thom browne

i can't say that i follow thom browne's line religiously, but i'm in the know of his new collections when they come out. the collections are typically pristine, clean-cut looks, and sometimes a little bit of attitude, but definitely a classy look for many.

his recent print ad campaign is just that...clean-cut, simple, and classy. all with a little bit of intriguing style mixed in.

i find it mysteriously creative.


credits: selectism

neurosky mindset

neurosky, a bio-sensor technology company in the silicon valley, released last week an interesting headset product for - initially - computer gaming...the mindset.

think of it as a regular headset with one more arm. while that third arm would typically be a mouthpiece, it actually has a sensor that is placed on your forehead, and will read your brainwaves.

as you're playing a game...you can play the game without your hands, and simply think your movements. in one demo seen at gdc, testers would focus on a car and think of lifting the car.

straight jedi status.

the mindsets are looking to hit u.s. markets in july, along with the starwars force trainer. yes, you heard me right. a product to train your jedi powers.

the conversation prism

the conversation prism displays the art of hearing, listening and sharing. at some point in our lives, we have divulged ourselves and our information into some form of media online, be it facebook, twitter, myspace, youtube, vimeo, pandora, etc...the list goes on and on.

the prism is an idea brought to life by pr exec, brian solid. he uses the prism to allow others to build a framework to successfully exist inside the social network of the web.

The Eloquence of the Conversation Prism and Social Science

The inspiration for its inception derived from a consistent observation of top-down methodologies and practices of brands, professional and personal, employed to create a presence on the social Web. Simply stated, brands focused on building presences in the most popular communities without regard to how they would attract inhabitants and ultimately interact, let alone whether or not their core ambassadors were present.

The Conversation Prism suggested a reversal in this approach, instead inspiring a bottom-up strategy that promoted social research, mapping, and ethnography. This inceptive sociological fieldwork would change everything and provide the insight necessary to develop an enlightened and cultured Social Media program that could potentially humanize the brand and foster relationships and engender emissaries to carry goodwill across the social web.

to see a the prism in full, go to theconversationprism dot com

animator vs. animation

a slightly entertaining short film created by alan becker.

for you design heads, you'd appreciate this.

brooke inman

brooke inman is an amazing artist. her mode of art is absolutely stunning. while it may appear simple at first glance, there is so much more to her work, that sometimes, it leaves you glancing for extended periods of time.

a recent piece, entitled "everything color circle" is self-explanatory, but exhilarating to look at anyway. makes you wonder if she does her work in this space, or if this is the space that fuels her creativity.

a thought from brooke's own mind:

Negotiating the detachment of the variety of subjects and relations that surface from one, I record my personal thoughts. This examination of introspection, persistently reflecting the interaction between the worlds we inhabit, is constructed out of rudimentary techniques with honesty and compassion. I hope that by including the petty selfish thoughts with the larger questions about humanity, the work to becomes a mirror, including everyone in my monotonous pursuit of understanding.


credits: booooooom

k'naan's touchdown

k'naan is slowly getting more and more exposure in the u.s. since his album release in february. he was just in new york filming for a new promotional video for the nfl, featuring his track "dreamer."

he's finally getting the well-deserved recognition that he needs, but i can see some people looking at the nfl promo as odd, for the song, and even his whole style. nonetheless, i'm glad the name is getting out there.

ebrahim

a friend resurrected one of those unknown artists for me today. soulful dude, remarkable voice and perfect beats on the album.

but nevermind the album for a minute, and check out this quick video of him on his mixer...making magic happen

go humans go.

i'm not the biggest fan of oatmeal. granted, i don't remember the last time i had a box of quaker oats. but my past weekend in san francisco opened my eyes to a new advertising campaign that definitely is intriguing. quaker oat's new tagline is "go human go." and once i saw it... my only thought was, wow they are doing something super creative to stay relevant. a brand that has been around since we can even remember, they've established themselves as the leader in dried foot products and breakfast.

but they still did this, and it totally refreshes this brand, and arguably makes it hip. totally feeling it. true, a lot of brands are out there with the whole optimistic marketing campaign (see: pepsi, coca cola, bofa), but they are all good and stuff we do need to see...especially with so much negativity around us these days, be it the consistently going down economy, people dying for no good reason around the world, and 13 year old boys being shocked that their 15 year old girlfriend had slept with more boys, and the kid isn't his.

"the quaker campaign is about leveraging human energy to fuel your day and also leveraging human energy to do more for others," said a quaker rep.

that's great.

the campaign was created by goodby, silversten & partners up in san francisco. there's multiple ads and commercials forthcoming. check it out.

twitter

haha...a little creepy, but a good definition of what twitter potentially can be.

airline hip hop

pretty dope. we need more of these cats on airlines.

