If you’re in NYC and, like me, feel that all your daily dietary requirements can be derived from martinis and pizza, you should come and check out Pause, Beyond Madison Avenue’s creative industries’ happy hour tomorrow night at Pizza Bar. BMA and Pause are projects spearheaded by a regular commenter here, Danny Nathan, and tomorrow is sure to be a lot of fun — not to mention the pizza/beer/martini specials going on. Danny told me it starts when people get there and in my case, that’ll be around 5:30pm…so come down, say hi and do a little networking. Just don’t forget to répondez s’il vous plaît.

(Pizza Bar is located on 14th Street and 9th Avenue.)

Ruben Sanchez, the 27 year old Art Director of Spain’s Alai Skateboards, is my new favorite graphic designer. With notable talent in several areas (web, video and illustration in particular) Sanchez takes a particularly unique approach in the creative incorporation of his diverse talents into his work. I just watched his intro for AlaiOle, one of Alai’s latest skate films three times, not only because I am lame, but because the music, animation, and creative direction all add up to something so stimulating that it seems to mirror the addictive qualities of crack cocaine. Like so many successful creative types, Ruben is self-taught in all areas of his expertise — a trait that is nicely evident in his fresh work. He’s also doing a bit of freelance on the side, so if you need a snazzy intro for your latest series of home videos or something else equally serious, I’d have trouble thinking of a better candidate.

On Saturday, I had a moderately awkward conversation with someone who couldn’t tell me where the teak in his pieces was sourced from. Not wanting to get into a human rights debate in the middle of the Javits Center, I politely excused myself and seethed quietly for the remainder of the afternoon — it’s amazing to me that there are still designers who aren’t morally or environmentally conscious when it comes to the production of their pieces.

On the other side of this story, however, were a myriad of companies who set out to make sustainability and environmental responsibility their number one priority. At times I was floored by the thought process evident from beginning to end in the development of such beautiful lines of fabric and furniture, and not just in the fabrication, but in delivery and end-life strategies as well. To be honest, I struggled with where to start, so I just decided to go with my five of my favorites. Stylish quasi-treehugging and photographic goodness continue after the jump.
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Scott Hansen of ISO 50 is sneaky. I don’t know how he got access to the information, but somehow he planned the release of some killer newbie prints to directly coincide with my latest moving/redecorating blitz. I’m not, like, upset about it or anything — the posters are going to look good in my new place, after all — I’m just saying that there should be some sort of waiver that lets people know that Mr. Hansen’s music, however pleasant it may be, a) lures you into a deceptive state of relaxation; b) sucks your brains out; and c) spits the contents directly at the master’s feet… so that he may find the exact dates that you will need wall decorations. I knew there was something weird about his double life as a musician/designer- no one can ever be that good at both without that extra little gift the Feds call “mind control.”

It just feels wrong, you know?

Related Post: ISO 50: Vuela and Past is Prologue

My apologies for the radio silence since I arrived here in London! I’ve had an incredible past few days, filled with meetings and engagements. The most notable experience was definitely my talk at Google Zeitgeist yesterday followed by a panel with an amazing group of people (moderated by new friend Jonathan Zittrain) discussing the Digital Youth and the future of marketing and implications to the younger generations in the digital world. I spoke about five trends I believe are affecting the next generation of marketing, and what I am doing at my new agency to tackle those issues. The trends I spoke about covered Mobile as my center of gravity, I’m always on (so find me anywhere), Dating as Gaming, Virtual Gifting and Mass Individuality.

I’m told a video of my presentation and highlights from the panel will be on YouTube shortly, I’ll be sure to update everyone when they’re up there.

