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That's Right,

HMK

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I Like It On Top

New Mad Dog's Pub Tease...

Acoustic IPhone Speaker

Dig the totally natural alternative to electronically amplified iPhone sound docks.

Using only the iPhone's built in speaker, the Koostik. acoustically amplifies the volume output by 2 to 4 times!

Think of a solid body guitar that's unplugged-you strum the strings and get a little bit of sound. But if those strings are placed over a hollow body guitar and you strum the strings-you suddenly have acoustic music. The same principal is at work with Koostik.. Simply place your iPhone into the center cradle, and immediately you hear your music acoustically amplified, way cool.


The Koostik is designed so it works with all generations of iPhone. All of the external buttons and controls of the phone are easily accessible while the phone is docked in the Koostik.

Very nice.

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HMK

RIP Chuck Ramirez

Way back when in the late 1990's, I was honored when my friend and colleague Chuck Ramirez called me one morning and asked if I wanted to do the invite for the Blue Star Arts & Eats - my answer - Totally! The only thing was.... it was due to the printer the next day.

I remember drawing this little dude, my caricature of Chuck, while I was on the phone with him going over the details of the invite. I finished the illustration, bought some props: vino, daisy and a pear at HEB (save the receipts!) brought everything downtown to Robert Lopez's photography studio and shot it. This is one of the polaroids I saved from the shoot.

Thanks to Chuck this was my first of 3 invites for Arts & Eats and I can still hear him sincerely digging the final piece and thanking me profusely for making it happen with such short notice. That next week there was a nice bottle of wine from Chuck at my office along with a thank you note. Thank you Chuck. Thank you for your inspiration and generosity over the years - I miss you already man!

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HMK

Belka and Strelka Flashback

August 20th, 1960: Belka and Strelka, a couple of stray mutts impressed into the Soviet space program, become the first living creatures to return alive from an orbital flight.

More over here thanks to the smart folks at Wired Magazine: Belka and Strelka Flashback.

Here's to all Astronauts - God Speed!

And you've got to check out this nice flickr set dedicated to: Laika, my favorite Space Puppy.

Have a great weekend and Happy Birthday to my brother Terry today!

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HMK

Recover: Beauty & Protection

Designed to compliment the simplistic style of Apple products and allowing for distinction that matches your own. Recover skins incorporate minimalistic design and limited manipulation merging classic with contemporary to redefine the ordinary.


Recover skins are precision laser-cut from authentic wood veneers. Each unique piece is hand sanded, stained, and lacquered in Recover’s Portland-based woodshop to ensure long lasting beauty and protection. All skins are constructed with professional grade 3M adhesive backing that allows for simple and strong adhesion while still allowing for removal if desired. Each one-of-a-kind piece is designed to fit your devices specific model and size.

Nice! And yes, they also have options for your iPhone and even customization. I'm getting the above Walnut Chocolate for my iPad - the $30 US price is totally fair and right on the money as far as I'm concerned.

Oh, and if you're not too busy, you might want take a little peak at your future. The future of your fabulous lifestyle that is, coutesey of the brilliant folks at FlipBoard. So, what is FlipBoard? Only the future of Social Not-Working as we knew it!

The wicked smart folks at Cool Hunting break it down like this:

The brainchild of former Apple iPhone engineer Evan Doll and entrepreneur Mike McCue, the "personal social magazine" takes normal RSS feeds and configures them as a newspaper layout, showing headlines, runners and ultimately the full story. Additionally, Flipboard displays Tweets about each article and allows you to add your own comment.

Seriously, FlipBoard truly makes facebook look like a freaking puppet show!

You're welcome.

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HMK

World Cup Typography

Unity numbers on a Spanish shirt.

I don't know about you but I'm still going through World Cup withdrawl... We really need more more frequent events that enable us to go for a pint or two at 10am.

Unity numbers on Argentinian shirts.

Back to reality - I've finally found some really nice info regarding some of the typograpghy and fonts used on the officila World Cup Uniforms and jerseys. Check out the work of Paul Barnes, designer of the Crepello and Olembe custom typefaces for Puma, and also Yomar Augusto, the creator of Unity, the custom alphabet he designed for Adidas.

Home and away shirts for Ghana.

FIFA Equipment Regulations for numbers.

Congrats again to Spain on their victory over Holland and a big gracias to the smart folks at Font Feed for great info!

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HMK

Parties & Perfume

I stopped by Galeria Ortiz last night on my walk over to my buddy Rob and his wife Lisa's place over in Olmos Park and was treated to not only some very cool new works by artist Franco Mondini-Ruiz, but the cup cakes and champagne made for a very nice pitstop!


Galeria Ortiz Contemporary is located at 4026 McCullough, just one block north of Hildebrand, across from Julian Gold. I'm not sure how long the Parties & Perfume show is up, the site had no end date info, but if you're in the neighborhood Galeria Ortiz is most definitely worth the stop - check it out!

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HMK

Smeg My Kitchen

Sweet! I've been drooling over these since I first bought my house in 1999. Italian appliance manufacturer SMEG, (Smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastall) has finally made their ultra hip and amazingly efficient retro refrigerators available in the US - at Sears!

