Design, Music | Friday, September 19th, 2008 @ around lunchtime
Pentagram redesigning one of the most iconic hip hop magazines to date…Who’d have thunk it!? It’s not often you see really well designed Hip Hop publications . So when I found out that Pentagram have redesigned Vibe (hip-hop’s premier magazine) for their 15 anniversary, I was pleasantly surprised and even more impressed having seen the outcome here.
Working with Vibe editor-in-chief Danyel Smith, art director Mark Shaw, and photo editor Robyn Forest, Luke Hayman has developed a new format for the magazine that looks back to the original designed by Gary Koepke and subsequent redesigns by Robert Newman and Florian Bachleda.
“Vibe is an icon in the magazine world,” says Hayman. “This was an exciting opportunity to sample and remix the rich heritage of its famed design and photography.”
I’m all about random designer luxury goods. Not so much the handbags, umbrellas and cell phone cases. More like KVD’s Chanel Surfboard and my Mark Jacobs Bean Bags (courtesy of Cara). I see them not as luxury goods - but more like works of fashion art. When I came across Peter Gronquist’s latest exhibition at the Gallery 1998 in LA, I positively leapt out of my chair with glee. Weapons aren’t really my thing BUT I will make an exception for the Chanel Rocket Launcher, The Prada AK47 and of course the Louis Vuitton Chainsaw.
I haven’t had much opportunity to travel extensively through America, but every time I do get the chance, I absolutely love it. Why? Because I see the most random stuff ever!
Take for example a trip I took a few months ago for an ad campaign we shot for Skanska in Ohio.
As Cole Ruth (Communications and Brand Manager at Skanska USA) and I headed down the highway at night we saw Jesus…literally. All 62ft and 42ft wingspan of him. Read the rest of this entry »
It doesn’t look like much now, but the renderings are absolutely gorgeous. I love the metal bands that wrap the building and after finding out that they’re not just for show, I love them even more.
The reflective metal bands of our building are almost sewn on, like a dress. They grow thinner and thicker, wrapping themselves around the building and generating different visual effects as they change. But they are not just graphic elements, they are three-dimensional. Sometimes these bands become balconies; other times they become sunscreens that protect the apartment interiors from excess sunlight and reflect excess heat. So they have a true function and a sustainable quality, too.
There’s a great interview/feature on Dezeen with sketches, plus an interview with Ben van Berkel himself. Highly recommended read.
Design, Misc. | Thursday, April 24th, 2008 @ mid-afternoon
We have several “Eagle Eyes” at SKAGGS and we totally understand the importance of having work proof read, although you’ve probably noticed a few typos on the blog. I have an insanely bad habit of being liberal with the comma. Not sure why…maybe because I’ve yet to fully grasp its correct usage. Anyway, I came across illustrator David Lanham. He was commissioned to do an illustration for Weiner + Weiner, a German company that specializes in proof-reading copy for publications.
It roughly says, “A comma in the wrong place can be a dangerous thing”.
I love the comma carnage, it absolutely cracks me up. See the full piece here.
How long does it take to create a complex illustration? Chad Pugh documented the process and put it all together in a very cool video.
The video is a condensed time lapse of screenshots over a several month period. Total physical drawing time is close to 40 hours and I’d add an equal amount of time for concept time and readying the print.
Art | Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 @ in the early evening
I came across David Shrigley’s work and absolutely love it! While his drawings are my favorites, the photographs are cool too…not sure I’d get a tattoo though.
With their decadent confetti made of diced dollar bills (totaling a hundred dollars) to their S*** From Paris (a company dedicated in collecting, recycling and selling Parisian dog defections), it’s kind of difficult to describe what they do. I guess you could say that French duo Ivan Duval and Jean Sebastien Ides are in the business of ideas. They create/invent wonderfully quirky but well designed products, some of which is available to buy on their site. A good resource for off beat gifts methinks.
Just when I thought that the video game world couldn’t get any better, it was announced this week that Karl Lagerfeld, hater of children, lover of fish and creator of some of the most beautiful pieces today, will be playing a role in the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto 4. He’ll DJ on air at the game’s K109 The Studio station. Rockstar Games has produced a Lagerfeld animation and players will be able to listen to him spin as they play the game.
Players can pick from multiple radio stations for the soundtrack, ranging from licensed songs to new ones. Lagerfeld picked his favorite electronica and dance music and peppered the selection with some of his rapid-fire commentary.
“They had written a politically incorrect dialogue,” the designer said. “I loved it, [particularly] in a time when everybody wants to be so politically correct when they talk.”He didn’t have to dig too deep to find his music selection. “Music is part of the life of fashion, too,” he said. “Through the famous sound stylist Michel Gaubert, I’m very much ‘au courant’ and know what’s going on.”
Anybody that’s played GTA4 knows that the radio station ads and commentary are absolutely hilarious at times. Couple that with “Uncle Politically Incorrect” and you’ve got one hell of a soundtrack for running wild on the streets of Liberty City. Absolutely.Can’t.Wait.
In advertising and design you’re constantly told by the client and your inner Mad Man to think like the audience…It seems in their pursuit of ultimate audience thinking Via Group really did go the whole hog. Their work on the new Maidenform backless bra ad seems to prove this. I’m not sure what bothers me most…The dudes in bras, the fact that their “bras were too small for interns” comment was a little sexist (I don’t think I got the joke) or that the creative group seemed to be all men - working on a women’s ad. Maybe the “chicks” were off that day?
Joke sexism aside, it’s good to see creatives so passionate about thinking like the audience.