After being badgered by two close friends yesterday to check out the first episode of Flight of the Conchords, I did this morning and I have to say — this is hilarious stuff. Maybe it was the best breakup line in the history of the world (”What I really want is an Australian. Maybe you guys know some?”), Kristen Schaal’s sadly hysterical stalker character or the absolutely random song-and-dance routines interspersed throughout the episode, I pretty much just sat in front of my computer dying of laughter. You should go watch now, too, but I warn you: you may be subscribing to HBO as a result. After all, this summer it’ll be screening on Sunday nights after Entourage…

The new issue of So-Cal based Happy Magazine features ten pages of artwork by Spear Collective member and our favorite rock star Ryder Robison. If you don’t have a paper copy easily accessible, you can see the issue online; click the “Peep This Issue” link on the website, and it will be on the upper-right side of the page. Ryder has also been doing a lot of updating on his PantherAttack portfolio lately, and I urge you to take a look at the additions he’s made to his photography, illustration, and painting sections. He recently dug some great photos out of his archives– there’s a little bit of everything in there: urban, rural, rustic, cultural, Rock n’ Roll, and straight up eclectic. You’ll just have to see for yourself.

Uber-famous entrepreneur and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki recently launched a new project, Truemors.com. His latest venture aims to open access to information and capitalize on user-generated content – namely rumors, news, and other tidbits. Anything seems to be fair game, aside from what Kawasaki & Co. deem to be “crap”. Wary of hypocrisy, Kawasaki closely monitors new submissions and deletes many yet retains quite a few questionable posts as well. (After all, self-promotion and grassroots buzz-building are part of what make ventures like Truemors work.) Few obstacles discourage potential submitters (the site does not require registration or email validation) and options for slinging dirt (via phone, text, email, or online) abound. Once posted, users can score posts in a Digg-like fashion. To date, the reception from the media and in the blogosphere has been decidedly mixed. Some point to the site’s clunky performance (load times can be slow and automatic page refreshes can get irritating) and uninspiring design and cry “dud” while others seem enamored by Kawasaki’s boldness and willingness to take a risk. Yet, as he himself frequently mentions in defense of Truemors, the site took only $12,000 to build — not much of a financial risk nor should any would-be entrepreneurs be surprised at how little it takes to launch a site in today’s market. I doubt he’s risking much personal capital either — at this point, most people inclined to have an opinion either consider him a genius or a lucky self-promoter. The site’s success or failure doesn’t seem likely to significantly change his image. From my perspective, Truemors is more interesting as a Web 2.0 exercise than in reality. If anything, its potential success may tell us something about ourselves – if we decide we really need another source for trifles like the details of Julie Bowen’s labor and childbirth (#9 on the “Greatest” list at the moment), Truemors will make sure we have it.

Yesterday, PC World released their rankings of 2007’s best sites, PCs, HDTVs, services and components. Aside from the fact that I’m only familiar with about a handful of the list’s mentions (yeah, as it turns out, Canonical Ubuntu 7.04 is a Linux update, not an anthropological excavation site), I can still say from my admittedly naive perspective that the list does a killer job cluing in readers as to what they might want to pay attention to in regards to the future of technology. Not surprisingly, Google Apps Premier Edition grabbed the number one spot, followed closely by the Intel Core 2 Duo, the Blackberry 8800, and ninety-seven other techy wonders, including Meebo, Guitar Hero 2 (rock out!) and of course, the MacBook Pro, which I can personally vouch for as a ray of sunshine in a dark-with-PCs planet. Long story shortest, if you’re in the market for a nicely packaged course in current technology, this list will get you updated faster than SightSpeed 6. I don’t really know what that is- but, uh, it sounds fast– so go read, readers.

Now that I’m finally settling into my digs here in Sao Paulo, I’ve been looking around for pieces to spruce up my place and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), there’s no IKEA here to help. But this past weekend while attending ResFest I discovered ALGO and already am making plans on where in my apartment I can put their gorgeous decorative pillows. Members the ALGO collective (who count fashion, photography and animation among their interests) silk-screen leftover fabric with quirky graphics such as lobsters over unique abstract patterns. The result is an irreverent, colorful take on home decor as well as great conversation pieces for a housewarming party — and they probably look great when used as weapons in a pillow fight, too!

