Adrian Johnson for Monocle



I always enjoy seeing Adrian Johnson’s illustrations in Monocle but I thought this months were particularly fun. Created for an article called No Need To Shout, which talks about the idea getting people attention/admiration/loyalty and so on without the use of hard handed tactics. I love that image of the tank shooting out a ton of colorful bears, it’s a great image that describes the article perfectly. I also think the image of the place dropping balloons is awesome. Imagine balloons pouring down over your city, how cool would that be?

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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September 3, 2009 - See more posts by Bobby

Death Watch



Monocle has an interesting video on a collaboration between Dutch design school Eindhoven and funeral insurer Dela which is titled Remember Me. The idea was for the students to create new ways of dealing with death and how we cope. Ideas range from a clocks to burial shrouds, but many of the ideas are extremely elegant and beautifully done. Unfortunately, I can’t embed the video, but you can click here to watch it.

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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August 5, 2009 - See more posts by Bobby

Always With Honor

I spoke about Tyler Lang in the last post, and so I thought I’d post another little piece about him and his collaborative work with Elsa Chaves, Always With Honor. It’s a fantastic name for a studio, and they do equally great work. The piece above is one of the dorkier things they created, an ongoing patchwork design of their favorite foods. Too cute not post, though I’m craving a Krispy Kreme donut now!

Bobby

Bobby Solomon

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June 10, 2009 - See more posts by Bobby

Monocle Shop Opening in Brentwood

Last night I had the opportunity to check out the opening of the new Monocle shop in Brentwood. As many of you previously read, I wasn’t so thrilled with their choice of location, seeing as how Brentwood is somewhat on the outskirts of the city.

I arrived around 6 PM and the place was already bustling, elegant looking people walking around, champagne glasses in hand, talking and having a wonderful time. The shop itself was quite modest, it couldn’t be more than 100 sq. ft., but was filled with all kinds of Monocle goodies. The space looked a bit like a study in a modern home, very warm and inviting and smelled woodsy. Overall, it’s a darling little space, tucked into a charming walk through market that features a candy shop and a James Perse store, among others.

Talking to Tyler Brule, he was quite open with the fact that the shop isn’t trying to be hip or cool, “as Monocle already is”, he said, but that it’s meant to introduce the magazine to people who don’t know about it. The other reason is that the Brentwood area is a more affluent neighborhood, willing to spend money on higher end products like their Porter bags or $85 candles. I had imagined that this was part of the reason why it was put there, and was rather satisfied with his candidness about it. It’s merely, business.

Tyler was a very gracious host as well, introducing himself to everyone and even saying goodnight to us as we left, and his staff was extremely nice as well. A couple of them knew me as basically “the guy who thought Monocle was dumb for opening a store in Brentwood”, but they were quite funny about it and realized I didn’t mean any harm in it.

I also got to hang out with Jean Aw from NOTCOT, Ryan Willms from h(y)r collective, Tasha Nita Adams from Blackburn and Sweetzer, and Julie Rasmussen and Kemp Powers from LAist. It’s always fun to run into fellow bloggers, especially when you get champagne for dinner.

If you happen to be near Brentwood, definitely take a pop over to the store, I highly recommend it.

Bobby

P.S. I stole the top image from Ryan at h(y)r collective, thanks Ryan! Here’s his post of the event as well.

Bobby Solomon

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April 7, 2009 - See more posts by Bobby

Monocle x Comme de Garcons / Scent One: Hinoki

My love/hate affair with Monocle continues. As I previously wrote about Monocle’s City Guides, I love a lot of the stuff they do, but they can be equally annoying and pompous. So what do I do? I buy a bottle of their cologne, Scent One: Hiroki. The cologne is a team up with Comme des Garcons, created by their perfumer Antoine Maisondieu.

The bottle came with a card that describes the scent:

“The inspiration for this fragrance comes from a perfectly still, slightly chilly spring morning spent soaking in an indoor/outdoor tub at the Tawaraya in Kyoto. It pulls together our memory of the mosses and trees outdoors, and sharp notes of the boxy, hinoki tub.”

Gag me with an F’ing stick.

That being said, it is one of the most amazing smells I’ve ever encountered. It’s a unisex cologne, but I’d say it’s extremely masculine smelling. It’s very woodsy, but thankfully you don’t smell like your grandpa. The other ridiculous thing about this cologne is that it costs around $150. I know, insane. But it’s honestly amazing, so if you ever have the chance to sample I highly encourage you to do it, because it’s hard to smell a cologne being sold in a magazine.

Bobby

P.S. I took that photo on my dining room table, though it may not look like it. I just thought that was funny.

Bobby Solomon

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November 22, 2008 - See more posts by Bobby

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