Friday, November 30, 2007

AIGA Kenya Hara talk at Bumble & Bumble yesterday



Buy Kenya Hara: Designing Design.
Review on Core 77.
Review on DeZeen.

Interesting presentation yesterday by renowned japanese art director and curator Kenya Hara. After a question by Massimo Vignelli, Mr. Hara made an interesting distinction between Minimalism, based in western rationalism and meaning "stripped down" or simplified and the Japanese idea of Emptiness, which according to him means "The possibility of putting something in it". Emptiness is his mantra and design philosophy and the driving concept behind the MUJI brand.

Labels: , , ,

Shitty Little Paintings by Jim Gladman

Thursday, November 29, 2007

ART364B Collective Exhibition Opening Tomorrow, Friday Nov. 29




Kate Clark, Marietta Davis, Tiffany Ludwig, Jennifer S. Musawwir, Melissa Potter, Miriam Schaer & Maria Yoon.

Labels: ,

Li Edelkoort / Trend Union 2009 Presentation




I had the great pleasure of attending the Trend Union / Li Edelkoort presentation at Parson School of Design's Tischman auditorium today. Very inspiring material for any free thinker or creative person.

Some of the main themes were that, after a period of living in a culture of fear, the world is now ready to turn the page, take a step back and take back their lives. To embrace happiness, warmth, family and living locally and ecologically inspired fantastic color and material palettes for which Edelkoort is widely known. Refocusing on positivity.

More importantly though, I think she is perfectly in tune with a desire than many of us have had for a long time but might not have yet realized. A desire to break free from traditional systems and society doctrines, and also to take a deep breath and stop chasing artificiality. Back to home cooked meals, cottage industry produced clothing, and getting back out to the country.

Also, Li Edelkoort invited co-founder of the Alabama Project, Natalie “Alabama” Chanin, to speak about her amazing work on that business as well as her current business, AlabamaChanin.

She is known for her resown t-shirt couture, and for using existing (human) resources as an alternative to outsourcing. An important re-envisioning of contemporary and future economy.

Labels: , , ,

Tiny Masters of Today


Representing Brooklyn and touted as the Next White Stripes among other things, young Indie rockers Tiny Masters of Today" are taking the world by storm. They have an impressive sound already... now add 10 years of experience to that in your head and try to imagine what that could mean...

You thought the Avant Garde was dead? Apparently it was reborn when no-one was looking.

Check them out at.

Labels:

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Breez Evahflowin Back in Brooklyn

Get the new album:


Breez is back on the Mic after a few years of studio recording:

Friday Nov 30th
DJ's-
Phono Stars (Tao & Damus)
Jedi
Synapse
FTL
Special guest MC sets-
Breez Evahflowin
Lodeck

at Supreme Trading
213 N. 8th street
Williamsburg Brooklyn
L train to Bedford
Free!

http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
--
http://www.myspace.com/breezevahflowin


http://www.youtube.com/breezevahflowin


http://www.breezart.wordpress.com

Breez podcast clearing house of unreleased tracks and other hard to find material:
http://www.johnhenryradio.com

http://cdbaby.com/cd/breezevahflowin

Fly EP:
http://payplay.fm/breezevahflowin

Labels:

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Kleinreid Holiday Studio Sale!




KleinReid's Holiday Sample Sale
Saturday December 8th & 15th, Noon to 5pm
51-02 21st St. 7th floor, Long Island CIty, NY 11101
718.937.3828
Corner of Borden Ave / 2 blocks from PS1
7 train to Hunters Point (2 stops from Grand Central)
G train to 21st St. (first stop in Queens from B'klyn)
E train to 23rd/Ely
* Cash only please * Feel free to share this invite *

