January wrap up

January has been a month of obsessions.

Obsession number 1: the ephemeral. Unlikely collections, elaborate bento boxes, etsy treasury lists inspired by chalk writings on a blackboard and Polaroid snapshots. We just love the beauty in everyday things that shines for an instance and then quickly vanishes.

Obsession number 2: colors. We’ve spent hours aimlessly searching for flickr images by color. We ‘ve noticed the large gap between how men and women describe colors. We’ve tried to sense colors in their complete absence. And we heard colors synesthetically in the music of John Coltrane.

Obsession number 3: maps. We’ve roamed the streets of New York through Hip-Hop lyrics. We’ve revisited our childhood homes. We’ve compared our countries to the rest of the world. And we finished things off by completely deconstructing the map.

Song of the week

I wanna go to Marz by John Grant

Touching color

Can you feel color in the absence of color?

Thomas says that yellow tastes like mustard, but is as soft as a baby chick’s feathers

The paradoxically named Black Book of Colors, by Menena Cottin (Author) and Rosana Faria (Illustrator), is a beautiful exercise on tactile experience. Printed all in black and using embossed lines, rather than in conventional colors, it invites us to enter the world not simply of blindness but of vivid, imaginary colors. It’s a challenge for both the senses and the mind, but its beauty is breathtaking.

Waves and drops of rain, wild flowers and strawberries, leafs and feathers and words printed in black and in braille are our entrance points to a completely new way of perceiving through touch.

See more amazing images after the jump.

The ephemeral beauty of bento

The bento is no ordinary lunch box. It is a culinary universe, contained in a lunch box. I admit to having a soft spot for Japanese food and Japanese aesthetics, so it’s no wonder bentos fascinate me. Not just because they are beautiful. Because there is a whole different approach to food behind them.

• Bentos elevate the idea of a lunch box. Not the rushed junk lunch one usually has at work, but the kind you take time to prepare for yourself or loved ones.
• Bentos celebrate the ephemeral beauty of things. The beauty you glance at for a few seconds after opening the bento box and before devouring your lunch. So zen.
• Bentos are all for portion control (bento boxes are notoriously small) and healthy food choices (traditionally rice, fish, vegetables and fruits are the prefered bento choices)

Bentos range from minimal to elegant…

…and from kawai (cute) to completely outrageous (and some times kitch)

See a gallery of the best bento boxes we found on Flickr after the jump

Black Swan: Europe vs US 1-0

We, the people behind it’s a small web, are heading out to, finally, watch the Black Swan.

Check out these limited edition, modernist/avant-garde/art nouveau (have we mentioned that we ADORE art nouveau?) posters for the Black Swan, meant for European distribution only. Amazing.

Check out the rest of the posters and their more conventional american counterpart after the jump

A riddle for 2010

Can you remember what happened on the Internet in 2010?

The following illustration challenges our memory and our ability to decipher images.

Syzygy, a UK based digital agency, commissioned artist McBess to create a poster,  illustrating 20 things (from industry events to web projects) that ‘happened’ on the Internet last year.

Can you spot them?

Movies to drink to

Mixed Reviews: 20 Classic Men’s Movies Liquerated is a poster series by The Moxy Creative House.  Every movie is a drink featured in that movie. Obviously.

White Russian?See more posters after the jump

When stuck in an airport just sing

Mareva Galanter, currently on tour with Nouvelle Vague, sings an impromptu Mala Vida while stuck on a Paris airport.

The portrait of a blogger

What is your idea of blogging and of bloggers, in particular? Do you often imagine them in small and dark rooms, where they just sit and write their posts? Well, perhaps you are right, but you should definitively check Gabriella Herman‘s series of photographs,  Bloggers. She has managed to capture the moment of creation, where the only light of inspiration is the one that comes from the computer screen.

More portraits after the jump

Read it elsewhere

It’s link time, again.

• Egypt initially blocks Twitter and Facebook and now cuts off all access to internet but Egyptians are still tweeting for freedom –guardian/bbc
• it has happened. During the holidays kindle books outsold paperback books on Amazon – dvice
• 15 free, non-pirate, Hitchcock movies online – openculture
• you already knew that the Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech was brilliant, but now there is the infogram to prove it – fastcodesign
• apparently you can now earn a degree at The Beatles – ctv
• this, below, is a photograph (of soap bubbles), not an illustration; see more psychedelic images in science – discover

Can you hear color?

