There are foods that are nothing without the other, like peanut butter & jelly, spaghetti & meatballs, coffee & donuts. Now combine those dynamic duos with font’s counterpart, the ampersand aka ‘&’, in a brilliant series by illustrator and graphic designer, Dan Beckemeyer. In Ampersand Food Groups: Typography Illustrations, Beckemeyer creates digital illustrations of the almighty ampersand made out of the classic food duos. Feast your eyes on this.
China has a population of over 1 BILLION people (*said with Dr. Evil pinky*). Internationally-published freelance photographer and travel writer Tom Carter has traveled extensively throughout the 33 provinces of China documenting the 56 wide-ranging ethnic groups that compose the vast nation, collected in his book CHINA: Portrait of a People. This book is the most comprehensive collection of imagery of conteporary China ever published by a single author. From Mongolian wrestlers to prostitutes and Tibetan monks, Carter gained the trust of the subjects, sometimes putting his life at risk, capturing the many fascinating faces that make up the overwhelmingly diverse nation.
Currently, Carter is traveling across the nation of India, photographing his next book, INDIA: Portrait of a People. I can only imagine the beauty that will be bound in that book.
Footwear giant, Nike, is going back to the future. They’ve filed a patent for “automatic lacing sneakers” reminiscent of the kicks that Marty McFly wore in Back to the Future Part II. The patent that was filed in 2009 states that the automatic lacing system would provide a set of straps that can be automatically opened and closed to switch between a loosened and tightened position with the press of a button near the heel. In the 1989 classic, McFly travels to the year 2015, so Nike isn’t too far off from making the movie a reality if the patent is approved.
The Reebok Pump is so 2000 and late. C’mon, Nike. Just do it.
Das Racist, the kooky multi-ethnic electro rap crew that first came to prominence with their ode to the wonders of combination fast food establishments, is back with “Who’s That? Brooown!” off of their recent Shut Up, Dude mixtape. The video itself is an 8-bit epic where our heroes have to make to the club while evading an overly aggressive women and shady cabbies. Like the video? You can play the actual game on Das Racist’s website. Also, look out for their new mixtape Sit Down, Man. It features a guest verse from El-P and production from Diplo, Chairlift, Boi-1Da, Keepaway, and more.
Radiohead are no strangers to the idea that music is something the modern fan sees as less of a commodity and more of a basic human right guaranteed by the United States of Bit Torrent. Back when In Rainbows was released, the band decided to buck the label system (middle finger to The Man!) and give their seventh studio album away on a pay-what-you-wish basis through their website. That esprit de corps is still in fine form with Thom Yorke and the boys from across the Pond, as they’ve decided to provide the full audio masters from a 2009 concert for a fan-made concert DVD. The group of about 50 loosely organized videogrpahers used Flip HD cameras to record the show from a variety of vantage points. According to the organizers, the footage was shot by a “group of Radiohead fans [who] descended on the Výstaviště Holešovice exhibition hall in Prague to capture the band perform, using as many different angles as possible …” The camera work is raw, frequently shaky but endearingly enthusiastic.
Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley has already conquered the boo-ties, why not the boo-boos? Using glitter, sequins, lace, gems and more, Rowley has teamed up with Band-Aid to design a limited edition set of adhesive bandages for a good cause. One dollar from the sale of every $10 tin will go to Design Ignites Change, an organization that engages high school and college students in design and architecture projects that address social issues in their own communities. So ditch the Hello Kitty or boring flesh-colored Band-Aids, and jazz up that cut or scrape like a real fashionista.
Blinged out bandages, plus healing power. So fierce.
I won 1st place in a coloring contest in 3rd grade. I loved coloring then, I still love coloring now, and I love the concept of this dress. The wearable Color-In coloring dress by the creative minds of Berber Soepboer and Michiel Schuurman is a simple black and white patterned dress that allows you to have your way with it and create the color palette of your choice, with the multi-colored textile markers provided. A coloring book you can wear.
Only 50 dresses were produced, and sell for 238 Euro (roughly $300 USD.) For that chunk of change, I’d rather have a professional design my dress, personally, but pretty neat idea nonetheless. Ah, the Europeans.
There’s nothing like the smell of a book from the library (as Carrie Bradshaw says), or admiring a good magazine from cover to cover, reading every article (even when you have to skip to the back for the continuation), and soaking in every ad or pictorial. With the world being heavily technology-driven, we’ve almost forgotten what printed matter on ACTUAL PAPER is like. We forget how powerful and impactful it can be. Brooklynite Chris Thomas’ blog Remember Paper pays homage to the printed form exploring words and imagery, ironically, all on a Tumblr blog. Whether a magazine spread, a classic hard-bound book, or a Cracker Jack box, Thomas brings to light a new found respect for print.
And coming soon, a collection of inspirational pieces he’s found, you guessed it, in a book. Full. Of. Paper. Stay tuned.
The goal of a puzzle is to fit each piece correctly together to form a picture. Brazilian artist Vik Muniz takes a bit of a different method with the same, if not more beautiful, result. Muniz uses unconventional mediums for his work, from garbage to puzzle pieces to create his pieces. In “Gordian Puzzles,” hundreds of single puzzle pieces from existing puzzles are laid out, layered in multiple directions, and rotated by degrees and color to fit other pieces to recreate the subject paintings that are themselves puzzling. The pieces are put together so immaculately, meticulously and seamlessly that from a distance, it’s hard to tell that each puzzle piece is actually there. Muniz does not simply use the puzzle pieces as his medium because it’s an interesting and fun way to create art, but the puzzle pieces also symbolize the complexity and depth of the subjects of each piece. Case in point: Blonde, complex, fragile like a puzzle, bombshell, Marilyn Monroe.
On the outskirts of The Lone Star State near Marfa, Texas, lies a stretch of lone highway, miles of flat land for days, and the lonliest Prada store ever. Since 2005, a Prada building has stood alone, with a non-functioning door, sans customers and sales people, in the middle of nowhere houseing only 20 left-foot heels and six handbags that were chosen from the Fall/Winter 2005 collection by Miuccia Prada herself. The store is actually a permanent art installation, or “pop architectural land art project,” designed by German artist duo Elmgree and Dragset to serve as a fashion time capsule, withstanding the elements, with no repairs or updates, eventually disintegrating back into the natural landscape that acts as the backdrop for it.
As a big *wamp wamp,* the structure was broken into and vandalized a few days later. But shortly after, it was repaired and restocked and now sits at #2 on the list of Top 10 American Roadside Attractions Worth Stopping For - Northwest of Valentine, TX just off U.S. Route 90, 37 miles northwest of Marfa. I smell a… road trip!
