Wolfbag

Keep it Real

2012-01-25T11:21:00.000-08:00

Somewhere between OK Go’s music videos and Sony Bravia’s bouncing balls there’s been a need to make everything for real in promotional videos and advertising. Graphics and animation are just not enough, you have to be able to touch them and, more importantly, watch the ‘making of’ documentary online. Not to mention buy the (obligatory) dreamy folktronica track that accompanies it. TV channel More 4 seem to have embraced this trend wholeheartedly and in quite fine style with a lot of Hard work by ManvsMachine.

Via Creative Review

Photography: In Colour

2012-01-25T11:11:00.000-08:00

Looking at this blog (and thank you for doing that by BTW) you might get the idea that I’m slightly obsessed with colour. More specifically I’m obsessed with doing weird things with colour, so here are a few photographers who have recently bought my eye who seem to share the same obsession.

Clockwise from top left:
Streaking Trains by Aaron Durand
Sea life photography by Alexander Semenov
Photographs of explosions by Geoffrey Short
Aqueous Fluoreau by Mark Mawson

Shut Up and Play the Hits

2012-01-19T06:16:00.000-08:00

I miss LCD Soundsystem. Everyday.

Shut Up and Play the Hits
Directors Q&A here

Modern Art is Rubbish

2012-01-18T02:56:00.000-08:00

So Jeff Koons claims he owns the copyright on Balloon Dogs. Enough has been written about this egomania already but it’s just another example of superstar artist’s obsession with fame and money. So here’s a rant from Hennesy Youngman about why Damian Hurst is a dick. I wonder if you can copywriter a dot?

30 Best Film Posters of 2011

2012-01-18T02:24:00.000-08:00

Flavorpill’s pick of the best film posters of 2011

Their comment on this for Cold Weather really hits the mark: “Ah, minimalism. Overused in unofficial movie posters that go viral on the Internet, but sorely underused in official posters that advertise movies.” See all 30 here

The Colour of 2012

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

'Provides the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.' Sounds good. More on Pantone's website – which I'm not sure I'm buying... We will see.

Harvey Nichols Christmas Windows 2011

2011-11-30T04:27:00.000-08:00

Feeling unusually festive already this year. I guess after everything that's happened in the last 12 months we could all do with a bit of Christmas cheer right now. Maybe that's why I love these dreamlike Christmas window displays for Harvey Nichols. More fantasy! Less reality!! More here

Code Warriors: a decade of processing

2011-11-17T08:40:00.000-08:00

onedotzero are celebrating 10 years of creative coding tool Processing at this years Adventures in Motion at London’s BFI. Processing: 10 years of turning geeks into artists and artists in to geeks. Thanks.

London 2012 Olympics Posters

2011-11-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

More polarising design work for the London 2012 Olympics. Like everything else so far, from the logo to the stadia to... what ever the hell that Anish Kapoor thing is, it’s situation of love it, hate it or just plain confused by it. These 12 posters (presumably if it was the '98 Olympics they would have done 98 posters?) seem to cover all three of those emotions perfectly.

As always, the bile in the comments on Dezeen are always good for a laugh. Put simply by Dimitris – “They all really, REALLY really suck. Really.”

Well, at least it's still getting people talking. That must count for something, right? I mean, when the logo was unveiled, practically the whole country was having a heated conversation about the merits of branding and graphic design! Unheard of before or since!

P.S. I'd just like to take this opportunity to say that, after seeing the interview by Alan Yentob on Imagine, I hate Anish Kapoor. Not his work, I love (much of) his work. Him. Personally. Tosser. And Alan Yentob.

Is There Life on Mars?

2011-11-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

I saw Snoop Dogg at the 02 Arena a little while ago, loved it. But the place itself is still perplexing, as it was from day-one back when it was The Millennium Dome. One of Richard Roger’s many masterpieces but still seems like a building that know one knows quite what to do with. Its current incarnation looks like a ‘futuristic’ shopping mall in a big tent, which is sort of what it is, minus the shops. All blue neon lights and palm trees, sort of nearly almost Blade Runner’s vision of LA, but with out any of the glamour or excitement.

