Design of the year..

Sure I post a lot of crazy things that all have merit but truth be told, I'm not really into most high-end design other than eye-candy. Furniture design mostly bores the shit out of me..'product design' is usually pointless or wasteful..automotive design is relatively stagnant..and overall, most so-called industrial design is only concerned with commercialization and catering to only about %15 of the total world population. Sure, people need jobs but there is plenty of money and opportunity to be made by doing good and charitable things as well. (hint* governments, charities, philanthropists...) The stuff that really matters to me is the stuff that actually does something good and positive for people that need it most. The industrial design profession a whole lacks actual visionaries with the drive and passion to do something good for anyone besides themselves and their own careers all for the sake of money. Which is probably why some of the best actual industrial design comes from scientists and engineers who are sincere about doing good and are empathetic to people's needs. Prime example is the Life Straw that is helping millions of people to have cleaner drinking water and thus be healthier (those scientists are PAID!!). The OLPC program is also worthy of mentioning as well as the Play Pump program in Africa.

Anyway, what you're looking at is an amazing invention that is enabling thousands of people with bad eyesight to see clearly again. A scientist at Oxford developed a way to make an easily modifiable lens with two thin membranes that shape according to the amount of water in-between them. The patient can do it themselves and adjust each lens to what's best for them by pushing or pulling a water-filled syringe. Once adjusted, they just take the syringe off and tighten the screw. The over all costs are immensely cheaper since they only have to produce one lens and this also saves huge amounts of money and time with distribution. The intent is to distribute 1 billion pairs over the next 11 years with a target cost of only $1. Oh, and he's just doing this to do it and takes no money from this project. Surely, these form of these glasses could be refined but all things considered, this is great design. Read the article..

It's about time...

I can't claim to understand the world of 'high fashion' but I know a good idea when I see it. Any dress that can automatically transform to be more revealing just makes sense. This is very practical for summertime weather and for making guys horny. Wait until the end for the best of the collection.

Yes, we can..

Here's some songs that came to mind when Barack Obama got elected and I posted his speech from Chicago here. I was just reading about him in the Person Of the Year issue of Time and it reminded me to post these songs. It's always amazing to me how some songs with political or social messages can always remain current and relevant. This post could really go on and on and on....there is sooooo much good music to choose from for this. Keep in mind that this is just a handful of hundreds of songs I could put here. Enjoy!

This is one of my favorite songs by great Curtis Mayfield. His genius is felt in the way the arrangement and feeling of the music complements the lyrics perfectly. One of the best songs ever made in my opinion which is why it's at the top of this list.
Curtis Mayfield "Move On Up"



I don't know any other material from Steve Parks but I'm sure it's good based on this tune. This is been in heavy rotation in my collection for years now and I'd like to share it with more people.
Steve Parks "Movin' In The Right Direction"



Another one of my favorite songs of all-time. This never goes out of style and has been remixed and remade several times in recent years. Still, the original is always my favorite and blends well with the Movin' In The Right Direction (mentioned above).
Cymande "Brothers On The Slide"



This is some obscure soul/disco track by Heem The Music Monsters from the mid '70s. Thanks to Jazzman Records for re-issuing this gem.
Heem The Music Monsters "Wake Up People"



I've been playing this track a lot since I bought it. One of my favorite 12"s in the past 5 years by far. I own the original 12" also but this just seems to work better. This re-edit by Samuri 7 keeps all the important pieces of the original in-tact and just puts a little modern twist on it to make it more workable on a 21st century dance floor. This track KILLED when I played at Back 2 Basics a few months back. As Norman Jay might say "epic"! haha..
Willie Hutch "Brothers Gonna Work It Out (Samuri 7 rework)"



This is a track from the "one of the best albums I'm glad I bought but don't get to play enough" category. (yes, that's a real category for real DJs/collectors..heads know the deal..) It's produced by Blaze..do I really need to say anymore. But DAAAAM! This cut really hits a nerve with me and even without some live band, this still has more soul than a lot of new 'afro-soul' groups coming out. This is an old formula for Blaze though...their "25 Years Hence" album in the early '90s was also amazing. (I still need that on vinyl..*hint*)
Blaze presents: James Toney Jr. Project "Revolution Poem"



