The Society Of The Spectacle

Cute little idea here from Converse (and the minds and hands of Perfect Fools). As the guitar is played, a wall of 450 Red/Black All-Star boots react to the sound from the guitar, creating some cool patterns and general niceness. First thing I though of for this would be to see it live in stores (if you could stand the racket), but again, this another smart way of cementing Converse deepening relationship with music, building on the Desire Video from a few months back, as well as the music collaborations with Bernard Sumner and Hot Chip, among others.

Check it out.

(Via PSFK)

Some friday inspiration for you from the guys at Creative Social. If you don’t know what it is, then the easiest way to explain it is that it’s a bit like the NBA all star game for the interactive advertising community. Looks like I’ll have to get practising to get into the next one… But I digress, what I found really inspring and I must say, quite jealous about this was the quality of speakers they had at the last one in San Francisco (Pixar heavy with Brad Bird and the composer of the ‘Up’ soundtrack Michael Giacchino) as well as the collegiate atmosphere of these gatherings. An acknowledgement that the work we aspire to create should not only do a job for our clients (otherewise we’d all be out of jobs pronto), but as much be aspire to be a part of culture, not a leech, as well that a spirit of entrepeneuralism and vision will go a long way. That spirit of thinking was captured in the most recent Creative Social blogpost, from Saatchi NY Interactive CD James Cooper, (Worth a follow on Twitter @koopstakov) with his concept of Zero Waste Creativity. An embryonic idea that seeks to eliminate waste in the creative process by actually structuring the brief, setting clear goals and effectively putting in real hard work at the front end, to minimise the waste at the back end. Have a read (and the excellent Edward Booches comments over at PSFK), but it stands that Creative Social is a place where these ideas are given center stage, and as such should be treasured even by those outside the small gatherings themselves.

Trawling through PSFK, I saw this rather strange idea from Swedish designer Ann Sofie Back (and her ad team We Are Group) Spinning the now overused “Pop Up Store” concept (Kingsmill pop up store anyone? Yeah I thought not) into a much more outlandish and provocative concept; the hostage store.

(more…)

From the blog of PSFK comes the Bike Photography of SF fixed gear rider Massan. It’s a great insight into the Fixed Gear Bike subculture of SF and as I’m getting deeper into the world of bikes and Fixed Gears the passion and danger of it is infectious. The bikes are beautiful, almost like artforms of themselves and deeply personal in their design and construction. These photographs (and some films after the jump) let us take a peek into a true subculture for the 21st Century (and beyond just a fashion statement). (more…)

As a response to Superbrands – that ever bizarre and now seemingly decrepit brand guide, the good people at PSFK, with help of the members (guess who…)  of the purple list helped compile a more rounded and dare I say modern approach to assessing brands in 2009… (more…)

Image: SirK (Via Wooster Collective)

I recently found this fascinating talk on PSFK. It’s from Marc and Sara Schiller, who collectively run the Wooster Collective, which has over the last few years become the number one resource for fans of Street Art around the world. (more…)

This is a beautifully realised idea. A series of random musical you tube clips are bound together to create one unique experience.  What makes this so special is the way everything blends together perfectly, and the different moods you can create by adding and subtracting certain key elements. For example – add in and then subtract the horn (Two in two down) and see what happens, the entire mood of the piece changes, going from hypnotic to plaintive. This is one of these things that’s makes you wonder what you ever did without the internet. Beautiful (With thanks to the great guys at PSFK)