I don't think that I have written about a book before on The Collective Loop, so this will be a first. The book Symbol by Angus Hyland and Steven Bateman ($40) is a book that features over 1300 symbols, organized into groups and sub-groups according to their visual characteristics. Each category includes a short introduction, with expanded captions providing information on who the symbol was designed for, who designed it, when, and where appropriate, what the symbol stands for. The book is 366 pages with 1400 illustrations of symbols to get your design motivation kicking.

Below are some videos of Angus Hyland talking about the book Symbol. It's quite interesting because he talks about old school versions of companies symbols to now. It's a five part series and if you would like to watch the rest they are available here.

This week is going to be a good one and here is the reason why. On July 13th at Czar in Tampa, The Glitch Mob will be performing as well as Phantogram and Com Truise.  Each one of these bands has it's own style yet I can see why they would all be performing together.   

The Glitch Mob is a trio of three that is known for tweaking and toying with cutting-edge technology to produce their sound of electronic music.  Phantogram is more on the indie synth side with their tracks like "Mouthful of Diamonds" with their waverly sounds of the guitars and random noises. They would describe them self's as street beat, psych pop which I actually like better then my description. Then we have Com Truise who has been a growing name on the Ghostly International  label. His sound is more on constantly experimenting with synthesizers and structure in an attempt to bring new age sounds to the forefront. So each one of these groups has a style that in the end works together to produce a very interesting live set of cutting edge technology with new styles of music.

Tickets for this show are still available total price comes out to like $20 bucks. Get them here.  Hope to see you there!

On July 23rd I will be playing at The Hookah Lounge again mixing up some unique ambient, indie and chill dubstep. While I'm mixing it up you can enjoy about 65 different Shisha flavors and your own hookah. They have a really chill atmosphere with great prices on smoking hookahs. It's $15.00 bucks for unlimited and $8.00 for a single. If you haven’t been, it's well worth checking out.

Last month had a great turn out so I hope to see you there. If you want to check out my mixes you can do so here


Designed by Damion S.

An Abrupt End is a project completed by James Huse who uses milk-filled balloons and explodes them while capturing the beauty at high-speed. We would only see it happen so quickly with the naked eye but now with the right techniques, equipment and skill we get to see this on a totally different level. These inverted balloon photos have a unique flare or wave to them that seems like a dark and cold surface. It could be the use of the milk that makes them seem so thick and textured.

If you want to check out more of James Huse work then check out his website.

When your Windows computer is being a bit slow, when its memory is fragmented, when the threads of its normal execution become so tangled that it's no longer considered useful, the one thing that will refresh it fully is the troika of buttons "Ctrl - Alt - Del." Hitting those three buttons are designed to interrupt the computers processes, clearing out the memory, and recycling the system power.

The Ctrl-Alt-Delete Cup set ($11.99) by ThinkGeek are designed to provide another stylish way of interrupting your day. Now when you feel that your becoming like your computer. You can then turn over your Ctrl-Alt-Delete Cups and clear out your lagging day with something to boast your energy a.k.a coffee.




Source: ThinkGeek

This sweet looking concept bike the Potenza, a vehicle by Argentinian designer Nico Jara, is a simple concept on devising a four-wheeled bike that stores energy from pedaling and later converting it into kinetic energy. This concept adopts the sustainable concept on storing the energy to power the bike once enough energy has been stored.

The four-wheeled bike has an elegant design that features four spoked wheels and a canopy up top to protect riders from the elements. It has a box in the back between the two rear wheels that seems to be the device where energy is stored or collected. I'm not sure how practical this bike would be since it is only in the prototype phase but would you ride around in this Potenza?




Source: Coroflot

The summer is officially upon us and we need more music to go with our nostalgic summer memories. So here is Playlist-27 filled with upbeat tracks to store your memories of the summer of 2011. There are some fantastic tracks up in this 15 track playlist. We have some new Death Cab and Coldplay tracks. We have some other great finds like Seapony, Hey Champ, Kleerup and more. So have a listen and enjoy.

If you want to check out any of the other Playlist then click on Archived Playlist in this post or on the right hand side of this blog or in the menu.



Cover Art by Damion S.

In anticipation of the second album by Memory Tapes, the music blog The Quietus has made the new album Player Piano available for your streaming pleasure. It even provides Dayve Hawk's own track-by-track guide to the record, in which he reveals the influences, and meanings behind his thought process.

It was quiet an interesting read to gauge his thoughts about his new album and the questions of why he thought that way. I like what he said about his one track "Humming", he said:

" I think I'm always trying to make my music sound to lesser and greater degrees like field recordings. I don't want to make a song that sounds like that song you heard on the radio; I want to make a song that sounds like that moment you heard the song on the radio."

I couldn't agree more on this thought. What I like about this new album is that each song has a certain feel to it. It's like each track has a life and a thought to each arrangement of sound. Each song has its own playful and twisted turns, wrong-headed arrangements and some unusual instrumentation. Memory Tapes is also one who doesn't use any sequencing software and each instrument was played by him in his home studio for this album.

Hawk's will also be debuting the new album live this summer with a full band and the Player Piano album will be released on July 5th on Something in Construction Records. Click here to listen to the whole album or check out three songs below from the new album.

Yes I Know by Memory Tapes
Wait In The Dark by Memory Tapes
Today Is Our Life by Memory Tapes

This particular house located in Whistler, Canada is called the Compass Pointe House and was designed by Sean Anderson while the interior & exterior finishing touches were done by Kelly Deck.

The home with its beautiful wood floors and heated tiles and two story vaulted ceilings, how can you go wrong with that? The main areas of the home that catch my attention is the kitchen and the office room, plus the view outside is breathtaking and peaceful. This contemporary home will run you some serious cash though, about $6,490,000 to be exact.






Source: The Contemporist / Photos Kristen McGaughey