The Amazing Photos of Mitchell Feinberg
June 30, 2008 | Categories: Food & Drinks / Magazine / Photography

Making the mundane into something incredible isn’t anything new, but when it looks as delicious as the photos of Mitchell Feinberg, well then you really have something. I knew of Mitch’s photography through my last job, he shared an agent with my old job, but it wasn’t until I was reading in the newest issue of GQ that I was reminded of how amazing he is. He’s basically one of the premiere product photographers in the world. The man has shot just about anything you can think of for about every magazine out there. I personally think what he does is a slice of amazing.

The photos above are from a story titled My Sweet Life, which is basically writer Alan Richamn’s grand ode to all of the amazing types of desserts there are out there. The story is cute and clever and really does cover most any dessert you could think of, but the story is enhanced so very much by Feiberg’s photos. The top photo of the chocolate cake truly looks like heaven in every way, and the pile of California brittle below that makes my mouth water. I’ve put two more photos from the shoot under the cut as well, a root beer float and some beautiful salt water taffy.

Keep reading The Amazing Photos of Mitchell Feinberg…

i-D Magazine Interviews KAWS
June 30, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration / Magazine

This months issue of i-D Magazine features a collaboration with graffiti/artist/creative genius KAWS and man does it look epic. The issue features that whole crew of people including BAPE founder Nigo, Kanye, Pharell, and I’m sure everyone else in that whole scene. I just think it’s rad that they let KAWS art direct the whole issue, including illustrations over the fashion spreads and the such. Hypebeast posted this interview that i-D did with Kaws and it’s kind of cool to see him speak about the process and his own work. Having met a few pretty amazing artists over the last year of running this blog, I always find it extremely interesting to see what artists, these people who I so admire, are really like. So far they’ve all been extremely cool and nice, and KAWS seems equally so as well.

Bobby

My Take on Dwell on Design
June 8, 2008 | Categories: Architecture / Design / Los Angeles / Magazine

Friday afternoon I headed over the Los Angeles Convention Center for the 3rd Annual Dwell on Design Conference and Exhibition, something I had been really excited about since I first saw the ads pop up in the magazine. I got there around 1pm and it wasn’t very busy, which I was happy for, but there also wasn’t as many exhibitors as I thought there would be.

My friend Frank ended up meeting me there and we walked around, were slightly disappointed my the lack of really exciting products or services or whatever I thought I might find there. Not to say there weren’t some really cool things, but I had higher expectations. Frank and I were a little annoyed that everything was “hip and modern”, like there was no other way to describe the things you’re selling. The highlight for me was the cute, blonde guy at the GOOD Magazine booth who let me take a free magazine. Seriously.

I’ve posted photos of some of the other things that I really liked under the cut along with some descriptions, so check out more under there!

Keep reading My Take on Dwell on Design…

Untitled Magazine No. 002
May 22, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration / Magazine / Photography

Mike Perry just released the second issue of his cool artsy magazine, Untitled. This time around it’s the swimsuit issue, and based upon the preview it’s definitely fill with a bunch of bikini-clad, hot chicks. But because Mike is the brainchild, there are also a ton of really rad drawings, cool fonts, and splashes of blue and lavender all over. The contributors on this issue are Anthony Wallace, Luke Ramsey, Brigitte Sire, Robin Cameron, Noah Sheldon, Damian Correll, Ben Frederickson, Milan Zrnic, Jeremy Williams, Josh Clancy, Theo Morrison, Wyeth Hansen, Anna Wolf, and Mike Perry.

The issue is 80 pages and only costs $18, so go visit the site and pick yourself up a copy!

Bobby

Time’s Design 100
May 15, 2008 | Categories: Architecture / Art / Clothing / Design / Furniture / Magazine

Time Magazine today released their list of the top 100 “most influential design,” a list that covers all aspects of design, or so they say. Reading through this list I wasn’t impressed at all. The list covers 16 different categories from all reaches of design, but I feel like overall they just wanted to make a giant list to seem “cool”, a word I’m learning to hate. It’s also a list heavy on “green” items which seems like a bunch of greenwashing to me, just trying to get some “cool” points on how in-the-know they are.

In their technology section the feature an electric lawnmower that helps save the environment… except that it’s electric, which means it has to be plugged into your home which still creates pollution. Plus the lawnmower isn’t even well designed, unless you get a boner over standard fare Sears merchandise. To offset this green trend, they feature a 6 foot by 11 foot wide television that is not only completely unnecessary, but I’m sure costs at least $100 a month to power, not to mention pollution factors. Not every category is like this though, some are better than others, but overall it seems like they pulled a bunch of things out of their asses.