Next is another modern banger from the Ubiquity label. So, you know it's flavour. This was one of the standout tracks from the HVW8 Presents: compilation. Unfortunately the compilation as a whole was lack-luster but there were some really solid tracks that made it worth buying. This is one of them. This was also on John Arnold's "Style & Pattern" album. Vocals by Paul Randolph, who seems to be everywhere!
John Arnold f/ Paul Randolph "Rise Up"



This next track is kind of an underground classic now. Only a few years old, it's become a staple in many DJs sets. Nice remake of a classic Billy Paul tune. At the right moment, this can still work the crowd in even a full room of people that don't even know who Steve Spacek or J Dilla are! That's how dope Dilla is/was...R.I.P.
Steve Spacek "Let The Dollar Circulate"



Ok, and finally a tune that everybody in America above the age of 4 has probably heard at least a few times in their life. There's just something about this song that never get's old. It's catchy and not too rock, not too soul but is well written with a positive message. There's something to be said for songs that are played in supermarkets and clubs 3 decades later. Essential for all humans to own this song..some people could really benefit from really listening to the lyrics. I think this song really hits home with people that work their asses off to barely survive in this country.
Robert Palmer "Every Kind Of People"

Jazzanova's new album: GET IT!

I can't believe I'm a couple months late on getting this. Usually I'm pretty on top of new releases as important as this but as I've said before...school's a muhfuka! That's still not a good excuse for missing this release... Ahhhh...where to start!! Well, how about with the immediately apparent presence of mostly live instruments...not what I was expecting from Jazzanova but not surprised either. (remember the Sonar Kollektiv Orchestra album from earlier this year?) As producers of quality music, Jazzanova rarely let me down but there's not much they've done that really blows me away or gives me chills. Oh, and keep in mind, these dudes are from Berlin! It seems like a lot of the best soul & funk music is coming from Europe (or at least gets more support there). I have to wonder though...what happened to their sense of album art??!!! Seriously..it's some of the worst album art I've ever seen in my life and I'm being as nice as I can with that statement! hahahaha.. SUPPORT GOOD MUSIC, BUY THE ALBUM.

Let Me Show Ya



So Far From Home f/ Phonte of Little Brother



Gafiera



I Can See


BUY THE ALBUM




BONUS: Sonar Kollektiv Orchestra







Boom Clicky Boom Klack (Jazzanova)


BUY THE ALBUM

EMPAC building..

The Experimental & Performing Arts Center is part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Completed earlier this year by Grimshaw Architects. Absolutely beautiful.

view more images at Grimshaw Architects' site and at the EMPAC site..must see!

Kunsthaus Graz

This is an art museum in Austria and is awesome. Not only is the form unlike anything else, the exterior is a skin that is also a giant screen for motion graphics. Plus, they showcase some very different contemporary art. You can see more on their website- Kunsthaus Graz.

I LOVE this..

This is one of the best concepts I've seen this year. I had some ideas a couple years ago for visualizing sound and sound waves but this isn't one of them so it's cool to see something done like this. I DO have a line of items coming out next year that will incorporate sound waves but nothing like this. This was designed & prototyped by Sounds Butter. Their other projects are also worth checking out.

Mmmmmm...she's delicious!

This dress makes any woman go from just ordinary to absolutely delicious looking in just a few seconds. Designed by Joy Kampia.

One of my favorite designs of 2008

I know it's 'just a curtain' and it's not really something practical but this design is dope! If I could afford them I'd definitely buy these. They'll be on my wishlist of things to get when I make more than $100/month. Designed by Florian Kräutli and available through Droog. Most of the other work by this designer is questionable but still worth looking at.

Eye candy...(not porn you perverts!)