This James Ward article puts it really well – ‘…if humans ever colonised Mars, they’d end up building something like the O2 … there was a Harvester too: Why would anyone build a fucking Harvester on Mars? … the woman at the counter asked me if I wanted to “eat in” or “take away”. Where would I take it away too? I’m in a giant dome on Mars. Where would I go?’

Back to the Future (Again)

2011-11-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

You might have seen the electric DeLorean project in the press. If electric cars are the future then what could make more sense? I was going to post something about it but I'm easily distracted and while having a Google around I came across Nike’s 2010 6.0 DeLorean Dunks. They don't look too environmentally friendly but they're pretty McFly.

I'm Business Mouse, yeah?

2011-11-16T06:46:00.000-08:00

I don’t watch reality TV. I WILL NOT watch reality TV. I’ve seen reality through my front window and it doesn’t look fuck all like these fucking fuckwits. Not an original thought, apparently lots of people agree. Maybe not enough though. If you want reality, go outside. If you can’t deal with that level of reality then Modern Toss’s new Dragons’ Den / The Apprentice parody Business Mouse (think Alan Sugar meets Top Cat) could be for you. And me.

Wooden Shjips

2011-11-09T07:53:00.000-08:00

After getting hooked on these guys a few years ago, I currently have Wooden Shjips album new ‘West’ on constant repeat. Anyone who can record ten minute long tracks of drone-noise that never significantly change – all the way through – are fine by me. But what’s this? Melody? Structure? Just a hint fortunately but goes to show anyone can change. Just a side note but is it a San Fran' thing that while all the band members look different, they all look like Jesus? Exactly like Jesus?

Alien: A Freudian Nightmare

2011-11-09T07:39:00.000-08:00

Famously pitched as "Jaws in space”, you don’t need a PhD in psychology to realise that the original 1979 Alien movie has much deeper waters than that. This great article in Sabotage Times spells it out in words even I can understand. Maybe the line should have been ‘in space, no one can hear you… dream’? Hmmm, I guess that’s my Hollywood copywriting career over before it started.

iVangelists

2011-10-06T04:22:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs and Apple have in some way changed our world, few people would dispute that. But as we know Apple fandom has always gone well beyond this; we extoll Apple’s triumphs and vigorously defend their (many) errors, which in turn has bred a healthy – and at times unhealthy – rivalry with Windows PC users. Surely a unique situation, how may other multi-billion dollar corporations have you ever got in a fight in the pub to defend?

As good an excuse as any to post Adam Buxton here at Bug – it’s important we know exactly which version of Mac OS is used in this video, right?

Farewell Steve

2011-10-06T01:13:00.001-07:00

And thanks for everything

João Brasil feat. Lovefoxxx – L.O.V.E. Banana

2011-07-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

DJ and producer João Brasil has been treating London dancefloors to his Brazilian baile funk mashups for a couple of years now, brining some much needed sunshine direct from Copacabana Beach. This latest offering featuring CSS’s Lovefoxxx really demonstrates that João is the master of subtlety and understatement. Also, did you ever notice that a banana looks a bit like a dick?

Decode the QR Code

2011-07-11T06:07:00.000-07:00

Artists and musicians have been using gorilla sticker campaigns with QR codes for a good few years now to get their work onto your ‘generic-mobile-device’ (or ‘iPhone’ to you and me). More recently it seems that everybody with some online content to promote has caught up and these undecipherable and none to pretty blocks of black and white squares are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Turns out that these things are pretty robust don’t have to be as ugly as you might think. With a little bit of work you can make something that still works and has some beauty all of its own. And the message in the stencilled code above? ‘U R SO PORNO BABY!’. Thanks for that Mr Fahrenheit, you made my day.

