Il 13 maggio in occasione dell’apertura del 18° negozio in Italia a San Giuliano di Milano, IKEA hanno organizzato un contest molto particolare. Dopo essersi iscritti e scelto un oggetto a disposizione tra cucina, divano, etc…chi restava per 9 ore attaccato all’oggetto senza mai spostarsi, se lo portava a casa! Una gara estenuante che ha premiato i più aficionados al brand svedese!
After the obligatory trailer and Facebook launch, Nike’s World Cup ad is finally released…
The spot is from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam and directed by Alejandro G Inarritu, of Babel and 21 Grams fame. Unlike its blackly humorous trailer, which suggested something more unusual, it is everything you would expect from a (very long) major footy commercial: it’s slick, fast and a touch overblown. The spot features football stars aplenty, including Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba, and is centred around what goes through footballers’ minds on the pitch: will they bring glory for themselves and their country or devastation?
One of the stars included in the ad is Ronaldinho, who won’t actually be taking part in this year’s World Cup – this highlights one of the problems for sports brands and their ad agencies when preparing a major campaign like this, when injury or a player simply not being picked can make an ad seem out of date before it’s even released.
Credits for three-minute version:
Co-Creative Directors – Mark Bernath / Eric Quennoy (W+K Amsterdam) Copywriters/Art Directors – Stuart Harkness / Freddie Powell (W+K London) Producers – Elissa Singstock / Olivier Klonhammer / Erik Verheijen (W+K Amsterdam) Account Management – Gene Willis / Jordi Pont / David Anson / Marco Palermo (W+K Amsterdam) Production Company – Independent Films London / Anonymous Content Director – Alejandro González Iñárritu Editorial Company – Work Post, London; additional editing by Mirrione, Los Angeles VFX Company – The Mill, London and New York Mix Company – Grand Central Studios London Music + Sound Design/Song Bed of Spot – “Hocus Pocus” by Focus Music Remix – MassiveMusic Amsterdam
Some nice books on my desk at the moment so thought I’d share them. First up is Art In Time: Unknown Comic Book Adventures 1940-1980 by Dan Nodel (published by Abrams; £25) – a chunky hardback compendium of some of the characters that, despite originating from the pens of established comic artists, just never quite made it…
HG Peter, the artist who created Man O’ Metal (who?) in 1942 went on to have considerably more success with Wonder Woman (ah, yes – I’ve heard of her). Author Dan Nadel includes reproductions of entire comic strips so readers can not just familiarise themselves with the unsung heroes included in the book, but also some of their comic book capers. I’ve only scratched the surface but look forward to exploring this one more. Here are some images. Please excuse my shoddy photography.
Impressive: Printmaking, Letterpress & Graphic Design (Gestalten, £40) collects together photographs of tactile, printed works by a wide range of creatives from around the world – including House Indusries, Nobrow, and SORT (The Society of Revisionist Typographers). Here’s some spreads and photos and also a little extract from the book’s introduction:
“In the current climate of corner-store calling cards and exchangable software templates, these tangible human touches and skills – with all their idiosyncratic errors – have become a rare luxury. Sumptuous, luscious, almost prohibitively elaborate and sinful, bespoke hand-crafted cards and invitations reconnect sender and recipient as a thoughtful reminder and promise of things to come. Translated to the corporate sphere, to tailored company stationery or annual reports, hand-printing adds that certain je ne sais quoi, a dash of instant kudos and character. Limited by design, it conveys appreciation for the recipient and certainly leaves an impression – on the card stock and in our minds.”
Just as the Impressive book looks to ride the wave of popularity that analogue, hands on printing is currently enjoying – Pen to Paper (Pictoplasma; €39.90) looks to celebrate the fact that many illustrators working today still favour the humble pen (and pencil) – rather than the mouse. So not a vector image in sight! Featured artists include Allison Schulnik, Ian Stevenson, John Casey, Luke Ramsey, Kerozen and more… here are some spreads:
Spread showing work by Allyson Mellberg Taylor
Arnaud Loumeau
Frédéric Fleury
Ian Stevenson
Kerozen
Mark Delong
Pictoplasma has also just published Characters In Motion 3 (€29.90) – its third collection of drawn characters brought to life in animated projects. The publication takes the form of a 180 minute DVD housed in the back cover of a book (shown above) containing stills and credits for all the featured films – by the likes of Marc Craste, McBess, Asterokid, David O’Reilly and many more talented directors and animators. More info at publishing.pictoplasma.com/dvds/characters-in-motion-vol-3
David Dolcini has created an adjustable stool made of solid cedar for Italian brand Riva 1920. (more…)
The symbolic strength of Nature emerges from the building facade in the shape of flowers that trascend the usual flower stands. They sprout from the j..
Architectural photographer Roland Halbe has sent us his photos of the Republic of Korea Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 by Mass Studies. (more…)
While the season’s transitional weather lends plenty of opportunities for staring-out-the-window-at-the-rain songs, spring’s soft sunshine also inspires a feel-good faster pace—so that we can get it all done in time for dreamy do-nothing summer days. For those ready to get things started early, we threw in a few cathartic jams too.
Perfectly blending smooth, jazzy horns and peppy percussion, play this one as your soundtrack for walking like you have somewhere to go but don’t really care if you’re 20 minutes late. Download it from iTunes.