Here's some new content I've recently discovered...some is brand new and some isn't. Sorry about the misleading title for this post. I wasn't using the term 'eye candy' in the proper context :[ However, I WILL be starting a new section simply titled 'girls' which WILL be all eye candy :]

This video by the Magic Wands is ridiculous and honestly it's pretty lame/gay to me. I don't fully understand the whole style of rainbow colors, glitter and lasers mixed with sub-saharan wildlife. Sometimes it IS pulled off really well but sadly this isn't one of those cases. The reason I posted this video is actually not for the video at all. The music touched my soft spot for obscure '80s disco. This song is brand new but really has that sound of some super rare underground disco joint from like '83. (their song 'Black Magic' is also worth listening to)


Next up is the video for Someone Great by the almighty LCD Soundsystem. The video is simple and effective and really works with the song (which happens to be one of the best songs of 2007). Unfortunately EMI UK won't allow people to help out the band and post the video on other sites so just right click on the image and you'll go to the YouTube page for the video.


I thought I posted this next video by Robot High School a while back when I first saw it but apparently I didn't. I think the music for this is WACK! The video seemingly has nothing to do with the music but is still nice to look at. The director used a stop-action technique and emphasized the focal points in the shots to trick us into thinking we're looking at toys when in-fact everything is real.

Fuck it...I'll post 2 videos from this group I really don't care for because they have good taste in visuals..Here they use another super simple yet effective method to creative something visually interesting. If you didn't figure out how they did it by the first 30 seconds, they reveal it to you in the last part of the video. To their credit, this song isn't too bad.



I just saw this video earlier today and it kinda blew me away. It's both simple and intriguing using no special effects and the low-budgetness clearly seen....I mean c'mon, you couldn't spring for some more more exotic wild life! hahaha..Mallards are beautiful though and it's a cleaver usage of quail and standard field mice and mirrors. All the perfect elements for a live-action fractal art show. The Kraftwerk-esque music enhances the visuals to a point where we anticipate more and want to peer deeper into the complexity of the visuals to find more patterns and meaning.



AHHHH...this next one is straight up drugs! Watch all 3 parts!! Especially part 3..if you have a really fast internet connection view it on YouTube as higher quality.


UPDATE:
I totally forgot to include this in the post originally. This video is weird and looks painful but is highly entertaining. Turn the volume down if you need to..I did!

Weird video of the week...

I really haven't seen any videos in a few weeks but this week this is the weirdest thing I've seen in terms of music videos. The music is OK but the video is great and has everything a weird video needs: empty airport, dying fish out of water, half naked girl (alone- in hotel and in airport), mysterious bubble that seems to stalk the half-naked girl...oh yeah and they show ariola!

Poni Hoax - Antibodies - music video directed by Danakil from Danakil on Vimeo

Finally back to the [virtual] world...

I've been unable to add new content as frequently as I would like to these past few months because I've been in HELL. By HELL I mean I've been finishing up another semester. Warning: DO NOT GO BACK TO SCHOOL FOR A DESIGN DEGREE! (unless you really think it will get you somewhere you really want to be someday.) I have been doing some good work though and I'll be posting some of it soon once I update my portfolio.

Eat me

It's been recommended to me that I start posting some of my own designs. I've been meaning to make an 'about me' section where you'd learn that I do a lot of things. One of the main parts of my life is being a designer and currently being in school for industrial design (that's why I don't update the site often enough).

Anyway, here's the first posting of one of my latest designs. It's a masterpiece and it's delicious! Possibly the best tasting design I've ever done unless you like to eat wood, plastic, glass or metal. This is where I'm supposed to say how great it is, so...This is the best damn Graham Cracker house you will ever see in your life EVER! If I were a better writer, or maybe just better at bullshitting, I could go on and on about the connections and references to great architechts and sound real 'designy©'. (I made that word up this week too...it's one of my recent creations and will be copyrighted so I get credit every time someone uses the new most awesomest word in the world- DESIGNY©) Eat your heart out Rem Koolhaas! Oh, this model is only 1:16...in "real" life this would probably just be a temporary tree house or fort structure for kids and other child-like humans.