The stylish and very Italian 9.22 cubic feet fridge offers 'A+' energy efficiency rating, anti bacterial interior, automatic defrost, 3 adjustable glass shelves, fruit and vegetable container, storage box, chrome wine rack, tropicalised compressor, 2 adjustable covered bins, 2 bottle storage bins, 4 adjustable bins and 2 egg bins. And it looks pretty bad-ass to boot!



Now, if we can only get those design crazy Italians to make thier awesome Kappa Range Hoods available here as well!

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HMK

The Story Of The S

Ok, just in time for your Saturday morning coffee reading, everything you ever wanted to know about the Superman Logo, symbol and shield!


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HMK

Thanks to the super folks at Metropolis Plus!

Dog Lovers Kitchen

Wow, I'm really digging this totally custom design solution for doggy bowls from the smart folks at Artisan Kitchens in Centerville, Massachusetts.

Dogbone drawers hold treats, leashes and other supplies. Pullout cabinet on left of island holds bulk dogfood. Nice - lucky dogs!

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HMK

Typo Chair

Dig the Typo Chair from designer Michael Bom. The abstract typographic Typo Chair is made from recycled billboards of Finnish Birch multiplex. Nice.

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HMK

Happy 4th Of July!

Thanks to Brent & CeCe for the awesome lobster feast!

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HMK

Ghost in the Machine

Check out the amazing work of Erika Iris Simmons, an artist specializing in using non traditional media... old books, cassettes, playing cards, magazines, credit cards, etc.


In her latest series, Ghost in the Machine, she brilliantly showcases a number of portraits of musicians made out of recycled cassette tape with original cassette. Also included are portraits made from old film and reels.

Nice stuff: Ghost in the Machine.

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HMK

Why. How. What.

All organizations and careers function on 3 levels. What you do, How you do it and Why you do it. The problem is, most don’t even know that Why exists. Money is not a WHY, it's a result.

"People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe."
Simon Sinek

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HMK

Hidden Posters of Notting Hill Gate

This is really a cool find! Work at the Notting Hill Gate tube station has recently uncovered these amazing advertising posters in non-public areas dating from 1956 to 1959 when the station's lifts were removed and replaced by escalators. These are in an old lift passageway.

The above shot shows several of the posters - and the original Central London Railway tiled walls from 1900.

Totally digging the bearded character in this Royal Blue coach services poster by Daphne Padden, circa 1959.

Iron & Steel at the Science Museum poster, circa 1959

Thanks to Mikey Yashworth for all sharing these official shots he captured for the London Underground.

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HMK

WTF?

WTF? The United States thought it had scored the potential game-winning goal when Maurice Edu knocked home Landon Donovan's free kick in the 86th minute to break a 2-2 tie.

But referee Koman Coulibaly, Mali's answer to Mr. Magoo, called a foul on defender Carlos Bocanegra, who had his arms around Slovenia substitute Jejc Pecnik and was preventing him from jumping for the ball.


Magoo conveniently missed two American players being held and grabbed in different parts of the penalty area by Slovenian players.

So, Did Referee Koman Coulibaly Rob US of World Cup Win? Yes, but it's gonna take more than a low life referee to keep the US out of the finlas!

Go USA!

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HMK

Custom Bike Saddles

Really digging these engraved Brooks bicycle saddle seats from designer Kara Ginther. Sweet!

Mucho Mas: Kara Ginther Leather.

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HMK

Let's Go Celtics!

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HMK

Connecting The Dots

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have."

Steve Jobs

The above brilliance is from Steve Jobs: The Next Insanely Great Thing from the smart folks at Wired Magazine.

Dots Right,

HMK

Rebranding BP

A few years ago, BP rebranded themselves as 'beyond petroleum'. And yet BP is pursuing 'unconventional oil' - the Canadian tar sands and deepwater drilling, despite the massive environmental damage that's being caused by their business.

That's why GreenPeace wants you to rebrand them. Your brief is to create a logo for BP which shows that the company is not 'beyond petroleum' - they're up to their necks in tar sands and deepwater drilling.

More Info: GreenPeace UK.

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HMK

Log Out - Rock On!

Not your typical old school log cabin, this is actually a sweet little recording studio built and designed by Hans Linberg - a wood building facade covering a prefabricated plastic and steel frame. Nice!


Check out Dornob for more info.

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HMK

Little Horn Speakers

Wow, these are some stunning looking speakers!

Handcrafted using their unique Patent Pending design, Little Horn speakers are made by audio freaks Specimen of Chicago using high-density fiberglass and the base is made using heavy, void-free Baltic birch plywood. The base houses the driver and acts as a compression chamber for the horn. The horns are fitted to their base like a neck should be fitted to a guitar — with an exacting alignment and flush fitting surface to ensure the best performance and tonal transmission.

A special inverted design enables the low frequencies to emerge at the top of the enclosure. An octagonally fluted horn carries them upward and lets them flourish into the room. The immense structural rigidity of the horns octagonal geometry minimizes resonances yet allows sound waves to expand freely the way nature intended. There is simply something beautiful here, not just bass frequency reproduction, but a spatial imaging that belies the speaker’s size.