OOO

check out this video created by a video blogger, the juzzard.

all he used was ink on white pieces of paper, scanned and inverted...nothing tricky, just genius creativity.

new tesla

today, tesla is set to announce their new whip, the model S at an invite-only reception in los angeles. however, this photo has leaked as being the new tesla automobile. it's beautiful.

kind of reminds me of the maserati quattroporte.

the model S is a new look for tesla, and electronic vehicles. known for their hip two-seat roadster, tesla has catered a typically high-class audience, but with multiple types of vehicles now, it looks like tesla is pushing to compete in the mainstream car market with lexus and mercedes.


credits: autopia

davin youngs

davin youngs is a photographer with a refreshing style. he calls his work an nvestigation of how the nature of his relationships with those he photographs is visually represented. all photos are taken in chicago.

where the wild things are.

looks totally fun...

love sex magic

im sure the world has already seen this video... but here is the official video anyway put out today.

dc chillin

wale's first single off his upcoming album...

chillin f. lady gaga

this track is fire.

you can download it off wale's site: http://www.walemusic.com/

ciara + timberlake

homegirl disappeared for a minute. but word is ciara has put a lot of work into her upcoming album and is redefining herself. her new video with justin comes out on monday...but in the preview they got up for her...seems like she's not going to be too shy this album.

the ecstatic promo

promo trailer for mos def's upcoming album...he's finally back.

Mos Def - Words - The Ecstatic - in stores Spring 2009

i-r-i-n-a

ryan leslie put this video together...and absolutely stunning. at first hand, its just him singing to the camera, yes. but check out his description:

A few months ago, I hired Guillaume Doubet, a talented young director from France to come and work on our video team. He came up with the concept to shoot this video at double speed so when we played it back in real-time, it would have the slow motion effect that you see. So - imagine dancing and singing this song at 2x the speed all in one continuous take - no edits. Watch closely, the end of the video where I walk off screen really gives it away. PLEASE NOTE: This means that the video was shot in exactly 113 seconds (or 1/2 the time it will take you to watch it).

where the wild things are

here's the first poster for an upcoming film where the wild things are, produced by spike jonze. the film is an adaptation of a children's book with the same name by maurice sendak. a really creative book, the film is expected to be filled with visual narratives that will be eye-opening for all audiences.

the film documents the imaginary adventures of a young boy named max, who is angry after being sent to his room without supper. he then creates a forest inhabited by many large imaginary monsters, who crown him their ruler. he then befriends a large monster called carol, who helps him understand the meaning of love.

film is slated for release, oct. 16, 2009.

puma underwear

pretty dope ad.

japanese cartoon

japanese cartoon has put up another track on their myspace...crowd participation.

pretty fresh track...still hard to figure out if it is lupe or not.

check it out: japanese cartoon

the ecstatic

check out the album cover for mos def’s upcoming album, the ecstatic. slated to come out in june.

stay up!

can't say i'm a full fan of this song, but it it creative, and the video is absolutely fun.

check it out. 88 keys f. kanye west - stay up! (viagra)

ATTENTION:DEFICIT

on monday, wale announced the title of his debut album, scheduled to come out in summer.

the new album: ATTENTION: DEFICIT

later today, he will be announcing the release date of his second album/mixtape.

kobe vs. ron artest

this is great. a week ago, the lakers and rockets played each other, and kobe and ron artest got into a heated exchange.

voila.

CRS

ever since the glow in the dark tour, there's been a lot of speculation about the potential "supergroup" of lupe fiasco, pharrell and kanye west. looks like it's getting closer and closer to being a reality.

in a show over the weekend, lupe mentioned that the crs album is coming soon.

CRS gives each artist an identity:

child - lupe
rebel - kanye
soldier - pharrel

if you haven't already seen their first video or heard their track, us placers, from a few months ago, peep it here. the video is pretty sick.

the crazy ones

here's to the crazy ones.

a nice ad by apple.

day26 exclusive

diddy has been all over the place in the twitter world, but he alas, he's being productive and positive.

check out the new day26 single featuring diddy himself and young joc, put it on her.

wale announcements

wale made a number of announcements last night about his album. unfortunately, the announcement is that he'll be making a number of announcements. he calls next week a big week for him, as it's full of wale news.

monday: announces album title + track listing + featured artists

tuesday: released first single off back to the feature, and announcing the release date of that mixtape

friday: announces tour dates + locations

gui boratto

you probably have never heard of gui boratto. and you most likely never will...or for a long time at least. boratto is a brazilian electronic music producer, who just released a second album in brazil called take my breath away. the album releases in the uk and asia in two weeks, but no american release is scheduled. the music is definitely a must-listen.

check out his site: http://www.guiboratto.com.br/

keri hilson

a lot of people have been waiting for her album, which drops march 24.

peep the new video for her track make love, which co-stars kanye west, as the love interest. it's a good song, with a very tastefully done video. video came out just a few days ago.

bars & tones

pretty cool concept...
created by André Chocron

murakami

check out murakami's exhibition at the guggenheim.

