Magic Spell
Sometimes I get carried away while surfing the Web. There’s something very hypnotic in the way that Web works - one click might take you to a whole new world, another click - and you discovered a hidden treasure that gets you excited like a kid looking at the sun through that magical colourful glass.
That’s how I feel now after my encounter with this website: Spell With Flickr, created by Erik Kastner, using PHP and JavaScript. Try typing a word or a phrase on that site and it will surprise you back with every letter transformed by a photo from Flickr’s collection of “One Letter” - shots of single letters by Flickr users.
Take a look at the masterpiece below, where this blog’s title is magically spelled by Flickr. You can even click on each of the letter images to see the original shot.
Apparently the Spell With Flickr site has been around for a couple of years, but that’s the first time I’ve heard about it. Did you know about that photo spell?
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 1:38 am and is filed under design, inspiration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 21st, 2007 at 5:04 am
Good, isn’t it. I came across this about six months ago - and I’ve used it as a basis for two client logo designs so far…
June 21st, 2007 at 6:07 am
It looks great! I did not know about it.
June 21st, 2007 at 7:51 am
I came across the site a while ago. It is a fun. What I want to know is how the letters get chosen. I would just love a peek at the code.
June 21st, 2007 at 9:16 am
Too cool! Thank you for sharing, Vivien!!
Paul, I can definitely see this as inspiration for logos. Will you show us the final product?
June 21st, 2007 at 9:19 am
I can’t do that, because of who the clients were. Sorry.
However, this post has inspired me to do something similar for my blog reboot - so keep an eye on that!
June 21st, 2007 at 9:46 am
Aww, oh well. I’ll just wait to see your blog’s new typography.
BTW, took a look at that flickr group and this was my favorite letter. (hopefully the link works!)
June 21st, 2007 at 9:51 am
Well I guess your new project should be to compile a version that’s only made out of bugs then…
June 21st, 2007 at 9:57 am
This was fun. By the way as I read this post at the end I saw the 15 minutes post below. Kind of funny I just spent 15 minutes playing with this flickr spell thingy.
June 21st, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Wow, thanks so much - it still amazes me that my little project is still going strong.
The idea for spell with flickr was inspired by an app thtat spelled a person’s name using book covers using Amazon’s API.
The code is VERY ugly, but is available for anyone to take a look at:
http://metaatem.net/words.phps
http://metaatem.net/words_inc.phps
All of the images come from the groups:
One Letter
One Digit
Punctuation
They are chosen randomly from within the returned images.
June 21st, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Paul, look forward to seeing what you’re coming up with for your blog’s reboot. I think I’ll be also incorporating something like that in my blog’s redesign (once I get to it).
Lauren and Simonne, I’m glad you liked that site and had fun with the letters.
Joey, I also spent about 15 minutes playing with that site, then blogged about it and forced myself to finally shut down my laptop and go to bed - it was already 2 am.
LGR, aren’t you lucky - you got a reply about the code from the creator himself
Erik, thanks so much for dropping by. When did you create this cool and very creative application?
June 22nd, 2007 at 6:05 am
Oh! That’s very cool indeed. Here’s a similar stunning tool: http://imagemosaicgenerator.click42.com/
June 22nd, 2007 at 7:29 am
I think I made it in early 2005 (february or march). Not long after I got picked up by a few bloggers and then got a ton of traffic. I’m still getting a steady stream of people viewing it every day - thanks to sites like yours!
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:39 am
What a great find. This is great. It’s got me thinking about some other applications for this. And you’re right about the “hypnotic” nature of the Internet. There’s some great content out there (here too, of course).
Thanks for the find, Vivien.
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:57 am
WoW, Shankar, thanks for that Mosaic link. I’ve always liked that effect on pictures. Many magazine covers were using that mosaic effect for their photos. Very cool.
Erik, thanks for the answer. I’m checking your blog’s Projects page now. My gosh, looks like you don’t waste a minute of your day - so many projects, blogs, websites. How do you find time for them all?
You’re welcome, John. My thanks back to you for the compliment
Hope you’ll share with us your thoughts for other uses of Spell with Flickr, when you get them all formed and implemented 
I will do the same in future.
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:21 pm
That is truly cool, but it can be abused. Remember the son of sam? He could save a lot of time by using flickr!!! lol. Just kidding. thanks for this info, i will be using it!
June 25th, 2007 at 6:33 am
What a fun idea, as is the one for mosaics! Now, I’ll be playing all day instead of working…just what I needed lol! Thank you!