Silliness and graphic design at the English design collective Evening Tweed.
Found through It's Nice That.
May 30, 2008
Evening Tweed
May 27, 2008
New Sigur Rós
If any band can get away with a video full of naked people, it's Iceland's (same place that gave us Björk) Sigur Rós. If you're familiar with the band's gloriousness, you probably won't be shocked that their new video for the single "Gobbledigook" is artsy, cool, and super naked. What may surprise you is that the song rocks pretty damn hard.
Found through Kitsune Noir. More info and free MP3 at Stereogum.
Update: By now I've probably watched this video at least half a dozen times, but it wasn't until the last viewing that I really saw it again. My reaction on the first viewing was basically, "Wow naked people... that's kind of shocking and slightly gratuitous." Now that the initial shock has passed, I can see it as something much more significant. I think this video is about seeing humans in the same way we see animals... as a part of nature instead of something separate from, and supposedly superior to nature... it's about rethinking our place in this world. Lovely.
May 26, 2008
ISO50 - Obama Poster
Scott Hansen (aka ISO50) was approached by Barack Obama's campaign to create a killer poster to help kick Hillary's whiny ass to the curb (those may not have been their exact words). The result is this impressive 23" x 40" print entitled "Progress," now available for pre-order on the official Obama site.
As cool as Shepard Fairey's poster was a while back, in a lot of ways this one is far superior. There's some serious detail in this sucker. Click the image for a closer look.
Update: I have to say, the more I see Fairey's poster around in public, the more awesome it becomes. Bold and straightforward. Just like Obama. Anyway... so that this blog doesn't start to look too one-sided, be sure to check out I'm Voting Republican (via Marty).
May 23, 2008
Weezer - "Pork and Beans" Video
Weezer is coming out with their sixth album, the third of which are named Weezer. As you can probably guess by the image above, this one will be known as "The Red Album." By the sounds of some early releases, this is by far their worst album ever. But wait! The first single "Pork and Beans" doesn't suck. Apparently they decided it was more important to make a silly video full of YouTube "celebrities" than it was to make a good record. Oh well, at least we can get a kick out of Rivers' stache and these three minutes of stupidity...
"Pork and Beans"
Update: Watch the acoustic version with creepy YouTuber Tay Zonday.
May 22, 2008
Camp Firebelly
Firebelly Design, a socially conscious graphic design studio in Chicago, is looking for a few good design students (or recent grads) for two weeks of office camping and intense collaboration on a non-profit social justice project. It's like Meatballs with more arts & crafts.
More info at Camp Firebelly.
May 21, 2008
José González - "Killing For Love"
Don't let the name fool you... this up-n-coming folk "troubadour" is actually Swedish (his parents were from Argentina). You might recognize his voice from Sony's cool bouncy ball commercial. Here he is singing on a rooftop for Pitchfork.tv's "Don't Look Down" show/web thing.
Two more songs here and here.
May 20, 2008
film/art
While these posters may not be as blatantly suggestive as the classic Booty Call print, they're still pretty bad-ass. If you've got several hundred bucks to blow on some wall décor, you could do a lot worse than the vintage movie posters at film/art.
Via FFFFOUND!
May 19, 2008
Ron Burgundy Interviews Tom Brokaw
Great Odin's raven!... Burgundy is back!! The legendary news anchor recently sat down for an interview with some network has-been.
May 16, 2008
Black Cab for Cutie
The Black Cab Sessions are kind of a rip-off of La Blogothèque's Take-Away Shows (very cool if you haven't seen them), except instead of wandering around the streets of Paris, various indie acts are shoved in the back of a black cab for an acoustic jam. Some of the bands that have taken a ride include The New Pornographers, Cold War Kids, The National, The Kooks, Lightspeed Champion, Spoon, and most recently, Death Cab for Cutie... well, at least one or two of each.
Check out Gibbard and Walla doing "No Sunlight" from DCFC's new album Narrow Stairs.
Be Humankind
The non-profit organization Oxfam just launched the "Be Humankind" campaign to "turn heads and inspire more people to join in overcoming poverty." C'mon, all we have to do is shoot Ghostbusters crap out of our throats to take down injustice.
For a quality article on this campaign's potential and the importance of branding for nonprofits, click on over to TreeHugger.
