Tomato

Tomato was founded in 1991 as a collective of artists, designers, musicians and writers.

Each one of the creatives involved is a partner, sharing their own field of expertise and experience with the wider group. This has led to regular collaboration within the collective and continues to be a source of inspiration and reinvention for those involved. [from website]

I found these layouts really cool and I discovered that they are the graphic designers that designed the cover for Nouvelle Vague albums! 

http://www.tomato.co.uk

The different company

The different company another perfume store to keep an eye on. Jean-Claude Ellena is the main ''nose'' creating scents for this company, together with her daughter Céline and Bertrand Duchaufour. The designer of the simple, but researched bottles is Thierry de Bachmakoff, head of Aesthete, luxury goods design studio. Online you can buy 12 samples of their perfumes and, let me tell you ... I would love to have them and try each of them taking notes about my feelings about them. I'm already doing it with some samples I got from Frederic Malle: there's a store in Milan where the shop assistant was supernice and she gave me 7 samples! My favourite is Vetiver Extraoirdinaire, but I have still 2 to try!

OBJECTIFIED by Gary Mustwit (of Helvetica)

COPY PASTE:  Objectified is a feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainabilit.  I just saw this film and was totally absorbed by it and the thought process that goes into objects, consumers, the value of the things we surround ourselves with.  You have to watch this film it is totally in line with what you admire and contemplate in the design world.    OBJECTIFIED

Attridge and Cole

I am back on my coffee kick and loving it!  After been a bit of a caffeine hound I realized I should cut back and lessen my kick but .... well its summer and iced coffees are superb midway through the day.  I love these clever concept trucks.  In Vancouver we've had a lot sprout up in the last little while.  Here is a company in Ireland called Attridge and Cole, don't you wish they were pulling the press in our hood(s)!?

Venice's Biennale: Art expo

Venezuelan Pavillion

Paper installation

South Corean Pavillion

Can you spot the soldier? I liked this idea. The colorful military textile. I imagined this unreal war in a bloomed field. If you think about it, the military uniform is created for the environment that will be around: forest, desert... I like the idea of thinking about the clothes as something that you would only wear in one environment. What would It be the Milan-survivor pattern?

I forgot to take the name of the artist. I loved this wax classical statue. It was actually a huge lighted candle slowly melting! (with a wax melting visitor in front of it too!)

Reynier Leyva Novo (Cuba), with the alchimist Yanelda Mendosa and historian José Abreu Cardet.

Talking about parfumes! The artist wants to evoke 3 battles (one in the picture) throughout parfumes. Together with the historian and the alchemist collected rain water, flowers and all the essences they could find in those lands where they had the war and created these parfumes. (we could actually smell them). The last time we talked on skype we were talking about storytelling with parfumes... they were really rich, I couldn't really smell the ''war'' (imagining of shooting powder, burnt stuff, blood, tears and fear), but it evoked those places... brilliant. 

Latin American Pavillion

Italian Pavillion

The italian pavillion was a total mess, hundreds of pieces. There were some I really loved, but I didn't take a lot of pictures. I found incredible how these painting are done. Paintings! And the images are really erotic without showing private parts or sexual acts. 

Chinese Pavillion

I have no words for this one... just beautiful, curious, peaceful, incredible...

Venice

Morning light is magical

Lights all along the Great Channel. Magical.

Esther Perbandt

I thought you would find this designer really interesting.  Check out her home and studio.  I love the table.  I see places like this and I want to start all over again, throw it all away and live in a simpler way. I love the pieces and the statements against the white.  check her out!

I love the placement of these letters.  Typography is so wonderful I wish I had walls surrounding me in type.  

THIS IS GREAT! Acme collection

The Pop Cooperative

Ta Da! Here is a project that Jessica, Katie and myself have been working on for the last couple months! It all began a couple months ago when we went for beers at 6 acres and came up with the idea of doing a cooperative space that questions what it means to be a retail space.  This space has developed into a cafe, retail and venue space, a grounding space for like minded individuals to gather, share ideas and enjoy discussion over popsicles.  Together the furniture and lighting was built from found woods, supplies (crab trap, tripods) and made into something new! Our shop revolves around a quote that we really felt defined what we were going for: Its hard to be mad when there is so much beauty in the world.  Here are a couple pictures I thought you'd enjoy and I would love your feed back on what you think of our space.  Its a temporary 'pop-up shop' which means we get it for a month only and then it vanishes.  So its a great  way to test out our concept and see the reaction from people.  Wish you were in Vancouver to come visit! 

Ariana ROck

So I am madly in love with my friend Ariana's photography!  I think she is brilliant and captures something that often goes unnoticed.  Her images surpass the ordinary and make the viewer question what is means to be apart of the world.  Its all about finding the beauty in the everyday! 

I am in this kind of mood at the moment! I feel so great about this month and what is happening in my life.  The summer is officially here despite yesterdays rain storm.  My two friends and I have opened up a shop called The Pop Cooperative in the Main Street/Mount Pleasant area.  Its a really inspiring project to be apart of.  I have some images I will share with you in the next couple posts.   Summer is the time to enjoy time with friends, eat outside, absorb the vitamin D and stay at the beach for as long as possible.  Life is 10% experience 90% reaction, its what we make of it.  I love having you as my friend and I love that we share our inspirations and shorties although we live so far apart!  Happy Summer!

I just had to share this photo with you! How amazing is this and those earrings, WOW!