Preview our Pots with this link: http://kleinreid.com/html/portfolio.html



BY TRAIN:
1.) 7 to Hunters Point (2 stops from Grand Central Terminal) -- Take left street exit. Walk to closest corner (49th Ave. and 21st St.) turn left onto 21st St. then see #2.
OR G to 21st St. -- Take street exit to the right. Walk south on 21st St. over bridge then see #2.
OR E to 23rd/Ely Stop -- Exit to the back of the train. Walk south on 21st St. (with Manhattan on your right). Cross Jackson Ave and continue - see #2.
2). Walk south on 21st St (with Manhattan on your right side). About a block ahead, you'll see a large brown and yellow factory building with billboards -- that's us. On the east side of street the sidewalk swoops under the overpass, then take the pedestrian foot bridge over the LIRR tracks. You're now in front of our building. Enter on the east side of the building = 51-02 21st St. We're on the 7th floor at the end of the hall.
BY CAR:
Midtown Tunnel (very easy):
Stay in FAR right lane. After toll, exit IMMEDIATELY then turn left onto Borden Ave. Go one block (over the RR tracks) and turn left onto 21 St. and park. We're the large brown and yellow factory building.
59th St. Bridge (moderately annoying):
Take lower level, take Queens Plz S. ramp exit onto Queens Blvd. Veer right to intersection with Jackson Ave. Turn right onto Jackson Ave. and go about 10 blocks to Vernon Blvd. (do not turn onto 21st St. from Jackson - it doesn't go through). Turn left onto Vernon, go one block and turn left onto Borden Ave. Go two blocks to 21st St. and turn left and park. We're the large brown and yellow factory building.
L.I.E. (easy):
To exit 15 (Van Dam St.) Continue forward, after a few blocks road jogs onto Borden Ave. After about a mile, turn right onto 21st St. and park. We're the large brown and yellow factory building.
From Brooklyn (also easy):
Take B.Q.E. to the L.I.E. (495 West) and follow LIE directions above.
OR take the Pulaski Bridge from Greenpoint's McGuinness Blvd. On the L.I.C. side, take sharp left onto Jackson Ave. Go about 3 blocks, veer right then turn left onto Vernon Blvd. at the light. Go one block and turn left onto Borden Ave. Go two blocks to 21st St. and turn left and park. We're the large brown and yellow factory building.

Labels: ,

Best Book Covers 2007


For more see:
http://nytimesbooks.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-favorite-book-covers-of-2007.html
And take the poll at the bottom of the page to vote.

Labels: ,

Trace Elements Exhibition




Press Release:
TRACE ELEMENTS

November 30, 2007–January 26, 2008

Margarete Roeder Gallery is pleased to present a group exhibition entitled Trace Elements with works by Rudolf De Crignis, Frauke Eigen, Tayo Heuser, Christine Hiebert, Tom Marioni, and Susan York from November 30, 2007–January 26, 2008. A reception will be held on Friday, November 30, from 6–8 PM.

Rudolf De Crignis’s works, executed in colored pencil on board, present almost imperceptible veils of evanescent color. Like his stratified paintings constructed from many layers of blue and white paint with one or more layers of another color deeply inserted into them, these drawings are not illustrations, a visual expression of a theoretical position, but rather a rendering of that which cannot be expressed in language: the entirely direct and accessible sensations that the viewer experiences in front of these works.

Frauke Eigen’s photographs, all images of the “real” world confound us with the purely quotidian, images that are simultaneously unfamiliar and entirely ordinary. Taken in locales as diverse as Los Angeles, Bosnia, and Tokyo—immediately familiar to their inhabitants and entirely foreign to each other—their formal precision resonates with feeling. Often details, these black-and-white-photographs of orthogonal architecture and variegated nature create an immediacy of mood with the contingency of their apprehension.

Tayo Heuser will show one work from a recent series of large drawings executed in ink on burnished and stained paper. Predominantly circular, the scale, around 4 x 4 feet, provides an encompassing image; but the realm that Heuser invites us to enter is not spatial but something less tangible. Investing in an understanding of both the immediate (the work itself) and the elusive, the exhibited work is dedicated to Agnes Martin. “Anyone who can sit on a stone in a field awhile can see my painting.”

Christine Hiebert’s new, large drawing demonstrates her ongoing engagement with charcoal on paper, and a desire to evoke space and animate it. Constructing her work in a highly intuitive way, she uses line to lead thought. It could also be said that she uses line to leave thought behind: meaning on the one hand, that she subordinates conscious thoughts to those that arise out of the searching line, and on another, that she leaves for us a trail of those searching moments.

Tom Marioni’s work, from a new series entitled Out-of-Body Free-Hand Circles is made by drawing circles with a pencil attached to a bamboo stick. Thus literally “out-of-body” in that the pencil is not grasped by the artist’s hand, the double entendre phrase also refers to the space the drawing occupies as well as that of the body that created it. The artist wrote, “My circles are tracings of themselves—by going over and over the circles each time getting them more correct I am tracing the circles underneath.”

Susan York’s drawings, installations, and sculptures are all composed from graphite, variously rubbed and polished on paper or directly on the wall, or cast in solid graphite. Evidencing the artist’s interest in duality, specifically tension and tranquility, the drawings here manifest tension through their material geometry and surface, tranquility through the infinitely fine modulation of the surface and repetitive effort in their production. Less seen than felt, ultimately these dualities fall away and distill into the sublimity of the present moment.

For further information and images please contact the gallery at 212 925 6098
or email info@roedergallery.com

Labels: ,

Zorb!

Saw this on the Today Show just now.

