So my friend Pınar showed me a pretty good wallpaper website, and I am sure you’ll like it. The wallpapers are in good quality, and here are two I downloaded – I made Yotsuba-chan my wallpaper and Hatsune Miku my google background. (oh and yes, you can change your google page background by clicking on the text “Change background image” on the lower left of the page)
Two paintings from Hiroshi Yoshida. More in the hanga gallery website and if you’re interested in Japanese art, check out Gurafiku.
Hirosaki Castle. Hiroshi Yoshida. 1935
Golden Pavilion. Hiroshi Yoshida. 1933
Inspired from toxel’s post and designboom. Seeing all these shoes make me want to go shopping!
First pair designed by Chau Her Lee.
Shoe designed by Chau Har Lee, this shoe doesn't have an ordinary heel if you haven't noticed.
Sandals by Yarel Yair Design Studio.
A wooden summer sandal, inspired by the Japanese sandal, with an innovative fresh look , made from natural materials, lightweight and airy. Made from wood, steel and leather. By Yarel Yair Design Studio.
And now, the hoof shoe craze, started by Iris Shieferstein!
'vegas girl' by german artist iris schieferstein, 2009 toy pistol, cow hooves, zipper
Taken from Shieferstein’s website: “For many years, Iris Schieferstein has worked with dead animals as raw material for her pieces of art. She joins the fragments together to new creatures and thus gives a new face to death. No matter, if her arrangements follow paintings of the great masters of art or if the joined objects turn out to be whole words – her work always gives evidence of aesthetic intutition and her inclination to subtle enterntainment.The earlier you die – the longer you are dead.”
Interesting point of view, and I don’t like how dead animals are used, but if you think about it, we all wear shoes made from leather all the time – taken from dead animals brutally. So I guess this isn’t that bad after all.
iris schieferstein, 2005
girl wearing martin margiela hoof shoes
By the way, Martin Margiela’s website is awesome and it’s NOT under construction!
other hoof shoes by martin margiela, apparently, he has them for all seasons.
And skeletal stilettos by dsquared2! I loved the entire series.
Aand, one of my favorites of all time, Liam Fahy‘s Stormtrooper stilettos, that won him the Fashion Fringe Shoe competition, bagging him a paid internship with Rupert Sanderson.
Last but not least, an interesting interactive shoe that works through an iPhone app, “SHORT ++” (or robotic elevator shoes), created by Adi Marom.
Lovely products, funny – and probably true – name. Found the “Umbrella Samurai” from one of my good friend Ceyhun’s blog. The other umbrellas are nice too. My favorite is the one on the left of the picture in the middle. (although I don’t think that that one is for sale – pout). Designed by Materious (purchase information is also available on their website).
“In Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud contends that aggressiveness is a fundamental human instinct whose inhibition is a necessary obligation of social life:
“Men are not gentle, friendly creatures wishing for love, who simply defend themselves if they are attacked, but that a powerful measure of desire for aggression has to be reckoned as part of their instinctual endowment.”
Fundamentally there is a tension between the freedom to gratify these natural desires and the conformity demanded by civilization. What results is a muted, guilty, and ultimately a discontent populous in which the possibility of a more complete happiness has been traded for a degree of security.
Umbrellas for the Civil but Discontent Man combines a symbol of gentlemanly refinement—the full-sized, dark umbrella—with an element of more manly sword-bearing times. The umbrellas offer brief psychological respite from the dictates of social amiability; aggressive fantasies are allowed and encouraged on the daily commute to the office. The effete civilian’s grasp of the handle takes him into the world of the masterful samurai, the medieval barbarian, or the triumphant cavalryman.”
Nice idea, made me smile.
“Sometimes we cannot help but to try and catch a glimpse of the otherside.
Passing through the everyday spaces we inhibit, the door half opened always stirs up a sense of seduction and curiosity within us. Inspired by these ordinary yet inexplicable moments in our daily lives, I designed a mirror that gives an illusion of a door opening on any given surface.” is the description of Glimpse. Check out other works from Sarah Tamala Kang on her website.
Found impressive and inspiring illustrations by graphic designer Philippe Intraligi (who is also the designer of FIFA’s new corporate identity.) on lookslikegooddesign, which I very much find myself staring at for awhile. Much much more on Intraligi’s website.
I loved Craww‘s work when my friend Pınar showed his paintings. Unfortunately, I don’t really have a name for you, but here is his website, his blog and his redbubble account.
“Graphic designer by day, illustrator by night, Craww plies his trade from the fair city of Sheffield.
Craww likes ambiguity. Pretty things in dark places, nasty things masquerading in beauty, Hidden stories and happy accidents. He likes skulls, tattoos, crows and melancholic girls with big hands.
Combining photoshop with pencil, paint, way too much spilt ink and whatever else is at hand, he aims to bring his stream of consciousness droodlings to life with a mix of elegance, balance and disciplined chaos.”
Consollection features a great gallery of video-console, from Pong to the Wii. A nice overview of original designs and packagings, also available as printed book. I love how the site’s homepage is designed like a typology study.
Don’t you think facebook‘s top bar is too cluttered? I do. The “facebook” and “Home” links go to the same page, which is of course the homepage, and “Profile” and clicking your name goes to your profile. I wonder why they designed the top bar like that.. Any ideas?
