Designs by Genevieve Gauckler, Eero Aarnio, Parra, and more make up the bulk of what Publik has to offer. The Japanese venture pulls together the talents of an international crew of artists to bring us tote bags, bandanas, and not to mention a great line of tees. From Gauckler’s ‘(verb) Me’ line to Parra’s word collages, Publik keeps the product line interesting without sticking to one theme in particular. The site’s mainly formatted in Japanese, making for some of that adorably bad translation, the product is good and that’s what counts. We especially dig the Feed Me shirt.
There isn’t much to not love about blik; it’s a product which allows instant transformation to any wall, any space, without the application of paint or the permanence of wallpaper — perfect for both commitment-phobes and renters alike.
These towels and sheets are like the holy grail of linens; made of wood cellulose fiber, they are soft, luxurious and prone to theft from envious friends and houseguests which, if you ask me, is always the best compliment.
So much fun stuff here, you could make a serious dent in your gift list on this site alone. I mean, come on: who wouldn’t love an ink-blot mirror? Seriously.
Giving the gift of Dwell — whether it be their bed linens, tabletop collection or baby line — is the stuff that brownie points are made of. Classic, sophisticated and sustainable, you’ll look about three hundred percent more thoughtful than you already are. We promise.
Are you ready for the JS08 Gift Guide? If you are, that's a shame; we're actually not doing one this year — we're going to do even better. Over the next month you're going to see itemized lists, broken down into separate categories for your easy perusal, and all you'll need to do to get to those posts is hit the “gifts†tag at the bottom of any of them. If you have any suggestions for a list, feel free to hit us up at feedback at josh spear dot com. If you're staying in today (instead of braving the malls and stores), we salute your intelligence. If not, try not to get arrested. Happy holidays!
We love Jan Willem Wennekes, aka Zeptonn. We love his silliness, his monsters, and his humorously fitting scholastic background in Artificial Intelligence and Philosophy. We’re also pretty into his new designs for blik (a vinyl art company that, incidentally enough, we also love), two awesome wall decals that feature more of Zeptonn’s classically fun-hunting beasts. Also, some good news: last time we wrote about Zeptonn, we painfully reported the sold-out status of his art book, Stingermania, however, judging by the reappearance of said book in the pages (wallspace?) of blik, the situation has been pleasantly rectified. You can even nab the book for cheap(er) if you buy it along with some Critters or Tumblers, so go get ‘em!
Check out this quick and super-fun video of our friend Undoboy installing his Blik Dreamland wall graphic. He shot the whole thing over 2 hours and then sped it up into hyper speed for our 1 minute viewing pleasure. I’m totally loving the rainbow poop graphics, and now think I might have to do the walls in the bathroom of our new office with them. Too funny. Head on over to Blik to grab your own. Undoboy does it again!
It’s all too overwhelming. Carmel posted about blik and Threadless yesterday, and we already have more to tell you about these re-stickably amazing decals. And what news! Today we actually have a reason to celebrate blik other than just liking what they do — it’s their fifth anniversary, and they’re celebrating by throwing a party in Venice, California. The main event of the party, which you’re invited to, is a live art installation from Undoboy.
Now, undoubtedly blik’s tacky (no, not that kind of tacky) designs are one of our favorite things in the world, but of all of the blik decals that we love, we might just love Undoboy’s the bestest. The tireless Spear Collective member has done quite a variety of work for blik — some of his decals look like they come from the Candyland, while others look like rhinoceros poop. Rainbow-colored rhinoceros poop. The important thing is that all of his decals are colorful and innovative, so his performance today in Venice isn’t something you’ll want to miss.
By the way, the venue for blik’s party? Appropriately enough for a sticker company, it’s being held at Epoxy Box. Good sticking to you all.
Blik, the I.D. award-winning line of wall decals, has once again teamed up with Threadless in order to produce a steady stream of awesomely sticky art. You may remember the cheery result of their first collaboration, a one-time competition that placed Letter’s 7.00 among Blik’s other designs, but this time around the battle will be bigger and longer lasting. Each month, the team at Blik will be posting a selection of their favorite Threadless t-shirts, then leaving it up to visitors to select which designs will be turned into one of Blik’s surface graphics. The chosen tees will then be transformed into self-adhesive wallscapes, ready to slap on windows, ceilings, and pretty much any other flat area you can find. My favorite thing about the stickies from Blik is that, unlike vinyl, they are all easily removable, meaning I can leave them up or switch them up as much as I choose — a nice detail for when it comes time to abort ship.
