Sweet and Tender Hooligan

Are my designs beautiful because I am beautiful?

Check out this hilarious video called "Designer Slash Model" created by Digital Kitchen. All you graphics folks, especially you hot graphics folks, (you know who you are) are gonna get a kick out of this. Chrissy is great!

There aren't many Saul Bass Slash Heidi Klums out there!


For the higher res version, go to the website : Designer Slash Model

Party For Your Right To Fight

Old school hiphop video- clip from the Joan Rivers show live- Beastie Boys "Fight For Your Right."

These guys look like dirty faced punks- love it! Gyrating girls, smoke bombs, and the intro from Joan- priceless. Rock and roll mixed with B-boy styling- again, priceless!

Pick Up The Pieces

Things are good in the world of OtherWisz!

The home improvements projects are complete for now, the office renovation, switch-a-roo is just about complete.

We have a lot of cool work going on: brochures, logos, posters, great big websites and more.

Where to Roam gear is hot lately and selling great!

And most of all, the DJ sound system is in place in the soon-to-be-complete OtherWisz lounge/conference room/t-shirt store. We are in an all vinyl mode as I spend the next few weeks organizing, thinning the record herd and cranking out some long-lost grooves from my collections of hundreds of LPs, 12" singles, 45s and a few 10" records. Ignore the CDs for now.

DJing has always been a relaxing, therapeutic release for me and it has actually been out of my life for a bit. Scott and I have had some deja blu gigs this year, but I haven't just been playing for fun, to relax, or to treat my senses to some fine grooves, phat beats, college flashbacks, new sounds and old.

When my life wasn't so busy-busy-busy in the past (before owning our own companies, dogs and children) I used to hang with some friends and play music, drink adult beverages and smoke cigarettes (I have quit so long ago that it is ancient history at this point). I mean that is what we did for fun- just play music for hours and hours.... I am not complaining about how things are now, but it is time to fit some down time into all this mad rush- play some long forgotten records and chill.

When you have so much to do, you forget the downtime is as important as the uptime. When the lounge is all done, we'll have you guys over, eh?

Son of Byford

The old school video for this Wednesday is another classic "Hit It Run" by Run DMC. The beatbox with the samples are awesome. Tell your bunch I'm boss, I run this town.... Man, these guys had the best gear, all leather and unlaced Adidas! Truly raisin' hell!

Lookin' For a Place to Happen

Designed By Humans

A new t-shirt company based on artist's submitted designs has cropped up. Just like the model created by Skinney Corp with their Threadless, Designed By Humans lets you (the artist) submit a design for Tees that are voted on by people who log onto the site. It your design is chosen to get printed you pocket a cool cash prize of $5000!

They have just started, so it looks like they only have 9 or so submitted designs so far. You can submit designs, vote on them, comment on them by joining the DBH community. It is a really cool idea created by Threadless that has spawned a few imitators.

I like the Tees designs by DamageCult, very cool. Check it out. The DBH logo is also similar to the OtherWisz icons (Clients section) we have been using for years.

Make Up Your Mind

Thoughtless Acts- observations on intuitive design

This book by Jane Fulton Suri and the IDEO design group poses some interesting observations on design and how people react/act to it. It details the subtle and sometimes amusing ways in which people, without thinking adapt, use, reuse, respond to and exploit everyday objects.

Examples happening around me everyday include:

• The bottle guys using shopping carts stolen from supermarkets to collect, transport and travel about the neighborhood (exploit, reuse).
  
  
• Busted parking meters wrapped in a plastic Wegman's bag to signal to the parking meter cop that it is not working (signaling).
  
  
• I use the boxes that Clementines are packaged in at the supermarket to hold CDs - they don't fit perfectly, but they work well enough (reuse, adapting).
  

This website link gives you a preview of the book and lets site visitors react and comment. You can submit their own observations (& upload photos) on acts performed-- often without thinking-- in relation to design! Very cool.

The Chameleon

Wednesday's old school hip hop video is Herbie Hancock's "Rock It" from 1983. This was the coolest video in the early days of MTV.

Though it features no rappin', it is a great instrumental with cool robots, Herbie wearing giant gazelle glasses, cool scratch' (DJ Grandmaster D.St.) and an awesome 80's groove. I used to play this really loud when Nate and I DJ'ed Funk Nite a few years back.

I remember being kinda creeped out as a kid by the weird-ass robots, especially the one that appears to be masturbating. Freakin' me out as a youngster!



Bonus Beats: live version- click here!

Cars Hiss By My Window

It's a warm summer Sunday night with the rumble of coming rains that are needed but might not ever materialize (and didn't).

On the last minute we decided to sell W2R Tshirts at the Buffalo Old Home Week Brunch this afternoon. Last year we also attended the event and met a lot of great people and sold a few Ts. So we went again this year, since it was moved to Shanghi Reds on the waterfront (one of the OttherWisz team's new favs).

The Buffalo venders area was kind of a bust, light in the way of merchandise sales... BUT we had a great brunch and met a lot of really cool Buffalo folks-- so that was good. Jill and I met a nice artist who used draw Dennis the Menace for Hank Ketchum and I got to talk with the original Buffalo Tee guy Michael Morgulis. The girls and I took a long walk to the lighthouse and up it for a nice view of the lake.

I like selling shirts though. Did I mention, the food was good.

War

Here is another classic comic book ... as I am waiting for pages of a comp to print out at 1:00am in the morning ...damn middle-of-the-week holiday.

The legendary 100 pc. Toy Solider Set- 'made of durable plastic, each with it's own base.' Oh yeah, and it comes 'packed in this Footlocker!'. Exciting! How else?!

I can tell you from experience that the ad is much cooler than the toy. The guys are flat, not 3D, as you may have assumed from the cool action illustration! I mean flat. The dimensions in that ad note: 6-1/2" x 3" x 2-3/8". The forgot to add the 4th dimension which is about 1/32" thick!!!!!! If even.

And the storage box is made out of crappy cardboard. It is not waterproof, or action proof, for that matter.

This classic ad from the late seventies, early eighties featuring:

• Bold colors in a great comic book war scene. Exploding boats!
• Seems like a deal at only $1.98.
• I really like the trap on the headline- just 2 rectangular shapes cut out of the rubylith, this is like 15-18 pt. trap!
• Though the ad offers to "Rush the Toy Solider Set to You" the fine prints warns allow 5-6 weeks for delivery.
• The fine print disclaimer: "Imaginary war scene shown" --Thanks for filling me in, I thought it was an actual snapshot from 'The Battle of the Bulge!"
  
• And best of all "No Canadian or foreign orders." These could be used for low rent war games, strategy meetings, briefings, I guess.... Awfully dangerous to fall into the enemies (or Canadians) hands.

Click here to enjoy The legendary 100 pc. Toy Solider Set!

Freaks Come Out at Night

I thought I would post this one a little early, I might be busy tomorrow. Whodini's 'Freaks Come Out at Night' video is a great one.

Managed by Russel Simmons, Whodini mixed rap, with R&B and had a guy wearing a zorro-style hat (a lot). This video starts with the boys exciting the bus and singing "Friends" acapella. Very cool. It also has Run-DMC hanging back in the dressing room and kung-fu break dancers (???).

And speaking of 'freaks' what is up with the leather jacket-with-the-tight-white-shorts-look? Now that's freaky.