). First, I have to say that Helloween is a special band for me, as it was my 'first' band. I never was a very big fan of Michael Kiske's voice, so I prefer Andi Deris albums. Of all Helloween releases this is the most special for me, as it was the first album I bought in my life. It contains some masterpieces as the song Mission Motherland, best Helloween's song ever. The band did not make very good albums until last year, with Gambling with the Devil release, another Top!!

- Iced Earth, Something Wicked this Way Comes (1998). I was a very big fan of John's way of playing rythm guitar, and this album is the biggest masterpiece of the band, mixing extremely powerful songs with other softer tracks. After this one, they never made something decent again.

- Nightwish, Oceanborn (1998). One of the biggest album of music history, and the one that pushed the band to the fame. But after this one, no more than Mtv shit... The band probably was my biggest deception on music.

- Avalanch, El Ángel Caído (2000). This is the best Spanish metal album ever and it will probably be forever. Good progressive riffs and incredible lyrics. It is also so special because of personal reasons. Xana song is part of my own life.

And that is all, there are other good releases but they would never be on my Top. Next chapter, Black Metal!!

Today is a good day for metal fans, as angL, the new masterpiece by the acclaimed musician Ihsahn, and with my art direction and design, has been at last released. And we have also launched his new official site, based on angL's artwork, with a very simple and easy navigation. You can visit it at Ihsahn.com. More info at Mnemosyne.no/news. All my best luck to my friend Ihsahn with this new project.

Yesterday, I visited some very very very very small villages at the top North of the region of Madrid. I took some photos; you can check them at Flickr. Just open the 2008, May 22nd. Madrid, El Atazar - La Hiruela photo album.

Today is the first anniversary of iikki.com. It has been one year from when I decided to kill the name rtxcite and go on with my designer life under the name iikki.

And it has been a so wonderful year when I have not stopped growing up. I have made a lot of incredible new music projects for Motstoyfestivalen, Sam Amidon, Pelendonia Folk Festival, Ana Alcaide, Carrión, Centrozoon, Markus Reuter, StarofAsh, Ihsahn, laMusgaña, Tuner, Tovah... all of them amazing clients!! I have also made some new motion videos for BPA, J&B, Real Madrid and of course more than 50 new animations for the Spanish cartoon tv show losAlgos, an awesome experience. And I have also particpated in several design festivals where I have given a conference or my work has been played, such as OFFF'07 (Barcelona), Animainzón (Zaragoza), Pictoplasma in Motion (Berlín), or Wasabi'08 (Madrid). And at last, but not least, my work has been featured in several design magazines and books all over the world, as IdN (Hong Kong), Computer Arts (UK), Arte y Diseño (Spain), Laus Students book (Spain)...

And the most important thing, I have met a lot of good new people and clients, that have made of this designer life, a really really really lovely experience. Thanks a lot to all!!

Good news!! I can now proudly tell you that I have just joined Duck Studios (duckstudios.com) team. From now, Duck Studios, a company based on Los Angeles, USA, will represent my motion work for the States. We are already working on a big project for an American big communication company. More details soon!! Thanks a lot to Mark and Daniel for their support!!

Some pictures taken at Wasabi'08 motion graphics festival, where I gave a conference about my work, have been uploaded to its site. You can check them at wasabi08.es and clicking at Galeria button. More pictures soon.

You can also check there a video reel with all the speaker's works, and also at YouTube, youtube.com/watch?v=6b69l3OYiYc.

The definitive edition of Centrozoon's Blast (remastered and with bonus track 'Power') will be made available to a wider audience in the course of this year. So far you can buy the CD at BurningShed.com and at DiN.org.uk. We'll keep you posted. More info at myspace.com/centrozoon.

After two long years... welcome home Carlos!! Ongi etorri eta aurrera, Gurpegi justizia!!

I have created the art direction, photography and design of a new promotion postcard for the Norwegian record label Mnemosyne Productions (mnemosyne.no)

This is a new promotion postcard for the Norwegian artist StarofAsh (starofash.com).

I have created a new promotion poster for the Norwegian artist StarofAsh (starofash.com) based on old vintage movie posters.

It seems now that Russian people love my work, as I have just been featured in several design sites from that lovely country:
- DesignCollector.ru.
- DesignYouTrust.com.
- Kak.ru.

Thanks a lot to every Russian that has visited and liked my portfolio!!

Thanks to everyone that came to Wasabi'08 (wasabi08.es) last Saturday, I enjoyed a lot my conference. Some pictures to be shown very soon!!

I have been featured on the new Laus'07 awards book, because of the mention I received last year on that festival.

Wasabi'08, the design festival where I will be giving a conference next April 12th has launched its teaser website. You can check the program here, wasabi08.es. Note: I am not the creator of the site, I am just announcing it.

angL is the title of the new album by the Norwegian artist Ihsahn, more known for his work as leader of the legendary Black Metal band Emperor. angL will be released next May, 26th.

