Cool Hunting

07 June 2009 - 13 June 2009 week before | next week view all from this month
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CRC Jianian: The Chinese Music Connection
by Tisha Leung When 38 year-old Toby Record revealed that as the Executive Director of CRC Jianian Inc., he had access to the Chinese government’s largest body of recorded historical and contemporary music, I was impressed—to say the least. Then he told me that rap producer Oh No laid some beats over a Chinese Peking Opera tune for the video game, Grand Theft Auto. So,...
Design is the Problem: The Future of Design Must be Sustainable
Nathan Shedroff's new book, "Design is the Problem", presents a practical and layman-accessible exploration of sustainable design. In it, he breaks the progress towards sustainability into five parts: learning how to reduce, reuse, recycle, restore, and process. And Shedroff isn't afraid to get in reader's faces about the issue, either, bluntly stating that we need to "get over the guilt or shock or outrage......
All Things Generic Pop-Up Store
The Generic Man's All Things Generic pop-up store, housed inside Space 1520 (Urban Outfitter's concept mini-mall for indie labels in Hollywood), is anything but generic. Launching officially on 13 June 2009 and open until the first week of July, the L.A.-based label's dress and casual shoes under the Generic Man and Generic Surplus labels are elegant, stylish and the focus of the temporary boutique....
Griffin Clarifi: Macro Lens for the iPhone
For those either stuck with ridiculous two-year AT&T contracts or just not ready to leap on the 3G S bandwagon for whatever reason, there are ways to make your old (aka "year old") 3G a little more S, starting with the Clarifi from Griffin. By adding another lens to the 3G's camera, Griffin overcomes the lack of a "macro" mode and enables shooting images...
Shaun White for Target: Jesse White Sketches
Tailor made for the cash-strapped board sports fan, the Shaun White for Target collection is a clothing line created by the 22-year-old snowboarding phenom for the Minnesota-based retailer. Hitting shelves this fall, the forthcoming line is the collaboration's second season, following a highly successful 2008 launch. While the new clothes officially take inspiration from White's life "along with his interest in music and travel,"...
Hotel Chic and Basic Born, Barcelona
For a holiday spent taking in Barcelona's seamless blend of old and new architecture, food and sounds, the sublime Chic and Basic Hotel couldn't be more well-suited. Located in the trendy Born area, it's an ideal jumping-off spot for wandering the many narrow, meandering streets of the city's neighboring areas. But it's the hotel itself that symbolizes so much of what we consider Barcelona...
Hudson River Piling Project Preview
by Ariston Anderson Figurative sculptor Joan Benefiel decided to further beautify one of Hudson River's scenic piers with a new installation of sculptures to be mounted atop abandoned pilings. The Hudson River Park, stretching five miles up Manhattan’s Westside from Battery Place to 59th Street, is a classic New York park, combining both the old (ancient piers from a maritime past) and the new (a...
Bicycle Film Festival: Joy Ride Art Shows
Now in its ninth year, the Bicycle Film Festival is bigger than ever in 2009, hitting up 39 cities worldwide and including a blowout bicycle-inspired art show called Joy Ride. Before traveling to five other major cities with the festival, four venues will host the show throughout NYC's Lower East Side and Soho neighborhoods starting next week. A group exhibition in collaboration with Anonymous...
Kinny Stereo Acoustic Guitars
Add new dimensions to guitar recording with Paul Kinny's Stereo Acoustic guitars, which use two sound holes to create a richer, more dynamic sound. The mammoth design, both intriguing and off-putting, is reminiscent of harp-guitars employed by innovative musicians Andy McKee and Michael Hedges. The two holes, oddly positioned towards the musician in lieu of his audience, separate the resonant bass tones from the...
Free Bird Boots
Free Bird is a handmade line of customized military boots applying recycling to fashion in a new way. Created by young New York-based designer, Stacey Howard, the boots were originally collected from military bases in the South. As Howard says, "It felt most natural to my aesthetic to use vintage native American garments and paint to refabricate the boots. Using a soldier's boot and...
