Wow. Fendi. "Artist Baguette", freshly launched for a mere $1300, a new stark white version of their classic - designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi in 1997 - in coated canvas? And it comes with 10 Pantone Universe markers! It sure looks like they are taking a page from the current trends with the vinyl toy blanks... or coloring books/placemats/other children oriented goodies. And in fact quite a few purse sites seem a bit appalled by the whole thing (Purse Blog, Bag Snob, etc)...

Anyhow, putting the pricetag aside, lets think about this from an arts perspective... there is a LOT of collaboration potential here. Can you imagine getting a few of these into the hands of some talented artists and toy designers, and letting them have their way with them? The potential to merge a fashionable classic accessory with art could have some very interesting results (which could also be a way to increase that initial investment, not to mention actually create an even more unique one of a kind designer clutch). So i must admit i'm tempted, although i might have to hold out till i can draw on my own Birkin... See many more images after the jump!

p.s.
It seems like this is one of those situations where packaging makes a world of difference... if it were presented as a gorgeous new white clutch and nothing more, would anyone dare take a sharpie to it? Or would the die hard fashionistas complain about the ridiculousness? And it's not *just* a white canvas bag, it still has all the detailed stylings of a classic Baguette, and additionally has a playfully multicolored cartoon-like lining!

UPDATE 03.13.08 - i walked by a Fendi store, and couldn't help myself, so went in and bothered them to show me the bag... that box is FAR bigger than i expected, and the bag is quite hideous... not nice to the touch at all... the coated canvas reminded me more of random art school creations than a designer bag.

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Tags: art - bag - fashion - gifts - shopping

NOTCOT Note: Where would i be without incredible readers like Gillian Benjamin, who emailed in an incredible post submission covering the Capetown Design Indaba that ran from Saturday 23 February to Friday 29 February? (I am extremely impressed, she even created all these beautiful images to go with the post without any prompting!) Read on to see what design finds she discovered...

Last week Cape Town was brimming with creative energy as the 5th annual Design Indaba Expo took place. Featuring everything from industrial design to quirky ceramic pieces and reinterpreted African curio kitsch, the Expo showcased the best homegrown talent to both local and international audiences. Each year the event seems to grow a little bigger - a sure sign of South Africa's blossoming creative talent. Following global trends, the focus on craft and the hand-made was definitely visible.

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Tags: art - events - travel

Decor-a-Boards from Pop Ink caught my eye because of this Little Red Samurai! So cute on the wood, so sweet, so innocent, so definitely has blood dripping from her sword. What are these? "Pop Ink's Decor-a-Boards are the real wood wall art you need. Printed directly onto unfinished birch veneer over MDF board, Décor-a-Boards are a natural fit for any green (or any other color) home. The 11.25"x14" ready-to-hang Pop Ink Decor-a-Boards are manufactured with recycled wood scraps and unused parts of lumbered trees." See more images after the jump!

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Tags: art - gifts - shopping

It's here! My Arkitip issue #0044 just showed up! And i'm in love with this glossy black viewmaster that came with the issue... so much that i even have pics of it for you as if you were looking through it! (See after the jump for the woody mac within)... Since i was a bit excited, here's a quick reverse unboxing in images for you after the jump!

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Tags: art - magazines

Click the pics to find out more! Here we have another roundup of roundups ~ a full on best of last week showcasing 24 of the most popular from all of our sites below... and above we have lots of fun art, and a row of green themed foods. Why? Its just what inspired me as i flipped through a few pages this sunday! Oh, and if you haven't checked out Adam's Apple, that's a must! Brilliant illustrations coupled with quite the unexpectedly twisted creation tale.

RANDOMIZER! Also new, we've been working on/tweaking this new feature, and its getting there ~ new buttons are up on all the sites now (see the cute little push pinned polaroid stacks?). I begged dan to make me this one for a while, because with nearly 10,000 posts on NOTCOT.org and TasteSpotting, there is so much incredible stuff, its hard to keep track of everything, so when you just feel like something random and inspiring, perhaps a blast from the past or even something you might have missed... just click the stack! Personally i've lost hours browsing randomly.

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Tags: art - fashion - food - roundup

And since i gushed so much about the Incase topo print being used throughout the press kit in a gorgeous gloss on matte... i just discovered their blog, which has the background and some wallpapers. "This unique pattern along with the integration of the Incase logo is a graphic component of the Incase identity representing the concept of travel. The Topo pattern also resembles an abstracted wood grain that compliments the Incase leaf logo." Also, i just noticed they already got their Arkitip #0044 HIGHMATH with the black viewmaster (see their pics)... mine should be here any day now!

