Archive for July, 2010

Stylepark has some beautiful photos (shot by Thomas Wagner) from the Mercedes collection at Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. The show goes until Sep. 14 and features some incredible examples of the German auto maker’s inspiring creations.

I love the wall treatments, and the license plate in that second shot is incredible. Now compare that to this, and you start to understand why so many great designers come from Germany. It’s like those stupid faucet commercials (which I hate simply because of how the piano starts playing when she pulls a faucet out of her purse all dramatically and slams it down on the guy’s desk like it’s the most profound thing he’s ever seen when somebody starts throwing plumbing components around his office. What the hell does it even mean. Did you see how confused her husband looked? I felt the same way. She damaged the finish of that desk and I bet it wasn’t cheap considering how pretentious successful architects are.), I could seriously design a car around that license plate. I bet if you told the Mercedes designers they had to design the car for the US style plates they would just quit and throw a wrench or some molding clay or something. Also, if I moved to the states from Germany and had to do this, I would just drive the car of a cliff because the whole thing is ruined. I have a feeling the “California” font only looks like that because the state couldn’t afford to license Papyrus.

Also check out these posts for some more vintage Mercedes action

Stylepark via Simon Smith

Cover art by S.Hansen

If you like what you hear be sure to let us know in the comments.

ISO50 Playlist 9 – Compiled By Tycho & Aarnio

Track Listing

The Morning Benders – Cold War
Rollerskaters – Sleep Tight
Via Tania – Fields
Tame Impala – Alter Ego
Best Coast – Boyfriend
Memoryhouse – Lately (Deuxième)
The Hundred In The Hands – Sleepwalkers
School Of Seven Bells – Babelonia
Dusty Brown – Back to Back
Lorn – Cherry Moon
Wax Stag – Folk Rock
Baths – Maximalist
Flying Lotus – Zodiac S**t
Tycho – From Home (Mux Mool Remix)
The Samps – Yellow Jacket
Onra – Long Distance (Instrumental)
The Beat Broker – Deep Sleep
ceo – come with me
Delorean – Infinite desert
Korallreven – The Truest Faith
Phoenix – Lisztomania (Classixx Version)
The Whitest Boy Alive – Intentions
The Swiss – Bubble Bath
Com Truise – Slow Peels
Computer Magic – Electronic Fences
Oneohtrix Point Never – Zones Without People
Odd Nosdam – Up In Flames
Fur – Lackadaisical
Ducktails – Mirrorimage
Medications – Brasil ’07
Red House Painters – Dragonflies
Say Hi – November Was White, December W
Gravenhurst – Hourglass

You can always listen to previous Playlists in The Playlist Archive

Hulger makes some very well executed VoIP handsets with a nice retro slant. I’d have to say my favorite is the PIP*, it’s dripping with 80’s rich guy nostalgia. The Pappa is a little heavy-handed and leaning hard into 60’s Bostitch stapler territory, but it would look nice on the right desk if I had a second office that smelled of rich mahogany and a pipe was somehow involved.

More shots over at the Hulger site

Coming across a 100% album isn’t very easy to do. On first listen of Song Cycle, it’s pure perfection blinded me. There’s not a single note I would change or a track I’d skip. Solid gold.

Parks was only 23 when he was asked by Brian Wilson to work on the famed Smile album with him. He pumped out “Heroes and Villains”, “Surf’s Up” (one of the best songs ever written), and many others with Wilson. After leaving the project, he went to write his first solo project Song Cycle at age 25; one of the most expensive albums ever recorded.

Give it a listen, and go buy it. You can get some great 180g analog master pressings on eBay.

Van Dyke Parks – Palm Desert

Van Dyke Parks – All Golden

Van Dyke Parks – Public Domain

“I should think he’d fade away; the way that bohemians often bare the frigid air.”

Head over to Gorilla vs. Bear to download a recent mix, Scott and I thought the cover art was as amazing as the music.

Hey it’s live clips of new Panda Bear songs that might be on his new record, everybody flip out! the man can do anything and we’d love it, i’m actually really enjoying this song but usually I enjoy his voice more than I do here.

I realized Dam-Funk makes music that feels like a relaxing night on the west coast, I don’t think the midwest or Canada could really fully love this sound without referencing 2-Pac somehow to enjoy it as much as someone from Oakland or LA.

Here’s a new song that was posted exclusively on De:Bug Magazine’s site done by Love-Step duo Praveen and Machinedrum aka Sepalcure, I love this song and I love these guys, I want them to blow up bigger than any [fill in the blank]step producers. Nice work guys! If you want to hear more from them, check out this focused post I did a few months ago.

Something slammin’ from James Pants, wasn’t expecting this but i’m definitely not bummed in the least bit, pure summer fire for the heads.

Thanks to everyone for entering to win the Ghostly Box and tickets for the SF/LA shows. We had over 550 entries but through the magic of random number generation we’ve narrowed it down to the lucky winners. Congratulations to Nora from Culver City who won the Ghostly Manzoku Bento Box and all the others who won tickets to the shows. You should have received an email if you won the tickets.

See you out in SF and LA!

My love for Swiss design just grew substantially. Up until now I hadn’t seen any swiss or international style design pieces translated into motion. But now Vít Zemčík has done it and he has done it well.

This was an educational project made during the International Typography Workshop in Czieszyn. The task was to translate a known print design piece into motion. If you’re not familiar with the poster Vít has used, it is by Josef Müller-Brockmann, one of the greatest Swiss designers.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOoGjtSy7xY

Lee Morris from Fstoppers did a fashion shoot using only an iPhone 3GS. As you can see, the results were nothing short of incredible considering the equipment being used. But I think this is less about the camera and more about how powerful quality lighting can be in photographic work. Of course, for a phone, the iPhone has an exceptional camera built in, but with good lighting a great photographer can make any camera take good pictures. Which takes us back to the idea that you shouldn’t ever blame your equipment, just ask this guy.

I personally don’t buy whole-heartedly into this concept. Yes, a professional with the right equipment and a lot of knowhow can get great output from almost anything. But better cameras do make a difference, they make it easier to get good results and many times are just easier to use from an interface / usability standpoint. I think this is all the more important for those of us who are primarily graphic designers. We often don’t have the budgets to hire professionals when we need photo work for projects. But we also might not have the background and expertise that a full-time photog would have. A camera like the 5D or D700 put professional results within the grasp of us mere mortals, because I’ll tell you right now, not in a million years could I get a iPhone to output the stuff you see above. But I shot a 7D last weekend and got the best pictures of my life in a living room under natural light.

But seeing Morris’ results definitely makes you think the whole thing over again.

via CeeMarie

via Domino Island

via Domino Island

One of my favorite posts I’ve written here on ISO50 was on Asako Narahashi. I recently bought the book, which I would highly recommend if you enjoyed her photos. Like all photo books I buy, it’s hard to resist the urge to cut out and frame all the pages, as opposed to letting them all live together in their intended format. A friend of mine has his Richard Misrach On The Beach book adorning his walls and it looks great.

Anyway, the point is that Narahashi’s photos were one of my favorite things I’ve found scouring the internet for the blog. The photos above remind me of her series half awake and half asleep in the water, with the obvious addition of human beings. I prefer her photos (the absence of humanity gives them their distinctive mood), but these are still captivating in their own right.

In order the photos come to us from CeeMarie, and two from Domino Island.

If underwater housings for the 5DMKII weren’t SO EXPENSIVE I would be out in the bay right now shooting my own version.

I’ll be playing a warm up set tonight to tighten things up for Friday’s show in SF. Press Club, 10pm sharp!

Photo by +Russ