Sunday

Design Yourself : Karim Rashid



I had the fine folks over at HarperCollins Publishing send me a copy of Karim Rashid's latest outing as an author, Design Yourself, for a crit.

In all honesty when I heard the books subject, I had already passed judgement. Plus the scathing review from 'Home and Garden' that I came accross on Core77 seemed to back my predetermined train of thought.

But I figured I should at least give it the benefit of the doubt.

It wasn't a promising start. Infact the first few pages I got through drove me to the point of tossing it in the recycle bin and leaving it at that. But a funny thing happened after my bitch fit was that I began talking with my wife about the books contents and as we talked about it the more we dove further into it and talked some more.

Albeit alot of his advice is pretty silly, but what got me was how it made us stop and think about some of our daily routines and how we can adjust to add a little more happiness in our 9-5 days. His 'less is more' theme made sense, I mean really how much shit do we need on our bookshelves ?

So whether you hate the guy or worship every move he makes, at least it's a book that will make you talk (both negative and positive) and more importantly think about what you can do to upgrade the little things in life. KR is the type of persona that makes peoples blood boil with hatred but at the same time brings out the passion those people have for design whereas his new book will do the same about our everday routine.

Friday

just because : Lazy Sunday

SNL has made a serious comeback the last few seasons, this year is no exception.

Case in point is the modern classic skit 'Lazy Sunday' that seems to be growing in popularity as time goes on.

Have a good weekend and enjoy !

Stanley Donwood







Regular contributor to Radiohead covers, Stanley Donwood, is set to have his first solo exhibition.

Taking place at the Lazarides Gallery (launch May 19th), Donwood will be displaying pieces from his 'London Views' collection which consists of 13 prints carved into linoleum.

Apart from this series, Donwood has a great collection of prints (as seen above) available through his site.

just because

Friday again.

So how about we kick off the weekend with some Arctic Monkeys.

Enjoy !

Thursday

THE bachelor pad





Wow....and you thought Trekkies had trouble getting a date before. This will no doubt solidfy that problem.

A chap by the name of Tony Alleyne has redesigned his condo to mimic the interior landscape of the Star Trek Enterprise. The project has turned out so well infact that he's now created a business to help fellow (and more than likely single) Treksters transform their environment.

via : Apartment Therapy

Mini Designer Chairs







For those of us unable to fork over cash for classic designs, there is an alternative to enjoy these timeless creations.

Available at Magic Pony is the Mini Designer Chair series 1 and 2 that includes such pieces as the Barcelona chair, the Zig Zag chair and the Verner Panton Chair just to name a few.

Each piece runs at $20 a pop.

Flo





Flo is a slick new bath product brought to you by Boon.

By just looking at it alone, you'd have no idea what it was until you actually see it in use. The piece which is geared towards children is a multi-task unit with abilities ranging from a water fall producer to a bubble bath dispener.

Available in June, Flo will set you back a whopping $14.99.

via : decor8 / coochicoos

Stickup Kids







Swung by Digital Gravel today and came accross these great vinyl stickers by StickupKids.

Pretty simple design, but you gotta admit though, the Imperial Snow Walker is pretty cool.

Wednesday

Motomichi Nakamura : Animation




Great animated skit by artist Motomichi Nakamura for Dutch newspaper, de Volkskrant.

Enjoy !

SUCK UK : TimeFlies Clock






Sweet looking clocks from SUCK UK.

via : Josh Spear

Tuesday

Reuben Rude






I just happened to come by this great portfolio site for an artist by the name of Reuben Rude.

Definitely some nice stuff to be found here.

more Joga Bonita

Well with World Cup only a short time away, I figure why not toss another Joga Bonita ad on to get the excitement brewing.

Enjoy !

The Orange



Limited to 50, this is a great print available now from Yum Factory.

Titled 'The Orange', this piece by Attaboy is printed with UV inks on heavy water color paper.

Size is 18" high x 44" long and runs at $150 plus shipping.

Via : vinyl pulse

Monday

Designer Toy Fans to the Rescue



Take a second and check out this post from Vinyl Pulse......

