Nom de Guerre Interview
If you missed the interview I did with Nom de Guerre in issue six, then go back and read it. Under Features > Archives. But after you’ve done that head over to We Are The Market and find out whats up. They just did a pretty interesting interview with Nom de Guerre as well as a couple other designers recently. The blog also has a good post on how men’s retailers are still holding on while spending in general has come to a stand still. We Are the Market is definitely a busy blog putting up a variety of content and for the most part it’s all good. It’s hard to say what font size you’re going to be reading but the content is definitely going to be interesting.
Visvim | Kaikai Kiki | Frgmt Kiefers
As we previously saw from the Hi&Lo art show, Visvim, Kaiki Kiki and Fragment Design had a couple products on the go. The highlight is definitely the Kiefers in black, navy and white. I am always interested to see what people can do with the Kiefer as it is really one of the only shoes that has improved on the original Chuck Taylor. Visvim kept it very clean with the canvas upper complimented by a contrasting white or yellow hit on the back to with with the small sketch-like drawing on the side. While the mellowed down collaborations sometimes make me wonder what the point is as a consumer, I can respect the parties involved have a much stronger connection to the work and are very proud of what they put together. That is definitely a special feeling that you probably have to experience to understand. I hope somebody I will know how it feels to work with Visvim or Fragment Design.
Photoshop CS4 Ad
This is really cool. I thought I might post it on my other blog as it has less to do with fashion but whatever, it’s dope. At first glance I only thought it was pretty cool, then I went further into flickr to find the real dopness. This mock Photoshop CS4 mode is like 20 feet x 20 feet or something craze. Check out the other shots after the link to get some perspective. I know ad companies and creatives have accomplished similar looks but there is something to be said for doing it right. They obviously took their time, got everything they needed and executed it very freshly. It’s for an online software retailer in case you were wondering or wanted to buy it. Whatever the case, nice job.
Issue 7 Live | Empty your Cache
Right on time as usual, issue 7 is now up live for your viewing, and I hope reading pleasure. I loved this image so much I changed it to the cover last minute. Beautiful shot of Lars Stoten in action. The main fashion feature this month is on Mjolk. I am seriously behind this collection, Lars is a great guy and a very talented designer. We also caught up with Black Milk, Edina from BPMW Agency, Sarah Kahn, an up and coming Parisian designer and New York based (Malin+Goetz). This issue is the least fashion intensive with some design, business, art and finally a music feature. I also want to thank Dexter Austria and Calvin Pais for their contributing this month on the ‘This is the Last time’ and ‘Olso - A new Look’ respectively. I finally spilled my tale of my first love in the Sneaker Diaries as well…ahh The Questions. I also took the chance to break down some of my favorite shawl neck pieces of the season. Be sure to read every word, look at every picture and enjoy every second.
Stussy Vancouver Chapter 2
This build-out on the Vancouver Stussy shop is well underway, I’ve been into the shop every couple of days and it feels like a different space each time. Matt and John are definitely on their grizzy getting the shop together. The 2nd chapter of the build out documentation is up on the Stussy Vancouver website with a nice break down on the different steps. This chapter I ended up taking all the shots, it’s been good working with these guys, now its time for the final push. Apparently there will be a few Stussy products dropping that have been kept on ice for a bit…
Hi & Lo Art Opening
A lot of the big names in Japanese art, sportswear, fashion and design were in attendance at the Hi & Lo show the other night. Our friend James Bryce from SlamXhype was there to capture some great shots and give the rest of us less fortunate folks a look at some of the art. I particularly like Murakami’s pieces with the colored squares and his signature illustrations. I don’t know why I seem to be liking squares in different colors all together right now, something about the contrast in detail and color is having me like these. There is a lot of other work worth checking out. I don’t know if it’s because these people are ‘cool’ or the work is cool, the setting is cool or because Japan is cool…but it looks cool. Why are there so many wack art shows? Check out more shots from the show here
Terence Koh Interview
Terence Koh is one of those artists who you initially think, “what the hell, this isn’t even art.” But if you look deeper into his work, what he does and what hes about he is purely an artist and can’t help but to create. He seems like one of the few people are really free in everything they do, whether it’s a piece, an installation or what they say and how they talk to people. In other words, he’s pretty talented, but pretty weird. Kyle at Dejour had an opportunity to interview Terence but since he’s no a conventional artist, why do a conventional interview. Kyle decided to get 10 people he knows to each ask a question. I was lucky enough to get asked to contribute, so technically I interviewed Terence Koh I guess. Kyle curated the piece which is a funny read and look at one of the more interesting characters in modern art.
