I’m not going to go into great detail about the capabilities of Yamaha’s Tenori-On music sequencer, in fact, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the entire concept myself. What I do know for sure is that it’s unlike any music sequencer that I’ve ever encountered before. There’s no simple drum pad layout, no huge display screen, and it’s a pretty small device overall. However, those are all the things that seem to truly set the Tenori-On apart from other sequencers on the market. Apparently, users program tracks using the massive LED-button matrix located on the front and rear of the Tenori, and, well…just peep this video for a proper demonstration.
It looks like the retail industry is paying some much needed attention to the recycling, or should I say re-bagging habits of many of its consumers these days. No, this isn’t another case of an industry/company going green, although this would fit the description in more ways than one. Instead, retailers are beginning to put a little extra effort into the design of their shopping bags, as they look to gain a bit of free advertising from consumers that have a tendency to reuse some of the more attractive, high end bags for their own daily purposes (i.e. transporting lunch, gym clothes, etc).
Once a flimsy afterthought in American retailing — used to lug a purchase home from the store, then tossed into the trash — the lowly, free store bag is undergoing a luxurious makeover.
From upscale emporiums to midprice chains, retailers are engaged in a heated competition to make the most durable, fashionable shopping bags. They are investing millions of dollars in new flourishes like plastic-coated paper (Macy’s and Juicy Couture) and heavy fabric cord handles (Abercrombie & Fitch and Scoop).
Behind the battle of the bags is a significant shift in behavior that has turned consumers into walking billboards for stores. In cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, customers have begun treating shopping bags as disposable purses that can be reused for weeks, if not months, to carry laundry to the cleaners, books to the beach or lunch to the office. Peep:
But only the best bags make the cut. So stores, sensing a marketing opportunity, are racing to transform bare-bones bags into lavish, thick ones that will become free advertising.
According to Pantone, the world’s foremost authority on color, the “It” color of 2008 will be PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris. They feel that the blue-purple-ish color “satisfies the need for reassurance in a complex world, while adding a hint of mystery and excitement.” Interesting stuff, but don’t go expecting a redesign of this site based on Blue Iris anytime soon…ha!
“From a color forecasting perspective, we have chosen PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris as the color of the year, as it best represents color direction in 2008 for fashion, cosmetics and home products,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “As a reflection of the times, Blue Iris brings together the dependable aspect of blue, underscored by a strong, soul-searching purple cast. Emotionally, it is anchoring and meditative with a touch of magic. Look for it artfully combined with deeper plums, red-browns, yellow-greens, grapes and grays.”
Just in case you were wondering what the “It” color of 2007 was…Chili Pepper.
Looks like Pharrell just raised the bar on phone modding a tad bit…or by 18 karats, at least. No cheesy, eBay, aftermarket parts for him, instead he’s had Jacob the Jeweler create a custom, 18kt gold housing for his iPhone. Crazy!
Meet Alex Goldberg. He’s a full-time hustler, part-time chef, all around cool kid, and at just 14 years old, he’s a already making his way to the top of NYC’s social ladder. A true “connector” (see: The Tipping Point) if I’ve ever seen one.
…Alex isn’t like other boys his age. He’s had free rein over the streets of Nolita since before he can remember, and he quickly learned the rules of that playground, turning his relationships with the neighborhood’s shop owners into access to free gourmet meals and designer clothes and trendy sneakers, then turning those freebies into even better stuff (like courtside Knicks tickets), and leveraging those perks into even more valuable things, like connections to athletes, rappers, nightclub owners, and so on.
On any given day after school, you can find him strutting down Elizabeth or Mulberry or Mott, past the foundations of his barter operation. He’s worked at Supreme, the clothing store and skate shop on Lafayette. He’s helped the chefs at Peasant. …After school for the last couple of years, Alex clocked in at his favorite job of all: at NikeID, the design-your-own-shoe mecca. He scored this gig by accident.
Over the course of his last two albums, we’ve heard Kanye West make several references to his upcoming fashion label, Pastelle (see: “Goneâ€, “Strongerâ€). However, to many people it looked like the whole idea was shaping up to be all talk, and very little show at the end of the day. Even with all the buzz Pastelle was getting around the “hypester†circuit, no real clues about its existence or launch had ever surfaced. That is until now. There’s finally a website, a very basic one at the moment, and a logo up on the web. Peep. Still no details on an official launch, however, it looks like we may be seeing some movement with things very soon. Stay tuned.
As I’ve mentioned here once before, I love album cover-art. From CDs to Vinyl, photography to illustrations, Rock to Hip Hop, if the design is dope, I’m on it! Sadly, I don’t see much creative cover-art coming out of the hip hop world these days, but that’s an entirely different post (one for another day, I suppose). As I made my blog ‘rounds earlier this morning, I came across this book, “Cover Story: Album Cover Artâ€, and was stopped dead in my tracks. Not only is the booked styled to look like an actual record sleeve (they got it all right, down to the ring wear), but it’s apparently authored by one of my favorite music magazines/journals, Wax Poetics.
Cover Story: Album Cover Art, the second book by esteemed music journal Wax Poetics, graphically narrates the vibrant subculture of record collecting through the art of the album cover. It’s a must-have for record connoisseurs and art aficionados alike.
Illustrated as a visual essay, Cover Story exhibits the diverse art forms and design styles of the record cover, each telling its own story.
The Book vividly explores an element of music culture that has withered with the advent of MP3s and digital downloading. Records possess a visual as well as an aural capacity for storytelling. The record cover-eye candy for the music lover-speaks a language rooted in the environment and era of the music itself. And, more intimately, a record can create a profound sense of analogy with its owner, and it’s this relationship that we share.
I must admit, I haven’t paid close attention to the sneaker game for some time now. Well, let me rephrase that, I haven’t paid much attention to the exclusive, hype driven, internet-only sneaker game for some time now. I don’t know what happened, I just sort of fell out of touch with things over the past year or so. The scene just got a little too corny, redundant, and way too pretentious for me to handle, I think. Anyhow, I figured it was time for me to catch up on things; so as any young “hypester†would do, I took to the net in search of sneaker news and goodies. In the end I discovered Gourmet|NFN, a company that’s injecting Read the rest of this entry »
RSS
Twitter