There are currently nine Threadless-begat designs available, and I like almost all of them (and almost as much as I like the rest of the stuff Blik offers), so take a look, then be a champ and cast your vote for the next round.
Heather has written about decals here before; oh, has she ever. Loyal Josh Spear readers will remember her fawning over such creative cures for the blank wall as Blik and Dvider. I bet she was the kind of girl that elementary school teachers love — a devotee of the sticker economy.
If I’m right, then the decals over at Tonky wall stickers should keep Heather happy, quiet and attentive in class for at least a week. Tonky’s may have less patterns on display than Blik, but it’s got a bunch of other good stuff, like “creatures,” rocks, skulls, and even a kids section — my personal favorite is the Dodo Skeleton. And everything on the Tonky site is available in several different colors, making it a virtual certainty that you’ll find something to suit your space. My advice it to get there before Heather does, otherwise she’ll buy Tonky up and only let you have one of her stickers if your group is the first to quiet down after recess.
My older sister is leaving Seattle. This is a tragedy for three reasons; 1) As far as places to visit go, Seattle is far superior to Sand Point, Idaho; 2) After she is gone, my reasons to go to Seattle will have dwindled to 33% of what they used to be (my darling emo cousin just ran away, potentially to Canada, though no one knows for sure. Actually, if anyone happens to see a very blond, very tiny, very intellectually superior sixteen year-old galloping about unattended, please mention her whereabouts/condition in the comment section); and 3) I foresee difficulty in convincing my only remaining Seattle relative, a rather soft-spoken pastor, to shop in my absence at Velocity, the incredible art and design store that is now holding an amazingly delicious moving sale. Because they are relocating to South Lake Union, everything at the current Belltown location is going for a nice 10-70% off. That includes art and furniture by some of our favorite new and old designers like Angela Adams, Area, Dwell, Molo, Blik, Offi, Thomas Paul, Jason Miller, Jefdesigns, George Nelson, Ray and Charles Eames, Jean Prouve, Sori Yanagi, Isamu Noguchi, Verner Panton, Architectural Pottery, and, yeah…holy crap, right?
The sale is running through August 18th, but I recommend running on over as fast as your feet will carry you; you know those Seattle-ites and their design obsessions…
blik, the kids who bring color to the walls of renters and hope to decor commitment-phobes worldwide have teamed up with Spear Collective member Undoboy to add some super fun new wall decals to their already extensive collection. Available in late May/early June, the collaboration features four new designs, allowing you to create your own candy-colored Dreamland, or cover your bathroom walls in (ahem) Rainbow Poops. Fortunately for you, it’s as modifiable, temporary, or permanent as you want it to be. I wonder how well a Scratch-n-Sniff version of these would sell…then again, I get a kick out of my houseguests thinking I’m weird quirky like that.
Collaborations between companies have become extremely prevalent lately, but with some careful filtering you can spot the good and ignore the bad. One recent combination of forces, the wall decal meets t-shirt, is that between blik Surface Graphics and always favorite Threadless, fittingly named blik loves Threadless. Like the basis of Threadless, designers were invited to submit their creations, with the selected ones becoming blik wall graphics. Keeping in line with their existing product line, blik has opted for not one but two cheery designs as winners. First place went to 7.00 by Letter, which is composed of branches, leaves, and birds allowing you to configure your own nature inspired setting. The runner up, Happy When It Rains, by Singerstyler of Zepton, is filled with cute figures dancing amongst clouds, rainbows, and the sun.
We love Jan Willem Wennekes, aka 
It’s all too overwhelming. Carmel posted about blik and Threadless 
Heather has written about decals here before; oh, has she ever. Loyal Josh Spear readers will remember her fawning over such creative cures for the blank wall as 
Collaborations between companies have become extremely prevalent lately, but with some careful filtering you can spot the good and ignore the bad. One recent combination of forces, the wall decal meets t-shirt, is that between blik Surface Graphics and always favorite 
