The future has arrived. Muji and Lego. My friend Kohei talks about it here.
Muji & Lego recently released a joint product that consists of a box of Lego pieces that also comes with sheets of paper — with a particular hole-punch (not included), the paper and Legos can be combined into some cute creations.
Cream Of The Crop’s new Scratch & Sniff t-shirts and hoodies are hilarious and a little bit crazy. The bubble gum scented Cream Style is my favorite. (Smells like Bubblicious, is inspired by Lee Quinones‘ graffiti style in the legendary movie Wild Style.) Very cute. Also dig the lego block shirt– hopefully that doesn’t smell of lego plastic though.
We have quite an affinity for those with affection for the sounds of our gaming past. Even more so when that blast of 8-bit aural goodness is accompanied by a visual feast centered around another one of our childhood favorites, Lego. 8-bit Trip, a video from unsigned Swedish pop outfit rymdreglage goes totally Gondry on us with ever-so enticing results. The action is a roller coaster of karate chopping, eye-popping goodness mixed with doses of pac man and general gaming fever. It’s truly a sight to behold.
Deciphering samples is a skill that every DJ and producer hones in order to boast when that original song comes on. Ever since a few cats took the art of sampling and went crazy with it, it’s been harder and harder to breakdown. Take Girl Talk for instance; despite the pop value of every song used in his collages, bet you can’t name every single one. And furthermore, how does this patchwork Lego set of beats and pieces actually come together to form a coherent track? Thanks to Wired Magazine, there’s a translation for folks who consider themselves more on the visual tip. A deconstruction of 30 seconds of a the Girl Talk Song ‘What It’s All About’ reveals 35 samples assembled to create that signature dancefloor crack sound. Great visualization via Wired.
We have to admit to being pretty smitten with both the LEGO Indiana Jones and Star Wars titles for our video game console of choice, but our Fanboy aspirations extend further than the world of cinematic nostalgia. Rock Band has allowed us to live out our Rock ‘n’ Roll fantasies during it’s relatively brief life span, but we’ve had the misfortune of having to settle on avatars that aren’t representative in the least of our desired rock god persona. The new family friendly LEGO Rock Band is the best of both worlds, allowing users to craft their own LEGO self as well as fellow bandmates, roadies, managers and crew. Even with the new features users will still possess the power to pretend to be masters of the LEGO telecaster even though they’re not actually strumming anything except maybe their rock star-sized ego.
We all made new year’s resolutions, but Brock Davis is actually sticking to his. The artist has vowed to Make Something Cool Everyday, an ambitious project with a self-explanatory title. Each day in 2009, Davis puts together a photo, painting, or video, starting with a Lego scultpure nailing his mission statement in one word: ‘Build’. January saw a wave of clever illusions through photo, followed by various throwback graphics and pictures of shattered non-glass items. Following Davis’ interests through his daily work leads you to varying series, none of which are the same and all of which have us waiting for tomorrow. We’re seriously impressed, check it out on Behance.
Toys are fun, but robots rock. Daft Punk Be@rbricks go! French wonder shop Colette just released this set of the Daft Punk duo in Be@rbrick form and they are amazing. I can't wait to see someone put these two in a lego pyramid, throw in some LEDs and recreate the alive concert. Instant Youtube classic! Even with a $183.13 price tag, these are going to go fast. In slightly related news, Daft Punk is doing the score for Tron 2. Whoa.
Lego and hip-hop might have absolutely nothing to do with each other, but that doesn’t mean they can’t combine forces to yield something awesome. Twenty classic hip hop album covers have been recreated in Lego by Formatmag.com, including Three Feet High and Rising, Stillmatic, Violent by Design, and for some reason Big Doe Rehab and not an earlier Ghostface record. Nevertheless, the whole line up will have any connoisseur smiling. The closest resemblance is probably Common’s Be. We never would have made the comparison, but the man has a permanent Lego man smile.
Alex & Chloe: Fork You Necklace: Read JS Review | Buy It ($50)
Because sometime you just can’t say it out loud — especially in the same breath as “Happy Holidays.”
Bumboo Tees:Read JS Review | Buy It ($58 – $68)
Bamboo tees are worth their weight in … oh, that’s right, they don’t weigh anything. Awesome.
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac x JC in the Sky with Diamonds Collection:Read JS Review | Buy It
Wearable … nah. But I have no doubt of this collection’s historical and artistic significance, so buy something before it winds up at Christie’s, even if it’s just a minifig.
Reebok Bowery Pop-Up Shop:Read JS Review
You only have until Dec 14th to make it to Reebok’s NYC Pop-Up, but shopping after then sucks a big, fat Santa anyway — and also makes you a slacker. Get thee to the Eighties (eh, 169 Bowery).
Richard Haines Sketches:Read JS Review | Buy It
We didn’t think to ask Richard if this gift was even a possibility (oops), but a stylee friend would love a Haines sketch … or better yet, a sketch of him/herself by Haines.
Saint Augustine Academy Reverence Tee:Read JS Review | Buy It ($75)
Look close enough at this tee and you’ll find God. And you thought it was just fashion.
Atmos x K-Swiss:Read JS Review | Buy It
You have to hand it to K-Swiss, the often forgotten brand is being “reborn” and what better way to make a mark than to collaborate with Japanese powerhouse Atmos? Great attention to detail and subtle but distinctive colorways make these kicks a sure bet.
