Your chair is always there for you, day and night, 365 days a year. It never gives you any lip when you toss your coat over its back after a long day it without so much of a thanks. Think of all those times it’s supported you when you were feeling tired.
What about all the times you’ve strained it by forcing it to sit on its hind legs while you brag to your mom about how sweet your Facebook wall is looking these days? Nary a complaint from the stoic chair, the most loyal of our four-legged friends.
So why do we make these poor things live out their days standing naked on a hardwood floor?
These days, it seems people have gotten really creative with their beer drinking. The Go Plate, much like The Ashhole, (which MSLK designed the packaging for) can transform your empty beer bottle, can or cup into an instant commodity.
While The Ashhole fits on top of empty bottles and converts them into an ashtray, The Go Plate fits around your beverage receptacle of choice and as a result, allows you to carry your food and drink in one hand.It’s pretty clever and pretty practical, however, I don’t suppose it will help get rid of any beer bellies any time soon.
-Mariana G.
As Reactions continues to evolve, we are pleased to announce the addition of guest bloggers to our blog. This post features Mariana Gorn, our trend-spotting, beer-swilling, intern.
Every week at staff meeting, each designer brings in something that inspires them. Recently I’ve found that I’m often showing the Anthropologie catalog as an example of truly inspirational art direction and sales strategy. Such is the case with their recent issue focusing on the printing heritage of the Hatch Show Print Shop.
Hatch Show Print Shop is the nation’s oldest wooden type printing press. Based in Nashville Tenessee, Hatch made its mark printing posters promoting country music stars. In fact, it is now maintained by the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Every time I see the new Prius commerical, it make me instantly happy. It’s a far cry from the generic, sleek, celebrity-voiced-over car commercial. Instead of shooting the car in some dramatic, coastal landscape, they’ve created their own landscape with carefully choreographed people. In fact, every element of the landscape is a person. As the car drives through, the people transform into elements such as trees, clouds and water. The craft is so amazing that I almost didn’t realize they were people. The concept of integrating man with nature is fantastic, and the execution is flawless. My favorite touch is the subtle pulsation of movement that is created by each of the participants moving independently. It’s the perfect balance between focusing on the individual people and the larger scene unfolding. Pure magic.
Check out the behind the scenes clip showing the making of the commercial after the jump.
I’ve become HD-obsessed. I refuse to watch anything on television unless it’s at full 1080 resolution. I’ve also recently purchased a digital camera which shoots HD movies and have become so enamored with all the detail it captures, that can barely care what it is that I am shooting. (So much so, my hard drive is petitioning for an upgrade).
The flip side to seeing everything in crisp resolution is that you see, well, everything… especially the flaws. I’ve heard stories about famous actresses who cannot be cast because their bad acne now shows up clear as day on everyone’s living rooms due to the HD Revolution.
Naturally, there is a line of make up to capitalize on this new reality and try to remedy it…
Since 1876 Anheuser-Busch products have been conceived and manufactured in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Recently after feeling pressure that sales were not growing enough or that commanding 50% of the US beer market wasn’t good enough, the Busch family turned over the reigns to the Belgium based company, InBev. The sale was intended to increase A-B’s foothold in stronger and emerging beer markets such as Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Eastern Europe.
With all this in mind, I’ve become increasingly more and more upset that A-B — now after 133 years of American ownership — has decided to market their American Heritage first with the switch of Budweiser’s tagline from “The King of Beers” to “The Great American Lager,” and more recently with the introduction of the new product, “Budweiser American Ale.”
Thank you to all who came out on Saturday (despite the weather) and Sunday to experience our exhibit, and join us for out picnic.
Not only was the feedback overwhelmingly positive for Watershed, but for the Figment festival, featuring over 400 artists to exhibit their work, and just over 13,000 attendee for the weekend (up 30% from last year).
The Macktez Summer Stipend back again for it’s 5th season. Started by our good friend, Noah Landow, the stipend is a grant for creative development. Each year they try to reach out to junior designers, interns, and other creative individuals for whom a little extra cash could be the difference between a great idea and a great, finished project. Andrew Sloat won the stipend in 2007 and filmed the video above.
They have a simple set of criteria: originality, relevance, and conviction. They’d also prefer a project already underway that $500 would push across the finish line. If you can wow them with your great idea, you’ll get $500 from Macktez to make it happen. It’s that simple. Apply online at www.macktez.com/stipend by July 24.
Having a cold in the summer should be a crime, however seasonal allergies get the best of everyone and if you’ve got to curl up with a tissue box this June, I highly reccomend the new “Perfect Slice of Summer” Kleenex packaging for Target, illustrated by Hiroko Sanders. Talk about an affordable luxury, nothing brightens my day more than a fruity, clever, and beautiful Kleenex box. I even love the dynamic shape, blended perfectly with the visual. Especially when my alternative options are packaged in blue grey swirls and “cottony soft” patterns. Egad! I personally hate tissues boxes so much we are toilet paper only household, but I will buy these—simply for the packaging.