The throw pillows come in four sizes, from a round tube ($25) to square at 20 x 20 inches ($50). Since the project is so new, the pillows are only available by e-mailing them or in person at bazaars held at ALGO member Michael Arms. ALGO will soon be expanding their line to include sleeping masks and pillow cases.

If there’s anything that I learned during the two days I spent at ICFF, it’s that I’m a little too obsessed with lighting. Sure, lighting is one of the most important, yet often one of the most overlooked elements in design, but my excitement over pendant lamps measuring almost five feet in diameter is beyond ridiculous. Luckily for you, though, that just means lots of pictures that will hopefully inspire you to get rid of that $10 piece of junk from IKEA. And don’t tell me you don’t have one, because I know you do. My favorites from the show are after the jump, and when I wade through the mounds of press kits I lugged home, I’m sure there’ll be even more.
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While checking out the recently prettified blog of our Portland-based friends at db clay (we’re super excited about their forthcoming series of environmentally-friendly wallets), I fell hard for a new and glorious form of media player. SplashCast, a new start-up also based in Portland, enables users to create streaming media “channels” that mix together music, video, text, photos, narration, and RSS Feeds, as well as PowerPoint presentations and PDFs. SplashCast is a “skinless” media player, which means that it is wonderfully adaptable to individual sites’ branding and design- in other words, the player will blend seamlessly into whatever you’ve got going for you, without any rubbish YouTube borders, etc. SplashCast also makes it easier to track views, something that can help you figure out whether to keep up your daily posts or call it quits (just kidding; you write because you love it, right?). Because SplashCast is free — and from what I can tell, easy to use — you have little reason not to try it out. Download this little gem here, then let us know what you think.

You’ll have to excuse the light posting for today, as I’m heading back to ICFF momentarily. Before I do, though, I wanted to share some of the highlights of my filled trip on Saturday. Josh had warned me there would be a lot of “garbage” at the Javits Center (and indeed, there is) but I guess you can chalk my kid-in-a-candy store excitement up to first-timer enthusiasm. After the jump is a just a snippet of some of my favorite things from Saturday’s field trip, and I’ll be back later this evening and tomorrow with a veritable boatload of photos and stories.

If there’s someone there you think I should check out, hit me up on my Blackberry and I’ll swing by.
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I think my heart skipped a beat when I set eyes on this latest skyscraper set to join the skyline in Tianjin, China. Composed of three towers made up of stacked and slightly rotated eight-story blocks, Atkin’s TEDA Landmark towers (appropriately nicknamed “the pile of boxes” by Tianjin residents), will make use of a geothermal heating/cooling system and an in-house turbine system (encased in the crowning mesh-like structures) to help supply electricity. The three towers will also display sky-gardens in rotating corners of the glass blocks that will “light up the corners of each tower, creating an illusion of glowing lanterns rising up into the sky,” a feature that I’m anxious to see executed by virtue of its potential surreality. The towers will hold (in their over 400,000 sq. feet) residential apartments, retail shops, office space, and – yay for us – a luxury five-star hotel. No word on date of completion as yet, but once we know, I think a field trip may be in order.

As the only child of environmentally-conscious parents who own color-coded recycle bins for every imaginable item, I have an innate attraction to anything made from renewable materials. So, when I saw a picture of the Reee Chair, which is composed of recycled Playstation 2 castings, I naturally began mentally placing one in my apartment. The Reee is the product of British designers/manufacturers PLI and design consultants Sprout Design, and while it won’t be available to ship for a few months, you can pre-order yours now for just under a hundred pounds from PLI’s site. And, unlike other chairs made from recyclable materials, the Reee is ergonomically designed for lower and upper body support. Now (read: September) you can play your Playstation 3, eat dinner or study in geektastic comfort and style.

–Stephanie Young