Ospop Shoes:Read JS Review | Buy It ($76)
I know they didn’t originate it but for me the whole clothing with a story concept started with Trovata. Since then, brands like Ospop have put their own spin on things. These shoes are modeled after the same ones used by Chinese blue-collar workers. Needless to say they are updated for durability and comfort. Check them out!
Gram Designs Shoes:Read JS Review | Buy It ($122)
Hailing from Sweden, Gram shoes has been a perennial SuFu (Superfuture) favorite. The interesting materials, most notably waxed cotton, give the shoes a uniqueness and sense of character, not unlike raw denim.
JackThreads:Read JS Review | Buy It
If you’re still wandering up and down the aisles at Macy’s like someone in home furnishings lobotomized you, try JackThreads. If you still can’t find a decent fashion statement, we throw our hands up. Or just throw up. Or both.
Fashion week at the tents in Bryant Park is getting to be quite the event. Twice a year a who’s who of designers and celebrities come out to see the latest threads and be seen amidst the madness. Who needs it? Not designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. He’s managed to put on his own innovative runway show far away from the steps of the New York Public Library and without those leggy personality-filled models ruining the presentation by tripping on the catwalk. With the help of France’s Four-H visual and music production crew and the wonderfully collaborative folks at Lego, Castelbajac is showing off his Spring/Summer 3001 collection in highly animated fashion.
Lighting fixtures, Legos, and inflatables have never before converged. Now, Chile’s Rodrigo Alonso Schramm gives us Modulair, customizable inflated components which you assemble to create attractive hanging lights. By combining any of four modules (triangle, square pentagon and hexagon), you can build a light exactly to your taste. Of course, no matter what you do with them, Modulair lights maintain their futuristic ice crystal appearance. Adorn anything from your kitchen to the Fortress of Solitude.
Ah, Chuck Anderson. Fresh, brave, and brilliant from all angles, we turned our sights towards this self-taught, Michigan-based designer in 2005, when the then 20-year old's portfolio was already competitive with those of players twice his age.
Since then, Chuck (aka NoPattern) has been filling his time with work for clients like Burton, Dolce and Gabbana, and Microsoft, and his light-filled designs have had us seeing stars all along. Graphic designer, digital illustrator, 23-year old basking in the glow he drew up himself; whatever he is, he's good at it, and we can't wait to see what's next.
Between the opening ceremonies and the most decorated athlete in history, this year’s Olympics in Beijing are arguably larger than life. So how do you pay tribute to something that big? You go small. The Hong Kong Lego Users Group painstakingly recreated everything from The Bird’s Nest to The Water Cube brick by brick in Legos. Tennis, ping-pong, beach volleyball, soccer, sailing, swimming and windsurfing are among the dozens of sports rendered in tiny details in the replica, which measures about 26 feet by 10 feet. If you stare at the images long enough, you can almost spot Michael Phelps’ mother cheering in the bleachers and a sweat-stained George W. Bush mugging with Misty May-Treanor. More than 300,000 Lego bricks and 4,500 Lego people were used to create the display, which is on display until the end of the month at Grand Century Place in Hong Kong.
After enjoying a successful month-plus long run in the hills of L.A., The Storefront for Art and Architecture recently folded up the tents to its Pop-Up Store so they could sprout in another city. This time they’re taking the show across the pond to London as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2008. Their temporary display is opening June 20th and running through July 27th on Exhibition Road and will feature The BIG CPH Experiment, a series of design projects and building models created by the Copenhagen-based architecture firm BIG/Bjarke Ingels Groupe. Known for infusing living essentials such as leisure time, working, and shopping in their work, CPH’s first showing at the Storefront’s New York base was in October 2007, highlighting the housing needs for those of differing attitudes and economical backgrounds. At its center is an impressive rendering of LEGO towers, constructed from 250,000 of the plastic blocks. We’re sure you’ve made some pretty sweet things out of LEGOs in your day, but we’re almost positive these towers dwarf the castle you constructed when you were ten.
As a child, building Lego cities seemed like a creative way to while away the years of toddler-dom, provided one wasn't swallowing the pieces whole and being sent to the emergency room. However, nothing we ever made really proved to be useful and in the end our mothers discarded all of our creative tools along with the G.I. Joe's and Millenium Falcon once adolescence hit. While we certainly outgrew our Legos, not all kids grow tired of their toys. Take the design team at SmÃ¥nsk, for example. The Sweden based designers were inspired by the building blocks of childhood. A big hit at the recent Stockholm Furniture Fair, their prototype for Skew Bookcase features magnified identical Lego pieces that stack up and interlock one top of one another to create a colorful and original concept for the place you keep your favorite novels and you old lego instruction manuals. While they've yet to find a manufacturer for their playful block-by-block bookshelf, we wouldn't be surprised if IKEA came a callin'. Here’s hoping someone does.
Between the opening ceremonies and the most decorated athlete in history, this year’s Olympics in Beijing are arguably larger than life. So how do you pay tribute to something that big? You go small. 
As a child, building Lego cities seemed like a creative way to while away the years of toddler-dom, provided one wasn't swallowing the pieces whole and being sent to the emergency room. However, nothing we ever made really proved to be useful and in the end our mothers discarded all of our creative tools along with the G.I. Joe's and Millenium Falcon once adolescence hit. While we certainly outgrew our Legos, not all kids grow tired of their toys. Take the design team at 
