Another great thing about living in New York City is getting one of the best newspapers in the world delivered to your doorstep (even though its mostly gets stolen!). The New York Times has always had a great design sense, and done a great job of covering design, especially in its supplemental weekend magazines. A few years ago, they set out with the goal of condensing all the various magazines (style, design, travel, fashion, etc) under one banner. The result was simply 'T'.
Last night I visited the almost completed New York Times building in Times Square designed by Renzo Piano. (Pentagram chipped in on the signage). AIGA/NY was holding another great event - one of the first in new audatorium - featuring T's Creative Director Janet Froelich and style editor Stefano Tonchi.
It was great to see them discuss their work, and all the great collaborations that come from the magazine. They have a fun job of roping in the best photographers, stylists, designer and writers in the world-- but they tend to keep a pretty small inner circle. The photography and typography are amazing, always elevating the standards. Did you know that Matthew Carter worked on perfecting the 'T' logotype when they realized it needed its own life?
In the coming months, T will launch an international edition, as well as a very impressive website which has been under development for a while.
I found a copy of Visionaire 34 recently.
It was curated by Hedi Slimane a few years ago while he was with Dior Homme, and features a monochromatic palette of images from contributors like John Maeda, Air and Chris Cunningham. I always look forward to Visionaire releases, and its fun to look back on the old ones and see how far ahead of the curve they were.
One of the great things about living in NYC is getting New York Magazine every week. From the stories, to the gossip and the wonderful design--its always on point. This week they dropped an issue dedicated to some of New York's Design Revolutionaries.
One of the people they feature is Fabien Baron--who's reputation as one of the most powerful creative directors in the world--has always seemed to be on more of a need-to-know basis.
In art school, I prided myself in discovering every graphic designer and artist, design studio and agency- spending hours at book stores and libraries. I thought I knew it all. But it wasn't until I moved to New York that I was turned on to the work of Baron & Baron, through a good friend Gerry Villareal. Fabien, like a Massimo Vignelli or Wim Crouwel, is obviously obsessed with the concept of 'total design', and thinking across any possible medium and format.
All images © Baron & Baron
Dance music (for the most part) is pretty disposable. I guess you could say that about a lot of music, but when I look back at a lot of the records that I bought during the 90s-- a lot of it doesn't stand the test of time. Thankfully I discovered MOODYMANN along the way.
He's never made a tune that didn't move me. I think we tried to book him to play Rude for 3 years straight, exhausting every connection we had. But Kenny's just elusive like that.
Fortunately for us, Gilles figured a way to get him on the air for a very rare interview. If you missed, or you don't know about the man called Kenny Dixon Jr. - check it here. (MP3, 165mg)
It was a nice surprise to come home to a package of new Especial goodies courtesy of Yoshi. Soundin' good!
They have some great material on the way from Phil Asher, Shuya Okino, and Lady Alma. As well as a couple of great compilations. I was also suprised to see that they recycled some 'especial' hand-writing that I did several years ago for a T-shirt...
Nuff Said really. Available at Dover Street Market.
All images © Dover Street Market.
As you might have heard, Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami is invading LA with a retrospective show opening next week at MoCA. Murakami has been gaining a lot of momentum in the states during the last few years thanks to his commercial work with Marc Jacobs / Louis Vuitton and most recently with Kanye West. Even more interesting, however, is the inclusion of a Louis Vuitton pop-up store that will live within the exhibit, selling a variety of Murakami / LV collaborations and other small leather goods. The curator of the exhibit justifies the move in attempts to break down the boundary between low and high art. A lot of people disagree, but I'm not mad. Its not the first Warhol comparison I've heard.
All images © MoCA / Takashi Murakami
Two iPhone views of the new New Museum going up on the Bowery, as designed by Sejima + Nishizawa / SANAA.
Opens December 1.
Respect to Hiro over at Conception Magazine for the short interview. You'll also find one with fellow M a informant Enrico Crivellaro.
I stopped by David Zwirner gallery this afternoon to check out the new solo show by Chris Ofili. Most people in America remember him from the mid-90s when Giuliani took aim at his "Virgin Mary" piece at the Brooklyn Museum (see below). Well, the bad press didn't turn out to be so bad afterall. Here are a couple of pieces of new work. His voluptuous bronze sculptures were especially nice.
"Virgin Mary", 1996
On the walk over I passed the new heavily-frosted Frank Ghery addition to the developing Highline area.
Also some nice Meshell snipe posters.
I was browsing through my friend Peter's links and came across this cool micro-site / video game to promote the new Reset EP from LA producer Flying Lotus. In what is a pretty boring musical landscape right now (for me), Flying Lotus is making some prettying interesting stuff, and this is a rare occasion when the graphics and music are both of the same high quality. More on Flying Lotus.
Really curious to see this. I love these behind-the-scenes documentaries in general, but Lagerfeld is a bit of a mystery,
so I expect this be interesting.
I respect him because he seems to have a complete vision. From the clothing, to the photography, events, and advertising.
I like the logos for his two labels:
I was recently turned on to the Korean designer Ahn Sang-Soo through the folks at Theme Magazine.