I have updated my site with a lot of new stuff related with this project, including the full artwork of the album, cover for ar cd single, and the teaser site, ihsahn.com. Full site will be launched when the album is released.

I am so happy to announce that the new site of StarofAsh has just been launched. It is a very small but lovely site and we are all so proud of it. It is of course inspired on old horror and detective films as The Thread, the new album by the Norwegian artist, is. You can check it at StarofAsh.com.

I have just uploaded a .pdf file so you can check the Computer Arts Project (ComputerArts.co.uk) issue where my work has been featured. Please click here.

As I told you some weeks ago, a new digital design event will take part in Madrid in les than a month. Wasabi'08 is the name of the new festival, to be celebrated next Saturday, April 12th. I am one of the speakers of that event, my conference will start at 12:00 am. The website is still being built, I will back to you when I have more news.

New cover design at iikki.com. This time is for the album Bailes Vespertinos by Carlos Beceiro and Diego Galaz, two of the most important Spanish musicians. Both the music and the artwork are inspired by the Spanish culture of the early XX Century. You can check the music at myspace.com/bailesvespertinos.

Yesterday it was the birthday of my girlfriend, Alba from PinkUp.net, so I decided to prepare a little surprise for her. I created this poster, celebrating that there is a new domain on the Net, PinkUp + iikki = piinkki.com. Now, that is our new couple home. Happy birthday dear!!

I have at last received the new issue of Computer Arts Projects, where a small part of my work has been featured on a special issue dedicated to design for music. Other great studios appearing on the magazine are Form, Non-Format, Zion Graphics... Incredible magazine partners!!

We have just made a minor update at iikki.com. I have a new menu, where my work for music business has now an own section, COVERS. Thanks a lot to Mr.doob for his help!!

I have at last received the IdN (idnworld.com) issue where my work has been featured and I have to say that it is such a lovely report and interview!! I have uploaded a .pdf file so you can check it now. Please click here. Thanks a lot to Alva and Vivian fr their incredibly support!!

I have just been featured at the Spanish design site Criterion (criteriondg.info) where a new interview has been published. Thanks to Armando. You can check the interview here (in Spanish).

Some chronological news about my appearing at press:
- Past. As you already know, I was interviewed byt the Spanish leader magazine Arte y Diseño. If you did not have the chance to get a copy of the issue, now you can read the interview on this .pdf. Spanish
- Present. The international design magazine IdN (idnworld.com), made in Hong Kong, has just released its last number v15n1. The Semiotics of Illustration, where my work has been featured on a special report about Music + Image.
- Future. The world's best selling design magazine, Computer Arts (ComputerArts.co.uk), from England, has just asked me for some samples of my work, to be featured at a special issue, dedicated to design for music.

As said in the last post, I have been working hard on the Viva Calaca!! (VivaCalaca.com) project, and it is almost finished. Then, I will start the post-production and the promotion process. But I already have the pre-release date and details!!

It will be the next Saturday, April 12th in the very first edition of the Wasabi Design Festival, an event where I will give a conference. Some of the other speakers will be Espaun (Espaun256.com), Dvein (Dvein.com) or No-Domain (No-Domain.com) among others. More details about the Wasabi Fest soon!!

It has been a long time since the last post!! But I am not dead, I have been working so hard on the Viva Calaca!! (VivaCalaca.com) project. The piece is taking shape!!

I have added some new pattern based backgrounds to iikki.com and removed old photography ones. For the rest of the work I am also working on the design of the new websites for StarofAsh and Ihsahn, and a couple of new cd covers.

Illustration made for Alba (PinkUp.net), my girlfriend. Pictures from her taken by the photography studio Millones de Pixels.

Another element of the Leptospira series.

Updated my portfolio, iikki.com with an illustration made for a secret project.

I have just updated the Print section of iikki.com with my last music album, Escapologist by the artist Tovah, from London, UK. You can see there a lot of previews of the artwork; but as the album includes some special effects (UV varnish, AW matte paper, die cutting...) I will update that section when I receive a copy of the printed release and can take some macro photographies.

This week I have just finished three important projects. These ones are:
· design of the new album by Tovah (England), named Escapologist.
· design and developing of the new site for StarofAsh (Norway).
· design of the new album by Ihsahn (Norway).

They cannot still be shown, so you will have to wait some weeks for checking them. But this is a quick note to say that we (the designer + the clients) are so so so happy with the result of all the projects, and I would also want to thank them for making my job such a lovely experience!!

Everyone has a list of things to do before dying, and I of course have my own ones. Fortunately, I had the chance yesterday to remove one thing from the list; enjoy the Master Kai Hansen playing again a couple of songs with Helloween. I don't listen to a lot of classic metal now, but this was a dream from when i was a child. Thanks Kai, you are great!!

