If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite brand logo would look like if it were designed by a hipster…you must be a very curious person. You’re also not alone, check out Hipster Branding, a blog that showcases popular corporate logos and applies the simplified/retro, “Hipster”, design philosophy currently trending.
The release of Monocle’s March issue also marks the company’s 5th birthday. Check out this video which recaps all brand happenings from print to retail.
It’s safe to say that I’ll still be an avid reader when they celebrate their 50th year.
Vintage style barbershops have been popping up at a rapid pace over the past few year. One of the originators of this trend was Rudy’s, which started in the early 1990s during the “grunge” days in Seattle.
Check out this video which documents the story of their humble beginnings.
As most of you probably already know, the word “Pub” (as in bar), comes from the term Public House. In short, public houses we’re 19th century drinking establishments and restaurants, most of which also offered a small amount lodging upstairs for travelers (a beer and a bed…pretty much all a guy needs.)
With the opening of Longman & Eagle in Chicago, The Grazing Goat in London and Honor & Folly in Detroit, this concept has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance lately…with modern updates, of course.
The Grazing Goat (London)
Longman & Eagle (Chicago)
Honor & Folly (Detroit)
* While Honor & Folly does not operate it’s own bar, it is located above The Sugar House, a craft cocktail bar.
“Quarterly is a new way to connect with the people you follow and find interesting. We spend so much of our lives connecting with people online that we forget the value of tangible interactions that happen in the real world. Quarterly wants to bridge that gap by allowing anyone to subscribe to influential contributors and get physical items in the mail from them. It is like a magazine, but instead of receiving words on a page, our subscribers receive actual items that tell a compelling story crafted and narrated by the contributor.”
“…maybe you’ll get the same kind of notebook that your favorite author used to plot their recent bestseller. Or maybe it’s the tea a musician was drinking while they penned a famous track.”
This is a really cool new company founded by Good Magazine co-founder and former Editor-In-Chief, Zack Frechette. Current contributors include Josh Rubin and Evan Orenstan of Cool Hunting, Bobby Salomon of The Fox is Black, world traveler Josh Spear, and many more.
A good, quality tweed sportcoat is a wardrobe essential for any guy. When I mentioned the “High-low” in my previous post…this is what I meant by “High”. This is where you should be spending your money. Molloy & Sons has been weaving Donegal Tweed (named after County Donegal, Ireland where the family business is based) since the 19th century, and they are one of the few remaining companies who still produce authentic Donegal Tweed.
Monocle launched their 24 hour radio program earlier today. Reporting on current affairs, business, culture and music, Monocle 24 aims to bring that very “Monocle” vibe to the airwaves around the clock. After reading the current issue of Monocle, which focuses on the world of media, I can gather that a Monocle television cable network is not far behind.
I’ll usually throw on some Detroit sports radio if I have down-time at the office, but I’ll certainly now have to tune in to M24 to feed my more cultural side from time to time.
WSJ Magazine recently featured a story titled, “Death of a Playboy”, in which they report on a time when globe-trotting men with a certain swagger and privilege didn’t feel the need to advertise their status to everyone around them. the whole piece is worth a read, however the following excerpt sums it up pretty nicely:
Perhaps the phoniest version of the jet-setting “good life” appears in Sean “Diddy” Combs’s TV ads for his Sean John I Am King cologne. Diddy rides a jet-ski in a full tux, arrives at a helipad armed with body-suited supermodels Bar Refaeli and Ana Paula Araújo at his side, and strides through the Mediterranean in full black tie. If he saw it, Gunter Sachs, the impeccably dressed, tousled-haired heir to Germany’s Opel automobile dynasty, might shoot himself all over again. In his day, a playboy didn’t shout he was a “playah”—he just . . . was. What the deuce did he care if anyone else knew it?
The second installment of Monocle Mediterraneo, the Media brands large-format summer newspaper, is set to hit newsstands on July 28th. With a report from Pitti Uomo, as well as the usual briefings on food, culture, retail and design, Mediterraneo is sure to please the cultural senses.
Check out the preview video, here.
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again…content based marketing is the most effective (for me anyway). Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos, the gentleman behind the clothing label Shipley & Halmos (previously of Trovata) were recently featured in a video as part of the “Me Series” to promote the Windows Phone. The video takes you through the pairs creative process and behind the scenes at their NYC studio. Enjoy.
July 2nd marked the 50th anniversary of Earnest Hemingway’s death. A reader of the site recently sent me a poster she designed entitled “Live the Hemingway“. The poster handsomely documents his life and encourages all of us to live the Hemingway by listing several rules inspired by his life (click on image to enlarge). Hemingway truly was the most interesting man in the world.
Click here for more information on the project.
This video has been making the rounds since earlier this year. Corning Glass, the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics, produced a short video displaying their view on life in the near future. The video seems very accurate since we already have much of this technology in use, it’s just a matter of time before it’s incorporated into all aspects of our lives.
It’s more Minority Report, less Jetson’s…George always seemed to have trouble with those gadgets anyway.
