The Swedish National Bank had a competition for designers to redesign the Swedish banknote. The Stockholm Design Lab, was among the 46 competitors and was even among the top 8. Unfortunately they did not win, but their design was promising. I really enjoyed their banknote design because of the simplicity and type.

We’ve talked about currency design before but I’m still rather curious if there is a list somewhere out there that can detail all of the finer points that a new design for currency has to be upheld to. View the full PDF for SDL’s design process.

Do you feel this is a fitting redesign of the Swedish banknote?

You may remember Smithson Martin as the guys who made a splash a while back with this crazy monstrosity touchscreen DJ controller which smacked of vaporware.

Well apparently that thing was real and now it’s even realer because they have released a beautifully designed desktop version that’s infinitely more practical. Unfortunately it’s like $5000 so it’s not happening. But one can dream. Personally, I still haven’t figured out whether touchscreens are my thing for live performance. I got an iPad with the hopes of incorporating it into my live workflow but it still hasn’t happened. I personally don’t like having to be constantly looking down at gear the whole time and I need the tactile feedback of knobs and sliders.

Still not sure if I’d dig the Emulator for live music, but I think it would be great in the studio. And not just for music either, I think this would make a great Photoshop or Lightroom controller if set up properly.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg7iktvYOY4

Another day, another poster. I usually just do one poster for longer tours but this time around I wanted to do something specific for a couple of the shows this summer. First was the Troubadour print and now it’s this one for the July 14th Tycho show at Webster Hall in NYC.

Tickets just went on sale and you can purchase yours here

The Webster Hall print is available exclusively at the ISO50 Shop

In the summer of 1968 three men and good friends, climber and surfer Yvon Chouinard, climber and skier Doug Tompkins, and champion skier Dick Dorworth, set off from California in an old van to surf, ski and climb their way down to the southern end of Argentina, where they were met by a young British climber, Chris Jones. Their goal was to climb a mountain that had been climbed only twice before: Cerro Fitz Roy.

Little did they know, this journey would not only have a tremendous impact on their own personal lives, but would also help launch a movement by inspiring (and continue to inspire to this day, like the film 180º South) many other outdoor lovers, as well as set the tone for many future expedition/adventure films and documentaries.

Mountain Of Storms was shot on a 16mm Bolex (drool Charles Bergquist) by Lito Tejada-Flores, and is narrated by Tom Donahue.

Two of these men would also go on to found and establish a couple the most successful brands out there. Yvon Chouinard founded Patagonia, while Doug Tompkins founded (and later sold) The North Face.

Posted by B3PO

If you saw Tycho on tour last time in the US you saw our ambient R&B support Jacob & Tom of Beacon, I asked them to put together today’s playlist, would love some feedback, their No Body EP is out, they DJ tomorrow with Yeasayers at Cameo Gallery

Keyboard Kid – $$$$$$
Producers without their counterparts have been dominating my speaker time lately. $$$$$$ off Keyboard Kids 2011 Video Games and Blunts mixtape is a stellar track full of his signature futuristic synths and dirt filled percussion. The chopped and pitched repetitive hook always seems to swell around in my head long after it finishes.

Filterwolf – Nocturne (Bodycode aka Portable remix)
I’ve been listening to so much Alan Abrahams AKA Portable AKA Bodycode lately. I love the way his baritone vocal harmonies in this remix become the warmest incantations, summoning love from some wandering spirit.

Ayatoholla – NAG Champa
This throwback keeps making it into my steady rotation. NAG Champa , the opening track off of Ayatoholla’s 2006 Now Playing, drops all the right sounds in all the right places. Its one of those loops I want to listen to for hours. With a perfect blend of soulful vocal samples, smooth drum work and swells of melodic strings its an example of a producer who gives only what is needed.

Blood Orange – Champagne Coast
The really special thing about this Blood Orange song is the way the slow funk groove in the beginning eventually opens into very triumphant love song of Koto patterns, warm synths and Devonte’s insistent vocal finish.

Alan Sailer creates beautiful imagery using high speed photography techniques he developed. While we’ve all seen high speed stuff like this before but I for one have never seen it treated in such an artistic way. It’s amazing how he captures just the right moment in these (the pony head about to burst is impossibly well timed). The color composition is spot on too.

If you dig through his flickr portfolio you’ll also find a lot on his process and equipment. Here are a few highlights: Some shots of his failed flash project, a flash interface diagram sketch, and his test bench setup.

