Over the years, regular broadcast radio has become a touch authoratative. The system worked back before popular music was designed to be popular, but today we’re all pretty much presented with the same sugary garbage and expected to pick our favorites. Audiophiles seperate themselves from the pack by seeking out the most obscure sounds they can find, but for the regular person who still loves radio but wants to take back the airwaves, there’s Jelli. You don’t create your own customizable station, nor do you assemble a playlist yourself. Jelli is a musical democracy, with one playlist that’s decided by user voting. This idea brings back the influence of listeners on what’s actually popular. Take that major labels.
Shopping bags are, for the most part, pretty dull. Not only are they a hinderance on the environment, but they’re hardly ever hip enough for us to want to recycle them unless it means dropping them in a blue bin. But, there are some designers who are trying to make us dispose of this old way of thinking. And, they’re doing it from the runway to the retail story with thoughtfully-designed bags that convey serious attitude.
To showcase this new trend, Toxel put together a nice collection of images from around the world for you to ooh and ahh at. Check out the breadth of ideas featured from the smart “floating” bag that’s pure fun to other, more controversial options that we wouldn’t dare try out in Los Angeles.
Remember those awesome Fashion Surgical Masks to protect yourself against Swine Flu? Designer Irina Blok is at it again with her project entitled Funemployed. She’s still unemployed and looking for a job as an Art Director (if I was hiring Art Directors, I’d grab her in a second), so she decided to print her resume (and anyone who asks) on a t-shirt, and produce a series of awesome buttons like “Laid Off, Funemployed, Got Job? I Buy Caviar With Food Stamps– and many more after the jump for $2.00 each. All advertising her search for a job. Good luck Irina!
A longtime source of design whim and wonder, Oh Joy! has frequently supplied us with delightful morsels of innovation and adorableness that are simply to die for. With the dawn of a new season, comes the dawn of a new day for this top notch site and home base for Joy Deeangdeelert Cho. The mastermind behind the Oh Joy! (formerly Nantaka Joy) line of stationery and driving force behind her widely read design blog of the same name, has a newly relaunched site encompassing all that you know and love from before, placed inside a bright and shiny new package. Check it out for yourself. Congrats Joy!
I just got finished racing a Hover Kart with 7 of my friends. I kid you not. Remember iminlikewithyou, the super-fun social gaming site that renamed to OMGPOP recently? Thought so, we know you’re still addicted to dinglepop. Well, the incredible team there just launched maybe the most addictive racing game the interwebs will ever see, and it’s called Hover Kart. Think 3D graphics, 16 bit sound, and 8 players racing their chosen Karts on over 20 awesome tracks. Hit shift to jump/drift, and space bar to activate items. Hint: Drifting for a while gives you an extra boost.
Also, Hover Kart players can now earn or buy coins and use them to purchase higher performance Karts, driver upgrades, extra lives, power-ups and all that good stuff in the game. The launch of Hover Kart coincides with the launch of the OMGPOP virtual store with micro-transactions. Congrats guys, this is huge.
Anna the Red makes brilliant character bento, often with a nod toward anime and video games. Her Kyaraben transforms the traditional Japanese lunch box into a work of art. Recently, someone from Google took notice of Anna’s bento prowess and invited her to help promote Google Chrome by making the logo out of food. She began with a sketch, and ended up with the Google Chrome logo realized in boiled broccoli, fried red peppers and scrambled eggs. If you’ve ever wanted to see the dilligent work that goes into this niche art form, check out the fast-paced video. Delicious.
From Rick’s Custom Squirrel’s site “The Squirrel Hole”– a guy named Richard Nadeau’s taxidermy service. Ridiculous. $125-$155. Wow, I wish I was joking.
I can mount any squirrel in just about any position or style you would like, just let me know what you may be interested in. I purchase vintage items such as clothing, weapons, hats, instruments, and just about anything you would like to have mounted.
The Wall Street Journal has a nice little story about How Your Favorite Sneakers Got Their Names. Reebok? Adidas? The Puma Clyde? ASICS? Good trivia stuff. Also, I knew the Chuck Taylor has sold a lot over the years– but 600 million pairs? That’s insane. Go on and get your sneaker-nerd on and check out the article. Thanks Brett!
Weddings can be extremely expensive, time consuming affairs. Couples sometimes spend over a year planning every last detail of their nuptials. Often times the worry associated with such painstaking detail from whether the DJ has the right version of “It Had To Be You” to the dairy-free icing on the seven-layer cake, zaps the romance right out of the big day. In the interest of preserving your special moment and not going through all that fuss, NYC’s Grand Opening storefront (Same place that had Pong in the LES) on the Lower East Side has a simple solution., just tie the knot at their space. This July, their “Wedding Chapel” will be the ideal spot for couples looking to save some loot, but not skimp on that whole love thing. They offer the services of an ordained minister, room for up to 20 guests, not to mention live web streaming of your “I dos.” If that’s not enough, a staff photographer will handle your official pics set up against any number of backdrops of places where you dreamed of tying the knot. They’ve already started raising funds and taking bookings for this summer’s lineup of wedded bliss. If you want to be included, you best get a move on, because true love doesn’t always wait.