And as if the speakers aren't drool-worthy enough, the Little Horns can also be used in conjunction with Specimen's 300-watt Subwoofer and Hi-Fi Tube Amp. Built using the same Baltic Birch, this 14-inch unit can be finished to match your Little Horns.


Dang, I think I might have to start playing the lottery...

Specimen Products.

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HMK

2010 World Cup Calendar

Dig the navigation on this awesomely simple interactive 2010 World Cup Calendar.


And I found the above chart with trivia, facts and figures about the World Cup over at the New York Times : World Cup Soccer Miscellany thanks to Ben Schott.

Go USA!

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HMK

Evolution of Car Logos

Did you know that the Cadillac emblem was inspired by a family crest of a nobleman who later turned out to be a fraud? Or that Volkswagen was Hitler’s idea?
Grab a fresh cup of coffee and take a look at the fascinating stories behind the logos of some of the most popular cars in the world, thanks to Neatorama.



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HMK

Demystifying Design: An Argument for Simplicity

This is an awesome and insightful read from Joe Duffy for anyone that's ever been lulled to sleep sitting through another creative brief that begins by explaining process as a way of presenting design or branding services.

Process is vital but first things first!

For once can we please just forget the mountain of stats, graphs, focus groups, polls and PowerPoint nonsense and begin by substituting all that pretentious, fancy-ass account executive flim-flam jargon and simply cut to the chase? Can we just use some plain, straightforward and honest language while we focus on creating and delivering a simple, compelling, differentiating idea, one that's ultimately and consistently executed?

"As a designer I see this as both an opportunity and a responsibility. The opportunity is to continue to use our craft wisely, to solve real business problems, to deliver a means to help people find products and services that are uniquely well suited to make their lives a little better every day. Getting there requires that designers and our clients keep things simple."

What is design? It's art and commerce, fashion and environment. It's industrial and digital, graphic and experiential. It begins with ideas--ideas based in purpose. It requires a plan or a process. It yields innovation, invention or creation. It is successful if it elicits response--attention, desire, interaction or purchase.

Design is as much a process as it is an end product. The process should be simple.

The best strategy behind design is all about collection and collaboration - of people, talents, ideas, perspectives. It's about truly seeing vs. just looking. It's about being curious about what you're seeing, what it means or what it could mean if used in a new way or combined with other ideas or images. It takes a certain appetite and ability to digest.

Honestly it's simple. The best talent understands that. Rarely does the most extensive or unique "process" produce the simple insights necessary to do more than document a situation. The proof is in the pudding. Talented designers create it.

Or as one of the masters of simplicity Tibor Kalman put it: The difference between good design and great design is intelligence.

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HMK

Joe Duffy is principal and chairman of Duffy & Partners - check out his Duffy Point of View blog over at Fast Company.

Pet Peak

Dig the Pet Peak. This is a nice and thoughtful idea for any curious pet!

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HMK

Radio Canada

Made from maple and aluminum, the RADIO CANADA concept is a homage to the cultural significance of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This radio console design was inspired by the dedication of the many CBC listeners who keep their radio dials permanently set to the national broadcaster.

This will work beyond Canada as well - after setting the radio to your favorite frequencies, mine will toggle between NPR and KSYM, you can toggle between the two without hearing the static in between. Genius.

You know you want one: Science & Sons.

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HMK

Terminus!

Absolutely Brilliant!

What happens when a concrete man approaches an unsuspecting metro rider? Terminus! This 8-minute gem of a film was made by 33-year-old Canadian director Trevor Cawood, with a crew no larger than seven people.

“I like psychological films,” says Cawood. “Films that comment on who we are, and how we got there."

Bigtime thanks to Spy Films and Wired for sharing Effects-Heavy Shorts Show Off Directors’ Chops.

Totally genius!

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HMK

Stop Yelling, Say Thank You & Put Down That iPhone

I sprained my ankle yesterday while out for a run with my dogs Ringo and Dazy and so I'm spending the day with my foot propped up, catching up on some email, reading and writing a few belated Thank You postcards.

I thought I'd share this insightful, quick read from Peter Madden at Advertising Age: Twenty Things I've Learned After 40 Years Living and 10 Years Running an Agency.

Here's a few that ring true for me:

1. Realize what you're great at and do it all the time. Realize what you suck at and stop doing it completely (and put the right person in place to do it).

5. Trust your instincts. You can interview a prospective employee or client 10 times, they can say and do all the right things, but if your Spidey sense is tingling, something is amiss.

8. Do pro bono work for non-profit organizations that are trying hard to make the world a better place. You'll get more out of it.

14. Did someone working for you just disagree with a decision you want to make? Good. Keep her around as long as possible.

16. Throw parties at your office, no matter how humble or grand the space, for no reason at all. It's all about the people in the room, good music, and not running out of booze or ice.

17. Put your f***ing BlackBerry/iPhone down when you're meeting with me.

And of course -

20. Write personal notes thanking people you meet with and who are in your life. Besides death and taxes, the only other sure thing in life is that no matter who you are, it's exciting to get a handwritten note.

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HMK

Thanks again to Peter Madden at Ad Age.