Made by Cerealart, the Philadelphia producer of contemporary art multiples, these new drinking glasses feature designs by renowned Japanese artist, Yoshitomo Nara. Known for his "kawaii" or cute style that adopts the look of animated cartoons, the tumblers are made in Japan and—like his other pastel, sad-eyed characters—are sure...

Blaine Fontana (you may remember him from a Scion) will be having his very first solo exhibit on the east coast, opening this evening in the city of brotherly love—Philadelphia. As his largest installation show to date, it will feature original paintings, graphite drawings, two brand new limited edition...

If you found yourself flipping through Elle this month while waiting in line at the grocery store or while doing some other mundane task, you may have come across the small feature on Carson Potter. Sariah Carson and Jaylin Potter (Parsons survivors by the way) are based in Williamsburg,...

Tara McPherson is having a solo exhibit at KidRobot on Thursday 6 July 2006 where she'll be showing some things and stuff. What? "things and stuff" not descriptive enough for you? Well for those of you unfamiliar with her work, I guess not. She'll be showing some new toys,...

If you're in L.A. this is the last week to check out the 2nd annual i am 8-bit exhibit at Gallery 1988. Previously this year I mentioned the i am 8-bit book (now available), which showcased work from the 1st year's exhibition as well as a few from the...

This Friday in San Francisco, the Super7 store will have the opening reception of their upcoming art show featuring the work of SF local, Joshua Ellingson. According to Super7's PR blurb, "Joshua is a talented artist/illustrator who began making art regularly with self published comic books and gradually moved...

Just a heads up for those of you in Seattle or heading up that way. Brandon Francis (aka Slow Moving Vehicle) will be showing his work at Moksha. For more information regarding this artist, check out this previous post. Moksha 4542 University Way Seattle, WA 98105 map 1-(206)-632-1190 Opening...

Some of you may remember, last month when I reported on this year's Loco Roco. The official Japanese website has a demo of the game available for download. I wouldn't normally put a post up on CH saying "you gotta try this," but this simple little demo of the...

Just a heads up. The White Walls Gallery in SF will be showing new work by Shepard Fairey for the month of April. Even if you're not sure of his work, chances are you've seen it. When and Where: Opening Reception Saturday April 1st 7pm to 11pm Runs till...

Hello! Some of you may remember last year's coverage of Game Developers Conference, rather than report on many different sessions and topics, I'd prefer to mention a couple of very special products as well as common themes. Loco Roco: The upcoming PSP title, Loco Roco, has got to be...

The second annual 24 hour game design jam took place at Parsons last weekend. Following the structure of last year's Mobile Game Mosh, focuses on mobile games for cell phones. Teams were comprised of students, both undergraduate and graduate, from around the New York area. Given a time frame...

Pimp My Doll is a plushie exhibition taking place in Venice, Italy from 24 March (launch event at 7pm) to 21 April 2006. In addition to the majority of French artists, there will also be artists from all around the globe participating. Exploring the fetishistic consumption of these plushies/dolls,...

Now there's no denying the ultimate power of beady little eyes, (just consider the mass appeal of pug dogs) but when those shining black orbs are supposed to belong to plush versions of yummy chinese steamed or fried dumplings, those little fellas just hit straight to the heart and...

If you'll recall, earlier this week I mentioned the Second Life. What makes this virtual space different than that of others, is that the content is both created and owned by its members. Owned as in, they own the intellectual property rights to it; thereby able to buy, sell...

The Women in Games International held a half day event this past Saturday entitled Games for Women, Games by Women at the Fort Mason Convention Center. The event was composed primarily of panelist discussions about the types of games currently played by women and the types of games that...

The people over at Eyebeam recently launched a new tool, entitled Maya 2 Google Earth. It's an open-source, cross-platform tool that allows you to export 3D models as a single Google Earth Placemark (KML) file. The project was inspired by the Open GL extraction utility OGLE (also by Eyebeam),...

The wonderful folks at i am 8-bit and Chronicle Books were gracious enough to send a preview copy of this collection of work to me. If I wasn't still living out of my boxes in S.F., I'd be honored to place this on my (currently non existent) coffee table....

