Simpleasures
August 9, 2008 | Categories: Art / Books / Design / Los Angeles

Today is going to be a pretty fun day, as it’s the opening of Simpleasures, a new event here in LA that’s bringing together the best and brightest in music and art. This first time is “showcasing independent publishing and experimentation in zine making from Los Angeles and beyond.” The whole thing is being put on by the folks at Studio Number One, Forest, and The Dutch Press, and is taking place at the Sublminal Projects Gallery. There’s going to be a ton of rad artists there like Travis Millard, Souther Salazar, Mel Kadel, and Liam Devowski as well as booths and things for sale from Secret Headquarters, Giant Robot, 826LA and a ton more. Not only that, but there’s also going to be music by DJ Diabetic (Shep Fairey), Daedelus, Professor Canteloupe, Danny Holloway, Sodapop, and Lucky Dragon.

The event should be really awesome, it goes from 1PM to 9PM, and there’s even a panel discussion with Souther Salazar and Travis Millard at 7PM, which I imagine will be pretty damn funny. So if you’re in LA you should definitely stop by, it should be amazing.

Bobby

Beck 8-Bit Variations Digipack
August 9, 2008 | Categories: Design / Music

Argentinian designer DHNN (Design Has No Name) created this awesome looking music package concept based around some tracks from Beck’s album Guero. It’s called 8-Bit Variations and takes the idea of using old school Nintendo and pixels to the next level. Inside the package you get a Nintendo cartridge that opens up to reveal a micro CD featuring 4 Beck remixes, as well as a booklet filled with awesome retro goodness.

If Beck really did some sort of special promotion like this he’d probably sell a ton of them and fast. I think the inside cover featuring Beck’s face is also pretty clever, the use of squares to resemble pixels looks awesome, and the bright colors totally make the whole thing. Definitely check out the rest of the photos by clicking here, as well as the rest of his work on his Behance.

Bobby

Like It Or Not by Architecture in Helsinki
August 8, 2008 | Categories: Design

I randomly saw this Archeitecture in Helsinki video featured on the Vimeo homepage yesterday and got pretty excited. The song is okay, but not my favorite, I think thy have better, but the video is pretty amazing because it’s made entirely from embroidery and fabric, telling the story of two coconuts in love whoa are thrown on an epic journey across the earth. The whole thing is TOTALLY inspired by the fantastic Meg Whitmarsh, though sadly they don’t seem to mention this, even though any fan of Meg’s would probably point it out immediately. Anyhow, it’s a pretty cute video and a good start to the morning.

Bobby

Dan Funderburgh’s Gravity’s Rainbow Print
August 8, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design

Since I’ve been working so much lately I feel like I’ve been out of the loop, but thankfully I have rad friends who fill me in on things I may have missed. For example, Dan Funderburgh emailed me today letting me know that he and his buddy Dylan Fareed over at I Am Still Alive released this awesome letterpressed poster.

The poster is a 3 three color print and features a bunch of Dan’s signature tools, starting with a cleaver, then a throwing knife(?), then a hunting knife, scissors, an x-acto, a fork and finally a dart. The poster comes in two different versions, an open edition for $30, or a limited edition for $100, both of them signed by the artist. I think this is such a rad poster and Dan is such a creative guy that it always makes me happy to see more of his work. You can pick one of these up by clicking here.

Bobby

Over & Over by Mike Perry
August 7, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration

While browsing around my local bookstore over the weekend I came across Mike Perry’s newest book, Over & Over, which is a collection of hand drawn patterns by some of the best artists out there. Many of you I’m sure remember Mike’s first book Hand Job, which was a collection of hand-drawn type, so obviously he knows his stuff. The book features over 50 artists, is over 250 pages long and looks absolutely amazing. I sat in the bookstore for like 10 minutes pouring every page, I’m such a sucker for repeating patterns. I can’t suggest this book any more highly, it would make an excellent addition to any library and work great as a birthday present (hint, hint mom!).

Check under the cut, there are 5 more images to drool over!

Keep reading Over & Over by Mike Perry…

Stories Café Packaging by BVD
August 7, 2008 | Categories: Design / Food & Drinks

I’d say that most people judge a book by it’s cover, and a package by it’s… packaging. BVD have provided an excellent example of how simple branding can make something really stand out and be something special. The images above are products from Stories Café, a little store in Sweden, and as you can see they’re pretty much as simple as can be, but are striking at the same time. Because they used black and white only, it allows everything else to stand out, I mean, how awesome do the baked goods look? The store itself is also decked out in only black and white, with touches of warm wood and stainless steel, which look pretty amazing. Take a visit to their site and see the rest of BVD’s work as well, they’re definitely staying busy.

Bobby

The Desktop Wallpaper Project featuring James Gulliver Hancock
August 6, 2008 | Categories: The Desktop Wallpaper Project


Good morning world, it’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to get an awesome new wallpaper! Today’s artist is someone I’ve been a fan of for a little while now, but when I first saw his art I was totally impressed. His name is James Gulliver Hancock and he’s quite a whiz at illustration, though as you can see above he has no problem dabbling in mixed media as well. He also has a really great poster shop with lots of fun posters, my personal favorite being Miking Up the Steinway, a beautiful mix of pianos and old school microphones.

The wallpaper above is one of my favorites, James went above and beyond the call of duty with this one. I love that it’s a collage a lot, the idea that it’s something hand made being used as digital background always makes me smile. Seeing all the details is also pretty amazing, all the paint strokes and the rough edges where he cut out pieces, definitely fun times. I’m also quite a fan of the palette, which I’m pretty sure he just hit the inverse command in Photoshop, but how often can someone do that and it actually looks cool?!