"From LA to New York to Germany, Muarkami's historic retrospective has traveled across oceans and continents, and now, here is a first look at the exhibit on its final leg in Spain at the Guggenheim Museum Bilboa.This retrospective encompasses Takashi’s entire career, from the early days of his “Hiropon Factory” to the evolution into his now juggernaut like "Kaikai Kiki Studio."The master and creator of the “Superflat” art movement, Murakami has influenced our art and fine culture in ways we could have never imagined - from high end fine art canvases to gigantic sculptures to collaborations with Louis Vuitton, to prints, toys and cartoons. If you are going to stop by Spain before the end of May, do yourself a favor and treat yourself to visual euphoria."

more pics at arrested motion.

the world builder

was browsing vimeo this morning, and found a bunch of new short films.

check this out for starters:

world builder by bruce banit

a strange man builds a world using holographic tools for the woman he loves.
this was shot in a single day followed by about 2 years of post production.

the crevasse

peep this. the creation of 3d street art. we've all seen the numerous e-mails of multiple shots. but this is 3d art at it's finest...

day n nite

i haven't ever discussed little boots on this blog, but her music style is absolutely pleasing. her voice, her music, her production. she's relatively small, but she is making moves in the music industry.

check out this cover she does of kid cudi's day n nite.



and a note from the enchanting little boots:
you're probs thinking i'm pretty late on this one but i've actually been DJing it out since some time last year and i still love it even though its kind of blown up now... you know a tune's big when you hear girls singing it in the loo in your local in blackpool on xmas eve... anyway playing it like this actually made me listen to the words for the first time and its actually pretty good, really get the feeling of this guy being tortured and not being able to sleep... god i know that feeling... anyway here u go.... not quite as banging as the crookers maybe i need to put more of a donk on it.... SORRY MY PHONE WENT OFF AT THE END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ridiculous i know, if there were more hours in the day i would record it again but there aren't...... please forgive me

ludacris + the roots

i was a little skeptical about jimmy fallon getting his own late night show, but hey it's working out. let's also point out that his house band is the roots! goodness.

anyway, last night ludacris performed, and with him and the roots, this track sounds pretty fresh.

check it out:

magnus engsfors

magnus engsfors is a norwegian designer, director and animator.

his short film, suddenly, is an experimental shortfilm illustrating the moment of a mental collapse of a human being, using still photography, particles and lights, and a pretty surreal choice of background music.

kanye + lv

courtesy of kanye west...here's another sneaker for louis vuitton. out june 2009.

credits: kanye

carl kleiner

some photography by carl kleiner. the idea of the clouds is pretty cool.

i'll share some more later.



credits: boooooooom!

ely kim

ely kim is a yale grad student.

who knows why he did this small project, but he did. and it's absolute genius.

100 days, 100 songs, 100 locations, 100 dances.

khoda

what if you watch a film and whenever you pause it, you face a painting? this idea inspired reza dolatabadi to make khoda. over 6000 paintings were painstakingly produced during two years to create a five minutes film that would meet high personal standards. khoda is a psychological thriller; a student project which was seen as a ‘mission impossible’ by many people.

check it out.

coldplay cover

check out this talent. homeboy does a cover of coldplay's viva la vida, but he records himself on 3 different tracks to get the whole song down, and i have to say...it's quite flawless.

4g iphone?

call it speculation, but this could be a hit.

check out this concept image of an iPhone 4G, which still might only be on 3g networks, but new age technology. you can that the phone is inspired by the new unibody macBook design aesthetic. this concept (only a concept ya'll) kicks an upgraded 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS navigation, 32GB of on-board storage, and a removable battery, things we all kind of hoped for on the first two generations.

if i'm looking clearly, i see no volume buttons on the side, but TWO camera...one on the back, and one for ichat.


click the thumbnail for a better view.

credits: intomobile

watchmen

here's zach snyder giving a quick preview of the watchmen, which comes out this friday.

air yeezy's announced!

finally, they have arrived.

this has probably been one of the most anticipated pair of nike shoes in a while. with kanye being the only one wearing them for months, and dj a.m. featuring them in a kobe commercial, the shoes have finally been formally announced.

kanye announced on his blog, tuesday, that they will be available this spring. the first colorway, zen grey & light charcoal will be available in april. may will bring the release of a black on black with pink accent color way, and finally, the net on net colorway will be released in june.

here's the press release.

"Nike Sportswear and Grammy award winning recording artist Kanye West present the highly anticipated Nike Air Yeezy sneaker in Spring 2009.