Yes, the most pop track off the album already makes us cringe when we hear people sing along to it, but we can’t say no to a song that’s so irrepressibly danceable—in fact, we’re pretty in love with the whole album. On James Murphy’s third album, he continues to make music that draws on an obscure past to come up with a fresh sound for the ages. Or, as Murphy put it in a recent New Yorker interview, “LCD is a band about a band writing music about writing music.” Add live shows with so much energy it feels like the place may explode—a problem we’re fine with so long as the unlikely frontman is there with us—and we’re totally sold. This is one where you should definitely actually pay for the whole album—do it on iTunes.
A tip-off from the band and tightly-edited music and culture blog Superhumanoids, this gritty track keeps it minimal while hooking any 808 addicts with heavy bass. Not much is known about the unsigned Londoner, yet this track has already become a current club fixture worldwide.
Beginning with a sparse, percussive heartbeat that anchors Andrea Estella’s woozy intonations for shelter and love, this track then makes way for a tighter-than-tight guitar hook, heavenly multi-tracked vocals and a hazy instrumental coda. Download it on iTunes.
This anonymous group pulls out tender, glockenspiel-heavy melodies with the ease of a spring breeze only rivaled by the simple purity of their lyrics. Originally spotted on Street Carnage Radio, Cults let the music speak for itself with no more online presence than a bandcamp site for downloading their three-track album.
The 1989 hit from Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 album ushered in a defining ’90s sound that, thanks to perfect pop production, still holds up for nostalgia-tinged warm weather romps around town with the windows down and the speakers turned up. Her controversial album (Jackson wanted to express her hopes that we would one day live in a nation “that would have a positive message and that everyone would be free to join”) also still has particular relevance today. Pick it up from iTunes.
A contender for this summer’s club anthem, “Shutterbugg” is the first track from Big Boi’s solo debut, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. Producer Scott Storch’s trademark boom-clap and needling synths are all over this one, along with a momentary refrain of Soul II Soul’s “Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)”—but when it comes down to it, we really just like the way it jumps off with the beat. Get it now on iTunes.
LCD Soundsystem’s superlative new LP, This Is Happening, is enough to keep us occupied all season long (see our review of “I Can Change” above). However, the soulfully downtempo “People” from James Murphy’s first film score is a noteworthy detour. Hear the rest of the Greenberg soundtrack from iTunes.
In the mad world of Gorillaz, anything is possible, even an oddball collaboration between De La Soul and Super Furry Animal’s Gruff Rhys. Damon Albarn’s funhouse production gives De La Soul’s nutty wordplay and Rhy’s idiosyncratic, sunny delivery equal billing. Order the track on iTunes.
Frontman Hayden Thorpe’s gorgeously sad song sounds more like an intricate web than an empty nest, weaving his words as he does to a tune we don’t mind getting trapped in. Pick it up from iTunes.
An offshoot of Brooklyn’s Nuclear Family (and friends of CH), the Junk Science duo’s laid-back, lyrically amusing track (from their new album A Miraculous Kind Of Machine) comes with an equally humorous John and Yoko-inspired video that we’re debuting below. Pick up the album from iTunes.
No summer warm-up mix in New York would be complete without dancehall, and one of Jamaica’s leading emcees keeps it appropriately daggering-friendly with “Better Can Wuk.” While it’s not officially released yet, check out the video on YouTube. (Thanks to yo_matty for the tip.)
It’s no surprise that the 1994 “Gold Soundz” would be included on the recent Best of Pavement album, Quarantine the Past. The stream-of-consciousness lyrics, broken only to alert the band of the coming chorus, are a big part of what makes the band’s entire catalog so compelling—but it’s the surprisingly understated instrumental section that always does me in. A smattering of guitars rise and fall with graceful ambiguity, blooming in the middle in a fit of unexpected ecstasy only to collapse drunk on the floor. Beautiful. Find the Matador reissue on iTunes.—Rory Carroll
Written in a small cabin in rural Upstate New York and recorded in Malibu, the title track off the Brooklyn band’s sophomore album mixes dreamy psychedelic sounds with introspection for a light-hearted—but self-aware—look at fame. Like the record as a whole, the way “Congratulations” pretty flawlessly modernizes a vintage genre in a complete departure from their debut album, suggests the group knows exactly what they’re doing. Pick it up from iTunes.
“Drainspotting” puts Remo Camerota’s popular blog of Japanese manholes into a square-shaped book of amazing construction and bizarre imagery. As the title suggests, Drainspotting requires an eye for the odd bursts of color along city streets.
Camerota transformed his obsession into a startling gallery of funny, strange and delicately designed drain covers. The strong colors in many of the discs create an effect of otherworldly being. They appear too strong, too imaginative to serve such a utilitarian function.
The covers are part of a 20 year beautification program between the cities and various foundries to make manhole covers that reflect the particular culture of the city in which it’s located. In an interview with Nagashima Foundry president Hirotaka Nagashima, he explains, “we here at Nagashima suggested designs for manhole covers that represented something about the city. The cities and towns tell us of particular elements that they require, which can be from a myth, building, panoramic view or character of the locality.”
“Drainspotting” neatly maps notable covers with a map orienting them within Japan. Through this approach, Camerota builds a window into the society, both unique and fantastic.
In tandem with the book’s release, an iPad App is available that offers a sneak peek into the book, including the introduction and beautiful, crisp pictures. There’s Doramu the dragon (bottom), birds and a dramatic sunset, autumn leaves and illuminating photos of the Nagashima Foundary’s process.
The book sells from Amazon or Mark Batty.
See more images in the gallery below.
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