I'm glad to see that it looks like Niko Stumpo, the founder of Hanazuki. The shop not only sells self produced products from Aiko, but also other friends and acquaintances who practice the same method of production. Featured above are three friends known as Trittico. There's something slightly insidious...

Tonight at S.O.B. is the 2nd International Spanish Hip Hop Festival, which brings together some of the best spanish speaking hip hop MCs in the world. Throughout the evening DJ Asho and DJ Freddy Rey will be spinning the best of Latin and Spanish hip hop. The acts will...

With more than 17 artists displaying their work at "Sold Out," opening today at the White Walls Gallery in SF, I was slightly skeptical of how it could come together. However a quick Googling of most of the names listed had me thinking otherwise. Instead of being a mishmash...

Back in November I wrote about Slow Moving Vehicle, graffiti art produced by L.A.-based artist Brandon Francis that's applied to canvas, t-shirts, wallets, and purses. He recently added an online shopping section to his website so that viewers can purchase directly from the source. Shown above is my favorite...

Opening this Tuesday night in L.A. at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight is Plush Week! The show features hundreds of one of kind plush toys to drown yourself in cuteness consumption gluttony. Featured here is Tsai-Fi's Periwinkle Dust Bunni. Tsai-Fi takes vecter art characters and brings them to life as...

Now imagine all of that above fitting into all of that to the right. You might be exclaiming "Oh golly! Those ever so clever designer folk! What will they think of next?!" Or perhaps a simple "WTF?" sums it all up. Anyway, this packageable Japanese style dinning table, appropriately...

While wandering through Macworld (and after viewing a zillion iPod accessories later), I stumbled upon these little fellas, known as TETRAN, in the back corner of the exhibit hall. There's something vaguely satisfying about seeing that cute spikey thing all wrapped up in those white iPod headphone wires with...

I was thrown this link the other night. And as I went through it, I was just astounded by how sensual and startling Audrey Kawasaki's work is. It's kinda hot and freaky so I thought I'd just share. I'm sure you're thinking "Oh great, lucky me..." But seriously, take...

In celebration of their new book, The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology, indie games evangelist Eric Zimmerman from GameLab and the lovely Director of Graduate Studies in the DT department at Parsons Katie Salen present an evening of discussion and debate about the past, present, and...

The opening reception for the White Walls Gallery show "Untitled" starts tonight. The group show features artists: Caleb Neelon, Sylvia Ji, Ogi, Sage Vaughn, and Anthony Yankovic III. If you don't live in SF, poo for you. These artists are all amazing and just from looking at their portfolios...

Just when I thought I'd had enough of the whole limited edition silk-screened t-shirt business model, I stumbled upon Slow Moving Vehicle. This Los Angeles based artist floored me with the intensity of his printed tees and charmed me with his insatiable need to place his mark upon everything...

Last Friday, Rocket World held the opening reception for their gallery exhibit, Monsters That Scare Me, which featured new work by reknowned graffiti artist Richard Mirando aka SEEN. Much of the work featured were silk screened paintings reminiscent of his graffiti past as well as works utilizing the image...

Building upon his previous work regarding the concept of transformation, Rosenthal in a limited edition and will also be available for purchase at the store. Time & Location: 11am to 7pm @ The Bath House, 540 East 11th St., New York, NY...

Ahh... To all the web designers out there (or any other type of designer for that matter) who's known what it's like to spend hours moving something a little bit to the right or a little bit to the left, up, down or slightly free transformed an image all...

Ogi's got some additions to his portfolio since I last checked in back in site....

For those of us that still enjoy and find the time to read actual books in this day and age, What Should I Read Next? is a little gift from the Database Gods that encourages literacy and for me to give my poor eyes a rest from my alternate...

Eric Quebral has embraced wood as a medium once again with these elegant iconic character portraits. Each background is composed of the parts for a wooden toy puzzle version of the gun. Sure, I could sit here and write about how great and hot this work is, but I...

