Likes & Likes

Liking this visual exploration of “Procrastination” by Johnny Kelly. His graduate piece from the Royal College of Art, is as he says, “an investigative and exploratory hands-on gloves-off study into the practice of putting things ‘off”.”

My apartment is a constant work in progress. Sites like Factory 20, have become a fixture in my constant browsing of vintage things, most of which I still can’t really afford or even have room for in my one bedroom place.

Factory 20 offers pieces not bound to a specific era in time or medium of art. The site boasts re-purposed and existing furnishings, architectural artifacts, art, fabric, etc. All pieces are seemingly unique because of their intrinsic quality, originality and their history.

It’s definitely worth a quick peek and a check back often. Click here for more.

Here’s a big thing I like—collecting things. And it seems to be a growing trend to document on blogs too. Just this week I stumbled upon a site for old Matchbooks from restaurants and bars, Found photographs from the street, and the one pictured above, A Collection a Day.

Started by Lisa Congdon, the blog spans one year and documents a collection photographed or drawn by the professional illustrator. Her motivation she says, is simply, “… because I love my collections, and I want to document them in a way that makes sense to me, and share them with whoever might be interested in looking at them.”

This is pretty neat. The jackets shown above are made with sewable electronic components that let DIYers build interactive wearables and e-textiles. The Lilypad Arduino, developed by MIT Media Lab assistant professor Leah Buechley, is a microcontroller board that can be sewn to fabric and “connected” to power supplies, sensors, actuators and other stuff with conductive thread. Check out the video demo of the jacket here.

I’ve been attempting to document some of the boy and my adventures in cooking. We’ve been doing a lot of it this winter, and will have some posts to share soon.

In the meantime, I thought I’d post this clever stop motion video called Adobe Photoshop Cook which begs to ask—how awesome would it be if there was a program to bake yummy cookies?

Check out this Masters degree in Packaging Design project designed by José Luis García Eguiguren. It’s a new take on both the dated look and packaging for teh shaving cream brand Barbasol. for Not sure of the feasibility in terms of cost, but graphically, this is an astounding and energetic revamp or a seemingly tired brand. While still staying true to the original feel of the dispenser, the look has been given a jolt of modernism and sophistication to bring it upmarket without alienating previous customers.

Here’s some background information on the project:

This project’s objective was to re-style the popular American “Barbasol” shaving cream in order to introduced it into the European market. For this, I maintained the basic form that they have used for years: the barber shop pole (stripes). The aggressive diagonal line that divides the stripes suggest a mix between the shaving cream and the fragance. It also alludes to the razor blades on the surface of the skin cutting through the facial hair. The way the lines drive all the way up and down on the sides makes a perfect simulation of the shaving cream mixing and exiting the can. The form of the can (cap & bottom) are in harmony with the angle of the stripes, thus providing a fluid motion for the eye. The typography utilized provides a more industrial and tech appearance.

Fascinating, dramatic, surprising. Reminds me of another highly stylized animation I spied on Vimeo a few months back - equally as dark in subject matter but set in a more detailed world. I’m such a sucker for slow-motion! Definitely check out the making-of featurette as well…

What happens to the banners that hung from streetlamps in Center City, welcoming visitors to Philadelphia and promoting cultural events? They usually pile up in storage. But now, Philadelphia’s Center City District has found a way to recycle them as hand-made tote bags - no two are alike.

All manufacturing is done right here in Philadelphia by two nonprofit work rehabilitation programs: the banners are cleaned by Philacor, a vocational program in the Philadelphia Department of Corrections, and then another non-profit vocational program, Baker Industries, makes the cleaned banners into the totes.

Currently, the bags are available at Open House at 107 South 13th Street, the Pennsylvania General Store at the Reading Terminal Market, and the PAFA online and retail store at 128 North Broad Street.

The ads coming from Porsche lately have been nothing short of fantastic. I’ve watched the Panamera intro spot about a zillion times, squinting to make out each and every model and livery. Here’s another video from their YouTube channel that continues to push their racing heritage. Not sure if this is in response to some other manufacturer’s claims or a retaliation of sorts, but the message is clear - racing, not posing. Strongly liked.

If you watched the Grammy’s last night, it might have left you feeling a bit like it did for us. Seemingly most of America is listening to the same three artists: Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Beyonce.

Last night’s pop culture awakening might contribute to why I found this site My City vs. Your City so interesting. The website enables visitors to compare listening patterns of respective cities, based on data from Last.fm. The website was developed by German creative coder Michael Schieben.

Truth be told, it seems Lady Gaga is popular everywhere.

Also, become friends with Likes and Likes on Last.fm here and here.