BBC to Launch a Show About Branding Later This Month?

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From a pair of sources, we’ve heard there’s going to be some pretty substantial content about branding and packaging design on the upcoming BBC series, High Street Dreams. And it’s a pretty impressive roster, including among the batch are big firms Identica and Pearlfisher, all of whom will reportedly be showing how specific brands went from small-time inception (sometimes lingering there quite a while), only to become household names. We’re a bit confused though, because High Street Dreams, at least according to a couple of the BBC’s press releases from the past few months, sounds more like a reality show where contestants “will face the challenge of running their shops in six very different eras of British history, from Victorian Britain and the birth of the British high street right through to the 1970s.” Maybe they break in from time to time to talk branding with these design shops? Or it’s a different show with a similar name? Those in the UK will find out when it/both shows start(s) airing on the 17th of this month.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Ruhrsteine by Formfjord

Berlin designers Formfjord have made concrete pebbles for stone-skipping across water. (more…)

Down Side Up by Fabrica

Designer Sam Baron of Fabrica will present a modular collection of furniture full of holes at ICFF in New York later this month. (more…)

Downsize Your Desk To Fit Your Laptop

imageI remember growing up sitting at a huge desk that housed the family computer and bulky CRT monitor. I don’t know about you, but it seems like everyone has a computer with a flat screen monitor, a laptop or an even teenier netbook. To add to that, we no longer have stacks of CDs or floppy discs to take up even more office real estate. So that means we can all ditch the large desks and go for something more space saving and streamlined. Choose something small compact like the Flip Desk from west elm or something even smaller like the Nestable stand which looks like a music stand for your laptop. Now you just have to tackle the tangled cables in the back! Take a look at my slideshow to see more desks for the modern office.

view slideshow

Google Chrome Speed Tests

Un nouveau spot très créatif dans la continuité de la saga Google Chrome, avec cette-fois un accent mis sur la vitesse du navigateur. Une utilisation réussie de la technique slow-motion, par le studio Bartle Bogle Hegarty. A découvrir en vidéo dans la suite de l’article.



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Previously on Fubiz

ulus

ulus brings us to the exclusive and sophisticated residential district of Istanbul, to admire the most beautiful view on the city, sitting on the big ..

CH iPad Giveaway Number Four

We are now on our fourth iPad giveaway and this one goes to our Twitter followers. If you’re not already subscribed to our Tweets, do it here before 9am EST on 11 May 2010.

You probably know by now that we debuted the CH iPad app in early April with our launch sponsor Cadillac and the new CTS-V Coupe. To celebrate we are giving away a dozen iPads, one-by-one, each with a custom designed iPad case from our friends at Speck.

Each week we feature several editorial stories in the Cadillac section on the iPad app where you’ll also find Cool Hunting-produced videos and features that take you behind the scenes at Cadillac plus tools that will help you learn more about the CTS-V Coupe.

Learn more about our iPad app or Download Cool Hunting for the iPad from iTunes


Museo del Agua by MID Estudio

Spanish architects MID Estudio have converted a grain store in Palencia, Spain, into a museum by blocking up windows and door with metallic and wood boxes. (more…)

The University Avenue Project

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What happens when you ask people what they think about race? Who they are and their dreams? What happens when you ask them to write it down? Photographer Wing Young Huie did just that, wandering a six-mile-long stretch of University Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota to create his newest public art installation, The University Avenue Project.

The public photo gallery and community outreach project, funded by Public Art Saint Paul, hopes to illuminate and connect the diverse population of the area.

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Huie asked his subjects eight prompts: Who are you? Describe yourself in a couple of sentences. How do you think others see you? What don’t they see? What advice would you give a stranger? What is your favorite word? Describe an incident that changed you. How has race affected you? The resulting startlingly earnest beautiful photographs make up the subject of a book as well as an exhibition.

Huie was inspired by his father, a Chinese immigrant who couldn’t understand his drive to become a photographer, yet served as an example of strength and hard work. His migrant roots reflect Huie’s focus, with University Avenue functioning as a hub for visiting and newly minted U.S. citizens, showing a wide range of people and their experiences.

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Photographs of residents holding chalkboard signs boasting daunting messages make up the majority of the book, but Huie also captured longform interviews that add to the engaging portrait of University Avenue. The first volume of the book includes these interviews, as well as essays and insights by Huie on the project, with Volume 2 set to come out 1 August 2010.

This is not Huie’s first foray into public art. His first solo exhibition, “Frogtown: Portrait of a Neighborhood,” revamped a former porn store into an art space. Huie expanded the initial public art seed into “Lake Street USA,” a six-mile-long exhibition with photographs displayed on shop windows and bus stops.

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His intentions with The University Avenue Project are “to capture not the exotic or dramatic, but the normal everyday of people living. I wanted to pursue an aesthetic that was hopefully less voyeuristic, deflating the distance between viewer and subject.”

In addition to Huie’s book, his images will be displayed along University Avenue in shop and office windows through September 2010. At night they will be projected onto 40 giant screens accompanied by local musicians at the “Project(tion) site,” an outdoor space created by arts agency Northern Lights. The nightly events also include Cabarets held monthly beginning 29 May 2010. View the complete schedule from The University Avenue Project site. Prints are also available, from $30 to $1,500. Volume 1 of The University Avenue Project sells online from the Minnesota Historical Society for $13.


Choosing the Right Electric Bike

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If you’re interested in biking to work, but not interested in arriving covered in sweat, posits Good, the electric bike might be for you. Electric bikes use batteries to ease the pedaling and give you that extra kick, much like biking downhill everywhere. They’re just the thing for a zero-emissions commute and escape from behind the wheel. However, the batteries and other features require an extra level of maintenance and know-how.

The bikes vary from strap-on batteries on the Ezip Trailz to the Kilowatt sustainable bamboo bike. Read the full rundown at Good.