Some cool shots from Jonathan Mutch. Really like the color and vibe of his stuff; very authentic, filmic style. Every time I see stuff like this and check the EXIF I realize my next camera should probably be a Canon. Also, apparently I need to visit Banff. Check out the depth in that third shot, beautiful! You can find some more of Jon’s work at his Flickr

Jon: Care to elaborate on your process in the comments?

The heart of 2009’s year in the music scene has to go to the very passionate Dâm Funk, the man has stuck with west coast funk & boogie thru many years. I got to see him play last night and as he entertained I could tell he was born to do this and nothing else. I even asked for his autograph that’s how amazed I was by his presence and I even met Aziz Ansari[which I thought would of been the biggest and best thing 2 years ago] and saw Josh Hartnett[who I had no idea who he was until someone explained his career to me] the same night and didn’t ask anything from them.

A good amount of people that haven’t heard of him compared it to 2Pac but no matter what its compared to no one is going to play keytar 4 feet from your face and high five the crowd and ask them if they’re having a good night every 10 minutes. His LP Toeachizown is out now

Dâm Funk – Love Is Here 2nite (I Can Feel It) – BUY

Dâm Funk – Flying V Ride – BUY

Dâm Funk – Killdat aka Killdatmuthafu*ka – BUY

I did an interview with Norway National Radio while I was there last week. It’s brief and you’ll have to speak Norwegian to understand most of it. They seemed to focus in on the political aspects of our conversation, most of the questions centered around the role of graphic design in American politics in the wake of the 2008 elections. Also, I had a cold so that’s why I sound like I just inhaled 3 packs of Camels.

On a side note, check out that logo! Love it.

NRK Radio Norway – Scott Hansen Interview

Dave over at Grain Edit scored a book full of amazing 1970’s-era Russian posters. Incredible stuff, I really wish someone with access to these would reprint them. That first one with the bird has got to be my favorite.

Link

Maybe it was my last post, or Scott’s recent travel adventures, but something has reinvigorated my desire to go back to Japan. I guess I’ve always wanted to go back, the feeling is just very acute right now. As Jon and Kjell mentioned in the Non-Format interview, Tokyo is a rather hard city to beat. Personally I can’t imagine a more inspiring place.

Anyway the poster above is by Yasuhiro Sawada and I’m sorry to say, I don’t know too much more about it. I’ve always loved it for the simple shapes and unusual layout. It also took me repeated viewings to see that there was a message in the shapes — felt pretty oblivious after that. The image comes from GD in Japan, where you can find many other excellent works like this.

Just a quick note to let you know that many of the shirt designs at the shop have just been restocked. Among many others, Vuela, 77 Black-Black-Tri and 1976 Tri-Blue are all back online.

Link

I’m back in San Francisco after a very long trip home (around 20 hours over three flights) from Tromsø, Norway. It was great doing the workshop and playing at Insomnia; I really appreciate everyone coming out. Unfortunately I was sick almost the whole time so I didn’t get to see and do as much as I’d have liked while in this amazing place. But thanks to my gracious hosts — Annette and Simen, who went out of their way to show me around — I was able to get out and experience some of what Tromsø has to offer. I honestly had no idea what to expect from this place; I’d been so busy that I never had the chance to do any research before I left. Saying I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement to say the least — Tromsø is absolutely one of the most interesting and beautiful places I’ve ever had the good fortune to visit. It’s the sort of alpine paradise that conjures up idealized notions of northern Europe in the 60’s. In fact, Röyksopp hail from Tromsø and it certainly shows in their Epel video (below). I felt like I was living it when I took the gondola up the mountain.

For starters, it’s a city rich in quality design and typography, thanks in part to Tank (pronounced “Tonk”), an Oslo-based design shop founded by Tromsø natives who have now returned and formed a satellite office in their home town. They’ve designed everything from packaging for the locally brewed Mack beer to the beautifully executed branding for local cafe Kaffebønna (which now sits squarely in my top 5 worldwide list for best coffee shops — worth a visit for the awesome pricing signage alone). Incidentally, Tank’s Tromsø office sits directly above another excellent cafe, Circa, which serves up some of the best sandwiches and tea I’ve had in a while. And by the way, all that amazing furniture we have to pay and arm and a leg for here in the states? It’s everywhere in Norway… Even the smallest cafe will have some incredible couch chilling in the corner that only rich art director types have over here.

