Fashion: User Generated Contest

champion1-copy champion-styles

Marketing teams love to engage their clients’ customers. For loyal fans, nothing can quite compare to customizable products that are both useful and super cool. Last week, a friend and former colleague, J. Nordberg, passed along the link to Champion’s Hoodie Contest, the athletic company’s latest attempt at rebranding their 80’s style sweats. “I think the contest appeals to its core audience who are urban individuals exerting control over their lives and their style, not to mention, its fun! You can totally make mistakes and not have to pay for them and if you come up with a beautifully designed hoodie, it feels like your own creation. It also internalizes the brand,” says Nordberg. Though this concept certainly isn’t a new one, the submissions thus far are staggeringly different and quite striking. Spend your lunch hour getting creative, facebook servers could use the break!

March 18, 2009 | By: Shayna Kulik

Trend: Sweet and Savory Details

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No matter how detail oriented you are, Motoi Yamamoto will still beat you to the punch. Using salt and an extraordinarily steady hand, this Japanese artist merges organic influences with the most basic of natural elements, salt, to his build his masterfully intricate installations. Yamamoto’s work has progressed from an inquiry on death to the exploration of salt as a meditation on life. “Now I believe that salt enfolds the memory of lives…salt is used across culture as an antibiotic, preservative, and purifier. Salt is a life-sustaining element.” For the full story on Yamamoto’s work, pick up a copy of this month’s Theme Magazine– unfortunately the online version omitted the story.

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It doesn’t take long to see techniques reinterpreted and trends take hold when an artist gains global acclaim. Using sugar in place of salt, Marian Bantjes, a typography genius, illustrates a variety of styles for Stefan Sagmeister’s book, Things I have learned in My Life So Far. Infusing a touch of luxury to this trend, Cartier crafts golden fingerprints for thier latest ad campaign, Trinity, which can be found in Time magazine’s April supplement entitled, Fashion’s New Attitude.

March 16, 2009 | By: Shayna Kulik

Bargain Basement Wallpaper Solutions

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When times are tough, retail environments pull out all the stops, forcing their design teams to get crafty in lieu of spending big bucks. Sometimes these ad hock compilations are miserable collages and other times, wondrously creative ideas emerge. Anthropologie’s artistic displays typically fall into the later of the two categories. Inspired by Parisian wallpaper styles, the back wall of the retailer’s Fifth Avenue location pairs kitchen wares with floral chalk panels. Using a $10 can of blackboard paint and a steady hand, Anthro’s budget illustrations are incredibly chic and can easily be translated to any wall in your home.

Inspiration: Floral Striping

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When designing floral striping, all inspirational elements must be considered. Here is a mood board that combines paralleling themes through the use of nature, Parisian craftsmanship and modern techinique.

March 10, 2009 | By: Shayna Kulik

Fashion: Bold and Optimistic?

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Diane Von Furstenberg’s latest window display showcases mismatched patterns and fabric textures throughout her dress and bag collections. Referencing bright and iconic summer shapes, reminiscent of j.crew flip flops and Tory Burch tunics, DVF’s approach to the upcoming season is blaringly optimistic. That being said, I’d be curious to see how the recession translates into next year’s spring/summer collection, as today’s economical dip was hardly a factor when these ensembles were designed over a year ago.

L.A. Styles

While in Silverlake last month, I stumbled across Sally Bartz’s collection of handbags under her newly founded company, Halsea. Inspired by west coast colors and summer icons, Bartz’s crab monograms and bamboo squares decorate luggage, tote and weekend bags, providing a breath of fresh air from LA’s hipster styles.

London Styles

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UK designer, Peter Jensen has a playful eeriness to his work. While he’s an acquired taste for some, his playful pairing of graphics and tailoring requires introspective buying on the customer’s part. This parrot pattern is representative of Jensen’s homage to the animal kingdom. Carl M. Wellman infuses Brazilian, Italian, English and Japanese floral themes with biodegradable packaging for Le Marchand Du Cacao. A stunning combination of high and low materials.

March 5, 2009 | By: Shayna Kulik

Trend: Kid Friendly Clouds

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Though we’d typically hold off on our cloud postings til late March when pairings can be aligned with April showers, cumulous floaters have proven inspirational as of late. Åsa Dahlbäck, a graphic designer from Sweden, creates sharp textured markings to form bold fluffy dimples. Utilizing the largest markers in the box, Tsumori Chisato’s cloud dress portrays a dreamlike state, obscuring clarity with harmonious violets.

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In a playful salute to “partly-cloudy” weather reports, Rose Clark’s collaboration with Sinem Erkas reveals a portable balloon installation series for fashion and art magazine, Exit. Continuing along bold and witty lines, the users of we heart it, found amusement in this hungry gutter by The 6emeia Project. Harmless street art to make you smile.

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Fusing photography with playful attainability, these pastel clouds encourage conceptual daydreaming. Alison Foshee, of California, explores the potential of everyday objects in her dynamic collages. Here she has layered an assortment of stickers to form whimsical colorful droplets.

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Cloud and rain inspired accessories have infultrated the marketplace in a variety of forms. This blue wooden sculpture by Flatland OK, solidifies unattainable pairings. Modernizing Ming Dynasty Era alcove beds, Courtney Skott of San Francisco has carved out pixelated cloud patterns in an effort to decorate her “room within a room” concept. Feminizing this concept, necklaces and other curious jewelry findings can be located here.

March 2, 2009 | By: Shayna Kulik

Homegoods: Dissecting Malachite

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Originality is the benchmark for every creative release, particularly when a review’s involved. Designers love to observe, dissect then reinterpret. Fusing mismatched edges with polished mineral patterns, malachite ensembles have begun to surface in many upscale home good departments. This forest sculpture, comprised of glass angles and green reflections translates commercially as beautiful 2D cabinetry. Merging wood, paint and pattern, Fornasetti achieves similar success with his gold cutlery malachite trays.

February 27, 2009 | By: Shayna Kulik