Music triggers feelings and images. And  not only images, but also shapes, colors, forms. Synesthetic experiences provoke our senses. When we  listen to music, we see colors and shapes that arise, move around, and disappear. And I fell lucky that I am not the only one who sees blocks of colors, when I listen to John Coltrane‘s music; so does Michal Levy, artist and jazz musician, who has created this totally ‘synesthetic’ video, inspired by Coltrane’s Giant Steps.

via Brain Pickings

The Bermuda Triangle of Productivity

The Bermuda Triangle of Productivity by Fuchsia Macaree

Just re-function it

Don’t throw away a thing!

If you’ve taken our lead and  you have decided to take the IKEA out of your IKEA furniture in your quest to create a more personal space,  you should consider not replacing, but using your old and broken furniture, and giving them new functions.

Take inspiration from South African designer Katie Thomson, who re-uses junk, discarded material, broken household appliances, vintage leather suitcases, old hat boxes and many others, to create a wide range of furniture, lighting and interior accessories. In Recreate, you can admire the new functions introduced to all sorts of different objects, now transformed to interior design objects and recycled furniture.

Kamasutralap

I am doing number 5 as we speak.

via 9gag.c0m

Etsy finds: snap it in an instance

Our obsession with the ephemeral is going strong. And nothing captures the trivial and the ephemeral better than an instant snapshot from a Polaroid camera.

Snap it in an instance etsy treasury list:

1. Polaroid Camera vintage style brass cuff bracelet by uniqueartpendants
2. Polaroid Coaster – Pink Monsta by justnoey
3. remember this album by OneFineDae
4. Aqua Polaroid Plush Camera by onelatenight
5. Polaroid Wood Brooch by craftyfolk
6. We Belong – Polaroid Love Card by lilyjanestationery
7. Polaroid SX-70 ring (Pick Your Color) by cbtscloset
8. Snapshot Necklace – Small by amybsjewelry
9. Snapshot Earrings by amybsjewelry
10. Polaroid postcard by GrandmaAndTheGnome
11. embroidered polaroid pocket journal by nowvember
12. Polaroid Camera Brooch by pannikin
13. Polaroid – iPhone 4 Decor Decal Skin Sticker by decalsworldofapple
14. Giant Coaster Table & Wall Art . Polaroid Camera by blueorder
15. polaroid camera stud earrings by wishbowl
16. Once Upon A Polaroid Brooch by TillyBloom

Mapping the meaning

I’m in an Empire State of Mind.

You don’t need to be a hiphop fan to appreciate Rap Map. I could just (virtually) roam the streets of New York City for hours, visiting different clubs, hotels, bars and recording studios to discover the history of rap. Rap Map is a location-based, Google Maps application, which connects hip hop lyrics to specific places, unveiling the inside story behind them.  The placemarks feature a short description of the place and cleverly selected lyrics from well (or lesser) known hiphop songs.

You can also access the vast database of rap songs, provided by Rap Genius, creator of Rap Map. Rap Genius is an online rap lyrics encyclopedia, dedicated to the meanings and stories behind hip hop songs.

For the time being, New York City has the most Rap Map placemarks, but other places, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, etc. are starting to gain ground.

I only wished I knew more (or anything, actually) about hip hop music, so I could contribute to the list.

Taking the IKEA out of your IKEA furniture

It’s true. We all own IKEA furniture. That’s why homes from Sweden to Saudi Arabia and the US to Japan have started to look alarmingly alike. And no matter how many resolutions of not buying from IKEA I make, I keep returning to it. Let’s face it, their price to value ratio is great.  But I hate visiting other houses only to see more LACK tables and BILLY bookcases.

IKEA hackers offers great inspiration, featuring photos from people from around the world that have reinvented and personalized their IKEA purchases.  Serving bawls become sinks, coffee tables become benches and selves become lights.

LACK coffee tables become a bench

Find even more IKEA hacks, plus ways to pimp up your IKEA furniture even if you are not so crafty and a Fight Club reference after the jump.

Read it elsewhere

Link time:

• the 5 types of profile pictures that are trying too hard – the thought catalog
• how to validate your credit card number in your mind – digital inspiration
• food porn – the storque
• the values of PacMan – joystickdivision
• WeSC’s interactive display window – design*sponge
• Vladimir Nabokov’s secret life as an amateur entomologist (and his vindication) – The N.Y. Times
• why can’t we walk straight? – npr
• the medium is the message – Marshall McLuhan Speaks Centennial (via boing boing)
• the iRing and 9 more imaginary apple products – mashable

United States of the Internet

via Mashable

We sure are cute for two ugly people*

I am considering commissioning a portrait. Before you ring the vanity alarm, check this:

Digital art team ollibird creates these amazing commissioned sketch portraits.  We just love their indie vibe!

The process is easy.  You send a photo of yourself, they sketch it by hand, they scan it, color it digitally and they send you a digital copy in high-resolution so that you can print it yourself. Ollibird have even created a gallery of commissioned digital portraits.