Battles – Ice Cream

2011-05-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

Great to hear some new craziness from Battles. Great video too, so many ideas; and that end sequence? I think I’ll go get myself some ice-cream…

Mapping

2011-05-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

If all the design blogs are to be believed, projection mapping seems to be everywhere at the moment. Stand still in the street for long enough and someone will point three projectors at you and start paying loud glitch music. Makes for a great public event though; some nice example here from Diez

Stik

2011-05-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

Am I the only person who prefers to see street art actually in the street? Don’t get me started on that Banksy guy. That said, I’ve been loving Stik’s work that seems to have been popping up on just about every East London street over the last year or so, so it’s cool to see that he has an exhibition indoors for a change. In West London. I suppose those West London guys deserve to see it somewhere.

‘The Clock’ by Christian Marclay

2011-05-27T08:00:00.001-07:00

You may well be familiar with this, so many people have fallen head-over-heals in love with it. Saw this rumour that there may be a forthcoming iPhone app for those of us who don’t quite feel like spending 24 hours watching it in the Hayward Gallery.

Balloons - MTV Brazil

2011-05-27T07:59:00.001-07:00

This is one of this things where you say ‘I wish I’d thought of that, it’s so simple!’. Having said that, I’m not sure that drawing a flick book on 600 individual balloons is quite as simple as you might first think…

Danny v Yoda

2011-05-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

‘Nuf said. Via Popbitch

Frankenstein’s Computer

2011-05-27T07:52:00.001-07:00

This is cool! The mind of a fully functioning modern PC in transplanted into the body of the original Commodore 64. If PCs all looked like this I would consider owning one. But they don’t, so I’ll probably stick to my Mac. More here

Hoxton Street Monster Supplies

2010-11-20T10:34:00.001-08:00

Hoxton Street Monster Supplies now open for all your monster needs, from Fang Floss and Neck-bolt Tighteners to Zombie Mints. A wonderfully imaginative shop for an equally wonderful-sounding project; The Ministry of Stories, an initiative to inspire and encourage creative writing in young people. Fangtastic (yeah, I said it).

Paris Vs NYC

2010-11-06T05:37:00.000-07:00

It's the little things... Paris Vs NYC

Alt//Language

2010-10-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

Our recent London show...

"Come in and shelter from a virtual thunderstorm, fight samurais in the dark, make music with paint and play in a Wiimote band, all in the atmospheric seting of Shoreditch Town Hall Basement. Expect screens, projectors and speakers, immersive environments and games, audio and visual installations, sonic experiences and performance."

altlanguage.com

Synaesthesia

2010-10-07T03:36:00.000-07:00

Synaesthesia from We're So Digital on Vimeo.

This is our second installation which has been a real hit with the public.

"Synaesthesia is an interactive performance/installation exploring alternative digital music interfaces and the relationship between colour and sound, creating a relational experience between the artists, users and the audience. The project utilises video colour tracking, sequencing, softsynths and sample modulation to generate audio loops via Processing and MaxMSP."

2000 hits on Vimeo in one week and soooo many blog postings can't be wrong!

Squirtle

2010-10-07T03:26:00.000-07:00

Squirtle from We're So Digital on Vimeo.

So I've been spending the last year working on interactive digital art installations. Squirle was the first one to go public. It's in the form of a game uses that uses galvanic skin response to measure users' emotions. The user has to maintain steady emotions to get to the end of the animation on the screen. If their emotions change, the animation plays backwards. Sounds simple – but it can be incredibly frustrating! Uses Processing, Arduino and Flash.

Back in Black

2010-10-07T03:09:00.000-07:00

I've been a way for a little while (about a year to be exact) so if you've been wondering what's happened to this blog I'll post a few updates about what I've been doing. Say Hello is still going strong with a new exciting iPhone music app for our friends at C-Burn soon to be launched (more on this to follow) but if that's not enough, we've also got a new and exiting venture on it's way in the form of We're So Digital, more to follow on this too... Excited? We are.

Decode

2009-12-19T09:22:00.000-08:00

If you haven't been to Decode at London's V&A yet you gotta go!! An extremely inspiring interactive digital art exhibition.

It's mostly screen based, but my favourite was Daniel Rozin's Weave Mirror (above), which is basically also basically a screen – only made of wood! Wooden pixels! Yeah! Go wooden pixels go!

