I was pretty excited about finding .default magazine this morning. It is an online magazine that focuses on design, art, culture, fashion and music. It brings together artists from different fields and showcases there skills. Currently, they are up to issue 10 and .default magazine started up back in June of 2010. I would highly recommend checking it out. It has a smooth interfaces that gives reading an online magazine a fresh feel. If you don't believe me check it out for yourself.

Twitter sometimes you help me find some pretty awesome stuff. Like the frontman of Fleet Foxes releasing a FREE three song EP. It definitely was a treat seeing how Robin Pecknold band will be releasing a new album in May called, Helplessness Blues. So providing these three new songs I think it will hold me off till the new album comes out.

Pecknold who recently recorded this three song solo in Los Angeles, gives us a little explanation: "One is a duet with my friend Ed Droste from the amazing band Grizzly Bear, one is just a new solo jam, and one is a cover." The cover is of "Where Is My Wild Rose", a song from the New Zealand folk singer Chris Thompson. The Droste team-up is called "I'm Losing Myself" and features some haunted, feathery harmonies. And the new solo song is called "Derwentwater Stones". You can download the EP here.

Just a heads up this EP is quite mellow with an acoustic stripped down feel to them. Pecknold also want to add that, "These aren't Fleet Foxes songs, but I didn't know where else to disseminate it". So everyone Enjoy!



Source: Pitchfork

The owner of the home asked Randy Bens Architect to add a new floor to the existing structure of there home. This home which is located in New Westminister, Brish Columbia is surround by rich modernist architecture from the 1950's era. The owners wanted to keep that look but have a more modern touch to it. The goal was to knit together the old and new with simple gestures and materials that would meet the request of the owners. I think that they were able to achieve what the owner was requesting. If you want to see more pics of this house you can see them here.







Source: Archdaily

All About Tea and their branding caught my attention this morning. One because I like tea and two they have an elegant and simple branding design. Sometimes being simple can have a direct impact. I think that the logo choice with the dot pattern was a good branding desicion. The logo was inspired by tea filters and it fits the image of what is being sold. All around I give them two thumbs up for selling tea and for having good branding.

Check out there website as well. It is full of great teas and it's simple and clean. Well time to go make some tea now.

Today I came across Chad Hagen and his portfolio and I'm quite impressed. His beautifully designed illustrations pop right out and catch your attention. The detail and colors used in a lot of his works will suck you in with his use of pastel and vintage colors of the past. I'm sure you'll enjoying rummaging through his portfolio like I did. If you want check out more of his works then head on over to his site or follow him on twitter.

This is a pretty interesting use of sticky notes. It was created by Bang-yao Liu for his senior project at Savannah College of Art and Design. The idea for this video was based around that: "every time when I am busy, I feel that I am not fighting with my work, I am fighting with those post-it notes and deadlines". He continued with this idea and the sticky notes stop motion develop to outdoors, and travels in 11 cities around the world in 40 days by 2 people. Check out more of his work on his site.

With the increased awareness in eco-friendly products and waste management. Companies are always looking for ways to help and reduce their footprint on the world. Lee is one of those companies. Lee wanted to find an innovative solution that would showcase their affiliation towards eco-friendly initiatives and also spread the message amongst their customers.

To do this they created the "Never Wasted" shopping bag that can be reused in one way or another. Some for fun, some for function, but nothing ever goes into the trash. Not only did this make the idea long-lasting and interactive but also conveyed the message in a fascinating manner. Word spread, footfall increased and the initial production of 3000 bags went on to another 10,000.

Designed by: Happy





Source: Lovelypackage

Recently, I found producer Hard Mix on Myspace and immediately became a fan after hearing his track "Memories" which I used in my Playlist-23 mix. His style to me is like chillwave-pop with some interesting use of backward vocals and samples with his synthesized-laden jams.

Yesterday, I was made aware by Dovecote Records that Hard Mix was generously giving away his new Defaults LP. In order to get yourself a copy you have to become a fan of Hard Mix on Facebook first, which you can do on Dovecote blog post. After that, a box will appear and bam! You will have some new music to fill your ears.

I personally have been jamming out to this album since yesterday. It's basically been on repeat and I'm still enjoying it while I type up this post. So show support and get your copy today! I also added a video below that gives you a little insight into who Hard Mix is.

Peter Root who had 40 hours on his hands took 100,000 staples and made the Ephemicropolis. His city of staples covered a floor area of 600x300cm. The stacks of staples were broken into varying sizes from full stacks about 12cm high down to single stapes. Then placed in various stacks. I could only imagine the patience you needed to take the time to stack them and take them apart and arrange them. If you want check out more of his work on his site.

This vacation home which is only accessible by boat is located near a small island on Lake Huron in Canada. Desgined by MOS architects, the floating house floats on steel pontoons which allow it to fluctuate along with the lake when water levels change. The island house, which has been described as a “necklace” of buildings strung around the island – a main cottage with an integrated boathouse and dock, and a series of separate cottages to accommodate the many overnight guests that clamber to spend summers here. The timber cottage blends with its surroundings, which appear untouched, providing the perfect getaway. The interior, just 1,250 sq. ft., is also wood-clad – walls, ceilings, floors, and even the bathroom fixtures. I personally wouldn't mind staying here for a nice summer getaway. See more pictures at Trendir






Source: Trendir

Welcome to Playlist-23 Mixed by Damion. It is has been a while since The Collective Loop has mixed a playlist and thought it was about time. In this playlist I wanted to try and mixed together some interesting indie tracks and see what happens. So have a listen and let me know what you think. All great artist. So go ahead and have listen or if you want share this mix.