The website section definitely caught my eye though, especially because Kitsune Noir was somehow not included! (C’mon, that was a joke, I had to…) But seriously, congrats to Grace over at Design*Sponge and Marcus over at Dezeen, they both totally deserved to be mentioned… but who the hell are these other blogs?! If there’s one thing I know it’s blogs and by god I’ve only heard of or read regularly Better Living Through Design. Looking at the list it seems to me like all they did was look at Design*Sponge’s link section and cut and paste them! And what’s with all the green blogs in this list? Green Home Guide is described as “A room-by-room guide for efficient, easy and stylish ways to live a green lifestyle and have a positive impact on the environment”… I’m sure it’s a very nice site and the people who run it are great, but that’s not what design is about, that is an aspect of design as a whole.

I guess if you care at all you can visit the complete list of “influential design” and see for yourself, but personally I think Time needs to stick to reporting on the news.

Bobby

George Clooney Photos by Jean-Bapitiste Mondino
April 27, 2008 | Categories: Films / Interview / Magazine / Photography

I try and read The New York Times Magazine every week, it’s consistently fresh and up to date and it has some of the best stories out there. While reading about young, gay marriage I noticed the top image of George Clooney from The New York Times Style Magazine.

The article is called The Muckraker which is written by Lynne Hirschberg and photos by Jean-Baptiste Mondino. The article is a quick read and covers several topics, but the photos were what really excited me. I love the stark black and white-ness of the photos, as well as the textures of them. Some really beautiful images for a beautiful Sunday.

Bobby

Readymade Is Now Online!
April 10, 2008 | Categories: Design / Magazine / Technology

Last night I spent a half about a half an hour or so looking through the newest issue of Readymade, one of my favorite magazines these days. The only difference is that I read the whole dang thing digitally on my computer. Readymade has made a GIGANTIC leap, deciding to place the entire contents of their magazine online, and I honestly couldn’t be any more excited about this.

Most of the time when you deal with online magazines they usually come in a PDF format or there’s some giant problem with the whole thing. Believe it or not, they got it right on their first try. Going through the magazine it’s identical to the real version, ad placement and all. There are two ways to view the magazine, a pulled out view of both pages, and then clicking the page zooms you in. The zoomed in view isn’t too far away or too close, it’s literally just right (though these are just my perceptions, if you wear glasses you might feel differently). You can search for any word or phrase in the entire thing, and all web addresses are built as hyperlinks so you can visit any site immediately.

The way it’s presented is almost Apple-like, giving you only the basic tools you need instead of throwing in a ton of bells and whistles. Simplicity literally at it’s finest. This is such a great opportunity if you’ve never read Readymade before to give it a try, and if you’re already a fan, this just sweetens the deal.

Honestly, I felt guilty that I was reading this for free. I would honestly pay $10 a year for something like this, it’s just that well done.
Click here to read the latest issue!

Bobby

Arkitip No. 0045
March 19, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration / Magazine

Arkitip has a new preview of issue No. 0045, and it looks like it’s gonna’ be pretty amazing. So far all there is to see are these shots of the red envelope the issue comes in, but that’s not the exciting part. The exciting part is the names that are stamped onto the envelope; Cody Hudson, Evan Hecox, and Todd St. John. Each stamp is was written in Evan Hecox’s handwriting which is kind of cool as well. Those three names on the envelope are totally enough for me to buy the issue, which comes out tomorrow.

Bobby

Ladd Magazine Holder by METAPHYS
February 27, 2008 | Categories: Design / Magazine

I can easily admit that I have a problem with magazines. I think I always have, though now-a-days my 25 year old paycheck is larger than my 19 year old paycheck, so I tend to buy a lot more. This habit leads to having stacks of magazines all over my apartment. But if I had something like this Ladd Magazine Holder by METAPHYS, this probably wouldn’t be so bad, and my apartment would be a lot cooler looking.

I’m not entirely familiar with METAPHYS, though I know they all into the same minimal, Japanese design category as Muji and plusminuszero. Basically it’s awesome stuff you can only get in Japan (Muji being the recent exception). Ladd up there goes for ￥49,800, or about $50 dollars $500 DOLLARS. I totally put my decimal point in the wrong place, and now I regret posting these. They are rather cool, but nowhere near $500 cool. I’ll just got to some craft fair and buy a ladder made out of branches or something…

Bobby

Unidentified Faesthetic Object!
February 25, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Magazine

UPSO wrote me over the weekend asking if I could get the help of you readers with an upcoming issue of his rad magazine, Faesthetic. He’s on a search for artists and designers that have had experiences of any kind with UFOs. What that exactly means I’m not 100% sure, but if you have anything related to the topic of UFOs send them over to info@faesthetic.com, and you just might see your work in print in the coming months!

Remember, send them to info@faesthetic.com, not to me at here at Kitsune Noir. I’ll just think you’re some weirdo trying to spam me.

Bobby