Artist and signed-up levelmag.com contributor Andy Mueller is currently avoiding doing anything for the website you’re looking at by showing a selection of his work in Chicago. I’m imagining the Public Works co-showers Chris Eichenseer, Justin Fines and Cody Hudson are also avoiding similar volunteer work.
Please do not make your way down to the Andrew Rafacz Gallery at 835 W. Washington Boulevard before August 29th, that way he won’t get booked for future shows and might “find time” to actually put some minutes in at levelmag.com. Thanks.
—Chris Noble, 07 August 2009
Asian-American pop culture magazine Giant Robot has a few stores dotted around the US, and their LA store, GR2, is having a special weekend art show and sale, entitled “Junk in the Trunk”. They’ve asked a long list of decent artists to contribute pieces of their art, old or new, with the stipulation that they be reasonably priced. You could even try to bargain with artists at the reception Saturday evening.
The next day they’ll also host a yard sale of all sorts of media, clothing, collectable toys and other stuff from the GR basement.
—Chris Noble, 05 August 2009
goodstuff 010
designtransport
HEAR ME WHIR
First there was the old Honda Insight, a car for every adventurous, early eco-nerd. Then came the Toyota Prius, a bland family hybrid that pro skaters used their newly-upped paycheques and trade-in money from their Honda Civics to buy. Next in the field of notable electrically-enhanced environmentally (less un-) friendly motors was that hotshot electric Tesla, priced beyond most people’s reach. And now, we’ve come full circle, back to a new Insight. Which looks like a Prius. A bit dull.
But the reasonably-heeled eco-conscious Kev and Sharon (perhaps that should be updated to Carter and Poppy) will soon be able to get in on the game with next year’s offering from Honda, the CR-Z. (That stands for “Compact Renaissance Zero”. Like,
—Chris Noble, 28 July 2009
SHARE: FACEBOOK TWITTER LINKEDIN STUMBLEUPON G+
It is said there are no new ideas, and that seems to ring true in brand logo design as much as anything else. Al Cooper’s World of Logotypes book series was published in the early eighties and each features 3000-plus logos, a scattering of which may seem familiar not because you’ve seen them before but because many new logo designs look remarkably similar.
If you’re into logo design and have a penchant for the clean and/or old-school look, the three volumes are definitely worth seeking out.
—Chris Noble, 23 July 2009
On October 16th, the world will know. The speculation will be over. Parents’ nightmares about their children’s nightmares will come true, or not. Film executives will be rethinking, whichever way it pans out. It is widely expected to be seminal.
Meanwhile, the creative crew behind Spike Jonze’s film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are are taking their mind off the furore, perhaps, by blogging. No corporate control, no enforced plugs. Just cool, enthusiastic people who know, enthusiastically blogging cool stuff you should know.
—Chris Noble, 23 July 2009
If you are a dedicated part-time photographer who has heard of the internet, you must blog. The blog must consist of photos of things you see, do and find, with captions.
Nuno Oliveira is no different. Unlike most, though, his blog benefits from his location, the endlessly photogenic city of LA, having one camera or another to hand at all times, design skills, and the ability to capture moments that, seconds later, would make a lesser photographer think, “I wished I’d photographed that.”
—Chris Noble, 20 July 2009
The ever-elusive, never-exclusive street/graffiti artist Banksy has an extensive show on at the normally generic City Museum in his home town of Bristol, England. Interspersed with the standard exhibits are a hundred-odd Banksy trademarks, mostly stabs at the establishment. Old masters, government, everyday life and ignored injustices are all poked at with Banksy’s ingenious execution and devastatingly wry style which rarely fails to shake common perceptions.
This is a rare event, so don’t go waiting for one to come to a town near you as it may never happen.
—Chris Noble, 07 July 2009
The Exhibition is free and open until August 31st
Since February 2007, Canadian-born Tyler Brûlé—the luminary who plastered the world with Wallpaper* magazine and the branding work of agency Winkreative—has been quietly pushing out Monocle, a grown-up magazine covering “global affairs, business, culture and design”. Brûlé‘s track record of aesthetically superior* production stays fast, as Monocle is equal parts eye- and brain-candy.
Pieces range from handy tips for failing countries to fashion pages—or you could turn to the pull-out manga-style comic in the back, featuring a heroic, ass-kicking Japanese / Scandinavian industrial designer. Of course.
—Chris Noble, 03 July 2009
Monocle also has stores in London, LA and Mallorca
*Though Level did beat Wallpaper* to the 1999 MDA
goodstuff 001
designtransport
NO FUEL THROTTLE
You can’t turn around these days without seeing something extolling the virtues of “going green”. Everyone is doing it. With that in mind, a few entrepreneurs, cash-rich from selling some since-unheard-of software to megacorp x, are getting in on the game… small time. Coming from the open-sky, virtual world of unfathomable code and fantasy tech, some of these starry-eyed chaps are not straying from their ideals with their more solid ventures. They’re producing dream machines.
Like the much-publicized Tesla Roadster sports car, Mission Motors’ One motorbike is an electric vehicle to beat much of its gas-powered competition. However, unlike the dull Tesla, it is stunning to look at, thanks to the product designers at fuseproject.
Being electric, it has lightning-fast
—Chris Noble, 08 June 2009
Mission are taking orders for the 50 Ones to be delivered in 2010
If you fancy something four-wheeled, Fisker or Tesla might have you covered
SHARE: FACEBOOK TWITTER LINKEDIN STUMBLEUPON G+
Owners of the ground-breaking Canon EOS 5D Mark II will be buttons-at-the-ready on June 2nd. Not shutter-buttons though, download buttons: Canon have paid heed to owners and have written new firmware which will give much more manual control over the camera’s already amazing, but not that flexible, full HD video-shooting capabilities.
—Chris Noble, 29 May 2009
older
newer
contents