On until 11 April, 2010
Decode

Movie Posters of the Decade

2009-12-19T09:07:00.000-08:00

A nice selection of some of the best movie poster of the last ten years. Like it says. Shame they didn't include Empire Design's UK Kill Bill Vol. 1 poster though.

Movie Posters of the Decade

Miss Milne

2009-08-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

'miss milne is a London based designer who has spent the last 5 years making her imprint on the London Fashion scene, working with the likes of Jamie Reid, The sex pistols, Sienna Miller, Jade Jagger. Miss milne is for girls famous and infamous who just want to look cool, the collections are a combination of girlish charm juxtaposed with a harder edge of rock and roll.'
Miss Milne's Facebook group

Cassette Lamps

2009-08-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

Ooo My Design's cassette tape floor lamps are made out of repurposed tape cassettes held together with zip ties. Mmmm... retro...
ooomydesign.com

Lovebox Festival Annual

2009-08-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

Lovebox are producing a 300 page book full of pictures of all the beautiful freaks at this year's summer festivals. You can look for yourself on their myspace site and add your own pics of you and all your crazy mates dressed in drag/spacesuits/naked etc which may or may not end up being included...
myspace.com/FestivalAnnual

Hackney Wicked

2009-08-06T03:03:00.000-07:00

Open studios and gallery exhibitions throughout the former warehouses of London's latest bohemian capital, Hackney Wick. Spread out over about 40 spaces, many of which are the artists own live/work spaces and with lots of live 'happenings', the East London art scene has never looked more intimate. Just make sure you dodge all the fixed-gear bikes, those guys don't stop...
31 July – 2 August
hackneywicked.com

Walking In My Mind

2009-08-06T02:54:00.000-07:00

Exhibition at the Hayward Gallery exploring the inner workings of the artist's imagination through huge room-size installations.
Until 6 September 09
Walking In My Mind

Heinz Edelmann

2009-07-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick nod to german graphic designer and illustrator Heinz Edelmann who died on july 21st, aged 75. Edelmann was the art director of Beatles film The Yellow Submarine, surely one of the best animated features of all time.

Loop Festival Brighton

2009-07-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

Superb festival of leftfield recording artists, DJs and audio-visual instalations and performance including The Light Surgeons, Fever Ray, Squarepusher, a rare Mùm DJ set and the excellent Telepathe from Brooklyn. You missed it? No way! Hopefully they'll do it again next year...
loopbrighton.com

The Heritage Orchestra plays the music of The Clangers

2009-07-10T08:54:00.001-07:00

'On the 40th Anniversary of the first moonwalk Southbank Centre and the Heritage Orchestra celebrate by bringing you an evening of the music and visuals of the Clangers...'
I'm there!!
Southbank
The Heritage Orchestra
Oliver Postgate, gone but not forgotten x

Salon des Refusés

2009-07-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

New vintage clothing project from Rebecca Sweeting. 'Vintage clothing, lingerie and accessories from the 1900s to present day.'
Salon des Refusés
Design By Say Hello
Illustration by Miles Donovan at Peepshow

Thriller

2009-06-27T03:52:00.000-07:00

Surely the best homage.

I usually hate post-celebrity-death bad taste jokes, but this from Popbitch is actually very good:

There will be a post-mortem today to determine which was the cause of death:
A) Sunshine B) Moonlight C) Good Times D) Boogie

I'm blaming the boogie.

High Tide Heals

2009-06-27T03:48:00.000-07:00

Gent artist Paul Schietekat's high healed flippers have got to be the ideal purchase to get you through Glastonbury.