Brand X Video Shorts Call for Entries
The LA Times' up-and-coming new-media site Brand X is hosting a video competition (that we're judging) to explore what it means to be a next-gen Los Angeleno. Shape your creative vision in a three-minute or less video exposé by this Friday, 12 June 2009 and enter to win a featured showing at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. We'll see you there....
Benjamin Graindorge x Duende Studio: Floating Garden Aquarium
Floating Garden, a new freshwater aquarium concept by Benjamin Graindorge and Duende Studio, tackles waste management, the primary concern of aquariums, with an innovative, 100% natural filtering system. By enlisting two forms of natural filtration, gravel-bed filtration and aquaponics, the set-up removes nitrates, thereby eliminating the need for harmful chemicals and frequent water changes. In the first instance, tank water flows over a tray where...
The High Line NYC
Beginning with a dream in 1999 to save a 1.5-mile-long unused elevated rail structure running through NYC's lower west side, Friends of The High Line founders Joshua David and Robert Hammond (pictured below, left) have a lot to smile about today with the opening of the new park and community space. The High Line, which also offers a new bird's eye view of the...
Margo's Bark Root Beer
by Julie Wolfson Just about a year ago, at the age of six, Oscar Youd made root beer for his science project. With some help from his parents Jessica and Tim, his project was such a hit at school that it spawned a new line of root beer called Margo's Bark. Made with all-natural cane sugar and micro-brewed in Los Angeles, the family named Margo's...
Daylesford and Hepburn Mineral Springs Co.
Tired of seeing imported water from the other side of the world on tables of their local restaurants, the Melbourne-based founders of Daylesford and Hepburn Mineral Springs Co. decided to act. Today, the team bottles and distributes water from the heart of Melbourne's mineral springs capital. Not only are their products natural, sustainable and local, with bottling and packaging just 100 kilometers from the...
New Projects Watches: Chroma, Iridium and Twilight
Witty and modern, these latest editions from Projects Watches continue the brand's reputation of making affordable accessories with high design pedigrees. Since 1992, the Michael Graves-founded outfit has been producing timepieces by the likes of Richard Meier, Maya Lin and Cesar Pelli. The Twilight watch, which illustrates the fading light cycle every 20 seconds, comes courtesy of web typography guru Daniel Will-Harris. Using two...
Sherwin Williams ColorSnap iPhone App
For the color-obsessed or interior designer on the go, Sherwin-Williams created the ColorSnap iPhone application to help sync up distinct palettes. Quick and easy, it works by simply scrolling a finger across an existing photo or a new one to locate the exact point for color match up. ColorSnap then instantly offers up one of the 1,500 corresponding Sherwin-Williams paint hues and a list...
Catamount Microwave Popcorn Popper
Avoid the oily mess, expense—and extra calories—with Catamount's microwave popcorn popper. Built with a butter-straining lid, the kernels pop at the bottom while the butter melts through, covering the popcorn to movie theater-perfection in just under three minutes. A more fail safe option then DIY microwave versions, the dishwasher and microwave-safe glass container has a glass handle for easy transport. The microwave popcorn popper...
Simon Denny: Watching Videos Dry
by Paolo Ferrarini of Future Concept Lab Currently exhibiting the powerful work of Simon Denny, in the scope of young Italian art galleries, T293 Gallery in Naples, is one of the most promising. Owners and curators Paola Guadagnino and Marco Altavilla constantly search for artists able to convey strong ideas, not just style, which Denny does successfully with his installation "Watching Videos Dry." Dedicated to...
Cool Hunting on the Amazon Kindle
Cool Hunting is now available on the Amazon Kindle. The service automatically sends blog subscriptions to your Kindle and updates them several times a day. The first two weeks of all Kindle blog subscriptions are free, then available for $1.99 monthly....
Lomographic Amigos Program
The premise behind the Lomographic Amigos program is simple. The Lomographic Society International equips selected photographers, musicians and other creative types with a Diana F+ camera and some film, asking them to shoot the film, which Lomo then displays on their website. Lomo Amigos alums include Radiohead, Modest Mouse and David Arquette. These beautiful shots above and below were taken by Feature Shoot founder...
June 7, 2009 - June 13, 2009 week before | next week view all from this month
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