Hola España! Bonjour France! With all the endless rain we’ve been getting so far this summer in the UK, Miss Random Fashion Coolness and I have decided to hit the south of Spain/France for the summer. So normal Things of Random Coolness transmissions will be momentarily interrupted until we reach the Mediterranean and set up base camp.
If any of the Spanish/French readers have any good recommendations on things to see/do/eat/etc, please let me know.
Guns, bugs & wallpaper. What’s not to like? My french is pretty bad, but it appears that Wall Invaders by French creative group, Radi Designers, is a Wallpaper design kit. The kit which consists of floral wallpaper, then lets you customise the design with bug prints through the use of a kid’s dart gun. The child in me tells me this is the best wallpaper ever!
See more work by Radi Designers.
I’m on my deathbed. Well, not quite. Food poisoning has left me feeling rather sorry for myself. So posts might be few and far between for a few days, as I now prefer to spend my time exploring the delightful arts of sleeping and vomiting.
Back soon.
Beware the “hoodies”. In the UK, a sub-culture of underclass youths have been given the name of “hoodies” thanks to their penchant for wearing hooded garments. It seems the hooded tops these youths wear are scaring the middle-classes. But what the middle-classes have yet to experience is the gangs of youths creeping around inner-city shopping centres dressed like scary clowns thanks to the hand-printed clothing of Headhoods.
In a bustling factory in Brooklyn, New York each and every hood is meticulously hand-printed and one-of-a-kind. Check out their MySpace page to see some photos and keep up to date.
Visit the official Headhoods website.
Up-and-coming designer. I’ve mentioned the designer Chuck Anderson aka. NoPattern on several occasions, mainly in relation to his furniture collaborations for KinkyForm, but I thought I’d let everyone know about his new updated Portfolio and Online Store.
His recent stylistic forays from his trademark sparkly multi-colour photoshop extravaganza technique, into a more casually illustrated style, show a designer who’s not afraid to experiment and move his style forward. If his rapid success is anything to go by, NoPattern’s future looks as bright and colourful as his work.
Check out his Online Store for great prints of his work.
Darth Vader doesn’t seem as frightening anymore. You’ve got to love Jeremyvilles’s Vader Helmet for The Vader Project; a reimagining of the iconic Darth Vader helmet by some of today’s hottest pop and underground artists.
You can see more of the artist’s helmets on show via Flickr.
Flora & Fornication. The wallpaper designs from Paper Voyeur looks innocent enough, but look closer and you’ll notice the incorporation of some subtle sexual imagery in the pattern. This unique collection of wallpaper, designed by DED, is lushly produced with iridescent and metallic inks to create shimmering backdrops for the more discerning boudoir
Find out more at Paper Voyeur.
What the hell is an “ethno-mood” ? I really like the Folklore series of traditional ethnic patterned lighting designs from DesignCode, but the sales blurb that accompanies the products annoys me:
Traditional and authentic Japanese, Indian and Arabian patterns are laser cut into fireproof paper. Each shade is printed on the inside with the specific colour often associated with its culture. This unpretentious piece immediatly creates a wonderful ethno-mood by projecting shadows and images.
Stating that something is unpretentious and then following it up with pretentious marketing-speak words like “ethno-mood” is stupid. I still like the lighting though, even if it is a modern rehashing of a traditional form. Search google for ‘Moroccan Lanterns’ if you fancy something similar but more authentic.
See more from DesignCode.
Fantastic illustration work. You’ve got to go and checkout the illustration work of Andy Smith. The poster’s available in the shop are fantastic, but if their a bit pricey for you, then there are some great cheap hand-made books. These are self published books that are hand silkscreened and produced in small editions.
Find out more about Andy Smith.