Read it here
Issue 7 Preview
It’s almost that time already. Just when I thought I was getting in the groove and it was becoming routine, turns out I just got slightly lazy and started focusing on other things a bit more. As is life and fortunately in online publishing with no other stakeholders, there are no deadlines officially. Also since the last issue launched a few dates into the month, I didn’t want to cut short their time to shine, so we are looking to have Issue 7 published around the end of next week or possibly sooner if nothing goes wrong. The issue is definitely the least fashion focused yet, while that is and has been the main topic for h(y)r collective, this month we talked to Black Milk about touring in Europe and his new album, Sarah Kahn, a French designer and art director, BPMW one of the most influential agencies in the business, (Malin+Goetz) and Mjolk. Lars, the designer of Mjolk was one of the most friendly and fun guys we hung out with back in New York, since I’ve become a huge fan of the collection and we are please to give an in depth look into him and his work.
Stussy Vancouver
The new website just launched today as I’m sure a lot of you blogger readers have seen. I wanted to mention it because I’ve actually had the opportunity to work on it, a couple of the shots I took out at the Mill and in the space are in chapter one and I’ve been working with Mark Gainor on chapter 2 over the last week or two. The shop is looking nice inside already. It’s been a fun project and I was happy to be able to be apart of it. Take some time to read through the site and enjoy some of Andre’s photos.
Supreme Mathematics Series
A good poster can be hard to find. They’re usually super corny and played out. These ones from the Midwest Visual Agency on the other hand are pretty amazing. They combine 3 great things; design, hip-hoop and motivation. Eat your heart out Deepak Chopra.
They’re available now at Supermarket with a near perfect description: “The ‘Supreme Mathematics Series’ is a series of four typographic posters exploring the forced overlap of many passions: ideological Swiss typography, contemporary mixtape rap and inspirational messages. Like Müller-Brockmann, Slim Thug and Benjamin Franklin met up for a beer.” Read more
Friendly Fire
Sweet Thing: Best toilet paper ever, even if it is 8.95 a roll. (Patina)
Reading: Ed Templeton’s latest book Deformer is out now, get it at Amazon
Advertising: Despite their Political INcorrectness, as a hip-hop fan I’ll never get tired of the St. Ide’s ads. (The Aesthetic Poet)
Blog: You probably already know that Vancouver is Awesome, well now so is the rest of Canada. (CanadaisAwesome)
Photography: Marc Jabobs is the lastest Terry Richardson victim. Spongebob is hard as fuck. (Supertouch)
In The Bag
Here’s a new series I’m going to try to keep up since I seemed to run out of the ‘Things I Like’ posts. It’s called ‘In the Bag.’ Basically I’ll pick a bag I like and fill it up with more stuff I like. After just doing this first installment I can already tell it’s going to be a love/hate piece. Finding all of this stuff makes me want it more. Something with beautifully photographed products on a white background just looks so nice. I suppose you might get that idea from the aesthetic of the website and magazine. Anyways, for the first round I found an amazing Porter Ruc Sack to fill up. I put in a (Malin+Goetz) candle in case you find yourself in a stinky situation, because of the fall weather I went with a knit ball cap from Jill Sander and a nice scarf by A.P.C. For a little reading, or more looking I needed to pick up the last issue of Honeyee Mag and of course to make sure you look like your reading that Japanese you’ll need some Robert Geller glasses. I didn’t feel like scouring for a glasses case so if you need to you can wrap them in the scarf.
Also if readers feel liking emailing in their ‘bag’ it would be cool to post a reader’s bag each week, since I know you guys have good taste too, or you wouldn’t be reading h(y)r. Send them to info@hyrcollective
Bensen Index
Bensen is one of the nicest furniture design houses here in Vancouver. While running the Inform shops which carry some of the nicest imported pieces from Scandinavia, it also produces it’s own in house line, Bensen. Started by Niels Bendsten back in the 80’s after studying under his father in Scandinavia and running his own furniture retail space. After moving around a little, he found himself back in Vancouver where he now overseas the majority of the designs and processes in the iconic furniture. Niels has since won a couple of awards through Bensen and continued to grow the line while still keeping some of the main pieces which help him gain notoriety from the beginning. The ‘Index’ is one of my favorites. I’ve seen pieces similar before but the nice dark woods, metal touches and great website make it particularly appealing. The site is also done by a local studio, Burnkit. There seems to be no shortage of creative minds doing nice work in Vancouver right now.
Issue Six Live
Issue six is finally up. Enjoy. Nom de Guerre, WANT Les Essentials, Business of Buying, Komakino, Peter Taylor among several other pieces. Check out the Battle of the Oxfords in the focus section along with every single other page in the magazine. Enjoy. Less than a month to go until issue seven, hurry up and read.
Baseline Magazine
Some of you might be familiar with Baseline Magazine but I actually hadn’t heard of it before I found it in a magazine shop last weekend. The layout, stock weight, and use of type is really nice. The type part probably has to do with being a magazine all about type, designing with type, it’s history, news, and focusing on nice use of letters. The philosophy is described as ’stemming from a firm belief that design and layout should spring from, and be in balance with, the contents. The design is approached with intellectual vigour. The format and flexible grid structure allow both for the vigorous display of rich graphic material and the appropriate detailing in text-led pages.’ Whether you are into learning more about type, or just reading an interesting, well designed magazine, I’d recommend picking up a copy of Baseline. Check out the articles Vivo in Typo and Control Print in the new issue.
