As if you don’t already think i’m strange enough ~ that NY trip for design week, which branched off into a roadtrip up to play in the woods in vermont… has been extended a few more days, and from vermont, we kind of decided to spontaneously drive down to Earlysville, Virginia… which is where i’m now posting from! If there’s one thing i’ve learned/realized during this little random adventure, it’s that for me, inspiring design details pop up nearly everywhere everyday in my life, and whether that’s at ICFF or while driving for 10+ hours straight down New England… design is omnipresent, and what really keeps me going.

On that note, my silly exciting find of the day yesterday was after about 8-9 hours of straight driving, stuck in INSANE traffic in NY that was moving at about 20 mph for over 2 hours, and i found myself staring at large semis and their various mud flaps and signage and the typography on them… and then i saw it. Mudflaps with FLYING MOOSE! Forget unicorns and pegasuses… flying moose! I forced dan to try and take a pic of it with his iphone (which i will have to bother him later to get it off)… the one we saw was like the one in the bottom left, it seemed friendlier than what appears to be the newer version on their site now.

So continuing on the Jackalope theme of north american mythological creatures… we sat in traffic discussing the idea of flying moose, and then reading up on the background of the Manac Trucking/Trailer Manufacturer which had this awesome creature as their logo. Turns out that this magnificent creature comes from a native american legend! Very cute tale, read it on the next page, and also see a picture i found of the statue of the Manac flying moose logo!

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Super cute prints just showed up in my inbox… and since we seem to be quite the bunch of animal lovers/biologists, i couldn’t resist sharing these Three Potato Four’s “Bird Survey” prints by Matt Cipov and “Gnatcatcher with Nest + Eggs” large print. See more images on the next page as usual…

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NOTCOT Note: I finally got to meet up with Anna and Sean of Sub-Studio when i was in NY, and they are even more fun than i could have imagined! Definitely NOTCOT people, and i’m so excited to have her as a contributor! (I’m not so used to the meeting people on the internets, still a bit odd to me for some reason?)… anyhow! Here’s a fun new post from Anna!

Jean did a round-up recently of bird feeders and I wanted to add some great bird houses to the mix. I love the Nidusa birdhouse by Art. Lebedev - the faceted shape is beautiful! If I had some outdoor space, I would definitely hang one of those up to attract some little birdie friends. A few more feeders are after the jump!

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Dwell on Design finally comes to LA! (Remember i told you it was on its way when it was announced at the FordBrady party?) Personally i’m thrilled that more design events are coming to LA ~ and the folks at Dwell were even kind enough to reach out and give you guys some free passes and discounts on the conference passes:

Use the following codes to register here
Free Ticket To the Dwell on Design Exhibition: BDODEC
Discounted Conference Ticket ($50 Off): GRP22SP
… + check out a free issue of Dwell Digital on Zinio

“The Dwell on Design Event runs June 5-8 at the LA Convention Center, and includes an Exhibition of 200 exhibitors, a Speakers Conference of 50 speakers, and full size Sustainable Pre-Fab Neighborhood built on site, as well as 16 Home Tours of private green residences and evening parties at the Dwell Ford Brady and the Museum of Contemporary Art.”

I’ll be back in socal on June 3rd… so, see you there!

Pinned up in the bathroom of the log cabin… “the WHY CHEAP ART? manifesto” - from the Bread & Puppet Glover, Vermont in 1984… this nice little manifesto speaks for itself! I must say, parts of this remind me of the Target rants on design… and if this is the manifesto for cheap art, what would one for design look like? See a larger image on the next page…

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Jackalope spotting! I was wandering into town (St. Johnsbury, VT) on Memorial Day, and thanks to a local town parade, i detoured across the river, around the town, across the tracks, and back again - to get to the one open diner to get some breakfast… upon doing so, i ran across Caplan’s Army Store - where i couldn’t resist popping in to see what they had (and i picked up a black machete, work shirt, socks - i was packed with mostly heels and dresses for NYC city life on this trip…) And low and behold, i found the CUTEST jackalope i’ve yet to lay eyes on ~ while it does suck that these cute little creatures died to make this… at least the poor little guy is memorialized forever?

