Yohji Yamamoto: The Poet of Black

Yohji Yamamoto invites us in to peak into his studio and shares with us his beginnings in Paris, his philosophy on design, and his thoughts on the fashion industry as a whole. You can't help but be captivated, he has the depth and intellect of a master.

Candy Claws

Candy Claws produces the frothiest, most effervescent, dreamlike music I've ever heard. Their sound is as if mermaids, fairies and angels decided to make music together in some magical land where heartache and pain doesn't exist and animals frolic around undisturbed. Lots of angelic string like sounds, bubbly bells and whispering vocals. I love the lyrics just as much as the sounds in their music, it complements the melodies so well. In their songs Candy Claws describes the silent activity of the Earth before human life, the beauty of the ocean, the vastness of forests and anything else pertaining to the magic of nature. It is truly beautiful. Listen to all of their albums on their website here.

Making of The Lego Movie

I actually kind of liked this movie, surprisingly. What I really liked were the visuals. The effects they pulled off within the physics of Lego bricks is impressive; especially the fluid movement of smoke, water and fire rendered as bricks. Initially I wondered if they used actual Lego bricks in the movie, it turns out most of it is CGI. In spite of it being CGI the movie looks like it was 100% made out of real physical Lego bricks. Watch some of the voice acting and animation processes below.

Virtual Web World

Imagine browsing the web in a totally immersive world in which you can walk through and explore. Replacing links with doors and webpages with rooms, this is exactly what James McCrae has done. Using the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, McCrae transforms the World Wide Web into a literal world with his project called FireBox. The potential of this amazing concept is vast. Online stores become giant super markets with merchandise that can be manipulated and previewed in 3 dimensions, chat rooms become virtual bars and websites like Deviantart becomes a massive art gallery. FireBox actually brings Futuramas's Infosphere into reality; this is the inevitable future of the internet. Watch a walkthrough below.

Face Hacking

Developed by Nobumichi Asai and team, he uses projection mapping coupled with real-time face tracking to create something truly exciting. This technology has tremendous applications in the storytelling and VFX industries, maybe even replacing CGI at times. Check out Bioluminescent Forest, a short film that exercises the possibilities of projection mapping.

Making Of: "The Bigger Picture"

This Academy Award nominated film uses the most ambitious film style I've seen to date. They incorporated both 2D life-size painted animation, with 3D stop-motion for a highly unique experience. Objects literally jump out of the canvas, transforming from a 2D painting into a physical object. It's an amazing concept, see how it was done below.

Alessandro Squarzi

Alessandro Squarzi is a bit of an icon in the street style scene, I first discovered him in one of Scott Schuman's street style books. Alessandro is the founder and director of Alessandro Squarzi Showroom, a leading fashion consultancy out of Italy. Tommy Ton considers him to be “THE master of Italian sprezz”; Alessandro is elegantly casual. Read some of his thoughts on style here.

Screen Style: Game of Thrones

The wardrobe is probably my favorite element of Game of Thrones. I love the lavishness of a king's attire, the heavily layered outfits of characters from The North, and of course, the armor. Michele Clapton describes her inspiration when designing the garments and how each costume reflects its' character and interaction with the environment.

Star Wars Episode II: Character Design

I am a huge fan of the special effects and character design in the Star Wars saga. The futurist visuals are much more exciting than the movie itself; the vision of Star Wars is incredible. In this little documentary we get to experience the process of characters being born as a concept, becoming a 3D clay sculpture, and then coming to life on the screen. I love the dialogue where the CG artists are discussing the authenticity of motion and spirit of Yoda compared to the Yoda before him (as it was the first time Yoda was rendered in CG); their passion and philosophy of character animation shines through when describing these little nuances. All in all I really enjoyed this little featurette.

Dynamic Logos

Joe Harrison explores a concept that is so simple yet so powerful, but it largely remains untapped. He calls it "Responsive Icons". Everyone's heard of responsive design, but Harrison takes it one more step further and makes the iconography scalable as well. Simply put, on a desktop you would see the most detailed version of a logo and on a mobile device you would see the logo reduced to its' simplest shape. This is what I consider to be intuitive design; little details that you would naturally expect to happen. When there is less room to work with information should become simpler, obviously. It makes sense, it is "intuitive". Refreshing to see designers thinking towards the future.

Patrick Watson: A Take Away Show

This is one of my favorite Take Away Shows by La Blogothèque. Patrick Watson sings The Wooden Arms at a train station, they get told to stop singing so they finish up on a train. The performance at the beginning is magical, it gives me chills every time.

NASA's Future Airplane Concepts

NASA doesn't only work in space, they also contribute vastly to airplane technology. These concepts explore ideas of travelling at supersonic speeds over land, reduction of noise, increase of fuel efficiency and reduction of drag. I love seeing the traditional shape of airplanes being stretched and skewed, and the bright colors remind me of tropical birds. It would be cool to see planes like these in the skies in the near future.

Screen Style: Interview With The Vampire

The 18th century is one of my favorite eras of fashion. I love the high collars, lavish materials, and the layering. Very elegant time. Here are some looks from the movie Interview With The Vampire set in 1791.

Bioluminescent Forest

In this breathtaking video, artists Friedrich van Schoor and Tarek Mawad creates a beautiful display of nature alit. All of the visuals were projected onto the actual elements in real time, no post production needed. The musical score only adds to the otherworldly atmosphere of this short film.

The process of making the film is almost as fascinating as the final product.

Dirk Fowler: Analog Poster Design

I'm a huge fan of the flawless, clean-cut quality of digitally printed material, but there is something beautiful about a handcrafted poster. It seems more vivid, more tactile, more personal and less like you're viewing it behind a glass display. Dirk Fowler shares with us his philosophy on design and his process of analog printing.

Google Self-Driving Car

A couple days ago, Google revealed their first complete working prototype of their self driving car. The car itself looks so friendly and innocent, like a kid robot car. According to The Oatmeal, the car drives very timid and cautiously but the level of aggression can be ramped up within the software. The self driving car hasn't hit the road yet as it's still in testing, but this is an exciting leap forward. I envision a future where you could order a car to your house and tell it where you want to go while you sit back, chat, and enjoy the scenery stress free. Google is becoming one of the biggest brands that's gonna define our future.

Here's a test drive of one of the earlier prototypes.

Hiroki Nakamura: Behind Visvim

Mr. Porter goes behind the brand of Visvim to show you how Hiroki Nakamura brings his pieces to life. Visvim is known for its' attention to detail and this behind the scenes look shows you some of that first hand.

Belstaff Fall 2014

I absolutely love outerwear, so this collection is pure eye candy for me. Super heavy coats, cargo pants, huge mittens. Very functional clothing, I love it all.

What Is Life? Is Death Real?

Illustrated with flat minimilist infographics, this existential video by Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell will make you question your ideals about life. It questions if death is even real by highlighting the fact that on a microscopic level the threshold between dead things and living things are often blurry. They've done videos on a variety of science topics, my favorites are "Why You Are Still Alive", and "Atoms As Big As Mountains".

Reflective Houses

Two twin vacation houses covered in mirrored glass sit side by side in northern Italy. Designed by architect, Peter Pichler, the west face of the house elegantly reflects its' surrounding environment; while the east side features glass walls that provides a beautiful view to the mountains. Thankfully the glass has been treated with a UV coating that prevents birds from colliding into it. Wouldn't want bird guts on your house.