Hasta La Ideas

She travels the globe with a massive library of art books and translates fashion designers’ eclectic seasonal inspirations (“Blade Runner meets Lord Byron!” “Diana Vreeland on safari!”) into influential catwalk makeup, but who knew Pat McGrath was a video game fan? The renowned makeup artist helped to conceptualize Fashion Week Live, a video game franchise now being developed by 505 Games in partnership with entertainment and media company IMG. Slated to debut next year on platforms ranging from the Nintendo Wii to the iPhone, the games will allow players “to enter the world of high fashion at Fashion Week, with a true insider’s point of view,” according to an IMG press release. “Games will feature world-class industry gurus, top models, and the star-studded runways of Fashion Week events worldwide.” And 505 knows something about playing dress-up. Among a new line of games the company developed for the Discovery Kids network is Pony Paradise, which allows kids to “Get stylin’ in the stable! Wash and groom your pet pony—add accessories, too!” Where were innovations like this during our childhood, when we had to try out equine smoky eye and nude lip combos on real ponies?

While we can’t be sure that our Diet Coke purchasing experience would be significantly improved by a 46-inch LCD touch screen, Flash technology, motion graphics, high-definition video, and Bluetooth capabilities, the thusly enhanced Coca-Cola vending machine (at right) won a Gold Lion in the design/point of sale category at the 2009 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. The souped-up machine, which debuted last year at the Beijing Olympics, was designed by Miami-based Sapient Interactive. Here’s hoping that as the machines are rolled out, they’ll be manufactured in a hue other than the bland, industrial gray we associate with shady ATM machines and old-school Casio graphing calculators. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola also picked up a Gold Lion in the viral advertising category, for the YouTube hit Signs, a short film for Schweppes directed by Patrick Hughes for Publicis Mojo of New Zealand. We’ve posted the charming video, which makes us crave a fresh Sharpie Magnum 44, after the jump.

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Dezeenwire: Sunday Times architecture critic Hugh Pearman has posted his review of Bernard Tschumi’s new Acropolis Museum in Athens on his website – www.hughpearman.com

For his senior thesis at OSU, designer Tylan Tschopp conceived of two camping devices that use manual compressed air storage as their energy source. Why? Because assuming your arms still work, it can’t run out of juice, it’s lightweight, and there’s no hazardous fuels or gases you need to carry with you. Crank up the tank and presto, you’ve got a heater/stove and a lantern/flashlight.

Also be sure to check out his wicked Police Cycle Light up on Coroflot.

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J. Howells Werthman (JHW), a brooklyn native and co-founding member of the Nuclear Family music collective, recently released his first solo album We Are Making Plans. Taking advantage of Nuclear Family’s “extensive community of music makers and artists, guys we’ve been doing shows with for years,” the carefully crafted album features a curated list of guests that proves hip hop lives on.

Although JHW admits he doesn’t really like “producer albums”—when an individual creates all the beats and gets emcees to rap over them—he comments, “I wanted to make a project that featured everybody, to leave some evidence of all this talent. In the end, that became the theme of the record and led me to the title of the thing, We Are Making Plans.”

A versatile and well-rounded musician, JHW blends a variety of sounds from jazz to old Afro-Brazilian beats, creating a distinct musical amalgam. Of the album’s 17 tracks, he produced them all (with the exception of “Clamato,” produced by Javelin). Most feature guest emcees and some of my favorite tracks have to be the beautifully composed and heavily jazz-influenced instrumental interludes.

The cover art for the record also goes for the highly-produced gold, but takes a DIY approach. To translate the communal nature of the project, a photograph featuring life size print-outs of the 18 collaborative emcees, posed in an abandoned lot on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY, graces the cover. A background mural of the album’s title on a decaying brick wall completes the the living collage. Created by Nuk Fam’s own Tone Tank (also of Scum Life), they did it all without Photoshop tricks.

For more from this producer, who’s been making original music since high school, check out tracks for Iller Than Theirs‘ self-titled debut, as well as his executive production credits on Junk Sciene‘s “Feeding Einstein” and “Gran’dad’s Nerve Tonic.” He also plays with the Brooklyn based band Ro Agents sometimes.

We are Making Plans is available for free download from
Radio Belly. Be sure to look out for more from the Nuclear Family soon. As always, they are making some plans.