If you are looking to successfully engage with the urban market, you have to consider how to position your brand in such a way that its consumption increases young adults’ status in youth culture. Brands that successfully enhance urban capital have to know not only what to communicate, but how. Knowledge: Don’t dismiss blogs as being the personal ramblings of extroverts. Visit sites like www.coolhunting.com, www.newstoday.com and www.joshspear.com. Full article at TheAge.com

From his desire to organize things, especially shapes, Richard Sarson created The Circle Project. The drawings were born from random doodles with a compass, tracing the same pattern continuously until a pattern emerged. They were produced between February and June 2006 by the recent RCAD (Royal College of Art and Design) graduate utilizing simple materials, a felt-tip pen and compass that created something complex – each drawing contains over a thousand circles. The analytical and mathematical approach is echoed in his poster series for the ON/OFF and Stability Sound Seminar Posters for the Royal College of Art Music Nights. An emerging artist with a mathematicians brain, we can't wait to see his work progress and grow! Via CH

New SUGs, the Tactical Unit team member working for you are finally here, courtesy of UNKL. The D56, in black and grey, and E57, in red sporting the single white glove, are part of Series 2 and have only one goal, "to assist the people of the world who are in desperate need of help." His privately funded aid expeditions take him into the most dangerous areas of the world usually bringing him into war-torn regions, toxic atmospheres or other inhospitable conditions. The original SUG stands 7'7" and weighs in at an astounding 655 lbs, but his likeness is perfectly rendered in these 12" versions, the ninth iteration of the SUG protective suit. With quite a story, (read the extended version here) and a lofty goal on his back, SUG is part of the team at UNKL including HAZMAPO and JunPo charged with protecting the world. Get ‘em at UNKL now, for your own protection!

During my recent trip to Japan I had a chance to try out and get comfortable with a few of the newest Pentax cameras. In the spirit of lightness, I opted for one of the most compact cameras they offer. The Optio A10 was really the perfect digital companion– rarely does a digital camera pack such serious features like 8.0 Megapixels, a 2.5-inch LCD screen and a 3X zoom in such a tiny package– the A10 was literally small enough to slip into my back pocket and go completely un-noticed. It’s also fairly tough, not as ‘tough’ as their H20 camera (more on that gem soon), but I felt comfortable putting it right into my bag with no case, the aluminum exterior was very sturdy. All in all an excellent experience, shopping for a powerful digital compact? Give this one a try!

If your office manager was tearing his or her hair out during the first week of this month, a small experimental advertising school in Portland might be to blame. Wieden + Kennedy 12 completely wiped out the West coast clear pushpin inventory. After more than 350 hours, $720.00, and 150,000 pins, the students created a 13′6″ x 10′6″ mural spelling out the words “Fail Harder.” The shots don’t do the mural or their message justice. The pins shimmer like diamonds and ironically adds a level of luxury to the normally dismal topic of failure. W+12 aimed to celebrate the idea that the greatest successes come from a series of failure. The piece was shown to the public for just one night (July 6th), but there are pictures and even a video for you to check out. Via Notcot

It seems like the Aussie's, with the help of Smart Car, are leading the way in creating pollution free driving not with the help of experimental technology, but by utilizing mother nature. Every model is already designed to protect the environment, whether it be through recycling, space saving, or fuel efficiency, but now Smart is taking their eco-friendly brand one step further and with the sale of every new Smart Car comes a free membership to their Carbon Zero program, which gives owners two options to neutralize their vehicles CO2 emissions. The first is by funding programs to reduce global warming through Climate Friendly or by planting trees though Greenfleet, the overall result of which is zero output. The Australians are setting a great example, one we sincerely hope the US will follow. When it comes to this auto, the name really does say it all!