The folks at All Day Buffet just launched an interesting new venture (and experiment) called By/Association. They’re seeking to reinvent the traditional notion of “networking” by enabling substantive interactions and long term relationships to people like you. After you apply and are accepted, you’ll receive one monthly introduction to another remarkable person in your city– all based on complimentary interests, goals, passions, and skills. And naturally with each introduction your own personal network will begin to grow.
The application process asks things like “What’s something you put into the world that didn’t exist before?” and “Describe the most recent time you had fun.” Only 125 words are allowed per answer, so you must be short, sweet, and interesting.
For more information, read their inspiring manifesto and if you think you fit the mold, go ahead and apply. Congrats guys, this is great stuff.
If you had to compile a list of the top body parts that we human beings tend to listen to, the first two slots on that list would undoubtedly belong to our heads and our hearts with our bladders and stomachs rounding out the third and fourth spot. The folks behind the Baileys Irish Cream brand are hoping their new ad campaign will allow “your lips” to ease into one of those top spots. To show off how they might just change the order of organs we so trust, Baileys invited us along to get an exclusive look at the filming of their new spots helmed by Icelandic director Borkur, in London last week.
The “Listen To Your Lips” campaign created in concert with JWT’s London Office is an attempt to change the way the public views the Bailey’s brand. According to JWT’s Creative Director Hugh Todd, current drinkers have long thought of the tasty liqueur in terms of both Christmas-time or coffee-time, rather than an enjoyable anytime beverage for the of age. While not an attempt to change the culture of their drink altogether, the idea behind their new set of adverts is to encourage flavorful alcohol enthusiasts that it’s okay to get an urge for Bailey’s even when there’s no java or Douglas fir around.
So just how did they attempt to get that point across? Well, the miracle of the pop hook plays a big role. The three ads bring us to the three distinct settings of a bar, an apartment, and a rooftop. Each situation is beautifully paired with it’s own impossibly infectious tune getting the sing-along treatment from a sufficiently sexy set of smackers. The idea ultimately equates the sudden thought of drinking a Bailey’s Irish Cream with the undeniable impulse one gets to sing along with the chorus of their favorite ditty. The idea of drinking a Bailey’s on ice or in any form becomes catchy rather than seasonal. The campaign also eschews the traditional sense of narrative to allow the viewer to fill in their own blanks and figure out how the spots relate to them instead of forcing a situation where
they find little to no common ground.
Judging by the action we surveyed on set with close ups on luscious lips karaoke-ing in unison with incredibly addictive tunes, JWT and commercials on their hands. We expect that they’ll soon have lips around the world humming their tune and drinking their kool-aid…or Irish Cream. The ads in question are set to start making waves internationally in late July. Hopefully, we’ll be able give you an exclusive sneak peak before that to whet your appetite. If you’re interested check out some more pictures after the jump…
Of the chief complaints of those who fail to see the usefulness of the Twitter, the most frequently noted has to do with the amount of self important updates one has to sift through to find anything of meaning in their daily stream. We can’t totally disagree, when constantly updated minutia comes into play, uselessness is bound to rear its ugly head. Unfortunately, if you’re amongst the many who has ever felt the need to pat yourself on the back via the popular micro-blogging format, you now run the risk of being pegged as someone who may be Tweeting Too Hard. The website of the same name, operates more or less in the same vein as Texts from Last Night, taking the best of the worst in the Twittersphere and putting it on display for an often times maddeningly hilarious read. A brief scan through the site is glowing proof that some things are better left unsaid…or untwote.
A series of day-long workshops around blogging and usability trends are popping up over the next two weeks in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco in the form ofWordCamps. Domestic first-time Wordpress users and experienced developers alike will be privy to conversations about monetizing blogging and managing content (not to mention the allure of microcelebrity) before similar events occur in Milan and San Paulo late this spring.
Wordpress founder Matt Mullenweg says the camps, which were created using a BarCamp model and now number in the hundreds annually, are a great example of the platform’s main goal of democratizing publishing. Users from Manila to Dallas have organized their own WordCamps worldwide and pulled in local resources for co-education. Mullenweg (pictured above), who is curating the San Francisco WordCamp at the end of May, says that product innovations have come out of the get-togethers (at which he’s been asked to sign more than a few laptops and iPhones). Not bad for someone who thought he’d never leave the Lone Star State.
Being a site widely considered ahead of the curve on both the tech and eco-friendly front has it benefits. One of those perks manifested itself towards the end of last week when we were invited to an exclusive pow-wow with smart USA President Dave Schembri, which included our own smart fortwo test drive. Before hitting the road, however, Mr. Schembri was kind enough to share some interesting tidbits about the company and give an overall update on the state of burgeoning branch of the Daimler automotive family via a question and answer session. READ MORE…
Kanye West’s “Shutter Shades” have become nearly as iconic as the performer himself. The slatted sunglasses by Alain Mikli may seem impractical, but tell that to the 451,000 links to the phrase counted by Google or the new DIY toy that sports them as an accessory. If you don’t own a pair (and opt out of the $12 knock-offs at your mall kiosk), but are curious to know how Kanye sees the Internet, get “Kanye Vision” with the shutter shades bookmarklet from F.A.T. (Free Art & Technology). Hilarious, and awesome.
The Wall Street Journal has a nice little story about 
A series of day-long workshops around blogging and usability trends are popping up over the next two weeks in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco in the form of