After a day of hoisting, tying, tugging, and lifting, Watershed was installed by MSLK yesterday on Governers Island without a hitch. Please join on Saturday at Figment for our Art Picnic and experience Watershed for yourself.
I filmed some brief clips, along with a time-lapsed version… take a look:
MSLK recently completed rebranding local, non-for-profit, arts festival, Figment. Held annually on Governors Island in New York City, the festival encourages people to find their inner artist and participate in any way imaginable.
The immediate task was to create a poster and supplementary materials for this year’s festival. In the process, we developed a simple yet flexible system for Figment to use in years to come that would help strengthen their identity and presence and still allow them to tap into a new creative theme each year. Read more about our process and see the results after the jump.
I recently purchased this modern and simply styled pair of black sandals by the brand, Melissa. I chose them over the other options because their elegant design matches my minimalist aesthetic and could easily be dressed up or down. What I NEVER realized until reading a recent article on Inhabitat is that their rubber design is also eco-friendly. Nothing on the shoe, box, or at the retail display conveyed to me that this product was also green, which would have made my decision to buy much easier.
Why are legitimately green companies recently refraining from marketing their green efforts?
We’re nearing the debut of MSLK’s eco-art project, Watershed. Join us for an Art Picnic underneath the installation, Saturday June 13th at 12:30 pm (in case of rain, we’ll postpone the picnic until Sunday). Bring friends and family and your favorite potluck item to share. We’ll be serving a few treats and some NYC tap water so BYOB (bring your own bottle). We’ll be under the big tree at the far end of the Parade Grounds on Governors Island (see map after the jump).
In keeping with our water theme this month, one of our readers reached out to me with a hot tip that a documentary about the bottle water industry entitled, Tapped, will be debuting July 10th at the Maine International Film Festival.
It’s amazing to me how many of the same issues we are addressing with Watershed are touched upon in their trailer. From the producers of one of my favorite films, “Who Killed the Electric Car,” this seems like an eye-opening film not to miss.
It’s amazing to see Watershed, our latest eco-art installation, receive so much great coverage online. We’re particularly thrilled to have received a write-up from Inhabitat, our favorite blog about design and the environment who writes:
“…MSLK is creating an installation that is an in-your-face visual of the amount of water bottles consumed in the United States. The installation uses 1,500 water bottles, the number of bottles consumed every 1 second — that’s 90,000 bottles per minute!”
File this one under: how did I miss this?? Elena Brower, one of my yoga teachers, held a class within an art installation at the MoMA back in February. The class was held in one of the upper atriums of the museum, where the exhibition Pour Your Body Out by Pipilotti Rist was installed. The experiential installation encompassed the entire atrium with 25-foot video projections of soft, feminine, abstract imagery. The artist also designed a circular couch as part of the exhibit to encourage visitors to fully absorb the piece. On the closing day of the installation, they held this yoga class to allow a handful of lucky participants to physcially connect with the art.
Everywhere we turn we’ve been hearing and seeing the topic of “Affordable Luxuries” in the news. Most recently it’s the cover theme on this month’s Bazaar, summing up their cover stories on Best Bargains, Smart Shopping, Runway Report, and Hot Beauty Buys. Are we on trend or what? With the tools discussed in our webinar, you too now know the secrets to what separates these items from the rest of the pack.
MSLK’s newest eco-art endeavor got into high gear this weekend with the help of some great friends. 867 bottles — more than half of the 1,500 we’re planning for Figment — were strung together. As you can see above, I even managed to shoot some footage of the whole day which I edited into a short film about the making of Watershed.
Weeks of bottle collection combined with weeks of testing the different rigging needed to assemble the project. Our next assembly is June 7th, everyone is invited to participate in building this together. Better yet, experience all that’s fun and amazing at Figment on June 13 at noon.
Very special thanks to all those who came out on Saturday to lend a hand—you are a brave bunch indeed.
The recession may not be over yet, but this weekend I literally saw and felt hope from New Yorkers. It came in the form of the opening of a new shop, Teich, run by our good friend Allison Teich.
Teich sells her own line of eco-friendly handbags as well as a curated collection of socially conscious goods all made right here in NYC. Perhaps inspired by the general goodwill that Teich brings into her products, in a very non-stereotypical New York fashion neighbors, shop owners, and long-time residents have been pouring in throughout the week to welcome Allison. Her new shop at 84 East 7th Street represents new life to the East Village, just as spring has come around to show us that the sun just might shine again.
We personally wish Allison the best of luck. Her success thus far is certainly an inspiration. (photo: Matthew Polis)
Nothing is more indulgent than picking up the phone, calling in and having dinner delivered right to your door. When I first moved to New York it was actually one of the things I loved most about the city. I had an overwhelming stack of delivery menus from fine cuisine in every nationality to McDonald’s. Everyone will deliver in NYC.
Recently, though, I’ve been feeling really down on take out and delivery. First and foremost I don’t want the plastic bag, but then when I look inside there’s…plastic, plastic, and more plastic. Often things I really don’t need, like 5 sets of plastic silverware individually wrapped (in more plastic).