Tags: art

Audrey Kawasaki has done it again with her latest series of beautiful paintings for her solo show, Mayoi Michi, that debuted tonight at Copro Nason in Bergamot Station. To see what i saw... check out my pictures from "Mayoi Michi" in the gallery. Noteworthy, this "it" girl has certain made it huge... all pieces from her show were completely sold out before the opening, and most going for about $10,000-12,000, so a big congrats to Audrey! Also looks like it's going to be a busy year for her, with a solo show in sept in Rome (at Mondo Bizarro), group show in november at ThinkSpace, and even a solo show planned for July 2009 at the Jonathan Levine Gallery in NY! View my pics of the show here, and Audrey's closeups of each piece here.

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Tags: art

I've wanted a black viewmaster since the "Gifts for your Indie Ninja" list from my ThisNext days, but alas, i've been lazy and forgot to buy one... so when i saw that the latest issue of Arkitip, No. 0044 HIGHMATH ~ is a collaboration with one of my favorite Danish collectives, Wood Wood... and comes in a box with "1 Exhibition catalog, 3 image reels, 1 3D viewer"... i grabbed my credit card. How could i give up a chance at a black viewmaster (with white Arkitip, Wood Wood, and Nike branding) as well as fun art? Perhaps we need to get some branded NOTCOT Viewmasters, and every month/week/random whim we can send out a mysterious reel of inspiring imagery?

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Tags: art - gifts - magazines - shopping - toys

Prada. They've been grabbing my attention in every magazine lately with these illustration heavy images... (remember NotCouture #1478?) and while i'm still debating and mixed on the illustration on leather bag concept, i'm still loving the illustrations! So while checking out all of the Spring/Summer 08 collections and campaign, i couldn't help but share this incredible (HUGE like 17' x 200') wallpaper they have. Entitled Florid ~ Prada says it "represents the somewhat perverse intersection between Hieronymus Bosch and Aubrey Beardsley. The image depicts an intense landscape of man-eating flowers, dragons, hybrid creatures and eerie fairies." Above is one of my favorite sections of it... the full wallpaper, closeups, and images from the print campaign are after the jump!

UPDATE: Apologies for missing that this was the collaboration work of local LA artist James Jean, and that this wallpaper is hanging right in the Beverly Hills and Soho Epicenter stores sized at 17 x 200 feet! In my cold meds induced haze and excitement while being illustration/prada giddy, i'm terribly embarrassed for the slip up and really should know better than early morning posting! Forgive me? Also take a look at the second wallpaper on his site that isn't on Prada's.

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Tags: art - bag - fashion - gifts - illustration - shoes - shopping

Oh, Murakami... what will you do next? So apparently Murakami's MOCA exhibition billboard on Melrose got a little addition to it thanks to Auger/Revok... and Murakami's people found pictures of it on the internet (like these great ones on flickr from Ribbon Controller and G@br!3L)... and they had it REMOVED! And sent to japan! Because it was "so wonderful, he had to have it for his collection." says this LA Weekly piece. And the circle continues... murakami makes art in his factory, sells everything from cellphone charms to massive paintings, has his art on LV bags, has a pop up LV store inside his own exhibition, does kanye wests album covers and has kanye play his opening gala, manages to get celebs clamoring to steal each others limited ed plates... and now even steals his own billboard that gets vandalized with some awesome street art. I wonder if he also has a private collection of LV/Murakami knockoffs in a special closet. Wow. I admire his insane branding/reach.

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Tags: advertising - art

"Love Is In The Air" ~ Carlos Aires cut vinyl record silhouettes. This recycling/reshaping of vinyl is possibly one of the most amusing things i've seen with vinyl in a while! More images and close ups after the jump!

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Tags: art - music

Ben Lawson draws incredible fish that we first fell for over at .org #7943 and with Valentine's Day around the corner, i simply had to post his tentacled hearts. His illustration style is so scientific, yet the characters (yes even the tentacled hearts) are oozing with character, which is no surprise since he is a physicist/engineer turned artist/illustrator... and he is certainly our kind of guy - his career "includes sourcing squirrels for Rumanian TV and reporting on nuclear terrorism for the Japanese government." Can you imagine how incredible these would be animated? And for those who need a refresher, a few of my favorites of his Ichthyological Specimens are after the jump.