But beyond all of the man-made fare, the real attraction is the natural beauty. Tromsø is situated right above the arctic circle and, as a result, the scenery is nothing short of stunning. Sharp, snow-covered mountain peaks jutting out from sea-level make for some of the most dramatic and breathtaking scenery I’ve ever laid eyes or lens on. Sadly, the days are very short at this time of the year. That, coupled with the fact that I spent most of my time sweating out a fever in bed, means I only got a couple hours of shooting in. But that’s all the more reason for a return trip, which I’ve already begun planning.

So thanks again to everyone from Tromsø for showing me a great time. And if you have the chance, I highly recommend a visit — I feel very lucky to have stumbled into this incredible place. Oh, and if you don’t have time to visit, you can live the experience vicariously through one of my all time favorite music videos:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBiRcAmmJVY

P.S. Anyone know where I can buy these Fribol Herbal Drops in the US? I got them in Norway, they’re amazing and I can’t find a similar alternative here. Although I assume since they actually work and contain neither sugar nor drugs, they’re most certainly illegal in the states.

W’eve posted a few songs of Kelpe’s in the past on the blog, a real talent, always unique when it comes to his detail, this song in the second half kind of sounds like he’s playing a few dying toy instruments but its still really good. His new LP seems to be reaching a diverse audience, I wish him luck, he deserves it.

With all this cold coming thru, I just needed to hear Summertime(an edit of it) one last time before I descend into ambient/shoegaze-ville

I can’t find much about Joy Orbison, I only see an EP under his belt but he sounds promising, reminds me of a less gltichy Machinedrum, hope to hear more.

I went to see SV4 dj the other night, he dropped this Stimming track that made me become pretty rude, you know when you’re in a conversation with someone and you stop looking at them and go interrupt the DJ and ask him what he’s playing, pretty rude but well worth finding out what this song was.

Kelpe – Eye Candy Bath – BUY

Last Order – Summertime – BUY

Joy Orbison – Hyph Mngo – BUY

Stimming – The Anger – BUY

I’ve been spending most of my recent waking hours looking for an apartment in San Francisco. Most of what I see looks like it was built in 1900 (because it was) and is light years away from an architectural style I gravitate towards. I prefer styles like what you see above for Plastic Moon by Norisada Maeda Atlier. (Good luck finding this in SF.)

As weird and crazy as it looks, I think this is fantastic. Reminds me a little of the Micro Compact Home, though I don’t think you can pick up and move everything quite as easily. Sterile looking? Perhaps, but that’s what you get when you combine a living space, dental clinic, and a swimming pool all into one space. I bet I could get a lot of work done here if I switched out the dental clinic for a design firm. I would live in Plastic Moon instantly. And of course, a little resemblance to Jakub’s Moodgadget cube never hurts anybody.

via designboom

I don’t do much actual design on Moodgadget, mostly just thinking up the concept for the covers and work side to side with the designers sometimes. This series is one that i’m pretty proud of done by Alex/HeadUp[he posts a ton in the comment sections on the ISO50 blog] and I, the goal was to have a strong 2-D iconic image that was related to the genre a bit but also a weapon in a way (i.e. disco having a razor for your hardcore late night clubbers and a razor also being a weapon in a way), a changing 3-color color scheme, and simple consistent text layout, kind of like a label for a vinyl but digital only. The series will come out in 3’s and each being a different round and we’ll go up to 12 and this hopefully will help define genres in the electronic music world. Below is a little more info on the series:

“Moodgadget has caved in to its most savage and pugilistic desires to see electronic genres battle to the death, leaving the listener with the sense of euphoria you get from watching your favorite kung-fu flick, or that adrenaline rush that comes from a flare-up of tempers.

Songs are presented as Rounds, a one-two-punch of tracks from the opposites sides of the spectrum. In Round 1, experience Dubstep tracks from Guardian and Shigeto, Round 2 features Alt Hip Hop from Mux Mool and Charles Trees, and Round 3 brings Disco producers Worst Friends and Mogi Grumbles into the ring.”

Shigeto – Beat It Up – BUY

Charles Trees – Exodus – BUY

Worst Friends – Ski Hive – BUY