Favela Painting

Armada – Shake the Chill

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ARMADA are an eclectic three piece cranking out smart, soulful indie rock from the heart of Los Angeles. Smatterings of Wilco, Radiohead, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins, Spoon, and Rolling Stones combine to form the dynamic hush and power that defines one of LA’s most exciting new bands. These guys have a great energy about them. These guys are good friends of mine….talented craftsmen in their field of music. I had the pleasure of designing the cover of their last album entitled “Shake the Chill”.

Read more about them on their Myspace. Or even better buy their music on iTunes.

James Perse’s New Hollywood Shop

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The gritty corner of North Highland Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles’ Hollywood section is just beginning to revitalize. Nevermind all the trannies and prostitution at night. Its actually right around the corner from my job.  James Perse opened an 8,000-square-foot compound at 1128 N. Highland Avenue on the weekend of Aug. 14. The building is said to be a 100 years old.

He opened the Highland Avenue store to offer the brand’s fashions to the eastside’s burgeoning hipster neighborhoods of Echo Park and Silverlake, as well as the well-to-do neighborhood of Hancock Park which is a 5-minute drive away, according to brand spokesman Noah Stone.

“It is our intention is to create a destination,” Stone said. Nothing will be priced more than $200 at the shop. The store will offer a performance area where bands might play. Art might be exhibited there. For the hard core James Perse aficionado, the brand’s limited edition furniture and lifestyle products will be exhibited there.

The best part is that they have a bangin ping pong table! Anybody who is ever down for game…hit me up and I’ll meet you there.

POLLYN.COM

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My friend Adam Weissman…the mastermind behind Pollyn is on point. On August 31st Pollyn is releasing the fourth and final remix EP featuring songs from our album THIS LITTLE NIGHT. This time around they have some amazing remixes from Nosaj Thing, Exile, James Pants, & Them Jeans. There’s also a Pollyn remix of “Falling Out Of Place” featuring rapper Freddie Gibbs. It’s already gotten some airtime on KCRW. Make sure you download it…it’s really good.

Shake Out The Other Way EP

1. Falling Out of Place (Pollyn Remix Featuring Freddie Gibbs)
2. Other Side (Nosaj Thing Remix)
3. The Long Way
4. The Long Way (Exile Remix)
5. Shake It Off
6. Shake It Off (James Pants Remix)
7. Shake It Off (Them Jeans Remix)

Check for it on Itunes, Turntable Lab, and other super cool digital record stores

2010: A Case Odyssey

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Epic video for some epic cases. I’d love to get my designs on of these some day.

murakami_interview

Takashi Murakami in Interview Magazine

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Here is another spactacular read to come from the illustrious Interview Magazine with renowned artist Takashi Murakami featured with a great interview. Still one of the people who continue to influence me whether I like it or not.

ALISON GINGERAS: How’s your dog? His name is . . .

TAKASHI MURAKAMI: Her name is Pom.

GINGERAS: Why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about how Pom came into your life?

MURAKAMI: [laughs] Well, this last year was very busy, so I thought I had to take a rest—a holiday. I was looking for a good place to go where nothing was happening, and I saw a photo in a magazine of a small, dirty hotel, and, in the photo of the hotel, there was this very dirty dog. The hotel was in the very southern part of Japan, a place called Yoronjima . . . It’s just a small coral island—there is nothing there. It was a popular vacation place in Japan in the 1970s, but now it’s very, very quiet, almost like a ghost town. But the hotel there is still alive. The owner is, like, a crazy local guy. Everything there looks really unnatural. This hotel has two dogs. One dog was the one I saw in the picture—it’s a very small dog. But the second one was grown and was pregnant! So I asked the owner when this pregnant dog would give birth, and he kept saying, “Tomorrow, tomorrow . . .” I was waiting for the puppies, so I wound up staying at this hotel for four days. It was a sad situation—there was no sun and no puppies.

GINGERAS: Not a great vacation then.

MURAKAMI: No. But I am not fun. [both laugh] I always have stress. It’s not funny. So I was just there, watching this dog and waiting for the puppies.

GINGERAS: You didn’t go to this island with the idea of acquiring a puppy?

MURAKAMI: No. It was a boring time where I could just watch life go by . . . I could see that having an animal is nice. When I went back to Tokyo, the hotel manager e-mailed me: “The dog had babies. What do you think? Can you pick one up from here?” I immediately replied, “Yes, okay.” So I got these four puppies.

Continue reading here.

Jorge Oswaldo Gets UNCOMMON

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Uncommon was founded on the desire to foster an artistic community around exceptionally well-designed products. Their unique product customization experience is fueled by Uncommon’s featured artists, Community artists, and user-uploaded photos and art. Uncommon artists are not only showcased on their website, but also have the opportunity to earn income through sales of their artwork on Uncommon products.

Recently, a small Jorge Oswaldo collection of designs was added to their colorful roster of artists. The designs are really slick. Check them out here….

Luke Rudolf

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Painter Luke Rudolf has discovered a magic formula utilizing the interplay between simple geometry, organic paint strokes and use of color to devise images that you just can’t take your eyes off of. It’s almost as if you expect something to materialize from beneath his work.

gas_station_mobile-sign

Pannikin Coffee & Tea

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Welcome to Pannikin. They have been in the business of serving the community with all its coffee and tea needs since 1968. The family owned and operated business roasts coffee daily to bring you the freshest selection of single origin coffees and proprietary blends from around the globe. Built in 1888 the Pannikin is located in this historic Santa Fe Railroad Station.

They had this dope ass old mobile gas station logo. Classic.

Stussy X Hello Kitty – 30th Collaboration

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This project was fun to work on as it reminded me of my mom and sister who love Hello Kitty.

Instead of focusing on the usual street, art and sports for collaboration, Stussy  turned to the world’s favorite cat, Hello Kitty for the latest XXX collection. The collection is sure to get attention from girls and parents who want to make their kids look the coolest in the playground. Girls and children’s t-shirts are have been rendered in various designs that blend the best of both worlds (that of street and play!). Other interesting items include the baby bibs, accessories and cases. Expect these to be hitting the stores from this Saturday, July 3rd and Stussy online stores on Friday, July 9th. via: Stussy Japan

Favela Painting

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The initial idea of the Favela Painting project was always to paint an entire hillside favela in the center of Rio, visible to all inhabitants and visitors. As the portuguese translation for ‘the hill’; ‘o morro’ is also used as a synonym for slum or favela, the artists chose to use this name for the third stage of the Favela Painting project. You can find more on the projects in their official website and their Facebook Page.