For those who don’t know about the legendary Jackalopes… crazy jack rabbits with antlers - rumors are that it is “a hybrid of the pygmy-deer and a species of “killer-rabbit”“… basically it is the american version of a chimera or griffin… and thanks to taxidermy, photo manipulation, and photoshop - MANY variations of this critter can be found across the country… (read up on your Jackalope lore) I’ve seen quite a few as a kid, but they tended to lean towards the large and ferocious style… THIS however was the CUTEST woodland creature infant version of a Jackalope! See more pictures of the street, store, and wall mount of this little guy on the next page!

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NOTCOT Note: So, i’m still in the woods, still running up and down the mountain, exploring the woods, bonding with birds and deer and other critters, making bird feeders, learning about plumbing and working on getting hot water going (see? learning to be more handy!), raking leaves, playing in the stream, reflecting on life/the sites, and being ridiculously physically tired… BUT, for the sake of the sites, we grabbed a little room in nearby St. Johnsbury, VT for the internet so i can get a little somethin’ up for you guys - having no cell/internet is quite a trip! So here’s another post from ICFF!

I thought i was over the laser cut metals look, especially the cut and fold yourself shelving, coat racks, etc… then i saw the Amuneal Manufacturing Corp’s installation at their booth at ICFF and it was impressive to say the least. “Inspired from a scene from nature, our in-house graphic designer created a striking motif for the walls of the installation. We then “wrapped” it around a digital 3D model, which generated the laser cutting files required to connect over 3,000 square feet of aluminum. Once fabricated, each lightweight panel received a hand-patinaed finish to contrast the exacting accuracy of the cut pattern. The custom made teak architectural elements, including 14’ tall x 7’ wide entry portals and windows that featured over 30 scale models of recently completed projects, established the strength of the structure.” I got too curious and touched one of the bird cut outs on the main structure, and that stuff is quite sharp!

It was a beautiful space, and with the right lighting the shadows were gorgeous… equally fascinating were their business card holders where the birds were popped out and bent as you pleased to hold the cards between them. See images of the booth on the next page.

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Finally, an alternative to paint chips and paint swatches to help you decide what paint to go with… at the Hardcore: New Finnish Design Exhibition in the Meatpacking District (i think this was the best exhibition i saw this trip), i was introduced to the work of Finnish group, Pentagon Design, and their great “Touching” Exhibition concept for presenting paint textures for Tikkurila Paints. It was hard not to go straight over to the large farm animals in various colors/glosses/etc… and impossible not to play with the magnets on the magnetically painted horse!

From the Pentagon Design press release: “Who can resist the urge to touch these near-life-size domestic animals, reined into modeling the diverse selection of Tikkurila paint coatings? Horses, pigs, cows, and calves have been given makeovers with surfaces to match their natures. You can feel the character of the coatings in your fingertips as you pet and stroke the nostalgic mammalian models. Beneath the feeling lie hard facts: the various options for covering a resin surface not only look different, they feel different. There’s magnetic paint, textured coating, tinted light putty and chalkboard paint, oil putty, alkyd paint. There are pearl and silver glazes, done in a lace pattern. This urban petting zoo for the design world is amazingly illustrative, both tactilely and visually.”

More images on the next page! (From both the Hardcore exhibition as well as their press images.)

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Not much to say on this post other than, after a long day/night, i was wandering through SoHo, saw the Kartell window, and had to run across the street and take a few quick pics. The Mr Impossible Phillipe Starck cardboard cutouts were far too funny, and reminded me of asian Kit Kats (is it the K and the red on white?). I have a feeling these were more amusing in the dark when the showroom wasn’t open, and they were left looking lonely, posed, and ready for action protecting the chairs in the tiny mirrored space. An exterior shot on the next page…

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More fun launches and parties coming up next week… “BOND., AN INNOVATIVE NEW DESIGN STUDIO LED BY JOE DOUCET, LAUNCHES DURING ICFF - Bond. Exhibition Presents Products Designed to Provide Poignant Solutions to Everyday Problems.” I seldom post a whole press release, but the images and products featured in this one were so cool, i think they are best left for you to peruse on your own on the next page!

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I received an email with the subject line: First Paperless Architecture Book EVER: Piel… and with such a bold claim i initially wrote it off… ‘paperless’ just sounded like a silly spin on ‘digital’. Anyhow, as time permitted, i came back to it, and found that it has a pretty sweet interface and isn’t ‘just a digitized book’ ~ sure, it has the flashy corner peels and page flips - but what is nice, is how it utilized the fact that this is an architecture book, and it built in links to google map views of each building featured!

