Exercise Art

Lunar, one of the world's leading industrial design firms have turned their hand to an exercise bike of all things. What they have created wouldn't look out of place at the Tate Modern.

Lunar’s president, John Edson, and new managing director, Mark Dziersk, have been in  New York recently to introduce new concepts like the Vela exercise bike.

Matthis Hamann, one of Lunar Europe’s two managing partners, explains the Vela concept.

"(it is) a highly functional fitness equipment which, besides its sporting uses, will adorn any living room in the same way as an aesthetic sculpture. The objects thus combine ‘life’ and ‘style’ in the best possible sense"


Personally I would love this. Not to exercise on, but just to look at!

The promotional video for the Vela exercise bike is below.

 

Liberty x Dr Martens

One of the mini-trends of Spring/Summer 2012 is the early 1990's classic - grunge. For SS12 it has been given a feminine twist, as seen on the Ashish catwalk. Dr Martens are of course a staple of the grunge style and their new collaboration with Liberty sees bold, iconic Liberty prints of flowers and animals, feature on low and high top shoe styles from the Dr Marten Classics Collection

Along with the boots and shoes, there is also a cute satchel range, which is top on my wish list, along with the pink floral shoes (4th pic down). Lovely. The collection is available to buy from 1st May.

PANTONE Unveils 336 New Colors

PANTONE has just added 336 new colours to its PANTONE Plus Series. Making it a total of 1667 different (ish) colours.

According to PANTONE, the new shades—which ranged from pale pastels to mid-tones, deep hues, neutral and bold—were inspired from the PANTONE Goe System.

Each of the new tone will be permanent fixtures and are availaible in coated and uncoated formats and are printed on text-weight paper to match the print specifications.

Now, I don't know if its just me, or do these colours look very, very similar to ones already in my pantone book? These extra colours will cost you £279 to get in book form.

Still. They are very pretty.

Queen's Diamond Jubilee - Creating limited-edition projects

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June is bringing with it scores of limited-edition branded products.

Designers are having to reconcile brand guidelines with national and celebratory imagery without being too kitsch or jingoistic.

Other problems include legality – no pictures of the Queen – and the fact that there are no official branded jubilee products. One solution is to create non-specific national celebratory imagery, while avoiding confusing the statement with that other national celebration this summer, The London Olympics.

The company Design Bridge seems to have got around this with some style. To Have To Hold Royal Icing Sugar Work for Tate and Lyle last year in the run-up to the Royal wedding has been followed up this year with doing away with ‘Lyle’s Golden Syrup’ in favour of ‘Happy and Glorious.’

Another favourite is Hornall Anderson's edition of Marmite, or Ma'amite as they have branded it.

Willis Earl Beal

Willis Earl Beal. A name you should remember. From Chicago, Beal is a blues/soul singer who's amazing voice and lo-fi approach to music make him a personal favourite of mine.



Id heard about him, but it wasn't until I saw him on Jools Holland that I really took notice. Please watch below and be amazed.



I also love his website. Very simple but very interesting. It states that if you write to him, he will send you a drawing. If you call him, he will sing you a song. A very novel approach. One he might find he will have to change as he becomes more popular.

Gaz Coombes Presents... - Hot Fruit

Original Britpopper Gaz Coombes has left the 'Alright' days of Supergrass behind him. Nowdays he has a much more grown up sound that still has elements of his previous band. 'Hot Fruit' is from the debut album 'Here Come the Bombs' which is out on the 21st May.

Adobe launches CS6

Well creative types. Time to get your credit cards out again! Adobe has launched its CS6 creative suite this week.

Adobe says "Adobe® Creative Suite® 6 software delivers a whole new experience for digital media creation, enabling you to work lightning fast and reach audiences wherever they may be. Now, for the first time, CS applications are also available through Adobe Creative Cloud™, giving you the flexibility to download and install them at any time. Plus, access additional applications, publishing services, and new products and features as they are released."


If your lucky enough to already have a copy of a previous CS series then an upgrade will cost from £357.60. If not then it will set you back (maybe sit down for this) £1810.80 for the design and web premium.

Adobe do appear to have us designers by the balls when it comes to their products. Save something in InDesignCS6 and let someone with CS5 try and open it. Won't work. In the end you have to have the latest version. I hate them...... and couldn't work without them. Bastards!

Fire in West London

Seeing a gey cloud in the sky is hardly unusual right now, but today it was different. On my walk to the station, I realised this cloud was actually pulsating up from the near distance. A recycling plant in Willesden somehow caught fire, hopefully the fire fighters will get it under control soon, it's always scary seeing something so dangerous and out of control.

Pictify

A new beta website was launched this week called PICTIFY. The site is for everyone who loves art and wants to share their favourite pieces of work with others.

The real exciting element of the site is that galleries and museums will be sharing works in their exhibitions and collections, giving you a more detailed look at whats being shown before you go.

The Saatchi Gallery are one of the first to take this up by previewing their upcoming photography show 'Out of Focus'.

Jack White's Debut Album Blunderbuss

Out today is Jack White's debut album Blunderbuss. I was surprised that this was his first release as a solo artist, as for someone with such a prolific back catalogue, I kind of assumed there were a few solo albums in there somewhere - but no, Jack concentrated on working in bands and is only now giving us his solo offering. And I love it.

The single 'Sixteen Saltines' is a great reflection of the gutsy, catchy album style and comes with this creepy video, which after several viewings still makes no sense to me:

Design Museum - Designs of the Year 2012

Currently the Design Museum is showcasing the nominations for its Designs of the the Year 2012 awards.  This year's selection of work ranges from architecture, digital, fashion, furniture and graphics, to products and transport. Naturally there are a variety of projects included.

A personal favourite of mine is the Comedy Carpet (shown below) by artist Gordon Young and Why Not Associates. The installation on Blackpool's promenade immortalises the favourite comedians and comic writers from the UK's heyday of music hall to the present day. It took five years to complete and features catchphrases, jokes and sketches, made up from more than 160,000 letters cut from black and red granite and cobalt blue concrete.

Ladybird Love: Dot by Marc Jacobs

Debuting in July is Marc Jacobs new fragrance, the wonderfully titled Dot. As the man himself explains, "A dot is timeless and a pattern I always love, and round shapes are always beautiful. I liked the idea of these hybrid butterfly-ladybugs, which suggest a sort of free spirit and femininity and playfulness. And, of course, ladybugs mean good luck."

These campaign images feature Australian model Codie Young and were shot by Jeurgen Teller, Marc's longtime collaborator on his advertorials. I love the fresh, natural feeling they evoke and let's face it, who doesn't love a Ladybird? The perfume combines the scents of berries, coconut water, jasmine, orange blossom and vanilla, which sounds delicious and perfect for Summer.

Red Kite

Red Kite is the new band from ex Cooper Temple Clause guitarist Dan Fisher. I think they are going to be big judging by the above track Montreal and the new single Gathering Storm (Out on 30th April).