Element’s Conscious by Nature Collection

Spotted these sweet Element sneakers in the latest issue of Antenna and thought they were pretty rad. But it wasn’t until I kept learned a little bit more about them that I really understood how cool they were. They’re a part of Element’s new Conscious by Nature line, which features shoes that are made eco-friendlier. The product description sums up the shoes nicely:

It’s made from sustainable materials, with chemical free shell textiles, bamboo collar, tongue and insole linings, ortholite insole foam in place of EVA, soy-based ink logo treatments, 100% water-based cement, and natural crepe outsole.

So not only are these rugged and manly looking, with their plaid bodies and heathered uppers, but they’re also a little bit better for the environment. At first I thought I liked the bottom pair, the Why-No CC, but I think I’m digging the top pair more, the Omahigh. Either way they’re quite a pair of beautiful shoes.

You can pick up the Omahighs by clicking here.
You can snag the Why-No CCs by clicking here.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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December 11, 2008 - See more posts by Bobby

Poster Children | Recreating Great Depression Era Posters

Readymade recently asked five great artists to come up with some posters based around the posters you would find around the time of the Great Depression, obviously because of the U.S.’s current economic climate. As Steven Heller wrote in his intro to the project:

Given the current economic meltdown, this 75th anniversary of the New Deal has particular resonance. How might the current government stem the tide of economic and psychological depression? Can artists and designers help in similar ways today? It’s curious that the WPA style has been reprised in the recent past as a quaint retro conceit, but today may be an opportune time for a brand-new graphic language—equal in impact to the original initiative, but decidedly different—to help rally the cause of hope and optimism.

The two posters above are from Mike Perry and Nick Dewar, respectively, and there are posters from Christopher Silas Neal, Open, and Christoph Neal as well. You can download these posters as PDF’s for your own uses by clicking here.

Found through Monoscope, who’s also rocking an amazing new logo.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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December 11, 2008 - See more posts by Bobby

Souvenir de Chine by Körner Union

Sorry to post two videos in a row, a personal pet peeve, but this video is so weird and wonderful I have to. It was created by the Swiss group Körner Union, and features a ton of mirrors and lots of fuzzy and feathered little friends. The idea is simple, set up two mirros at an angle, throw a bunch of animals in it, tape it from above so it looks like a kaelidescope, and voila! Instant awesome art.

My favorite part comes in around the 2 minute mark when they throw in the parakeets, which in turn makes the mice scramble like crazy. A very random video, but beautiful and creative nonetheless.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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December 11, 2008 - See more posts by Bobby

Metal Heart, Moving Tilt Shift Goodness

I think this tilt shift stuff is kinda neat, but more of a novelty than anything, not that I think it’s easy to do. But when you add motion it definitely elevates it to a whole other level. The video above is called Metal Heart and features a tilt shift video of a monster truck rally. What ends up happening is that it looks like Micro Machine monster trucks, almost like something you’d see on Robot Chicken. The speeded up, jerky motions of the trucks is pretty awesome, as are the super saturated colors as well. Definitely loving this.

You can also check out the video in HD by clicking on the Vimeo logo in the player.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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December 11, 2008 - See more posts by Bobby

Newsbits

Newsbits is something new I want to try, as I read quite a lot of stuff online, and often never pass it onto anyone, ever. So what this is going to be is fun and random articles that I enjoyed with a brief bit about why I liked them. News + Bits = Newsbits.

Is Bill Murray NYC’s New Party Boy?

An amazing article about Bill Murray being the coolest guy in New York. My favorite part is toward the end where they discuss the urban myth of Bill Murray surprising a man in Central Park. You’ll have to read it for the punchline to that one.

Marc Jacobs is the Shameless High Priest of Fashion

I love reading anything and everything about Marc Jacobs, he’s such a big inspiration for me. Articles like this simply fuel that fire.

A.V. Club Interview with Wes Anderson

Since Bottle Rocket has been released on Criterion Collection Wes Anderson sat down with A.V. Club to have a little chat about it as well as what his favorite first films are.

Designer of the Year: The Incredible Suit-Shrinking Man

This one is kind of an old one, but I had been meaning to pick up this GQ that dubbed Thom Browne the designer of the year for 2008. I think his clothes are pretty great, and slightly off-kilter, which is always fun. I also loved learning a few intimate details about Mr. Browne as well, like that he eats white toast and coffee every morning. For some reason those little details intrigue me.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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December 10, 2008 - See more posts by Bobby

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