urban taster

Paintings by Sea Hyun Lee.

Even if the whole world were to fall to pieces, the unity of the psyche would never be shattered. And the wider and more numerous the fissures on the surface, the more the unity is strengthened in the depths

Beautiful wooden sculptures by Yoshimasa Tsuchiya.

A new free tool for custom fonts. Try it here.

Oooh Ahhh…. Logo design by Pavel Pavlov and packaging by Archabits Studio.

The Devil’s Rope/Type, a series of wires pulled across two wooden posts by Andrew Effendy. Each barbed section of the wires form letters of the alphabet, A through Z, and when linked up to form words alludes to the aggressive nature that words can often convey.

A fun and quirky take on menswear by Parisian based fashion designer Walter van Beirendonck.

A great use of digital image manipulation by Federico Cabrera for fashion brand GILLES ET DADA. I am loving how it looks like a modern, severe version of a tribe.

Kyle Tezak decided to tell a story with just four icons. Brilliant idea!

Simple pieces and bold colours accented with a geometric texture makes Jill Sander one of the more alluring brands to have been shown so far. via GQ

The foursome from Sweden who can do no wrong, Front, just announced their latest project for Italian furniture company Moroso.

Looking like a handsome chunky wooden bench at first glace, the seating and back rest are actually soft cushions printed with a realistic wood grain pattern. I have always enjoyed Front’s experiments into blurring the lines between the real and unreal and this seems to sum that up in a simple, aesthetically pleasing manner.

HolmbackNordentoft just created a new set of graphic-looking black knives for Stelton. An instant classic!

Now this is art. via Jak & Jill Blog

The beautiful water-coloured folksy work of American illustrator Stacey Rozich.

Part ’20 000 leagues under the sea’, part classical furniture, the Octopus Chair by Maximo Riera combines the mystical undersea creature and an arm chair with just the right amount of spine-tingle and gently flowing beauty.

Came across this little fun piece on Starbucks by Margarit Ralev. Hilarious!

It’s logical that for the 50th anniversary they’ll make another logolift*.
I’ve asked myself what it would be …

• She’ll be bigger (1). Not because of all the sweet things they sell in Starbucks, but because they’ll sell more products in any scale and they’ll need a mark with less details, visible in smaller size.
• She’ll no more be a mermaid (1a), she’ll be referred as ”the Green Lady”. As we know – mermaids are kind of nasty and don’t have such a good PR as the fairies, for example.
• She’ll be wearing a bra (2). No, Starbucks will not sell bras! ( Actually I’m not 100% positive about that…) Since the original mermaid was naked – they’ve tried to remove the nipples, but left the same breast shape… so in 2011 she’s still naked but with bad photoshop retouch. Meanwhile the feminist movement will grow even bigger and they’ll read this post some day and they’ll propose to “dress” the poor woman. Besides – with bra – she’ll be even more sexier.
• She’ll be without hair (3). Just kidding. The hair will be there, but again – because of the detail removing – her hair will be removed and marked as a silhouette between the fins.
• She’ll have fin-arms (4). Cropping will leave hands out of the picture ( literrally ) so the fins could be rotated a little bit. This way they’ll not only mark the hair, but they’ll provide the association of hands, holding… cups of coffee ?!
• She’ll smile more (5). Just a little. It’s an American brand after all. Besides – there should be something positive in the press release – she’ll look happier.
• She’ll be no more a trade mark (6). She was a registered mark until 2011, now she’s a trademark and in 2021 she’ll be something more  - an international symbol of the drinking coffee ( and other stuff ) people, protected by the community…

One thing upfront. I do not care how this thing sounds. Looking like a pair of ultra-futuristic robotic E.T. eyes is reason enough for my gadget lust. The BeoSound8 encapsulates the Bauhaus movement perfectly, with simple shapes and obvious usage. Dieter Rams will be proud.

To match your personal taste and the room you place it in, BeoSound 8 comes in either black or white with aluminium details and matching power cord. When you feel the need to add a splash of colour to the room, the list of options includes six fabric speaker covers in lavender blue, purple, green, yellow, black and white.

Only Etro makes cow hide and paisley look like they belong together. via The Fashionisto

Coöp is the studio of designer Paul Marcus Fuog. Since opening in 2004, Coöp has undertaken a variety of projects ranging from small art-based briefs to expansive design contracts. Positivity and experimentation are at the core of the studio’s practise.

Bright colours and strong prints! Opening Ceremony can do no wrong.

And I need to get my hands on those shoes…

Have a game with your cuppa! Concept from Danil Zdorov.

For a little more fun in our daily lives, Taiwan design company bitplay has created a design concept for Bang!, a lamp that shoot the lights out. You fire a gun at the lamp to turn it off. The light goes out and the lampshade knocks to the side, showing that it’s been hit.

Shelly Reed sees the world in black and white, and paints it thus. Her beautiful grey tones lets the viewer focus on the beauty of the composition and textures.

Singaporean hotelier Yen Wong’s latest outing in Hong Kong is a decidedly opulent premise, filled with old-world charm. Designed by Seyhan Özdemir and Sefer Çağlar of young Istanbul-based design firm Autoban, 208 Duecento Otto delivers ‘rustic Italian cuisine from a New York perspective’. Yum.

Wehberg installs gigantic 20 meter tall swings for Autostadt GmbH every year. One brilliant example where size does matter, no matter whatever you say… puny swing person.

A men’s club left to rot over 40 years and brought to life by a daring gentleman. A great story of restoration and guts and lots of love for the old world charm. This is one stunning home. via Yatzer

photo © Robert Rausch of GAS Design Center, Image Courtesy of The New York Times.

Sam Cox and Justin LaRosa from Physical Fiction creates retro handmade prints from hand-built Lego. Superb and what fun!

Matthias Seifarth does strange off-beat illustrations of strange off-beat characters in the most loving and tender pencil strokes.

Love the retro Polaroid but the technology of the iPhone? Now you can have both. Polaroid iPhone decal by Photojojo.

Public service message: disease or childbirth may follow!

Haha! Yes thanks Uncle Pete!

This is a brilliant brilliant idea! Soap Flakes by Nathalie Stämpfli gives you the hygienic plus side of liquid soap, where you don’t have to be touching the wet bar soap of the previous user, and the plus side of bar soaps, which are great at saving space in shipping containers instead of moving water all around the globe.

Today, most of the soap we use is liquid soap, which contains a lot of water. Block soap instead is more concentrated and therefore has some ecological benefits: You don’t transport unnecessary water around. In place of plastic bottles you can simply use paper for packaging. The solid blocks can easily be piled and allow a greater space efficiency in a truck.