September 28, 2012
A few weeks ago, illustrator Sarah J. Coleman got a curious email and her first instinct was to delete it. However, before she decided to send it to “TRASH,” Sarah took a peek and lo and behold, it was an email from Playboy Magazine. The next thing she knew, Sarah was picking up the phone. “The best jobs are often the quickest – the ones that sneak up on you,” Sarah says in her blog, Inkymole.
Art Director Mac Lewis had seen Sarah’s covers for Sight & Sound Magazine and wanted something similar for Playboy. Sarah was given a list of feature articles and nine different shots of the model, any of which could end up being used for the cover. Since the image was still undecided, Sarah had to create type that would fit around any of the poses. Once the final shot was chosen, Sarah worked with Mac to fit the type as neatly as possible around the body shape and the result is a knockout. Playboy head honcho Hugh Hefner personally put his stamp of approval on the cover. In less than a month, Sarah’s illustrations were on magazine shelves all across the US. This issue is the first illustrated Playboy cover in 23 years and part of the magazine’s move to freshen its look. With this cover, Sarah J. Coleman kicks off a new creative era of Playboy that calls on the old school sophisticated sexuality the iconic magazine is so well known for.
September 27, 2012
“Think of the golden rule (hmmm…) If you were a pig, how would you want to be treated? Humanely. With respect and dignity. With room to run and express your natural piggy instincts.”
This is just one of the thoughtful tidbits you can find nested inside the Farmer, a character produced by Bigshot Toyworks for Chipotle’s Cultivate Foundation. The creative shop was hired by Chipotle to manufacture a collectible toy based on the characters from Back to the Start, a short animated film promoted as part of the company’s food sustainability and educational outreach program. The viral success of the film, which garnered over 6.7 million views, is what sparked the initiative to bring its farmer character to life.
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September 26, 2012
Take a cut, sip and bite out of New York City with photographer and author of Edible Selby, Todd Selby. All you have to do is hop into any cab and watch the television in front of you.
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September 25, 2012
In a new video for the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet produced by Decon, artist Tristan Eaton turns the device into a living canvas to bring the images of his dreams into the real world. For the video, Decon‘s Jason Goldwatch teamed up with Tristan to direct and shoot this out-of-the-box video. Tristan’s experimental Los Angeles studio space was picked as the perfect location for things to unravel naturally, the only script being written by Tristan’s stylus pen.
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September 24, 2012
The September issue of Papier Mache features a spread by Nick & Chloe inspired by the commedia dell’arte characters Pierrot and the Harlequin encountering a bewildering blue moon.
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September 21, 2012
“For thousands of years the great Yangtze River continues to nursih the city of a long history. Everything is flowing, everything is changing. This is my impression of Wuhan.” – Quentin Shih
Continuing his ongoing relationship with Dior, photographer Quentin Shih‘s most recent project entitled “Wuhan-Christian Dior” focused on the ever-changing culture of the capital of the Hubei province and Central China. This stark yet fantastical series explores the idea of westernization as a gift to the people of Wuhan. With the help of the incredible couturiers at Christian Dior, Shih captures the quiet exchange of gifts between ordinary locals and these spectacular couture-clad women. Each of the individuals in the scene are positioned in a generic, two-walled set which is then placed in an empty, unspecific, industrial landscape. The scenes are each shot in his signature overly-sharp technique. These components demonstrate the process of westernization in a way that is still, startling, and beautiful.
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September 19, 2012
12foot6 and a beef curry stew-drenched Rexley announced this month that the hilarious Dog Judo web-series has released its very first Apple app. Dog Judo, which began as an advertising campaign for Virgin Mobile in 2004, has since taken on a life all its own in this flash-animated web-series. These canine judo enthusiasts are the creation of the co-founders of 12foot6, Dave Anderson and Tom Motimer, and the comic stylings of Andrew Kelleher and Barry Evans.