"Xenia was kind enough to let us know about a very sad situation involving a member of the designer toy community. Ally ("Wacko") is a longtime toy collector and Kidrobot board member. Recently her 2.5 year old daughter Ava was diagonsed with a rare form of Cancer. KR Board members, celebs, artists and others are pitching in to help ease the tremendous heatlh care expenses involved in treating Ava and getting her healthy. There are at least two main ways you can help out if you'd like : donate money directly or donate art or a toy-related item which will then be auctioned to help pay some of Ava's healthcare costs. Monetary donations can be sent via Paypal to avajaymes@gmail.com. If you'd like to mail a monetary donation or toys for the auction (or for Ava herself) please send it to:

ava cipriani
852 n. occidental blvd.
silverlake, ca.
90026-2926

The official list of donations and the latest information can be found on this KR board thread. We'll be thinking about Ava and her parents and pulling for a complete recovery from this terrible disease."

Screening Circle



Cool concept to pass a slow day at the office.....

"Screening Circle, 2006, by Andy Deck adapts the cultural tradition of the quilting circle and the participative round table into an online format for producing motion graphics. Visitors to the site can enter the Drawing Area to compose loops of graphics and affect and edit each other's screens. The pieces, or segments, can be made by one person or by several people and the arrangement of the segments can be haphazard or precise.

In the Screening Area, the resulting motion graphics and finished products will be on view instantaneously and archived for posterity."


More info here.

EVENT

Friday

EVENT

Editors : Acoustic



Get your ass over to Rollingstone to catch a great acoustic set by Editors.

Just when you thought their songs could not get any better.

I can't believe i'm still geeking out over this band.

Enjoy !

just because : cowbell edition

It's Friday yet again.......enjoy !

BLANK



This exhibit should be a hoot.

Taking place in Costa Mesa, Artist Dave Silva is showing off his collection of customized BigBoy's.


via : Vinyl Abuse

Thursday

more Pocoyo



How's about we light up a Thursday by having a quick fix of Pocoyo with word of the official release of the shows toys over at Bandai. I can almost hear my kids head explode with excitement.

Also for those of you who have no clue as to what i'm talking about, check out some video from this mind numbing program.

Wednesday

Gimmeshelter





Gimmeshelter is an upcoming exhibit that is also a charity to benefit the homeless. The shows organizer, Greg Eastmer, has assembled a pretty extensive and impressive line up of contributors such as My Plastic Heart, Mars-1, Dalek and Kathie Olivas.

The artists are asked to create designs on cardboard which will then be auctioned off on Ebay with proceeds going to the National Coalition for the Homeless.

The event is currently booked for stops in San Jose (April 2007) and New York (February 2007).

Jamungo : Nades



So I decided to snag the new NADES Figure by Jamungo. Pretty slick piece if you ask me.

Now if you're lucky enough (I wasn't) you'll open your blind bag and discover the orange edition which sad enough is only limited to a measly 50. Though you can always hop on e-bay, but be prepared to fork over $100 US for this little guy.

Damn you Jamungo !

My Chair : Design Competition



So you think you have a chair design that's hot shit ?

Well here's a chance to prove it by entering an open competition to design a chair, sofa or stool.

Brought to you by luvo design.

via : landliving

Utility decks






Fresh batch of decks over at Utility board supply.

Check it.

Cecilie Ellefsen




Take a moment and swing by the portfolio site of illustrator / animator, Cecilie Ellefsen.

Nice, very nice.

via : Netdiver

Bruce Mau does Calgary



If you happen to be in Calgary on April 26th, be sure to check out Bruce Mau who'll be speaking over at ACAD that evening.

"Bruce Mau founded his studio in Toronto in 1985. Since then, Bruce Mau Design, Inc. (BMD) has gained international recognition for expertise and innovation across a wide range of projects achieved in collaboration with some of the world's leading architects, institutions, artists, entrepreneurs, writers, curators, academics and businesses."

Tickets are free, so there really is no excuse to miss this one.

Action Man 4040 Exhibition



Clutter magazine has brought together 40 artists from around the world to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Action Man by coming up with their own interpretation of the ever classic figure.

Also of note, all of the figures from the show are going to be auctioned for charity at the closing party.

For more info and sneak peak images go here.