The Zorb is one crazy new product.

Someones run in a zorb:

Labels: ,

Amazon Kindle using E-Ink



The Amazon Kindle, it's already sold out as I write this. (?!)
It does look a little like an Eighties Cellphone doesn't it? Never the less, I (still) think it's very exciting to have one book that = a million books on demand, than having to buy a new paper book every time I finish one, and filling my shelves with them. Why have dozens of novels and business books I will not reread in my New York apartment where every square inch counts? (And what will this mean for Brookyn Stoop Sales? Used Books are a big part of those.)

I'm talking mainly about novels and newspapers. For the time being, I think I'd still prefer my art and design books on paper. These are usually more tactile objects and more interestingly designed, both in their look as well as their feel.

It uses the e-ink technology that promises to look and feel more like ink on paper, as it isn't backlit like conventional computer and pda screens. So you'll have no glare or lighting issues which makes it musch easier to read outside or other uncontrolled environments.


Check out Engadget.com for some first impressions.

Labels: ,

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Die Gestalten Verlag: Fragiles Exhibition in Miami




If you are heading to Miami this year for Design Basel, be sure to see the exhibition Fragiles, curated by design publishing powerhaus Die Gestalten Verlag.

Selected works by:
Arne Quinze
Jaime Hayon
Marcel Wanders
Jerszy Seymour
Hella Jongerius
Jurgen Bey
Hans Van Bentem
Stephen Burks
Nik Schweiger | 3deluxe
Stephanie DeArmond
Charles Krafft
Emma Woffenden & Tord Boontje
Alessandro Mendini
Commonwealth & Joshua Davis
Malin Lundmark
Maxim Velcovsky
George J. Sowden
Wendy Walgate
Christie Wright | Elastichome
Lola Goldstein
Cynthia Hathaway
David Amar
Emily Forgot
Frida Andersson & James Steiner
Giordano Redaelli
Miwa Koizumi
Guillaume Delvigne
Hana Vitkova
Ineke Hans
Jakub Berdych
Scott Rench
Kate Hume
Laura Mckibbon | Cul De Sac
Sebastian Menschhorn
Lisa Goldberg
Megan Bogonovich
Katie Parker
Mimi Joung
tjep.
Nathalie Schaap
Doodle
Nicolas Bovesse
Robert Dawson
Sarah Cihat
Milan Pekar
Guillaume Delvigne & Ionna Vautrin
Thomas Paul
Jason Miller
Tamsin van Essen
to22
o-d-a
Louise Hindsgavl
KleinReid
Dan Yeffet’
Dror Benshetrit
Bathsheba Grossman
Assa Ashuach

Labels: , ,

Monday, November 19, 2007

G-Phone? Google / Android push ahead with Mobile platform.




Also See this.

And Sergei Brin discusses it in the video below:

Labels: , ,

Friday, November 16, 2007

WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY?




"What Would Jesus Buy?" a documentary about New York anti-globalism-performance artist-activist Reverend Billy comes out in theaters today. Trailer is here.

I had the pleasure of experiencing Reverend Billy's "Service" in person at MASS MoCA a year or two ago. He is hilarious, and actually so funny in his exposing of the ridiculousness of todays giant corporate conglomerates that he is far LESS "preachy" than most "serious" anti globalists.

Also see his Starbucks protest in this Youtube Clip:

Labels: , ,

First U.S. Muji Flagship store opens today.





Famous Japanese retailer of minimalist designer products opens its first U.S. based flagship store in Soho, New York, today.

From Muji.com
MUJI: It's about designing your own life – not someone else's. It's a belief that simple is better than complicated. And it's the knowledge that real simplicity is always the result of openness and honesty. MUJI products spring from a commitment to moderation in all things except quality – and from the confident awareness that modesty and discretion are, together, the better part of style.


Because there is complexity in purity.

Elegance in plainness.

Intricacy in streamlining.

Richness in reduction.

Depth in minimalism.

Surprise in uniformity.

Innovation in re-use.

Cool in the avoidance of cool.

And there is true
sophistication in simplicity.

Labels: ,

Brett MacFadden Snaps to Grid


If you are a graphic design and/or type design enthusiast, you must check out my friend Brett's latest exhibition of lettering inspired by and drawn in... Quark XPress. (Yes, you read that correctly). While you are there, also see the massive stack of books he designed and art directed for Chronicle books.

Labels: , ,

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Hi-8 Video and Hand Animation Combine for a Disturbing "Letter to Colleen"



Londonsquared, Film Makers, for whom we designed the website, appear in an in depth article on studiodaily.com that explores how their latest film, "A Letter to Colleen" was created.