Its always nice to discover somebody new, but I'm surprised that I'd never been exposed to Soo's wonderful typography.
Here are a few bits:
Another great artist that seems greatly unrecognized is the Syrian calligrapher Mouneer Al-Shaarani.
His work is simply beautiful.
I'm also a fan of Ali Augur's music-inspired illustrations.
My Favorite Things returns this week in our brand new Thursday night slot. Its been almost 5 years we've been holding down on Tuesdays with Rude. / MFT, so this will be an interesting switch. I'm excited about having an old friend from Atlanta, Kai Alce, come to play with us. Kai is originally from Detroit where he grew up among friends like Kenny Dixon Jr, Theo Parrish and Alton Miller. In the last few years he started releasing his own productions for labels like KDJ's Mahogani, Trackmode, and Real Soon. I grew up watching him play at clubs in ATL when I was a teenager and he's still one of my favorite DJs. If you are in NYC, check it out Thursday October 18 at APT. RSVP
As always Simone the Big Bang will be in the house, as well as design supremo Billions McMillions holding things down upstairs.
Big ups to PUMA and Joao for the support.
Meshell played NYC last night in celebration of the new record. Nice crowd, and nice venue - Hiro Ballroom.
Look out for some European dates in November/December. Here are a few moody shots as captured by the iPhone...
This new documentary is a really fascinating look behind the scenes of Marc Jacobs creative process, and the challenge of running his own brand, while acting as creative director for LV. Available at Colette.
Upon seeing some of the 'less fortunate' applications of the NYC identity that I posted below, Jordan at WO was nice enough to share some of their ideas. I like the robustness of it, and that you can really use it as this graphic element rather than a garnish. (I think I see my boy Bryan Collins in there.)
Wim Crouwel is the man.
The most exciting part of Gary Hustwit's new documentary Helvetica for me, is seeing Crouwel, one of the most
prolific Dutch designers and typographers of the 20th century. I discovered his work in college and I continually revisit
it for inspiration.
Crouwel speaks on his love for modernism, and the power of neutrality.
I'm not the only one fascinated by him apparently. Japan's IDEA magazine just dedicated a whole issue to his work
(the most thorough collection I have seen), while AIGA/NY has booked him to speak alongside another design legend, Massimo Vignelli, in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to that meeting of the minds.
Speaking of Vignelli, he is also featured heavily in the Helvetica film. One of my favorites is his 1972 Subway map for the MTA. Compare that to today's map - what a mess.
I recently discovered the 2nd issue of HE Magazine. I'm feeling what the Danish studio homework is doing with the design. Check out their work.
NYC has a new logo which is being rolled out slowly across the city. Increasingly, more cities and even countries are considering their 'branding'. This was developed by Wolff Olins, who are behind many big visual identities like the (red) campaign and the controversial London 2012 Olympics.
Here it is in a few applications:
Looking back on the first issues of Chaser, its amazing how much style they had. The first 3 issues were designed by Andy Martin, before Swifty took over (and defined the whole look and feel of the 90s jazz scene). It was also one of the very first publications in the UK designed entirely on an Apple Macintosh.
Meshell Ndegeocello's new album came out last week around the world. Its her first in a while, and its been even longer since she sang on record. (Her last album was an instrumental jazz record also on Universal France). You'll notice a significant development in her sound, without alienating her loyal following. Some of the featured guests include Robert Glasper, Oliver Lake, and Pat Methany.
Those in NYC, check out the official release concert on October 13 at Hiro Ballroom. I'll be DJing the early party of
the evening.
Check the packaging that I art directed with the help of Ian Wright.
Ian is one of my favorite illustrator/image-makers, and was also the man behind some of the freshest Chaser artworks over the years (including the final issue cover). He's been spending a lot of time in NYC these days, and we're glad to have him. I went by his new studio space this week to catch up.
Ian has become well known for his portaiture.
Beethovan. Made with hi-fi parts.
Jimi Hendrix. Made with beads.
Basquiat.
Two decades to be exact.
Est. Summer 1988
The final issue of Straight No Chaser magazine, as we know it, arrived today.
For many of us, its why we're here. Its shaped what we do.
Big respect to Paul Bradshaw,
Swifty,
Kath Wilgress,
Mitchy Bwoy,
Gilles Peterson,
Ben Wilcox,
Ross Allen,
James Lavelle,
CK Smart
and a host of other visionaries that came thru the family.
However, the spirit and practice of Straight No Chaser will live on.
More news to come.
Minotaur feature. Shout out to Eiichi.
NYC's Common Projects have got it going on. Check their super simple and stylish footwear.
Wes Anderson's new movie Darjeeling Limited just dropped here in the states. Always paying close attention to the details, he teams up with Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton for this luggage set which plays a significant role in the film.
As many of you know, we're preparing for our Presidential election next year, and there couldn't be a more important time to make a positive change in our country and the world. One of the candidates who is pushing for this change is the Illinois Senator Barack Obama.
I was fortunate enough to hear him speak last night to 25,000 people in NYC's Washington Square Park. He is an inspirational guy who truly makes you believe that there is something we can all do to make a difference in the world. Let's hope he can keep building momentum as we approach the elections.