Check out Piel.Skin - About skin: This book is the result of two years of architectural research. Dynamic facades, ventilated, high-tech or traditional composites with new features. This book shows that currently new skins not only act as an isolating element, besides interact with the environment, optimizing energy exchange with the outside. From Germany to Australia or Korea to Colombia, there are many examples that readers can visit with this publication. With international vocation due to bilingual English-Spanish text and a language away from technicalities, this paper aims to show as an “interactive toy” the evolving field of the facades in architecture.

Piel.Skin is an experimental web book aimed at architecture students. The book literally surfs on several projects, jumping from exceptional exteriors in Asia to intelligently optimized facades in Europe. The book allows playing a virtual tour dedicated to google-earth travellers: By means of clicking on the coordinates of each project begins a journey where you can jump directly to each site and visualize the project within its environment.

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Level Vodka invited Hussein Chalayan to design The Level Tunnel… and it is now here! With a blog that even chronicles everything from the design and renders - to the building of - and the launch! Also incredible are the specially design blindfold/goggles for the experience, and the gorgeous press release complete with Bach in sheet music form!

“It all started back in 2006. Level Vodka invited star designer Hussein Chalayan to create a pioneering work of art with a focus on taste. He was given completely free rein. The result was The Level Tunnel - a 15 meter long, 5 meter high, traveling installation that captures the essence of Level Vodka. After a mind-blowing journey, the project is now nearing the finish line. The 6th of May 2008, the tunnel will have its world premiere in Mexico City. ” See images of the process, press kit, and final product on the next page!

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Yes, the near $9,000 Sears Craftsman tool set with 1470 pieces is in heavy circulation around the tech sites today (i first saw it over at Dvice) - but what truly amazed me is the catalog photography… someone clearly took a LOT of time perfectly laying out these thousands of tools… for not just the 1470 piece set, but also the 300, 198, 189, 204, 106, 130, and so forth piece sets… and they are awesome pictures! Check out a few more of my favorites on the next page…

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Ok, so you’ve now seen the pictures and heard Justine’s adventures at the Banksy Cans Festival this week… and for those unable to be there - to stand in line to pay 3 pounds for an awesome official Cans Festival Program/Zine… she took the time to scan in each and every page for our viewing pleasure! (Thanks, Jus, you’re the best sister to vicariously live through!) So check it all out on the next page, click each page to view it high res and read the manifestos and gawk at the gorgeous stenciling.

p.s. don’t forget to take the Consumer Survey in there…

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NOTCOT Note: Yes, Justine (aka RUGenius) was really there. And i’m envious. Although i did get to go to the incredible painted elephant LA Banksy-fest… this one looked like quite the mob scene in a london tunnel! About 30,000 people showed up over the 3 day period, and over 600 artist took part in covering the walls! Apologies for taking so long to sort through her hundreds of photos… SO, without further ado take a look at her MANY awesome pictures on the next page as well as in the Gallery, and here is Justine’s account of the festivities:

Over 28 thousand people turned up to Leake Street, effectively an underpass within sight of the London Eye and moments away from Waterloo. And yes, I was among them. We all know I can’t resist a good stencil. So how could I possibly miss a stencil only event, just a train hop away? Not to mention, the Cans Festival was the kind of event that brought in the A-list of street artists like Bsas Stencil, Run Don’t Walk, James Dodd (dlux), Tom Civil (civilian), Vexta, Prism, Daniel Melim, Altocontraste, Bandit, Roadsworth, 3D Del Naja, Artiste-Ouvrier. Blek, Sten, Sadhu, C215, Lucamaleonte, Lex, Orticancvoodles, Kaagman, Dolk, Pobel, M-City, Vhils, Btoy, Coolture, Schhh, Borbo, Sam3, Faile, Eine, John Grider, Logan Hicks, Pure Evil, Dot masters, Dan, Eelus and Banksy.

Starting with the art… The space within the tunnel was itself a hodgepodge of mock classical sculptures, trashed and stenciled cars, vans, even a playground. There were rugs, couches, and even a piano, all of course adorned with the patina only a tunnel could bestow. The combinations pushed the boundaries of the bizarre and the contrasting styles of the artists clashed as often as they complimented, yet somehow it all worked. It was as if everyone just suspended belief for a moment to soak it all in and it was particularly surreal as the sun was setting.

So, are you ready? See my highlights from the Cans Festival on the next page… and even MORE in the Gallery (there were so many, i couldn’t fit them all here).

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