If a Xylophone is Played in a Forest…

Some days, my drafts folder is overflowing, full of posts just waiting to be published, and other days, the inspiration just isn’t flowing. That’s how I was feeling today, until I came across this clever project/video/ad that put a smile on my face:

A giant wood xylophone in a forest. Sure. Why not.

It’s for the new Touch Wood cell phone by Smart. (Which will be made from “locally sourced cypress trees” – somehow I don’t see how the “locally sourced” argument works for logging. Is it any better because it’s local?) But I don’t care. I still love this random, random installation.

Stripped Logos

Dorothy, a collective of designers and artists, has just created this series of paintings of iconic logos stripped of their names, creating a series that looks like potentially could have been by Frank Stella or Ellsworth Kelly in the ’60s. I wonder if a lot of these logos were created around the same time?

Pretty interesting to see which of them still look pretty when they’re just art without the words!

So Yoon Lym

I’m digging these photo-realistic acrylic on paper paintings by Korean-born artist So Yoon Lym. Lym, after moving from Korea to Uganda to Kenya to the US, studied art in Rhode Island, Normandy, and Manhattan before settling in Patterson, New Jersey. Quite a journey, no?

This series of paintings are based of off photos she’s taken in Patterson, and the subject matter arose out of her interest in hair as a means of self-expression and affiliation. Here is what Lym says about the series:

I have a strong interest in hair as a transformative vehicle of physicality.  I am also interested in the associations of hair and hairstyles as indicators of social, cultural, ethnic and gender affiliations.  The interest in urban hairstyles is of particular interest since these hairstyles are unique to a particular social, cultural and ethnic experience that is not my own.  As a woman, I have always been aware of the power of hair.  And perhaps because of the experience of my strict and traditional upbringing, I have never explored the full potentials of my own possible hairstyles in public. Perhaps it is through my paintings that I am able to explore different representations of identity.

via LAEM

Williams British Handmade

In awe of these limited edition and custom pieces of luggage by Williams British Handmade. There’s not much to say since their website is pretty sparse, but they do tell you they are made with brass frames and the highest quality of bridle leather… as if I wasn’t already convinced.

If you’re going to get custom luggage made, you may as well get something out of the ordinary that makes it worth going custom! These shapes are so clever.

Earth Art Meets Clever Proposal

Last week, 7×7, a San Francisco blog, picked up photos of this proposal written in the sand (above left) at Ocean Beach, not knowing who the proposal was to or from or who did the art and asking if anyone had any information. Just the kind of mystery I love!

Quickly, readers identified the artist as Andres Amador, who frequently creates artwork in the sand at Ocean Beach, and by today, the whole case was cracked.

This is a pretty amazing proposal story:

“Here’s how it all went down: Several years ago, Jason and Kelly were enjoying a picnic of Thai take-out on Ocean Beach when they noticed Amador creating a mural in the sand. “It was one of our first dates in San Francisco and it was just so cool,” says Kelly. “We took a bunch of photos and it was a great memory.”

Three years later, Jason tracked down the artist via the Internet and asked him to create a wedding proposal sand mural on February 12. The artist conceptualized the design and directed a handful of the couple’s friends in raking it into Ocean Beach. It took them, according to Amador, about an hour and a half to get the job done; then everyone took cover on the sidewalk above the rocks.

Meanwhile, Jason was luring Kelly back to the picnic spot. “As we walked down the beach, we talked about the mural we’d seen years ago,” Kelly says. “When we came upon the patterns in the sand, I couldn’t believe the artist was back!”

Because the design was so large, Kelly couldn’t read the message until she climbed up on the rocks (which took some coaxing). The waves were just starting to erase the edges of the mural when Jason pointed out the words and got on his knee. “I was in total shock,” says Kelly. “I mean, after five years I was getting a bit impatient, but I had no idea he would do anything like that! He told me that he’d made me wait so long, he knew he had to make it really good.”

And, as I said at the beginning, she said “yes.” Jason slipped the ring he’d designed on her finger, their friends (and the small band of onlookers) cheered and the champagne started flowing by a fire pit on the beach.”

Recently On…

Don’t forget, when you’re in the mood for straight visual inspiration, without having to listen to me ramble, you can head over to Editor’s Chair to get your fix. I also post videos there when I find ones I like that I don’t make a whole post about. So check it out!

Dear ____ Cards

Dear Sapling Press,

Your cards made me laugh out loud.

Thank you for making something so clever.

Eliza

The Escape Machine

This black cube that looks to be a piece of contemporary art in the Place du Palais Royal in Paris is actually a brilliant piece of experiential marketing by DDB Paris for French travel company Voyages SNCF called “The Escape Machine.”

It’s based on the very literal idea that Voyages SNCF helps you escape, but the execution is a very clever, outside-the-box (literally) form of allowing people to “escape!”

This presence of this actual cube, and the resulting press, has got to be the most attention Voyages SNCF has gotten in a long time.

Check out the video… it’s so clever, and I promise it will put a smile on your face!

Lost Pictures of New York Blizzard

This is SO This American Life!! Apparently I’m waaay behind on this one, but just in case some of you were too, I had to share it!

Guy resolves to have more adventure in life. It snows in New York, he decides to ski in Prospect Park for some adventure. Finds a film canister in the snow. Develops it. Makes a film about and puts it on youtube to try to find its owners. The video gets over a million hits, and emails pour in from people who believe they may have clues for him.

I don’t want to give away the end of the story, because it’s just much better if you watch the videos. (I will tell you he travels to Europe as a result!) Definitely watch part 1 (about finding the film and requesting help finding the owner) and part 3 (about his journey to Europe).

It’s convenient that he, Todd Bieber is his name,  makes films for a living– I can’t remember for whom now, I think it was Upright Citizens Brigade– so the story is really well told in the video.

I think storytelling as a thing is underrated– it’s something that everyone loves, but perhaps not consciously, as it’s not often discussed as it’s own thing. People love movies and great conversation, but it’s rarely discussed that it’s because we all enjoy great storytelling. But why else would this video have gotten over a million hits? Anyway, I think this is one of the best examples of storytelling I’ve come across in a while. The actual “plot” is awesome, and Todd is a wonderful storyteller, not only giving you the facts, but drawing some wonderful conclusions at the end. Enjoy!

Retail Design Inspiration

After mentioning Steven Alan and APC in the previous post, I was thinking about how much I love those store interiors and thought I would share them. In the process, I came across the site and blog of Gia Luu, who is a specialist in merchandising and who has a blog of store interior photos.

It is probably a good thing there weren’t that many pages to her blog, or I would have gotten sucked in for hours (do you love store interiors as much as I do?? Half of why I love shopping when I travel is to see the store interiors!), but Gia Luu, please continue your blog! I would definitely follow a blog that just features cool store designs.

In fact, my original post for today was going to be about one of the Hermes stores! …But I’ll save that for another day.

All images shown above are also in the gallery below, with names of each store shown if you’re curious!