Print Club London

2009-06-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

35 Illustrators. 35 Edition and hand signed prints. 35 Pounds each. Say no more.
MC Motors, Dalston, London. 26–28 June '09
Print Club London

Squid Umbrellas

2009-06-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Woohoo – it's summer! Better take your umbrella just in case. Squid London's umbrellas change colour when they get wet, so you've got something to look forward to when you've gone out in your shorts and it starts pissing it down...
Available from Beyond the Valley

The Mobile Evolution

2009-06-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

You know that drawing 'The Evolution of Man', where a monkey evolves into a man... with an iPhone...
Via Designboom

tDR Pull The Plug

2009-06-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd give a mention to the sad demise of the Designers Republic as there's a retrospective in this months Eye magazine. Like many designers, tDR have been a huge influence on my work and even my choice of career. They reinvented British graphic design in the late 80's being one of the first agencies to really explore computer technology to full effect, creating a new visual language which was always their signature and highly influential thorough out the world. Although they created a huge wealth of great work, they will always remembered for their seminal work for Warp Records and the Sheffield club seen. A sad day for designers, but the Republic will always live on.
The Designers Republic

The Old Ones Are The Best...

2009-06-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

What goes around comes around, right? Duran Duran are headlining Lovebox, Kraftwerk are headlining Bestival. Do the kids know who Duran Duran and Kraftwerk are? They should, and buy the end of summer I guess they will. But who cares? it gives me an excuse to post the video for Rio and the amazing live version of Man Machine– Kraftwerk sind supergeil, ya!

Gucci by Chris Cunningham

2009-06-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Loved this ad from the minute I saw it but had no idea it was Chris Cunningham until I read it on Creative Review's blog. And if that's not enough, the spot also includes a SPECIALLY RE-RECORDED version of Donna Summer's I Feel Love. Not exactly Come to Daddy – looks like Mr Cunningham is getting all warm and fluffy on us...

Damien Poulain 'Totem 49'

2009-06-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

Exhibition of the French born, London based designer's latest project at Kemistry Gallery from: 5 June - 18 July 2009

Ill T-Shirts For Sixpack France

2009-06-02T08:45:00.001-07:00

Nice new shirts from Paris's Ill Studio for my favorite T-shirt label Sixpack France

Cassetteboy vs The Bloody Apprentice

2009-06-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

You might know Cassetteboy from their cult 2002 bootleg CD The Parker Tapes. Some people think that these guys just waste their time spending countless hours cutting up bits of audio to make knob jokes. Not true. Now they're spending countless hours cutting up bits of video to make knob jokes too. Brilliant.

Sagmeister at Offf

2009-06-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

There were lots of great stuff at Offf festival but seminal Austrian designer Stefan Sagmeister's talk about happiness in design really brought the house down. And he did the whole thing wearing a nice blue summer dress (the above version was filmed somewhere else though...)

The Noise of Art: Deep Space Disco

2009-04-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

Audio-visual/performance extravaganza at Ether 09 included Chateau Flight's new score for the 1915 film Les Vampires, Orca from the Faroe Isles playing homemade instruments and featuring recordings by Yann Tiersen, DJ T and Thomas Schumacher from Berlin minimal techno label Get Physical and Severino from Horse Meat Disco. The highlight of the show was DFA's The Juan Maclean playing live and some pretty out-there performance art from Immaculate Extremists.
Pictures by Christian Smith.
Noise of Art

Keep Footwear

2009-04-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

Yup, more shoes. Spring/summer range from LA's Keep Company. Keep shoes are both foot friendly and environmentally friendly, produced ethically in Brazil with 100% cotton canvas uppers and natural gum rubber soles.
keepcompany.com

Offf Festival

2009-04-15T05:40:00.000-07:00

Say Hello are heading to Lisbon for Offf 2009, the 'international festival for the post-digital creation culture', to rub shoulders with the cream of the world's digital designers, film makers and musicians, including Universal Everything (featured), Neville Brody and many many more. We'll report back in May.
Offf

Land of Kings?

2009-04-15T04:56:00.000-07:00

Dalston never used to be cool. When I lived opposite Barden's Boudoir I'm sure it was in Stoke Newington. Now my old fashionista flatmates call it Dalston, as does everyone else in the area. All the cool kids live in Dalston now so it's about time they had their own music festival and it's called the Land of Kings. (Kingsland Road - get it? Clever.)

