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Categories:
- accessories,
- design
Growing up I often read biographies of different authors and scholars (real and fictional) who invariably wore either wire-rimmed glasses or horn-rimmed spectacles. I paid little attention other than to fix an image of either thin or thick frames. And moved on.
It wasn't until the past year or so when I realized how long I've missed out on horn material. Last year I went in to order new glasses and after a lifetime of black frames, spiced it up and came out with some horn rims. Now they rank right at the top of my favorite pair of glasses I've worn. Since then if I see an accessory or artifact made from horn it certainly attracts my attention.
Such as these spice spoons from Shastra. Do I need spice spoons? Now I do.
Kaufmann Mercantile is a nifty site which features historical information on everyday items. A recent post examined how soap came into common use. Posts before that took a look at transistor radios, army grade canvas bags, butcher blocks, flip clocks, etc etc. This one takes a look at how horn spoons are ideal for caviar and soft-poached eggs.
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Categories:
- culture,
- design,
- fashion,
- videos Tags:
- ACL,
- Fine and Dandy,
- Glenn O'Brien,
- GQ,
- Kauffmann Mercantile,
- Megan Fox,
- NYT,
- Thom Browne,
- Tom Ford,
- V Man
If you go to the homepage of the NYT Magazine right now, and scroll down a bit, you'll find a video interviewing Megan Fox for about 6 minutes. I couldn't find a way to direct link to the video or to embed it, but in it she once again proves that she's not just a pretty face. Between her pretty logical and mathematically sound reasoning on why she's usually the Mean Girl and her comments on comic books (long a haven for nerds), Megan Fox is someone I'll continue to keep my eye on.
Though I do take umbrage with the cat lady comments. Ah, so be it.
Additionally, I've been really bathing in menswear fashion photos lately. I found a few blogs thanks to this article from the NYT that Steve linked me to. And via those blogs I've started learning designers and finding other places to look at and read about men's fashion. It's a world that keeps reeling me in. May I recommend:
- A Continuous Lean: Probably the best of the bunch I found, but it's focus on Made in America is a little off putting to me. Not because I don't believe in American quality, or the benefits of keeping your money local, but because I don't think it's fair to ignore the ingenuity and quality coming out of other countries.
- Fine and Dandy Shop: My other new favorite and a little more personable than ACL. It's recent interview with A New York Dandy's John Wellington turned me onto V Man magazine. Which I hope to pick up a copy of this week while on vacation.
- Kauffmann Mercantile: Found this via ACL and while it's less fashion and more gear, definitely an interesting blog to follow if you're interested in the history of good quality products and design (often times also common place).
- Glenn O'Brien: O'Brien is GQ's Style Guy and was recently interviewed by ACL. (Through which I found out about designer Thom Browne, not to be confused with another designer I'm a fan of, Tom Ford.) Anyway - O'Brien's advice seems pretty well grounded and his discussions of style are entertaining as much as they are informative. He also writes for The GQ Eye feature.
- NYT Sunday Styles: Finally there's the Sunday Styles section of the NYT. I remember a few years ago when Steve and I sat around ogling their annual (I think) publication focused purely on men's fashion. Now I've bookmarked it and will check it every week.
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Categories:
- design Tags:
- font,
- typography
Remember how I love text and typography?
Thanks to NOTCOT I just found this blog: i Love Typography. I'm sure there are many other typography blogs - especially as it seems typography is becoming more and more focused on in design/art - but this is the first I've found. We'll give it a go and see what wonders we find.
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Categories:
- art,
- books,
- design,
- photography
My pal is putting together a "Crush Zine" which she says she is basing on another person's idea. I'm not sure what exactly this other person's idea/product is, but the scheme of my pal's project is thus: friends submit photos and cards and whatnot which evidence crushes on inanimate or unlikely objects. For example, "Dear blue Stratocaster: You are so sexy. Let's be together forever. Love, Me." Get it?
My entry:
And oh so true.
These picture-perfect paintings of books make my heart flutter. I was looking for paintings related to books/bookshelves a few months ago and gave up. Both for lack of result and lack of the money. I doubt I'd be able to afford any of these, but it does give me hope if I ever need to find some again.
painting by Victoria Reichelt
And then there's this version of an environmental "Never forget". Taken from the site:
The world was remembering the Exxon Valdez ecological catastrophe that happened 20 years ago when drunken captain Joseph Hazelwood lost control of its huge tanker in the beautiful Alaskan wilderness.
It reminded me of Jessica Charbonneau's project in my packaging class a few years ago. Jessica was using an existing black soap as an activist product to create an awareness campaign against the danger of oil water transportation. The product is called (in French) « I wash my hands» referring to Pontius Pilate and also to the attitude of the oil industry in regards to the oil spills. The campaign also acts as a reminder of famous oil spills like Exxon Valdez and Dona Marika's. «...And I say to my self: what a wonderful world!»
A good portion of what I post here, besides my random reviews and new exciting purchases, will likely be links via Notcot.org/Notcot.com and Kanye West's blog when I can make it over there. Can I help it if I have a soft spot for design? I think I can't. And some of this stuff is really really cool. So just go with it.
The first roundup of these cool things are:
- Artist Jay Horinouchi does some cool stuff combining robot-ism and traditional Japanese painting.
- Stefan Bruggeman also does art, this time using strictly text. I'm a textophile myself and when art incorporates text, I'm pretty close to sold. (ps: what would someone obsessed with text/words be called? textophile is not it and google didn't help)
- If you're interested in special effects that don't have to do with Doomsday/natural disasters/monsters, then you might be interested in this short video by Bruce Branit. It's 10 minutes long, a solid love story, and really amazing/beautiful/inspiring to watch.
- This sparkling chocolate powder sounds delicious and fun!
- Michael Wandelmeier does some really cool, surreal art. Usually prints for stuff I see like this run into the $50-$75 range. At $21.22 a pop, these may end up on my wall sooner than later.
- Maybe you're a little morbid like I am, or you just really like architectural photography (also like I do) - anyway, this new photobook from Richard Ross looks particularly intriguing: Architecture of Authority looks inside prisons and other institutionally authoritative buildings to examine how exactly they work as mechanisms of authority. Amazon has it priced lower than most hardcover photobooks you find, too.
- And finally, if lit light bulbs as art is your thing - or if Norweigan electronica is your thing - then this video may also be your thing:
Happy Up Here from Röyksopp on Vimeo.