Super Rad Toys is at it again with yet another Gosho doll release, this time with the help of SURU, a concept retail store/brand that focuses on limited-edition items. Artist credit for this addition to the ongoing Ningyo project goes to Joe Hahn of Linkin Park, who signed his kung-fu master Gosho yesterday for a few lucky collectors at the SURU store on Melrose in LA. You might have to do some heavy searching to find one of these for yourself– I just googled the heck out of it but, to no avail. Happy hunting, and if you find any, share the love.

Sammy and the guys over at Hecklewood seem to do a superb job of getting behind the scenes with (and into the minds of) artists we love. In preparation for their upcoming UNKL exhibition called ‘Amerkin Wasteland,’ they recently uncorked some exclusive material from vinyl toy “co-consipirators” Derek Welch and Jason Bacon. Take a look at Hecklewood’s post to see some great montages and some first looks at the newest – and in my opinion – the greatest UNKL offerings yet. The super-limited edition Carbon Series HAZMAPOS you see here, are set to be amongst the debuts at this summer’s Comic Con show in San Diego. Sammy also hinted that they’re going to be dropping a new UNKL x Hecklewood collabo t-shirt next weekend at the show, and that’ll be one nasty shirt if they continue with what they did with their Thielke collabo shirt a couple months ago. I’ve included the full flyer for the show after the jump for those of you who will be in Portland next weekend.
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I used to work for a brilliant man who, while rational in every other way (almost to a fault), was completely obsessed with the catastrophic potential of an Avian Flu epidemic. His paranoia led him to purchase an outdoor generator, stock years worth of supplies and hoard thousands of doses of Tamiflu (all of which are now quietly gathering mold in his medicine cabinet). His fears of a global disaster immediately came to mind in my first glance at Hisaharu Motoda’s latest series of lithographs. Neo-Ruins presents a post-apocalyptic view of modern Tokyo in which devastation has been wrought quietly, much like in ghost towns across the American Southwest. The details in the images are fascinating: storefronts are slowly crumbling, cars are dissolving in the street, and the urban environment is eerily empty but for creeping vines and shrubs. As with Ozymandias, the odds of our proud monuments and skyscrapers lasting into the distant future seem slim. Thankfully, we are blessed with artists like Motoda whose works force us to confront the future…even as we ponder the past.

Pablo Pardo, a popular San Fransisco based designer renowned for the simplicity and elegance that characterize his work, has recently released an updated version of his Light Table Bench 52. Unlike the original, this latest bench adds the feature of dimmability, and consequently, a wider lighting selection to suit any array of settings. I imagine that objects placed on the table must look a little surreal with the Light Table Bench 52’s illuminating under-glow, and I love the idea of having one of these gently lighting an entryway- like a little beacon to get you home. Darn, I’m definitely lusting after one of these now; all those perks… and its name makes it sound like a spaceship to boot. What perfection.

via CribCandy

Our good friend and Spear Collective comrade RoyalRemarkable has been busy with a few projects lately that I thought I’d relay to you all. First and foremost, he has some sick type work featured in a forthcoming catalog entitled Hand Job, recently completed by Mike Perry of Midwestisbest. It’s is a compilation of work by 55 of some of the most talented freehand typographers out there; slated for release at the end of August, you can buy it on presale at Amazon for $23.

RoyalRemarkable is also gearing up to do a permanent installation for Ogilvy & Mather’s new digital agency outpost in Durham, North Carolina. He promised to send us some photos when his art comes to life in the next few weeks, so we’ll keep you posted with his progress. When describing the gig to me, he said: “think nesting dolls and old school security gates.” Suffice to say, all of us here at JoshSpear.com are excited to see his concept come to life.

Designgive is a group of designers who’ve assembled to both showcase their work on fabric and kick some funds to some important charities. At this point, the featured designers include Brooke Nunez, Si Scott, Paul Macgregor, Scott Bartlett, Kronk, and the Spear Collective’s own Jeremy Somers. Each design is available in either guys or gals t-shirts ($15), long-sleeved tees ($18), or hoodies ($25). Several of my favorites are only available for pre-order May 14th through the 25th, so you’ll need to act quickly. When you check out with your merchandise, you can designate which charity you want to support. Your donation is included in the price, and is $1 for tees, $2 for long sleeves, and $3 for hoodies. Also, if you’re a designer and want to get involved with this project, you can fill out an application here. It’d be great to see this group grow in size to be able to more effectively fulfill its mission: design for a worthy cause.

It was about six months ago when I first picked up one of Recycline’s Preserve Toothbrushes at the always-packed Trader Joe’s in Manhattan. At that time, it was more a matter of necessity than environmental-conciousness; my current toothbrush had fallen into the toilet that morning and considering I’d used a rubber glove to fish it out, there’s no way I would be putting that thing anywhere near my mouth again. Standing in line, I saw the toothbrush, remembering I needed a replacement and not wanting to stop anywhere else– I grabbed it and checked out.

I was intrigued, though, reading the information accompanying the ergonomically-designed toothbrush. Made of 100% recycled plastic, Recycline not only offers a subscription service (great for those of you who forget your toothbrush needs to be replaced on a regular basis) but it offers a recycling program as well. When you’re done with your brush, you just use the mailer provided in-store (alternatively, you can order one from the company) and they’ll turn it into plastic lumber or recycled store displays. This also goes for the rest of their product line, which includes razors and plastic tableware. They’ve also teamed up with Stonyfield Farms for the past five years, whose yogurt cups account for 25-60% of the Preserve razors and toothbrushes.

Functionally, the toothbrush is hands-down the best I’ve ever used. And however small it may be, it’s quite possibly the most perfect example of guilt-free consumerism in my life to date.

The boys at hip-hop/streetwear brand Akomplice have finally released their latest season, this time with even more tees and such designed to satiate your gun-wielding-Lady-Liberty appetite. Their latest includes some fresh designs, along with one dress that the female staff here predict would look good on about 1.2% of the general population. That being said, although I like Desert Eagles as much as the next guy, I’m not sure how much more of the gun motif I can take. Even so, their Kaiser Soze and Kix designs are pretty damn sweet. But maybe my affinity for shoe t-shirts has something to do with the fact that I’m a closet sneaker head…

previously: Akomplice Season 6

I have to admit, the second I saw this wall-mounted interactive Picture Fram Tetris board by SparkFun over at NotCot, I immediately considered commissioning one purely to attract more of that hot geek-boy demographic I’ve been predisposed to of late. But then, I realized that owning one of these would just further reduce my productivity, both social and otherwise, because it looks just plain addictive. Comprised of 240 touch-sensitive buttons and 1300 lines of code, the rotation and placement of the falling pieces is really just the shift in color of the board’s 720 LED lights. The site has a detailed breakdown of the game’s development, which is intensely interesting in an ultra-nerdy sort of way…if you’re into that kind of thing. The SparkFun kids will be at the Maker Faire in San Mateo this weekend (May 19-20), so if you’re in the Bay Area, go have some fun for us.