Cover Art by: Damion Schweizer

Tracklist

1. Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix) by The Whitest Boy Alive
2. Grande Comore by Southern Shores
3. Memories by Hard Mix
4. Neon Signs
5. Heart by Blood Diamonds
6. Ensoniq-Funk by Chad Valley
7. If You Want It by TV Girl
8. Brothers by Mux Mool
9. Apollo Throwdown Star Slinger by The Go! Team
10.Kisses by Kisses
11.Ungirthed by Purity Ring
12.A Gentleman's Harvest (Teen Daze Space Disco Love Remix) by The Magician & The Gates of Love

In art of design concepts the use of environmental sounds solutions are on the rise. Design Hara is one of those companies who was looking to make a small and stylish computer that was built with recyclable green material. This eco-friendly computer has a recyclable green chassis and uses only harmless materials, such as natural wood for the side panels which are not chemically antiseptic treated. The front cover of the computer can be made from natural sheep leather if you so chose. The internal segments of the PC are connected by a bolts and nuts structure, making it easier to separate so recyclable e-waste can be removed.

The unit is compatible with Mini-ITX small motherboards,and uses only a third of the energy consumed by desktop computers. It also features HDMI and DVI outputs and has an Intel Core2Duo processor, 4GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive.

For more info and specs click here.




Source: Yanko Design

During the weekend I had a conversation with someone concerning matchboxes and the art that gave the matchbox the vintage feel. So today I found Jerogot + Gotroch collection of matchboxes. Jerogot + Gotroch created 178 unique vintage-inspired matchbook designs for a music video for the Navigators. Which you can see below.

I personally can say that I enjoyed almost all of them and the style and color choices hit the spot for me. It's also interesting to see them as a complete set which I could definitely get lost in this complete set for a while. If you want to check out more of their work then check out their Flickr stream.




Source: designworklife

Tanya Johnston is a graphic designer based in Montreal who use various visual aesthetics to capture your attention. Through pictorial and graphic processes she explores the realm of reality and illusion as reality. She states that she like to frequently combine the techniques of drawing, painting and digital imaging to illustrate and communicate a non-linear vision of thought and space.

Tanya's work immediately caught my attention with her use of visual depth and balance in her works and I also enjoy finding jems like these. Don't forget to check out her portfolio it's sure to hold more jems then what is posted here.






Source: Aqua-Velvet

The Arcade tables ($3,000-$3,400) are the answer to those clunky old video arcade games that only plays one game and take up a lot of space. Not these arcade tables they give a modern look to an old classic without taking up a lot of space. They will blend nicely in your man cave decor. Did I also mention that it comes loaded with 60 classic games so that you can relive that misspent youth of yours and dominate the universe all over again. They are available in Classic, Custom Classic, and modern Stealth models, these cocktail-style tables offer LCD screens, high-quality joysticks, buttons, and sound systems and built-in libraries of classic games.

Stéphane Massa-Bidal (AKA Rétrofuturs (Hulk4598)) has created a set of posters depicting various popular web services as though they were vintage paperback covers. These are beautiful and they have a look like they had been sitting in someone's attic for like 40 years. Although 40 years ago none of these services actually existed. I'm just glad I got my web therapy today.

Also a couple months ago I did a post about Rétrofuturs and his "Life is Circle" series as well. If you want to check out that post click here

I highly recommend checking out more works by Stéphane and if you want follow him on Twitter.

The Collective Loop is proud to start The Collective Loop Mixed Series. So welcome to Volume I of this series. I asked my good friend Skillz to start off this mixed series with a mix of some good old 2-Step. If you remember, I did a post about Skillz last year almost to this date about him taking all of his vinyl and turning it into a collection of mixed speed garage sets called the "Speed Garage Chronicles". Well he is up to Chapter 14 so if you're a Speed Garage junkie like we are then I suggest you start filling those ears with dirty basslines. In the mean time have a listen to the new mixed series below.

You can also Download it here for FREE.




Cover Art by: Damion Schweizer

I was thinking about infographic yesterday and how they seem to be popping up everywhere lately. So I was perusing around the internet yesterday and came about this infographic. A graphical interpretation of The Evolution of the Geek created by Flowtown. You no longer just have the pocket protector geek it has evolved and spawned off all these styles of geek. So what geek style are you?

Looking below, I would say I’m a Music Geek, a Tech Geek, a Computer Geek, a Design Geek, Geek Chic and a Glee Geek

I know some of you have been waiting for this rumor to become a reality and it has. Sony has officially unveiled the Xperia Play($TBA). The Xperia Play will be the first PlayStation certified device. The Play will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread, features include a 854×480 pixel capacitive multi-touch TFT LCD display, 5.5 hours of gaming time on a single charge and a 5.1MP camera and a certified Playstation slide-out controller. Powered by 1 GHz Scorpion ARMv7 single-core CPU, 512MB of RAM and comes with an 8GB microSD card. Did I also mention that upon its debut there will be 50 launch titles that will be available plus it will come loaded with a "legendary" Playstation One title, which, Engadget reports it will be Crash Bandicoot.

So here becomes the real blur between dedicated mobile gaming devices and smartphones. Let the gaming begin. Is this a phone that you would be willing to rock out?



Source: Engadget, Gizmodo