Held over two days at 10 venues including Barden's, The Haggerston and Vortex and with dozens of bands and DJs including An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, Sportsday Megaphone, Allez Allez and Greco Roman Soundsystem, it looks like Dalston's gonna stay cool for a while.
Land of Kings

Fever Ray at Ether 09

2009-04-15T04:29:00.000-07:00

Fever Ray supported Röyksopp at this year's always excellent Ether festival at London's Royal Festival Hall. Fever Ray is the dark and haunting side-project of Karin Dreijer Andersson, singer with brother/sister elecro weirdists The Knife. The eerie and atmospheric set is performed in almost pitch darkness illuminated with just a few standard lamps and two lasers, while Karin's bizarre costume changes add to the wonderful strangeness of the performance.

She is also performing with long time collaborators Röyksopp along with Robyn and Lykke Li. For this she is dressed as an owl. Naturally. Röyksopp were great, but for me they just can't compete with the the haunting weirdness of Fever Ray's performance. There are a lot of great Scandinavian singers around at the moment, and three of them are here tonight but Karin Dreijer Andersson has got to be the best of them. And by far the strangest.
Ether 09

Please Remain Calm - Kim Rugg at Nettie Horne

2009-04-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

If patience is a virtue, Kim Rugg is a saint! Meticulously slicing up and re-asembling newspapers, comic books and postage stamps to create intricate and witty takes on familiar objects. Her 2D made 3D (or is it the other way round?) cereal packets are reminiscent of Tom Freidman, which is no bad thing, but we particularly love her subverted wallpaper, especially her installation demonstrating what would happen if you took a lawnmower to a floral print!!

Please Remain Calm on until 26 April at the ever-good Nettie Horne gallery.

Dr Martens Primary Pascal

2009-03-31T08:12:00.000-07:00

Docs are back. But don't worry, these one are actually quite nice...
Available here

Maud Traon

2009-03-19T05:07:00.000-07:00

Maud Traon's conceptual (and delightfully impractical) jewellery draws inspiration from world issues, from consumerism to natural disasters and plane crashes. Combining materials such as fimo clay, glitter and electroformed copper with found objects like My Little Pony and Spiderman toys and, er, crisp packets to make highly individual objects infused with chaos and magic. No, we don't understand it either, but it's really far out!

You can check out her work at the Also Known as Jewellery exhibition at Flow gallery or the up-comming Collect art fair, as well as on her new website maudtraon.net
Flow gallery
Collect

"I wear my sunglasses at night..."

2009-03-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

Summer's here!! Ok, maybe not. But it's on it's way. Hopefully. Anyhow, long story short – here are some of our favorite sunnies brands. Maybe go a bit more adventurous than Ray Ban this year, huh?!
Super (Super 'Neon' pictured)
Cutler and Gross
AM Eyewear
Modern Amusement

Colette's Barbie World

2009-03-13T03:54:00.000-07:00

50? Do you think she's had plastic surgery? Colette celebrates Barbie's 50th birthday with part of their Paris store dedicated to the plastic princess. Specially selected designers have provided Barbie themed products from very low-end to very hign-end. Particularly like the 'hair' brush. Colette; kitch? Maybe just a little...

colette.fr
T-shirt by Married To The Mob

Adrian Shaughnessy talks to Peter Saville

2009-03-13T03:48:00.000-07:00

Logan Hall is a big lecture theatre. Pater Saville has sold it out. They've had to bring in cameras so that the people who couldn't get in can watch from the foyer. In the world of graphic design, Peter Saville is as close to rock star status as you can get.

But in this interview with graphic design stalwart Adrian Shaughnessy, Saville spends most of his time discussing how he dislikes the world of graphic design, doesn't title himself a graphic designer and he really just wants to be known as an artist. Shaughnessy says he wants to get behind the Saville myth, but I think he just ended up reinforcing it. Even when Saville admitted something I'd always suspected, that he had very little to do with the actual design of the sleeve art for Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, one of the works that made his reputation, you can't help but think that this is just more of the typical Factory Records myth-building.