The shoe, which takes West’s nickname Yeezy, draws upon the innovations from Nike’s rich sporting history and fuses them with original lines, materials, and design elements that reflect West’s unique style.

The Air Yeezy was developed from a strong relationship between West and Nike. Partnering with Nike Creative Director, Mark Smith, Kanye was taken through the product creation process, the same way athletes have with Nike Design for the past 37 years. This creative partnership of Smith and West’s talents as designers yielded a unique Nike Sportswear sneaker worth the wait. “Kanye is a truly creative talent,” said Smith. “He’s a natural designer—partnerships like this always enhance the creative experience and the end product.” West agrees that the partnership with Nike has been exciting. “Nike is such an important brand to me,” said West. “Whether you are on the court, in the street, in the club, at school, Nike represents excellence, the standard in design. Growing up, we looked forward to the release of new Nike’s the way we would an album by our favorite artist. So the opportunity to collaborate on a design with Mark Smith and Nike Design has been a dream come true, and a great experience.”

From the start, West and Nike’s shared vision was clear: to create a modern classic. An original Nike footwear style, that reflects elements of Nike’s sporting past, and remixes them with Nike innovation to deliver a unique shoe.

The creative process of the Air Yeezy began with the discussion around ideas and inspirations. The shoe began to take shape through a series of drawings and samples, each pulling inspiration and reference from some of Nike’s iconic innovations and rich design history, across both Basketball and Sportswear styles.

A careful balance was sought, each time new elements were added, with existing elements being taken away - a design process Smith refers to as “reductionism”. “Nike shoes need to function and always be innovative,” said Smith. “So the first thing we did was to make sure the design process that Kanye and Nike Design went through, mirrored that of our athletes.” “I’ve been designing Nike’s in my sketch pad since the fourth grade,” said West. “So to say I’ve been prepared for this would be an understatement. The really fun and challenging part for me was learning about Nike’s design process, learning more about fabrics and functions and colorways, and all of the details that go into designing a shoe of this quality.”

Following the fabled tradition of Nike’s design process, West and Smith went through a series of one-on-one design sessions. At Nike the ultimate test is one of performance, where the design meets the athlete’s movements. “Kanye could wear and perform in these shoes and really identify how we could make the shoes perform better.” Supplanting center court with center stage, West provided critical feedback on how the shoe performed throughout the course of his 2-3 hour performance sets, where the first prototypes of the Nike Air Yeezy were seen outside of Nike’s World Headquarters in Beaverton, OR.

*THE NIKE AIR YEEZY: NEW SCHOOL OF COMFORT.*

Born from Kanye West’s creative passion, built with Nike design and performance innovation, The Air Yeezy was fine-tuned on stages around the globe, challenging convention by remixing the past to create something uniquely new, as only Nike Sportswear can.

West is known for his non-stop energy both on the stage and off so the Air Yeezy had to support and sustain West from start to finish. An almost obsessive focus was put on delivering supreme comfort throughout the development of the shoe. Equipped with debossed ankle collar pods for added support and protection, extra-thick sock liners, a forefoot support strap, original functional tension lace loops, and Phylon tooling taken from the 1987 Nike Air Assault for added performance and comfort—all developed and integrated with one goal in mind: to keep Kanye on lock down in cushioned comfort during his performances during his many notoriously strenuous artistic live performances.

These performance attributes have been meticulously wrapped in premium full grain leather uppers and adorned with original design details that are uniquely Kanye and identifiably Nike. The remastered Nike Air Assault outsole is treated to glow-in-the-dark properties and will illuminate when the light is low. The forefoot support strap is premium grade patent leather and is of no-stitch construction. Clean seams are used throughout except for a premium suede toe wrap feature with visible stitch detail. Emblazoned across the Air Yeezy is an exclusive “Y” repeat pattern, as either a debossed or lasered detail, which takes inspiration from the Jordan brands iconic Elephant print material. This graphic treatment was developed by West and Smith to pay tribute not only to the name of the shoe and it’s co-creator, but also to the various moments in history that spurred West’s initial inspiration for the Nike Air Yeezy."



credits: kanye

ryan leslie & pops

check out ryan leslie in at butter, in nyc celebrating his father's birthday.

wait til the end, and watch his pops kick it on the drums real fresh.

slow jam the news

nbc's jimmy fallon is starting a new type of segment for the news on his late night show. he wants to slow jam the news. this time around, he gets a little help from the roots.

röyksopp

röyksopp's new single. it has that typical röyk feel, and the video is pretty sick. love the animation.

and as the single's title suggests - happy up there - the song totally gives you that good mood.

infiniti essence

what luxury hybrid vehicles should be
peep the exclusive sn essense louis vuitton luggage

credit: autoblog