More in this Scientific American article (sorry, PDF) and this Wired piece

Conjures up memories of the end sequence from Zabriskie Point

alemor73 – Alejandro might be known more for this architecture snapshots but I go back for his color schemes and attention to geometric details.

r3mus – What I like about his photos is that he doesn’t life in a fancy natural environment but he always gets great nature shots. Also, I never get sick of these kind of shots especially when they’re done right.

saraswebb – Sara does great with a fantasy world, its never too Lisa Frank-ish or too trendy, rides this thin line that just always keeps you interested and coming back to her feed.

In sports car racing, there is a wonderful thing called ‘homologation’. Manufacturers hate it, car collectors love it. It means that in order to enter a car in sanctioned sports car races, it has to be based on a production model. Without going into a lengthy explanation, just appreciate the fact that it has brought the world some of it’s most prized street-legal race cars. The 300SL is undeniably one of the most iconic. In 1952, Mercedes Benz was feeling ambitious and decided they wanted to win alot of races. So they built an incredibly streamlined, lightweight, and reliable race car using some of the most exotic materials at the time – the homologated street version that was sold to the public a complete afterthought. It was then entered it into many of the most prestigious, and difficult, endurance races of the day. They succeeded, taking 1-2 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Carrera Panamericana to name a few. Above are a few photos of the 300SL in action at the aforementioned races (the 2nd of which is the variant used in the trans-mexican rally, where the windshield had to be reinforced with wrought iron bars due to ‘buzzard collisions’). The second group of photos are of the oldest 300SL in existence, serial number zwei. It never saw any racing, rather it was used as a training car for the very capable Hermann Lang & Fritz Reiss (along with the rest of the Silver Arrows) who went on to take many checkered flags. Dragged out of the broom closet by Mercedes, it underwent an extensive 9 month restoration for it’s 60th birthday, and in celebration of the new SLS AMG. What a timeless example of German design – both in form & function.

I’ve very happy to announce that Tycho will be playing at The Troubadour in Los Angeles on June 1st, 2012. To commemorate the occasion I created a poster for the show using photos shot on my recent trip to Baja. Prints are available now at the shop. I’m planning on doing a process post on this one as soon as I get some time.

Several other Tycho live dates have just been announced (see below or check the Tycho tour page), really excited to be making it out to some new cities this time around. See you this summer!

All dates are full live band w/ visuals

5/24 Portland
5/25 Vancouver
5/27 Sasquatch Festival
5/30 San Francisco
5/31 Solana Beach
6/01 Los Angeles
6/25 Reno
6/27 Salt Lake City
6/28 Fort Follins
6/29 Denver
6/30 Colorado Springs
7/02 Lawrence, KS
7/03 St. Louis
7/05 Minneapolis
7/06 Chicago
7/07 Pontiac
7/08 Cleveland
7/10 Toronto
7/11 Montreal
7/12 Camp Bisco, NY
7/14 New York City

I’m at Percussion Lab right now, they stream a radio station ( tune in now ) out of Brooklyn, NY every Monday night run by Praveen( Sepalcure, Braille, Praveen & Benoit ) who is no stranger to the blog since we started. This weekend they will be putting on a show for Unsound Festival which is featuring 2562, Sepalcure, Throwing Snow, and many more, here’s more info on the event if you’re interested it’s called Bass Mutations. This track by Throwing Snow is one of the only ones I could find that I loved that I heard Praveen play on the show, hopefully he’ll have some of this unreleased stuff out soon.

Last night I had a going away party because i’m moving across the country to the Bay Area, We had Praveen play a live Braille set, Sarah from Phantogram debuted her first DJ set, Beacon threw down their best DJ set i’ve ever heard and Sam Valenti IV and his lady Moderna closed out the night, Shaun White was even there, really funny guy, well anyway they threw down this huge slow jam from Mark E, its the Space Dub version, absolutely murdered my face off on the dance floor.

Kyson is a new signing on Moodgadget, one thing I love about him is that he does just a bunch of bootleg remixes on his spare time, my favorite has to be his Washed Out one, it just kind of flutters in this one area and dissolves nicely. His EP Patience is out on May 1st, definitely worth a listen.

The owners of one of my favorite labels of all time are back at it in the studio under the name Mohn. The delicate builds these two have made over the years are mind boggling, if you want more pick up their Burger/Ink material.