But we've all heard the Factory story and seen those record sleeves a thousand times before. The thing which really interested me was what he said about is role as 'Creative Director of Manchester'. A unique position in the world of communication design and a job he claimed he never wanted (which in true Mancunian tradition is the reason he was offered it). As part of it, he did do a logo for Manchester but as he says, you will rarely see it. Where would you put it? How can you brand a city? So he has made it his role now to act as a provocateur, working behind the scenes to make sure that creatively, Manchester raises it's game. Although he's lived and worked in London for around 30 years, his story is intrinsically tied to Manchester, he is a product of Manchester. No doubt, through this work, his myth continues...

D&AD Lectures

Kinetica Art Fair 2009

2009-03-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

Sometimes art is really clever. Know what else is clever? Computers. Dead clever. I don't know how they work but I'm sure it's pretty darn complicated. So if you stick a computer in a work of art then you're gonna get something which is, well, really really clever... Like, say, a robotic emu made out of gloves that follows you round the room in quite a sinister fashion. For instance.
Kinetica-artfair.com

Studio on Fire

2009-02-25T14:50:00.001-08:00

Gorgeous work from Minneapolis based printers/designers Studio on Fire

Useful Photography

2009-02-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

From Amsterdam based advertising agency KesselsKramer, Useful Photography magazine celebrates utilitarian photography that you might easily miss. Previous issues include winners of insignificant awards, farmers' guides to cows and some of the more creative images used to sell items on auction websites. However, it's issue #008 that caught our eye – the opening frames of porn movies. Whether it's a buxom blond delivering a pizza or a young stud preparing to fix a washing machine, these images are bound to rase at least a smile.

Available from usefulphotography.com or direct from KesselsKramer's Hoxton Square shop/studio.

So what's going on with London clubbing??

2009-02-21T03:51:00.000-08:00

The End is well and truly gone. Can't say I miss it too badly, I've spent more than enough time there. Now many of the nights have found new homes, with James Holden’s Border Community moving to The Arches in London Bridge and the always good Bugged Out! relocating to Matter at the dome, the venue that is to clubbing what corporate hospitality is to grass-roots football.

We checked out the opening night of Ghost, a converted paper mill in Farringdon. Run by the former manager of AKA, it's not unlike AKA and The End (Jaded has relocated there) – good sound system, nice size, but with the addition of some quite chic interiors by designer Robbie Clydesdale and a team of street artists, which is a big improvement.

But the fact of the matter (no pun intended) is that London's mid-size clubs seem to be rapidly disappearing. The Key, The Cross and Canvas are now a distant memory, Turnmills has gone and T Bar has been evicted from the Tea building, although apparently there's a new project in the pipeline.

So what's the score? Seriously, if you know please tell us! In the meantime, we'll no-doubt see you in a Dalston basement or some revamped old-man's-pub in Hackney...

[Image: limited edition T-shirt dress by Eio for The End]

***NEWSFLASH***
OK, we have some answers...
beatportal.com
burlingtonproject.co.uk
timeout.com/london/clubs/

Bubblicious

2009-02-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

Superb video for the new Rex the Dog single by Geoffroy De Crecy, Etienne's bro.

Fan Death

2009-02-18T04:04:00.000-08:00

Check out the interview on Dazed Digital

Messages From Lexx

2009-02-17T06:22:00.000-08:00

Audiovisual installation as part of my ongoing Lexx project.

Prism Break

2009-02-17T06:15:00.000-08:00

Photography by David Byun for CITY 55. More on Flickr

Crocodile Myths

2009-02-17T05:43:00.000-08:00

So when I got a call from Lacoste asking if I knew anyone with a sexy smooth French accent to voiceover these virals, one name came straight to mind... Nice work M. Le Clainche, I think you've found your calling ; )

The Last Days of Decadence

2009-01-30T07:19:00.000-08:00

Love the illustrations by Sneaky Raccoon for The Last Days of Decadence. A decadent night of cabaret and 'cockteas' (tea based cocktails served in a teapot, how Shoreditch can you get...)

Russell Rb

2009-01-30T07:13:00.000-08:00

Check out his jewellery in Drama Magazine.

The Answer Mark

2009-01-27T05:41:00.000-08:00

Everyone's got questions, right? Questions are cheep, throw-away. What we're really looking for is answers. If it's true that 'there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers', is that because answers are more important? And if that's true, then why do questions have with their own punctuation mark while answers remain indistinct and unannounced?

