Cool Hunting
| 15 May 2008view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
Schmap for the iPhone and iPod Touch
by Josh Rubin
When we first learned about Schmap digital travel guides a couple years back, we loved the concept but were frustrated by the lack of options for Macs. With their new beta version for iPhones and iPod Touches, they've one-upped themselves by providing their interactive maps in a format designed to take advantage of the device's unique capabilities.
Using the gyro feature and either a city guide or local search, when the phone or iPod is horizontal it displays (much like Google Maps) a split-screen with mapped locations on one side and a dynamically-updated list on the other. It also embeds info, just like Google Maps, enabling users to click through to websites and phone numbers or to look up the address using the local widget (to find directions, for example).
While it's a little confusing to have to scroll lists using two fingers, the resource is a great way to find a coffee shop in a strange city or discover any number of useful or fun places.
Ecsostype Giveaway and Discount
by Fiona Killackey
A while back CH brought you news of the very slick and very beautiful Ecsotype leather bags, cleverly designed by French/Aussie duo Sabine and Christian Pound. Well, get excited because this dynamic powerhouse have just re-launched their website with a brand new operating system which not only makes it look better, but also makes it far easier to use. In addition to providing their entire range, the new site will feature a blog by Sabine (French) and Christian (English) chronicling the life of the brand, the duo's design inspiration and their current obsessions. To celebrate the re-launch of Ecsotype's website the Pounds are having a giveaway. Simply sign up for their newsletter to be in the running for a free (in-stock) bag!
If that's not enough Ecsostype are also giving a whopping 20% discount to CH readers valid until 30 June 2008. Just log on and enter the code CH-RL.
Vladmasters
by Jonah Samson
On a recent visit to Blue Bottle art gallery and store in Seattle, I picked up an amazing set of View Master reels. Now normally any old set of View Master reels is enough to get me excited, but these actually caused me to jump up an down a little bit.
The Vladmaster disk sets were created by a Portland artist named Vladimir, who started creating her own reels from second-hand View Masters in 2003 by interpreting stories by Franz Kafka. After learning how to create 3-D photographs, she built miniature scenes, photographed them and glued the resulting images into custom-printed reels. Originally, the Vladmasters were viewed like short films in theaters, where accompanying music would follow the images and a clanging bell would instruct hundreds of people to click their View Masters simultaneously.
Each of her creations can be purchased in a small paper folder that can be taken home for your own private viewing pleasure. The sets contain four Vladmaster reels and a mini disc with the original music and instructions. My personal favorite is “Actaeon at Home.”
Vladmasters are available starting at $18 through the Vladmaster site. A list of shops that carry the sets is also listed there.
Muto: An Ambiguous Animation Painted on Public Walls
by Josh Rubin
Blu has created one of the most incredible stop-motion animations I've seen. Painted on walls in Buenos Aires and Baden over this past winter, the piece features a black-and-white creature that morphs into various blobby forms.
Starting off as a multi-armed monster, it constantly shifts with the most consistent tropes involving head changes—from spiky to cubed to round, etc. and sometimes devouring/birthing itself. There's also plenty of other mind-bending evolutions involving things like crawling teeth and creepy bugs. It gets even better when the creature(s) interact with the surrounding details, crawling into corners and snatching pieces of paper off the wall with a frog-like tongue.
Tokyo Art Beat Artist T-Shirts
by Doug Black
Attentive readers might remember Tokyo Art Beat when we covered them way back in 2005. For the uninitiated, TAB is a website covering art events, reviews and creative jobs in the Japanese capital. The free service is run as a nonprofit, but occasionally they offer a limited run of exclusive t-shirts designed by local artists. The third edition is currently on sale, and it features designs by Alexander Gelman, Shantell Martin (above left), the Dainippon Type Organization, Ayako Ookubo (above right) and Tomoko Konoike (above center). Shirts are currently discounted to ¥2500 (about $24) and available until the end of May.
Additionally, a New York version of the site recently launched, serving the same essential function with an NYC-centric perspective.