Most of you told me that you don't have Canal +, or you live out from Spain, so it is impossible that you watched the documentary about the PlusIED project. Now you can watch it directly from the Net at the following links:
- Link 1: Official page about the project at Canal Plus site.
- Link 2: Only the video in full screen.

There is also another link to a .pdf with the report about the project appearing on El País.

The Spanish Folk band, La Musgaña (lamusgana.net) will be playing next Thursday 17 at the city of Madrid. The concert will take part at Sala Clamores and will be the presentation of the last album of the band, '20'. As you probably remember, this album was designed by me, and can be found on the Print section of iikki.com

A lot of you ask me about music. You want to know what music I listen to, or want me to write again those artists reviews I used to write on this blog some months ago. As we have a new year now I am going to list my best albums of 2007. All of them are must have. These are (alphabetically ordered):

- Beirut 'The Flying Club Cup'. beirutband.com. Indie music with Eastern Europe Folk influences. Beautiful melodies.
- Björk 'Volta'. bjork.com. She needs no description. What an incredible album!!
- Hardingrock 'Grimen'. myspace.com/hardingrock.com. Metal, Avantgarde and the darkest of the Norwegian Folk.
- Helloween 'Gambling with the Devil'. helloween.org. I don't listen to a lot of Metal now, but Helloween have made again a masterpiece. It was needed because their last albums were no more than shit.

- Marilyn Manson 'Eat Me, Drink Me'. marilynmanson.com. I have always hated this marketing-made guy, but this time I have to say that I like the darkness of his album. Hard but pleasant.
- Miasma and the Carousel of the Headless Horses 'Manfauna'. headlesshorses.co.uk. Just three songs, but some of the best prog ever. Prog metal with Avantgarde and Classical elements.
- Nine Horses 'Money for All'. ninehorses.com. Hard to describe for me! Maybe 'r'n b for gangsters'. Incredible voice!!
- Pain of Salvation 'Scarsick'. painofsalvation.com. They are the best when talking about pure Prog Metal.

- Sam Amidon 'All is Well'. samamidon.com. The craziest guy on the Earth playing Country music. I love this guy!
- Samael 'Solar Soul'. samael.info. One of the best albums on the Metal scene. Extreme sound.
- Shining 'Grindstone'. shining.no. So many influences to be described here; prog, metal, jazz, hardcore...
- Sleepytime Gorilla Museum 'In Glorious Times'. sleepytimegorillamuseum.com. One of the most original bands of the current music scene. As crazy as hard.

- Tuner 'Pole'. tunerband.com. One of the top five releases of the year. Prog metal with one step beyond. Fantastic!!
- Ulver 'Shadows of the Sun'. jester-records.com/ulver. This is probably his darkest album. Slow and full of shadows.
- Valgeir Sigurdsson 'Ekvílibríum'. bedroomcommunity.net. It has been nominated the Best Album of the Year by many music magazines. I cannot add any more word to that. Just music.
- When 'Trippy Happy'. myspace.com/witchwood. You already know he is one of my favourites of all times. Crazier and more psychedelic than ever!!

The Spanish channel Canal Plus (plus.es) will play next Tuesday 15 at 20,30h a documentary about the project PlusIED project (iedmadrid.com/plusied) where I participated. This documentary will include some interviews with all the members of the project. Don't miss it!!

These are all the days when it will be played:
· Tuesday 15 - 20:30h. Canal +
· Tuesday 15 - 21:00h. Canal + ...30
· Wednesday 16 - 12:50h. Canal + 2
· Tuesday 29 - 18:00h. Canal + 2

All the info here.

The most important Spanish newspaper, ElPaís (elpais.es), has published today a special report about the PlusIED project (iedmadrid.com/plusied) where I took part a month ago. A lot of images appear there, including two of all the proposals I made for the branding bumpers of the channel.

Added a new project to the Print section of iikki.com. It is the design for the cd single The World Spins For You, from the album The Thread by the Norwegian artist StarofAsh.

I have just updated my portfolio with a video I made a couple of months ago. It is an motion piece made through Comunica Más A Spanish agency for Real Madrid. You can find it at the Video section of iikki.com or directly by clicking here.

Working for Real was, of course, a great experience; but don't forget that the one and only team in my heart is Athletic Bilbao (Athletic-Club.net). Aupa Athletic!!

During the last week, Alba and I have been on Tunisia, visiting the whole African country. This includes the last night of 2007, so, as we were not here, this is the first moment to wish you a Happy New Year.

Our stay in Tunisia has been a great experience and there are a lot of pics illustrating all the moments. You can see them on my Flickr account. Enjoy them!!:
- Tunisia album, get here.
- Tunisia as a slideshow, here.

My work has been featured in Arte y Diseño magazine, the Spanish version of the well known Computer Arts; whose last issue is dedicated to the design for the music business. Get more info here.