Posts by Scott

Beautiful renderings of the “iCam”, a concept created by Italian designer Antonio DeRosa. The concept case would add interchangeable lenses — along with various other features — to the iPhone 5. Very reminiscent of the Camera Futura concept. I would certainly be first in line for something like this; I love the idea of these modular devices that leverage the processing power of computing devices, like an iPhone, that you may already have. I know it’s a long shot, but let’s hope this makes it out of concept-land.

On a side note, still waiting to upgrade to the 4S (I think I can get it December 10th without getting gouged), can’t wait to check out the camera on there, seen some pretty amazing things from my friends who have the 4S already.

Antonio DeRosa – ADR Studio

You may remember San Diego based director / photographer Charles Bergquist from our post a while back on his projections collection. We’re all big fans of his work and through Ghostly and Tycho we have worked with him a lot over the past year. I am currently working with him on the new Tycho live visuals set and realized he would make a great contributor to the blog. Charles will mostly be doing video and photographic posts with a focus on process / equipment (like his soon-to-be-delivered Red Scarlet).

So everybody give Charles a warm welcome, his first post should be coming shortly.

Always cool to check out the sites of commenters on the blog. Found Kalifa’s work through his comment on a post last week, loving the palette / cast of these shots. Really great stuff, hope to see more in the future.

Kalifa Dong

So apparently there is this guy in Switzerland who either owns or has access to many of the most iconic product designs from the 60’s and 70’s. He also takes amazing pictures of them, and posts them in high resolution for us to enjoy / print. This man is a hero.

I always wonder though, would having these artifacts make me happy? Would being surrounded by the objects of my desire actually fulfill my need for order and beauty? Or would I obsess; constantly dusting and arranging them symmetrically on walnut desks made by George Nelson? Probably all of the above, but for now one can only dream.

Whenever I get to lusting over design like this I start thinking about the nature of appreciation. What abstract facet of the human condition allows us to seek and covet objects which may not necessarily provide any meaningful function or benefit our daily lives? I can’t tell you how many fellow designer’s homes I have visited to see various defunct or otherwise unused products neatly displayed on shelves, never again to serve their intended purpose. Why do we surround ourselves with these relics? Devices which through some perverse twist of fascination have been stripped of their intrinsic usefulness and rendered as some fetishized monument to our personal design sensibilities, gathering dust on a mantle.

That’s probably reading way to deep into things so I’m going to take the easy answer and say it’s simply the act of art appreciation. There is just something about the fact that these were originally designed as functional objects that throws a wrench into the whole concept of approaching them purely as works of art. At any rate, I want every single thing up there, in my house, now.

Design Icons by Afghtiga

Checked in on old favorite Network Osaka today and was reminded of what an excellent body of poster work he has amassed over the last few years. Always great to see modern designers paying homage to such classic design ideals. More over here.

Network Osaka

I finished up a remix of Little Dragon’s song Little Man right before we went on tour together and it’s finally out. This is the first remix I’ve ever done and also the first time I’ve worked with vocals in such a literal way. Was a very inspiring experience to say the least; hoping to do more with vocals in the future.

You can download the remix here or have a listen below. Enjoy the weekend…

Mehmet Gozetlik decided to explore what would happen if he stripped down the packaging of iconic brands to the bare minimum. The results are fantastic and represent the kind of branding that always pulls me in. I’d love to see a real-world study on how effective these “minimal-ized” were on the general public (not just designers). Do you think they would do better?

My personal favorite results here have to be Jelly Belly, Nutella, and Guinness.

The Dieline via Jeff Toll

Added a couple shows to the Tycho calendar along with a new print of the show posters. Get the print here, show details here:

Tycho Live w/ Band + Visuals

12/08/2011 – Echoplex, LA – Info / Tickets
12/10/2011 – The Independent, SF – Info / Tickets

Hope to you see you out there.

For some reason I’ve always had Sony radios, I’ve had two my entire life and both were Christmas gifts from relatives. Design-wise they have both stood the test of time; the one I had as a kid still sits in my studio as an artifact of quality ID. But neither are anything compared to the TR-1825. Would love to track one of these down, what a great looking piece. My lifelong fascination with all things Braun/Rams has sometimes left me blind to a lot of the other great ID from the 60s/70s, should probably start doing more research on Sony stuff, they definitely have a great design legacy.

Released in 1970, when Sony had become the first Japanese company to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Sliding the faces on this cubic radio reveals a speaker in front and controls on top, a unique design at the time. One version of its packaging commemorates the World Expo in Osaka, held in March that year, and many expo-goers picked up the radio as a gift. – Sony Product Design History

Afghtiga via Karey Anne Churchill

Atelier Olschinsky shot some beautiful editorial work for Nevertheless Magazine at the 1000KM Red Bull Ring. Love this sort of washed out style, I’d call it cross process but it seems like something else. Really cool technique.

1000KM via Wanken