Enjoy the wallpaper and check back next for more awesome goodness!

Bobby

Here Comes The Sun | A Mixtape by Damien Correll
August 5, 2008 | Categories: Design / Kitsune Noir Mixtape

DOWNLOAD: Here Comes The Sun | A Mixtape by Damien Correll

Today I have kind of a special treat, something I hope everyone enjoys. A few weeks ago I noticed that illustrator/designer/man about town Damien Correll had uploaded a new Muxtape, a site for some reason I’m not a huge fan of, but I thought I’d give it a listen anyhow. I sat and listened to the whole thing, I think it was a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, and it was an absolute perfect fit for my day. So I decided to ask Damien if he’d share his mix here on Kitsune Noir, and he graciously said yes, even coming up with some front and back covers as well.

The full title of the mix is actually Here Comes The Sun (It Will Probably Destroy You), but I didn’t have room in the title up there for all of that! The songs on the mix are pretty eclectic, but if I had to give it a theme I’d say the mix was really guitar driven, with a lot of 70’s and 80’s classics. I thought I’d also mention that the mix is mixed together just like all the other Kitsune Noir mixtapes because I put it together for Damien. The mix is also about an hour long, so you’ll be able to get through a small chunk of the day with some awesome new tunes. Definitely download it and give it a try!

Bobby

DESKTOP BATTLE! with SELECT
August 4, 2008 | Categories: DESKTOP BATTLE!

Oh man I’m so excited! So it’s already August, which means the next installment of DESKTOP BATTLE! is here and ready to destroy some people’s faces. First I want to start off with the sponsor of this month’s battle, the awesome folks over at SELECT, Threadless’ curated line of t-shirts which feature awesome artists from around the world. I happened to have a connection over there so I was able to score an ample amount of prizes for you all! Here’s the breakdown:

1st place = 5 SELECT t-shirts and 2 issues of Faesthetic
2nd place = 2 SELECT t-shirts and a copy of Faesthetic
3rd place = 1 SELECT t-shirt

In order to win these awesome prizes, I need you to make the most wallpaper you possibly can based around the idea of FACIAL HAIR. That doesn’t mean just drawing some face with a beard on it, I’ll e-crumple your entry for doing that. I want to see crazy ass beards, moustaches on dogs, pencils ’staches on grandmas, and handlebars killing things. I’m hoping this is specific enough without being too narrow, so be super-creative and have a ton of fun with it! Here are the rest of the rules:

Please create your wallpaper at 3840px x 2400px, but send me a small JPG to preview. If you win I’ll ask you to send me your larger sized version. Also be sure to create it in RGB mode only.

You’ve gotta send your wallpaper to me August 24th, 2008 at Midnight PST. Anything sent past this time will be disqualified because I say so.

Send all wallpapers to: desktopbattle@gmail.com
If you have any questions about the project, feel free to leave them in the comments section because someone else could be wondering the same thing!

And because SELECT and I are so awesome, there’s also a free wallpaper today as well from the amazing Andy Rementer. Andy created this design for SELECT but was rad enough to make it into a happening wallpaper for you all. The design on the t-shirt is actually front and back, but he merged them together to make one epic part of a design. Definitely check out the rest of Andy’s work as well, I got all kinds of flustered when I saw this rad Reference Library sign he painted.


I hope everyone has fun with this one, there’s so many rad prizes to be won, not to mention being the jugular-ripping winner of DESKTOP BATTLE! The DWP will still be on for Wednesday as well, so be sure to check back again!

Bobby

Survival Tips for the Middle Ages
August 4, 2008 | Categories: Blogs

I found this random item posted on Kottke the other day and proceeded to read the shit out of it. It brings up a great ‘what if?’ scenario where you try and figure out how you would survive if you were “unexpectedly transported to a random location in Europe (say for instance current France/Benelux/Germany) in the year 1000 AD (plus or minus 200 years). I assume that such transportation would leave me with what I am wearing, what I know, and nothing else.” What he did was get 97 comments from people and how they would survive, and they’re all pretty damn interesting. Some of my favorites are as follows:

If - no, let’s be real here - WHEN you are suddenly and unexpectedly time-travelled to the early days of the Black Death, make straight for Nuremberg. It’s one of a handful of cities that didn’t get bubonic plague. I read it on a list somewhere, one time.

- First, I’d find a small town — one where the word-of-mouth of my arrival would be brief and wouldn’t lead to rioting or something. It would be especially good to initially meet a group of kids or teenagers, because they’d be the less likely to harm or kill you. See E.T. for details.

- I’d calmly and serenely smile, presenting the locals with my iPhone as a gift to help build trust. I think the key would be to get a group of townspeople to believe that you’re not crazy or intending to hurt them. Let these townspeople do the work of introducing you to (or shielding you from) people from other towns. I’d act as much as possible like God, using any pieces of technology I had with me to coerce the locals into my holiness.

- I would end up being treated as a witch or as a whore.

The skirt I’m wearing is short (showing my …(gasp)… KNEES) and made of rather flimsy, garish cotton (whore). And although I have nice skin and beautiful teeth (whore), my hair is short and I wear glasses (witch). My hands are soft and I’ve obviously lived a life of comfort (whore). I would have to lie about my age and find a way to explain my abdominal scars (witch). I would also have to lie about being able to read, write and figure (witch).

I’d like to think that I could survive such an ordeal, but I’d probably be messed up straight away. I think the idea of pretending to be mute is a good one, but how would you know what anyone is saying? I think resources would also be really hard to find, especially clean water, which you have no way to boil or sanitize. It’s definitely a fun read, people REALLY got into the conversation which makes it that much more interesting.

Bobby