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Tags: art - gifts

The Matter Box, apparently people have started receiving them, and i'm SO jealous! I mean seriously, this might be the coolest box of junk mail ever... i know its really just corporate schwag ~ but it's corporate schwag at its finest, most creative, most amusing. So what was in there? Well below we bring you a break down of not only the contents and images of unboxings, but also some guy unboxing it live in a video!

Oh, and for anyone that is lost, Matter first came up on .org #8403... and it is "a box full of interesting stuff" and "a new and unique idea in communications that brings companies and people together around real, physical stuff–things you can hold in your hands, keep in your drawer, or give to your friends. It's a new way for companies to introduce themselves by giving you something you might like" AND "is a collaboration between Artomatic and Royal Mail." Read more at Matter: Brands you can hold, but firstly catch up on the first bow after the jump!

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Tags: advertising - art - gifts

RUGenius stumbled upon the website of Covent Garden's illustration agency, CIA and fell in love. A lover of clean lines and illustration and an agency of illustrators run by picture makers? It was a match made in heaven. She sent away for the free weekly calendar and was hardly disappointed. The office never looked so good! Check out some sneak peeks after the jump!

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Tags: art - gifts

The Helping Hounds of Hell. What it actually is aside, the poster for this exhibit caught my eye when i was checking out Evasee, and i love it! The simplicity of the curves, characters, three colors, and the typography are just too fun. See the full poster/flyer after the jump. Now as for what it is... The Helping Hounds of Hell are two "exciting exhibitions of handmade skateboard art" in Berlin!

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Tags: art - poster

It's that time of year, politics are inescapable, and while we're not here to dish out opinions on that matter, i will say that Obama has certainly done the most to appeal to the creative community... we've shown you his LA button/sticker/t campaign, his logo variations for every group, and his social network... and now, Shepard Fairey has created some posters showing not only how much he backs Obama, but also just generally putting the call to action out there to VOTE! Posters will be available for order on weds Jan 30th at $50 each, and proceeds from this print go to produce prints for a large statewide poster campaign. The site also says, "Anyone interested in helping out please email info@obeygiant.com with OBAMA as the Subject Title for instructions." See more images of the posters after the jump!

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Tags: art - gifts - shopping

The gameboy has always been quite the brick in retrospect, but will always be my first console (my parents didn't let me have video games, but i had won the gameboy, so they HAD to let me have it!). I would love to have a pathway to some crazy secret gameroom in the woods made out of these in my future backyard. Can you imagine making bricks of PS2s, XBOXs, Wiis, PS3s, PSPs, etc etc etc all creating different paths to different places? So many possibilities ~ and although i feel like i've been reading about these Gameboy bricks for a while, i somehow only recently discovered the full set of images in the Souvenier section of Gieskes, where you can also purchase bricks for about 30 euro each. I love seeing the process ~ check out more images after the jump!

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Tags: art - games - gifts - shopping

NOTCOT Note: Here's another article from Anna Corpron of Sub-Studio!

I was blown away by Studio Lo's work when I came across it this week - it all seems to center around the idea of construction (my French is far from perfect, as is Altavista's Babelfish, so forgive me if something gets lost in translation). I love the colors and the simplicity of their work, and the packaging is pretty gorgeous, too! But what I love most is how they create an object out of one piece of wood, or one piece of cloth, or one piece of paper, with minimal waste and design moves. They work within the constraints of the material they have chosen, and the product is more amazing because of it.

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Tags: art - gifts - sub-studio

This is Bjorn Johansson's Anatomy of a Typeface ~ "Triptych made for a gallery exhibition in 2005. The work is playing with the word "anatomy" which in typographic terms is referring to the different parts of a character." It's somehow been in an open tab for me all day, and its absolutely mesmerizing, too bad there isn't a complete font in this style... that could result in some incredible posters! See more close ups after the jump!

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Tags: art

Following up the Jorge Oswaldo post, i'm excited to continue this trend of artwork that is literally layered to create surreal depths... these are the types of works you really need to see in person to fully appreciate.

