Advertising from the Mad Men Era ($59.99) is a two volume collection of fascinating advertisements from the 50s and 60s. It's a collection of thousands of images; this companion set of books offers the best in American print advertising in the age of the "Big Idea". It captures the colorful capitalism that dominated the 50s and 60s and shows the height in which magazines were flooded with campaigns selling everything from girdles to guns. It also includes a wide range of significant advertising campaigns from both eras; giving you an insight into the zeitgeist of the time but it won't be available until February 2012. You'll have to wait 2 months to get a copy but I think it would be worth the wait. Check out the other books as well on Taschen.

“The Fundamental Elements of Design” by Erica Gorochow is an interesting and short animated video explaining design fundamentals and how they are used to build an iconic brand. I think this video gives a simple but clear picture that sometimes "less is more" in design. I think that saying of "less is more" is always going to be a big part of the design world. Check this video out and see what its all about, who knows you could save yourself 25,000 in tuition fees.




Source: UFunk.net

Steven Briand created this fantastic stop-motion video called Protéigon, which took him two months to complete. The short involves a man, sitting in front of a desk, and he takes a piece of paper and then makes them into different shapes and patterns. I think he did a great job in working with his creativity and paper designs. Plus, it works smoothly with the music. To me it seems like they collectively are presented in a great audio-visual piece. You can check out more of his videos on Vimeo.

I have found another garden office called, The Micropod ($14,209) a small garden studio.  It measures only 2.5 x 2.0m and looks pretty sweet. It was specifically designed as the ideal solution for people looking for a home garden office. The walls and ceiling can be finished with modern white beech panels and the engineered timber or natural rubber floor comes complete with low energy. Like other pods, contemporary large frameless roof lighting is installed with self cleaning glass for your convenience and can be installed along with integral desks and shelving. If you got the money and the garden that would fit this pod, then this baby is for you.

I stumbled upon some interesting Japanese graphic design posters from the 1920s-30s over on Pinktentacle. In these posters a new form of design looks to be emerging. The new design style making its way was due to the growth of modern industry and technology as well as the influence of the western world in their work.  I have only posted a few but you can see more poster designs here.

Here it is, the top songs of 2011. I wanted to put together some of my own personal favorite tracks of 2011. They're in no special order; I didn't want to place them on a scale of 1-25 because each track is a #1 to me.  Well I hope that you enjoy and as always any feedback would be great.

Tracklist

1. The Naked and Famous by Young Blood
2. Don't Move by Phantogram 
3. Brush The Heat by Little Dragon 
4. Corvette Cassette by Slow Magic 
5. I Used to Love HER (The Bear and The Sea Remix) by Common Sense 
6. Hours by Tycho 
7. Small Boxes by Black Light Dinner Party 
8. Anything At All by Hey Champ
9. You Are A Tourist by Death Cab For Cutie
10. Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins Rework) by Star Slinger 
11. High For This (NastyNasty Edit) by The Weeknd 
12. Little Man (Tycho Remix) by Little Dragon 
13. Wildfire by SBTRKT 
14. Boy Trouble by Benoit and Sergio
15. Bury Us Alive by Starfucker 
16. Polish Girl by Neon Indian 
17. Midnight City by M83 
18. Money by The Drums 
19. Harvest Moon by Poolside 
20. Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye 
21. Take Me Over by Cut Copy 
22. All Day (niva remix) by The Concretes 
23. Video Games (Lockah Remix) by Lana Del Rey 
24. Cosmic Love (Shu and Catesby Remix) by Florence and The Machine 
25. This Must Be The Place (Psychemagik Navie Edit) by Talking Heads

Nick Georgiou makes these crazy looking three-dimensional sculptures out of recycled newspapers, magazines and books. These are definitely some unique creations that look like animals, humans and sci-fi fictional characters. As I researched more about this artist, his view on his inspiration was well worded.

My art is inspired by the death of the printed word. Books and newspapers are becoming artifacts of the 21st century. As a society we're shifting away from print consumption and heading straight towards full digital lives. My sculptures are products of their environment —both literally and figuratively.

 Check out more of Nick's work on his Blog.

What a work of design style and class with this minimalistic Shadow Bike Rack ($350) made by Quarterre Products. It was crafted from a single, folded, steel sheet and is trimmed with leather at the end for hanging a helmet. It also has a high-friction base to aid in keeping the bike fixed in place. This stand was designed so you can run your bike directly into it, so there is no need for a lame kick stand. If this stand is not your choice, check out their other two stands: The Branchline and The Hood.

The Malbaie V residence is located in Quebec, Canada and was designed by Mu Architecture. It was designed with a rectangular concept in mind, where other connecting rectangular structures come together and are covered in planks of wood. The roof of the home is a site to see, since the roof is a native garden of local plants. The home was also oriented in a manner to achieve permanent natural light as well as achieving energy efficiency.  This is a beautiful home that uses nature and sustainability to help ascetically blend in with nature.




Source: Knstrct