May 15, 2008
Shipping Container Living
We've seen some cool re-uses for old shipping containers, but how rad would it be to live in one of these container condos or homes?
May 14, 2008
Flight of the Conchords - "Ladies of the World" Video
Bret and Jemaine don their disco duds for a sexy roller-jam, then actually take flight. Dig it.
And yes, they already did this song on the show, but this one is way groovier.
MUTO
This wall-painted animation by BLU is one of the most creative things I've seen in a long time. It's not short either.
Levi's: Guys Backflip into Jeans
San Francisco ad agency Cutwater clearly gets viral... there's no branding in this spot whatsoever. Just some jackasses jumping into their trousers.
May 13, 2008
Bon Iver - Live in Brooklyn
If you haven't been to Pitchfork's new video site (Pitchfork.tv), you should totally give it a whirl. Even if you hate music, it's worth looking at for the nifty website. Or vice versa. This here is a clip of "For Emma" from a recent Bon Iver performance in Brooklyn. Talk about crumby beards... Keep rockin' it, Justin!
More clips from this show at Pitchfork.tv.
ColorFlip
It takes a minute to get the feel of this... but once you've got it, you won't be able to stop flipping colors.
By visual artist Rafaël Rozendaal.
May 12, 2008
Demetri Martin. Person.
Here are the first ten minutes of Demetri Martin's 2007 special on Comedy Central. Pretty good stuff.
May 11, 2008
The Uno
Hey, it's Bike-to-Work Week! Does this thing count?? Maybe soon... Part crotch rocket, part unicycle, and part Segway, the electric Uno bike could be the commute of the future. Not impressive enough for you? How about the fact that the Uno was designed by an 18-year old Canadian kid?
More info at TreeHugger.
Gnarls Barkley - "Going On" Video
The Odd Couple makes a trip to Jamaica for their latest music video. Is it me, or has Cee-Lo lost weight?
May 9, 2008
Flight of the Conchords CD Packaging
By now you've probably seen at least a little bit of HBO's Flight of the Conchords. If not, you should totally be YouTubing and Netflix-queuing that shit right now. Like most normal people, you're probably very skeptical of "funny music," but seriously... these guys are good.
Now that they've officially made the crossover from TV stars to rock stars via their full-length album on Sub Pop Records, they've even given us a reason to skip the MP3s we love, instead going for the killer CD package. In today's iPod-loving world, the best option for music is typically downloading the cheaper, faster, earth-friendlier digital version... but every once in a while, there comes an album with packaging so cool, it must be physically held for the full experience. Or, you can at least go get yourself a look at some more photos of the packaging.
Art direction and type by Jeff Kleinsmith. Illustration by Tyler Stout.
MP3: Business Time
May 8, 2008
Y Water
Drink. Play. Yay!
Y Water is like Legos you can drink out of... and who wouldn't want that? The nutrient-rich, low calorie, organic kids drink is bottled in 100% reusable and recyclable bottles, designed by Yves Behar of fuseproject. When you're done drinkin', then get buildin'!!
Definitely check out the super-fun Flash site at Y Water.
May 7, 2008
A Vodka Movie (Part 2)
Zach Galifianakis, Tim and Eric follow up their first Vodka Movie with another product-placed gem for Absolut Vodka. This time it's a beach party!...
May 6, 2008
Interpol - "Rest My Chemistry" Video
It's not the official video, but it is officially cool... and "endorsed" by the band.
Video by Blip Boutique. More info at Stereogum.
May 5, 2008
May 1, 2008
Little Friends of Printmaking Interview
So, apparently someone else out there has a blog that talks about design and whatnot. And apparently they scored an interview with Milwaukee's finest husband-and-wife illustrating/screenprinting duo, The Little Friends of Printmaking.
For an intimate look at the glamorous personal lives of award-winning designers, take a peep at Wonting's Five Whats with Little Friends of Printmaking.
Radiohead - "All I Need" Video
Radiohead teamed up with MTV for this video to address the exploitation and slavery of children around the world. Turns out they're against that stuff.
The State of Things
It's always kind of amazing when an artist can stick to one very unique style, yet continuously make new and interesting work. German illustrator Heiko from The State of Things has done just that.