Stories by Philip Kennedy

Philip Kennedy

Philip Kennedy is a twenty-something designer and writer from Ireland. He enjoys living in new cities, watching old episodes of Seinfeld and working on fun projects with exciting people. His favorite film will always be Back to the Future.

The Paper Sculptures of Irving Harper

Irving Harper's paper sculptures 1

Irving Harper's paper sculptures 1

At the end of last year the guys at Herman Miller put together a wonderful series of videos called Why Design. Each one features a designer from the company’s creative network and they all give a fantastic insight into the minds of some very talented people. My favorite of the eight is with Irving Harper who talks about how he likes to make paper sculptures. Harper finds that paper is a really versatile medium and he says that it’s really easy to work with. “All you have to do is sit down, cut paper out, and score it, bend it, and glue it.” he says. He makes it sound like it’s pretty easy but once you see what he creates you’ll quickly realize that it takes far more then simple cutting, scoring bending and gluing to make work this good.

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Philip Kennedy

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February 26, 2013 - See more posts by Philip

Pitchfork Classic revisit Belle & Sebastian’s “If You’re Feeling Sinister”

Belle & Sebastian's "If You're Feeling Sinister"

If You’re Feeling Sinister will always be one of my favorite albums. Released in 1996, it wasn’t until college that I was finally introduced to it. Although unknown to me at the time, my introduction to the band couldn’t have been more aptly clichéd; a mixtape from a girl far hipper then me, the backdrop of an art-school, a heavy helping of introspection and countless trips on city buses. In truth, there was no way that this album wasn’t going to play an important role in my developmental years.

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February 25, 2013 - See more posts by Philip

Bicycled – A Bike Made Out of Cars

BICYCLED » A bike made out of cars

BICYCLED » A bike made out of cars

I got an email the other days from Nicolás Gomez telling me of a new project he’s started at LOLA Madrid called Bicycled. The aim of the project is to create new bicycles from old car scraps. I thought it was a really neat and novel idea so I thought I’d share it with you.

Nicolás tells me that the idea for the project came about from their experiences of being an advertising agency. He says that creating products that connect with people is what they do on a daily bases and for them, Bicycled is simply the perfect example of that. They are concerned about where the world is going now and the project is built from the belief that it’s always better to do then to say.

At Bicycled, bikes are handmade; created by bicycle shop owners. Chains are made from old transmission belts, indicator lights become reflective lights and car upholstery becomes seats and handlebars. Each bicycle is made out of real car parts so it means that no two bikes will ever be the same. Hopefully all this is just the beginning of the project and we’ll get to see more and more parts of old cars being used to become new and inventive bicycles.

As a cycle enthusiast I think it’s great to see a project as inventive as this. It’s terrific to see old cars becoming more a efficient, ecological and healthier means of transportation. You can check out the Bicycled website here and maybe even think about ordering yourself a new bike!

Philip Kennedy

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February 22, 2013 - See more posts by Philip

Crisp, Clean and Darn Right Beautiful! – The Posters of Silence Television

Silence Television

Silence Television

Silence Television is the work of Peruvian illustrator and designer Gianmarco Magnani. Gianmarco creates these really fantastic prints that combine great illustrations with beautiful typography and design. Often featuring girls, motorcycles and guitars his work feels very rock n’ roll. Indeed Gianmarco is so inspired by rock n’ roll that he seems to have created his own fictitious rock band called Sixty Watts where he’s designed album artwork, tshirts, a website and merchandise for them. Go check it out, it’s really fantastic!

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February 21, 2013 - See more posts by Philip

José Guíza’s Weekly Illustrated “Windows of New York”

Windows of New York - 219-e-4th

Windows of New York -617-9th

Windows of New York” is a beautiful project by José Guizar, a young Mexican graphic designer based in New York. Since moving to the Big Apple José has developed an obsession with the windows of the city and every week he illustrates one and posts it to his site. José describes the project as the “product of countless steps of journey through the city streets”, and each window that he illustrates is one that caught his eye. For José the project is “part an ode to architecture and part a self-challenge to never stop looking up”.
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Philip Kennedy

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February 20, 2013 - See more posts by Philip