2021, October 2021, Roots
ROOTS | X • XXX • MCMXCVI
Oct
ZOOLOOK™
X • XXX • MCMXCVI
On October 30, 1996, 25 years ago, multi-artist Nicholas’ Nico’ Da Silva decided to join the world wide web. He had already chosen his artist name, ZOOLOOK, inspired by the French composer Jean Michel Jarre’s 1984 album of the same name. He would register ZOOLOOK.com, .net, and .org to launch his artistic career.
Little did he know that this decision would launch a successful career that would earn him many awards and accolades as well as a few titles, including ‘Flash Guru’ (Web Designer Mag) and the ‘Chosen One’ (Adobe).
As the multi-artist ZOOLOOK, his first project was Dread & Alive, a reggae-themed comic book series featuring a Jamaican superhero. The idea came to him while working with Rasta Sam at the Firehouse 7 nightclub in San Francisco. The Firehouse 7 building was one of San Francisco’s vintage Firehouses, Engine Company No. 7. Initially built in 1854, this was the third firehouse built in 1908, replacing the second firehouse destroyed by the 1906 fire. As the clubgoers swayed inside to the sound of reggae music spun by DJ Carol, Rasta Sam and Nico stood outside enjoying the peaceful night. That’s when Rasta Sam turned to Nico and said, “Hey Nico! Someone should create a Rasta superhero comic book.’ Nico responded, “I’m going to do just that, Rasta Sam.” The rest is history.
The following year, ZOOLOOK came across a website while employed as the Lead Graphic Designer at Lewis & Partners Advertising in San Francisco. Instead of going out for lunch in the financial district, ZOOLOOK and his colleagues would eat and surf the internet at their desks. One day, ZOOLOOK came across a website that changed his world forever. The year is 1997, and surfing the web was done via AOL and dial-up using modems with 56kbs dial-up connections.
The site, ‘Gabocorp.com’ (Gabo Mendoza), wasn’t a static HTML/CSS website. Built with Flash, originally called FutureSplash Animator, the website came alive with motion and sound. NOTE: Back in November 1996, Macromedia acquired FutureSplash and re-branded and released FutureSplash as Macromedia Flash 1.0.
As a result, ‘Gabocorp.com’ became one of the first sites to go viral in the Design Community in 1997. Suddenly, the web was no longer static. ZOOLOOK found his passion with Flash. It introduced him to an entirely new world of possibilities.
ZOOLOOK set out on his artistic journey with a vision in mind… create to inspire while offering a multicultural experience. This vision has been and still is the core strength of his work values. Yet, as he developed his artistic dreams into reality, he was unaware that his creative works were receiving attention from the design community, editors of design magazines, design/animation software companies, and other artists. And when he received his first interview request from Rob Ford, founder of The FWA, on February 20, 2002, ZOOLOOK knew he had arrived to stay.
Official Website:
BUY/STREAM:
ZOOLOOK on Spotify | ZOOLOOK on Spotify
IRIE Playlist:
STREAM IRIE on Spotify | IRIE on SPOTIFY – October 2021
STREAM IRIE on Pandora | IRIE on Pandora
IN THIS ISSUE
ROOTS | X • XXX • MCMXCVI
ZOOLOOK™ X • XXX • MCMXCVI On October 30, 1996, 25 years ago, multi-artist Nicholas’ [...]
Oct
ROCK | Video on Demand
ZOOLOOK Video on Demand ZOOLOOK is coming to Vimeo On Demand. On October 17, 2021, [...]
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REGGAE | ZOOLOOK™
ZOOLOOK™ Stonefrenge™ When IRIE’s founder and editor-in-chief, Nicholas Da Silva, is not covering the reggae [...]
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RESPECT | Dread & Alive™
Dread & Alive™ Nine Night™ A diehard comic book fan and an avid reader of [...]
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RESPECT | FlashTV™
FlashTV™ The Future Now, Absolutely Wicked! When ZOOLOOK launched FlashTV on July 25, 2001, the [...]
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RESPECT | HITLESS™
HITLESS™ No Women. No Children. On July 6, 2007, Pocketgamer.com published a feature on the [...]
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RESPECT | Cavedudez™
Cavedudez™ TGSNT™ Miniball In the spring of 2004, ZOOLOOK teamed up with UK-based Naked Penguin [...]
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RESPECT | ReelTV™
ReelTV™ Reel to Real The year was 2007, and ZOOLOOK, along with other emerging artists, [...]
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RESPECT | IRIE™
IRIE™ Roots Rock Reggae Music On December 26, 2013, ZOOLOOK launched IRIE™ Magazine, a new [...]
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RELEASES | Zoe Mazah
Zoe Mazah On Top of the World IRIE’s October 2021 edition of RELEASES is here [...]
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REWIND | The Chronicles of ZOOLOOK™
The Chronicles of ZOOLOOK™ 25 Years of ZOOLOOK™ On April 21, 2001, ZOOLOOK set up [...]
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