Remember Brooks Salzwedel? (Of the incredible belt buckles, resin art pieces, and Shane jewelry?) Well, the real reason i headed out to the Tinlark Gallery Anniversary at the Crossroads of the World on saturday night was to see his debut solo show of "By Fault of Its Own". And it was incredible to see the layered resin pieces up close, in fact one of the coolest things was to see them from the side! You can actually see the layers! And up close, being able to see the details of which trees and tendrils are floating above and below, and that cloudy haze that surrounds them all... well, i tried to get pictures of the whole room to share, and bring you into the tiny details that delighted me at the show... so check out all the pics after the jump!

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Tags: art

Can you believe that is layered vinyl stickering? Creating that depth through layering? Such a nice mix of the precision of vector lines cut with a vinyl cutter... yet brought back out from the digital to a physical mixed media piece? I discovered the work of Jorge Oswaldo through his video on Current TV (embedded after the jump for your viewing pleasure along with a few more of my favorites from his work!). Talking about ways NOTCOT has inspired me daily... this one takes it to a new level... i received the vinyl cutter for my birthday, made a limited edition series of stickers, one of the guys who bought the stickers tips me off to this awesome video, and now how can i not push the boundaries and start making crazy art with it? Let's just say i have some silly street art ideas for reflective vinyl stickering... but until then, check out the video below of Jorge Oswaldo's walk through his studio, his process, and his incredible work with vinyl... unlikely you'll ever look at stickers quite the same!

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Tags: art - video

I rediscovered the work of YaYa Chou at the Tinlark Gallery Anniversary Show opening ~ her love of gummi bears is impressive... or perhaps its her hatred of them, constantly molding and manipulating them into new forms. At the show, she was showing her 2006 piece "Simon," 7"X32"X30", gummi bears, faux nailtops on wire armature and canvas - a gummi bear rug - and you should have seen these little kids diving at it, dying to lay on it and eat some (i wonder if any ever made it when no one was looking). Closeups from the show after the jump, as well as some of her other gummi pieces you may be familiar with, like the chandelier, creatures, and a porcelain boy covered in gummies...

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Tags: art - food

It's like xmas morning every time i get an email with attachments from artists Petra Mrzyk & Jean-Francois Moriceau ~ i always know inside are jaw-dropping pics of black and white goodness in the form of painting/installation combos. And this latest one does not disappoint! So after the jump you can see many images from their latest show "Golden Eyes" at the Caixa Forum in Barcelona! With a circle motif, this show is a mix "between a wall-drawing and real round drawings framed"... ultimately creating a very surreal sense of depth, while simultaneously appearing incredibly flat... anyhow, it's mesmerizing to peer into each and every circle to see what unexpectedly twisted/playful drawings are within.

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Tags: art

NOTCOT Note: Here's a post from Justine/RUGenius ~ who is running around with our mom in Oxford and the general vicinity...

When trying to decide where to take my mother for the day, an ad caught my eye - "Seventy Years of Penguin Design" at the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath. Here was a combination of things we love: books, design...and superficially enough, penguins!

While the exhibit itself was tiny, no more than a room, it was filled with treasures and gorgeously arranged, painted a bright Penguin book cover orange. And what a cover! It's hard to think of a more iconic design (perhaps the old Campbell's soup can?). And Penguin has certainly been marketing it design classic, selling Penguin classic book mugs, deckchairs and towels. We all know and love that three panel design, but I, for one, didn't know much else about Penguin. Did you know that first Penguin paperbacks were just two and a half pence and designed with the goal of making literature affordable and accessible to all. If only that were still true!!! And it's not JUST penguin, you can also see the development of the Pelican and Puffin lines and logos as well! Read more and see pics of it all after the jump!

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Tags: art - books

Tonight i was at the Crossroads of the World. And it was surreal. It's on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood... google tells me that it is "L.A.'s first modern shopping mall", built in 1936, and there is a replica of it at Walt Disney World Disney MGM Studios at the entrance of their faux Hollywood Blvd... additionally, the Tinlark gallery happens to live there, so i stopped by to check out their first year anniversary show, and it was incredible... honestly getting to see the Brooks Salzwedel pieces up close were well worth the trip (see the post dedicated to his solo show "By Fault of Its Own" here!)... seeing Diem Chau's Crayons in person finally (I've updated the 2006 post with pictures from this show!) was so cool, and Yaya Chou's Gummi Bear Rug looked strangely enticing (see a post dedicated to this and her other works). They really are as amazingly intricate as they look in the pics, if not more so. BUT, for this post ~ you need to see the Crossroads of the World and the placement of the gallery... the neon sign is classic.

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Tags: art