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September 17, 2012
Illustrator Gavin Potenza recently teamed up with premier American office furniture manufacturer, Herman Miller, to help create their 2012-2013 small business catalog. Gavin’s unique style blends seamlessly with the cutting edge design in which Herman Miller is known. He joins a very short list of artists and designers who have collaborated with the prestigious company.
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September 14, 2012
The Orient Express has served as a symbol of mystery, luxury, and adventure since its creation in 1883. Once again the fabled steam engine has ignited imaginations across the globe.
Photographer Stockton Johnson has used the locomotive as a backdrop to create a whimsical pre-Shanghai inspired story conceptualized by creative director Alexander Chow. Aptly titled “Orient Express,” the spread is featured in the September issue of Vogue China
This reincarnation of the train was created by the fanciful mind of Marc Jacobs and his creative team at Louis Vuitton and was used in their Paris Fall/Winter 2012 show. The train has since journeyed all the way to China to celebrate the opening of the Shanghai Louis Vuitton store.
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September 13, 2012
For the September issue of New York magazine Gillian Laub photographed the “The Belles of B-Ball” – Kimberly Chandler, Alexis Smith, and Vanessa Bryant – in their homes. Kimberly Chandler was particularly cute – she spent most of the time on skype with her hubby making sure he liked the outfits. Gillian loves shooting home stories because she “gets to know so much about people from their domestic environments” and she was able to sneak a peek of Alexis’ enviable closet full of shoes and handbags. What’s not fun about that?!
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September 12, 2012
This weekend Mercedes-Benz Drive-Thru is revolutionizing the in-car dining experience. With the help of Jason Bruges Studios and food artists Sam Bompas and Harry Parr, Mercedes-Benz has re-imagined what was a nostalgic task of convenience and transformed it into a sensory experience unlike any other.
From September 14th thru the 16th they have transformed the Old Selfridges Hotel in London into a display of a fusion of the utmost innovations in art, food, and design, complete with rollerblading waitstaff. This staging of creative minds is being used to celebrate the release of the new Mercedes A-Class now available in the UK. Anders Sundt Jensen, Head of Brand Communications at Mercedes-Benz says, “With it’s highly-emotional and progressive design, the new A-Class is all set to bring the trend toward monotony in the compact car segment to an end”. This seems to be the theme of the weekend, inspiration through innovation.
September 11, 2012
Matthew Hranek wrote and photographed a heartwarming article about “the family behind the New York institution” that is Russ & Daughters in the September issue of Martha Stewart Living. Russ & Daughters is the last remaining appetizing store on the Lower East Side. The article is composed of charming anecdotes about the “appetizing” industry and the family that works to keep it a part of the city’s history. Matthew has complimented his article with a wonderful array of images of friends, family, and a large assortment of smoked fish.
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September 7, 2012
Brian Doben captures the new Chase ad with McGarry Bowen. “Brian was an absolute delight to work with under very challenging circumstances”, says Jamie Applebaum. They experienced temperatures exceeding 100 degrees on the shoot day. Despite the weather, Brian was thrilled to step on to Center Court at the US Tennis Center.
Agency: McGarry Bowen
Executive Creative Director: Ahmer Kalam
Creative Director: Bob Pirrman
Senior Art Producer: Jamie Appelbaum
Producer: Lisa Wagenbach
September 6, 2012
Legendary artist and designer Eric Haze collaborated with New Era on three designs for their upcoming capsule collection and has also joined the likes of Talib Kweli and Rafael Saadiq as an honorary Flagbearer for the brand. The campaign was shot by Nick & Chloe.
To celebrate, New Era is hosting a special launch event at their flagship store in NYC on September 7th. The event will include a music set by DJ Soul who has curated a playlist based on artists and labels that Eric has worked with in the past, whether it be logo designs or album artwork. The list is quite impressive from Beastie Boys, to LL Cool J, to Public Enemy.
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September 4, 2012
Stockton Johnson travels from the East Coast of New York to the very Far East of Asia capturing glamour and beauty through his lens. In his latest shoot with Elle Vietnam he worked with stylist Susan Joy and the make up artist Nam Vo to create a very feminine and futuristic beauty story.
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