Well, at Say Hello we're changing that, with the introduction of the answer mark. No longer will answers be looked upon as the less important half-brother of the question. Now the properly punctuated answer will ring out with authority and resonance.

Download Answer Mark Sans here and get answering. (Personal use only, please contact Say Hello for commercial use.)

All it Takes

2009-01-20T05:37:00.000-08:00

Send your Obama Ecards today!! Good ol' SomeEcards.com...

FLASH - Will Broome for Wedgwood

2009-01-16T04:38:00.000-08:00

After the success of the Reindeer festive popup restaurant in 2007, Bistoteque followed up in 2008 with FLASH, as part of the GSK Contemporary exhibition at the Royal Academy. Will Broome provided the illustrations for the bespoke Wedgwood tea services used. Believe me, it made the cream scones and darjeeling taste all the better.
Bistoteque
Will Broome
Royal Academy Shop

Above and Below Recycled Shoes

2009-01-16T04:02:00.000-08:00

Limited edition trainers made from restored London Underground and London Bus seat covers. Made by sweat shop free European labour, the trim is 100% recycled or repurposed leather and the sole is 33% recycled tyre rubber. Available here.

TO ORIST Holographic T-Shirts

2009-01-14T05:39:00.000-08:00

Cosmic. Available from Oki-Ni

24 carat gold plated Delorean

2009-01-06T07:28:00.001-08:00

Maybe I could do a John DeLorean and get some coke smugglers to pay for mine too...

Waltz with Bashir

2008-12-24T06:47:00.001-08:00

The best anti-war film I've seen in a long time. This animated documentary charts the true story of director Ari Folman's search to find out just how involved he was in the massacres of the 1982 Israeli - Lebanon war. Horrific yet very beautiful.

(Some of) The Best of 2008

2008-12-24T06:45:00.001-08:00

Ok, this is a non-definitive, non-binding list of what I've been listening to during the last year, in no particular order. Sure there's stuff missing, sure it's a little heavy on disco and sure you can disagree – but do it on your own blog, this is my list, OK?

10 Great Tracks
Holy Ghost! - Hold on
Friendly Fires - Paris
Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire
Hercules and Love Affair - Blind
Midnight Juggernauts - Out into the Galaxy
Ladyhawk - Paris is Burning
The Feeling - Toby Tobias
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
MGMT - Electric Feel
The Kills - Cheep and Cheerful

10 Great Albums
Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia
Beyond the Wizard's Sleve - Ark1
Zombie Zombie - A Land for Renagades
Portishead - Third
Foals - Antidote
Herculese and Love Affair - Herculese and Love Affair
Kills - Midnight Boom
Santogold - Santogold
Padded Cell - Night Must Fall
Glass Candy - B/E/A/T/B/O/X

5 Great Mixes and Compilations
Nu Balearica - Mixed by Fred Deakin
Death Before Distemper 2: Revenge Of The Iron Ferret - DC Recordings
Kitsune Tabloid - Mixed by Digitalism
Nobody Knows Anything - DFA presents Supersoul Recordings
Cosmic Disco?! Cosmic Rock!! - Mixed by Daniele Baldelli

1 Great Podcast
Beats in Space

1 Label of the Year
Italians Do It Better

Special Award for Services to Pop
The Ting Tings (I know, but like I said, disagree on your own blog...)

Life Before Daft Punk

2008-12-24T06:40:00.000-08:00

Was there? Yeah, there was, it's just that long ago that you've forgotten. And it was pretty cosmic...

Christian Smith - 9 Stories

2008-12-24T06:33:00.000-08:00

Christian Smith doesn't just take pictures, he writes beautiful visual stories about people from all aspects of society. Have a look at some of them from his recent Ada Street Gallery show here.

Too Late Watches

2008-12-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

They're made of exciting stretchy silicon, they come in 15 exciting colours and they're €15 each. What more do you want - loads of features? Ok, there's no features but like I said, the are €15 each, come on! Get 'em here.