CuteXdoom is a mod for the PC game Unreal Tournament 2003 that explores society's obsession with fabricated characters and all things cute, or kawaii. The goal of CuteXdoom is to become a member of the toy worshipping Yumi-Co cult and gain access to their temple by collecting enough toys...

Just because the moment has passed, does not mean it isn't worth mentioning. For example, The Toilet Tricycle Race kicked off the annual Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe on September 2nd. The event was created and organized by artists Steven and Billy Blaise Dufala. They hoped to...

Let me just state that I am not a smoker. And this post in no way endorses the nasty habit, despite the fact that, well, I guess it kind of does, I suppose. When I ponder (yes, I like the word ponder) it over, if I still smoked, I'd...

Toytakeova is an exhibition featuring 10 of Australia's top emerging artists. Presented as a toy store, the artists explore societal values, behavior, and relationships through toys and play. Each artist was invited to create or modify their own selection of childhood toys by drawing from memory and interpretation. The...

Back in February, Josh Spear clued us all in on Yummy Industries. Well, I'm just here to let you all know that they have some new belts available at their online store. The 1st and 2nd series are listed together in alphabetical order all clumped together. 2nd series belts:...

Absolutely wonderful. Like Josh, I too have a thing for skulls, but I also have a soft spot for cupcakes as well. I think of late night runs to Magnolia Bakery and staring at Marc Jacob shoes like some pathetic lost puppy while I chomp down on a mouthful...

Check out these one of a kind sculptures by London based Wilfrid Wood. After leaving the TV program Spitting Image, Wilfrid has been making these little (and sometimes not so little) works of art (4 to 12 inches) for the last 5 years. These unique and somewhat bizarre characters...

In a former sweet factory in East London, UK, resides a design studio known as Love Money Power. It was initially founded by four people, Richard Stott, Vincent Walsh, Sophie Copage and Brook Cronin. They currently add others to their team on an ad hoc basis depending on their...

Can't stand other people's cooking? Ever wish you could bring your own spices out on the town with you? Take a look at Iluren's Spiced Lady Ring, designed by Chao and Eero Jewel. Although it's also made as a three-dimensional free-standing sculpture, it also functions as a not-so-subtle poison...

Flip through Claudio Marzano's sketchbooks and you'll see the rough beginnings and musings of an artist at work. His illustration work is light, whimsical, elegant, and a bit obtuse. Marzano is based in Montreal, Canada and a fan of PBS. Ahh, I love Canadians... don't you?...

Los Angeles, CA - Outside of the Materials and Applications Architecture and Landscape Research courtyard resides a giant yellow black hole. Created by Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues, this rendition of "the deadliest force in the Universe" is entitled Maximilian's Schell, after the actor's portrayal of Dr. Hans Reinhardt...

Looking for something special that all the other hipsters out there don't have? Well then, if you're out in San Francisco and tired of hitting up those other tried and true designer toy shops, then head over to Double Punch in North Beach for a more eclectic hand picked...

Broken Biscuit is the site for artist Man Chi Loy. Based in Hong Kong, his artwork is both beautiful and chilling for the intensity and sadness it conveys. The figurine on the left is his most recent work, entitled P.R.E.S.S. He also has paintings and illustrations. Some of which...

I love toys and I also love tech gadgets. I've been known to through down the cash for either items rather impulsively. So there's not much doubt as to whether or not this figurine flash drive from Mimoco will be adopted by me in near future. She wants to...

Check out the Bicicleta Rug by Nanimarquina, two Barcelona based designers, Nani Marquina and Ariadna Miquel. The rug is hand loomed from rubber bicycle tubes. With a tag line like, "Recycle yourself. It's never too late," what's not to admire? Plus the company is also affiliated with Care &...

Heading to Amsterdam? Got a shoe fetish? Perhaps even with an inclination toward the extraterrestrial? Well, then check out the Shoebaloo store located at PC Hooftstraat 80. The interior of this designer footwear boutique was created by Meyer En Van Schooten. It's scifi interior not only looks the part,...