Labels: ,

Name Letter preference - Newsweek Article

What struck me about this piece that was labeled "Science". Is that on the one hand it appears to be important information for marketers, on the other hand, it is largely useless. Even if you know this, you cannot tweak your product naming to appeal to people of all names. However, you could argue that if you want to market a product towards 20-30 yr old males for example, that you could pull the records and find out what the most common name for north american males in that age bracket is. Still seems like a lot of effort for some possible marginal result though.

From the Newsweek article by Sharon Begley
"Bizarre as it sounds, studies have documented what scientists call 'name letter preference' since 1985. People are more likely to buy brands that begin with one of their initials, so Tom is more likely to buy a Toyota and Larry to buy a Lexus. Even important choices seem to be shaped by this preference: Mildreds are overrepresented in Milwaukee and Dennises among dentists."

Labels: , ,

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

New Blog: Retire Trajan (The Typeface)



The Monolithic Rule of the Tyrannical Trajan Font in Entertainment Advertising has to come to an end. Let's retire Trajan!

Labels: , , ,

Monday, November 12, 2007

ADC Awards coming up

Site Specific Design Opening at Bridge Gallery

Superfad!

I'm becoming a bigger fan of these guys everytime I see new work it seems. Their commercial for Pioneer is a truly amazing feat of animation, film and design. It involves pretty much any type of animation as far as I can tell, from 3d, to anime.

On a more toned down level, I might enjoy these target spots even more. The aesthetic is perfectly on brand while being innovative, engaging and refreshing, not a small accomplishment either.


Target Ads.



Pioneer Ad.

Labels: , ,

Friday, November 9, 2007

Elliott Earls updates

Some updates from the studio of Elliott Earls, artist-in-residence at Cranbrook Academy of Art's 2D Design Department.



Elliott Earles: "On thursday evening I gave a lecture at The Wolfsonian Museum as part of their exhibition on the work of John Heartfield. My lecture used the work of Heartfield as a kind of foil against which we can begin to understand a more powerful role for the contemporary graphic designer. In the lecture I primarily used the work of Heartfield as a way of attempting to place my own work within an historical context and to provide it a cohesive conceptual framework. To radically simplify the lecture, initially I pit John Heartfield against Paul Rand1 (Lord Vader) and discuss the goals of the post world war one avant-garde. In the lecture, I frame my own work in terms of the spirit of oppositional cultural practice exemplified by Heartfield – and by extension El Lissitzky, Alexander Rodchenko et al.
"





From Bull and Wounded Horse.

Labels: , ,

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love at The Whitney


Kara Walker, Darkytown Rebellion, 2001. Cut paper and projection on wall, 14 x 37 ft. (4.3 x 11.3 m) overall. Musee d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg. Photograph courtesy the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York


I visited the Kara Walker incredible exhibition at The Whitney last weekend and highly recommend it. It was impressive how well the pacing and flow worked. I have a short attention span like most people, and it managed to grab a hold of me and not let go until I had spent real time with every work. Her large wall installations, which include her signature Silhouettes, and her films were especially memorable because they communicate so much with so little (formally speaking). But the drawings such as in Negress Notes (1995), which I was less familiar with, were also amazingly effective in communicating the same age old issues of race relations (that remain relevant today) to a modern mind.

Go. See. This.


Slate.com has a slide show essay about Kara Walker here.

Labels:

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Christian Tedeschi is part of the new exhibition at A+D.



From the A+D Website:

"An exhibition featuring three local artists Chris Avitabile (with OJO) Kiel Johnson and Christian Tedeschi.
These artists all met through A+D for a children’s workshop based on the idea of Crazy Clubhouses. The workshops met every Saturday through the month of August 2007. It was constructed around the principle that Architecture can be studied and experienced on many levels.

These workshops at A+D became sessions that the artists pushed potential and were fully engaged with each other’s creative processes. What was beneficial for the children became inspiration for each artist and their personal studio explorations. This exhibition speaks to this chance encounter.

All of the artists in this exhibition have benefited from the children’s Crazy Clubhouses workshop at A+D. Chris Avitabile has used the tracks created using the sounds made by the children as a major parts of his recent recordings. Kiel Johnson was influenced by the colors and painted surfaces created on the colorful geodesic domes. It can be found in the painted surfaces on his cardboard structures. Christian Tedeschi has been influenced by the potential of material structure and Buckminster Fullers concept of synergetic relationships.
OPENING 11.09.07"

Labels: , ,

Friday, November 2, 2007

Faust Haus - New Site



I recommend you do check out these sleek and stylish, funky yet highly controlled typography and other sweet stylings by Leah Faust!

Labels: , ,