DO IT! is 3 (and closing night) video

DO IT! is 3 - and out! The closing night at Snafu went down heavy and was great to see so many regular faces make it down to bid adeu. Tuff Wax duo Cruicky and Yoin set the tone at the pre-party before the residents (Uraki Riddim, Kid Bell and White Chocolate) warmed up nicely for the first ever Auntie Flo live show in Aberdeen. The foundations were set for Ikonika to tear down the club and bring three years of groundbreaking audio visual events in Aberdeen and Oslo to a close. A fitting way to end with such a high profile guest in place of the AWOL dEbruit. Big news coming soon about what next for DO IT!, check a video by Campbell Montgomery above and his pics from the night on RA here.

Video footage and editing by Campbell Montgomery

DESIGN: Leslie David

A lot can be made of a name, sometimes. After first catching a glimpse of her creative talent on the Its Nice That site, Leslie David had me conjuring up the image of a witty veteran New York illustrator with years of wisdom and life behind them (possibly more to do with the proximity in name to a certain comedian) - how wrong could I be. As dashing in physical presence in front of the camera as much of her oeuvre of work, David is graphic designer and illustrator originally from the South of France and now based in Paris collaborating with clients such as Surface to Air, Nike and Colette - when not exhibiting her own personal projects. Her patchwork of elegant styles, often intertwining a strong sense of colour and hand illustrated elements catches the eye immediately. There is a great depth in the variation of output as well - digital and  analogue realities are mixed with cheeky psychedelic, amazonian or even Futurist overtures. Watch out for her work in the years to come.

Photo of Leslie David © Carol Burri / All other images © Leslie David 2011

ART: Todd McLellan

Canadian photographer Todd McLellan`s latest series of images have been resonanting in my head for the months that have passed since he first unveiled them to the public. 'Dissasembly' is a collections of photographs capturing old relics from our past in fully dismantled form. Each piece is careful placed in such a way that the intricacies and craft of these mechanical objects is exentuated and emphasised - leaving a strong nostalgic analogue stamp on each product. The series includes images of objects such as a rotary phone, lawn mower and a typewriter.

Images © todd mclellan

Mondayjazz ‘It Came From Uruk’ mix by Uraki Riddim

New mix and artwork I just completed for the Mondayjazz website. I remember listening to their early podcasts and looking in awe at the bookings they made for their events in Vilnius so a nice way to round up the DO IT! concept getting a mix on their site. Included in the mix are tracks from some of our favorites past DO IT! guests such as Mweslee, Onra and Dorian Concept. Click on the link here to listen to or download the mix. Tracklist is available on this link here.

'It Came From Uruk' artwork by Alexander Horne/Uraki Riddim, 2011

Road Trip to Innovation

Road Trip to Innovation is adventurous trend guru Delia Dumitrescu's first proper book publication and looks set to be a 'must have' for budding creatives and those curious of trends and innovations. Published by the trend agency TrendONE, Road Trip to Innovation explores the writers initial understanding of future thinking, innovation and trends. There are interviews with experts, theory and methodology behind the fields and the origins of this burgeoning sector of creative work. The book is officially released on Amazon from November 10, place a pre-order via the link here.

Image of Road Trip to Innovation from Trend One, 2011

THINK magazine: issue 11 'Remix'

Think no.11 is now online and available to read at thinkmag.net. The latest issue follows a 'Remix' theme, examining recycling and re-use culture through articles focusing on design, architecture and fashion. For my contribution as design editor I decided to write about the inspiring 'trash-to-treasure' artwork of Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and the evolving works of designer Ron Arad. The latter designed one of the most iconic 'remixed' objects in recent history, the Rover chair, however his latest works have varied from architectural sculptures to temporary spaces - contrasting sharply to the stylized thrift designs from his early career.

Image from Vik Muniz 'Wastelands', 2011

NIKE 1948 CONCEPT STORE

Nike 1948, a pop up concept store from the sneaker brand giant, is back in London. In 2008 the pop up store, which plays on the year London last hosted the Olympics, was first unveiled in an abandoned railway arch in East London. Keeping it East, the site is in Shoreditch, but revamping the space radically for the run up to the Olympics - Nike 1948 promises to be a creative hub for locals and visitors through a series of installations, screenings and events. The opening event a few months ago served up a champagne delivery of music,  Radio 1 DJ Benji B and Warp records Glaswegian DJ/producer Hudson Mohawke amongst the acts playing at the event. The launch also coincided with the release of their own Ipad app, which includes bite size chunks of content such as interviews and fresh artwork. Great to see a global brand putting more into local communities and using creativity from exterior down to the core of the concept.

Images from Nike 1948 concept store, 2011

DESIGN: EXPOLOGY AT ECSITE 2011

Since early 2011 I have exhumed most of my daylight hours working with an Oslo based agency focusing on exhibition and interaction design. Since 1993 Expology has been working in related fields until finding focus with the design of exhibition spaces, interaction and communication solutions. One of my first jobs with the studio was to create the identity for an Expology showcase at the Ecsite Annual Conference 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. Instead of the usual corporate filled pamphlet we decided to create notebooks printed in FSC certified Munken paper which encouraged the user to think and invent their own page filling solutions. Inside the 'Ideas book' are intentional spelling mistakes for recipients to stay alert and look out for, the mistakes are a play on the Charles Rennie Mackintosh quote 'There is hope in honest error, none in the icy perfection of the mere stylist'.

Expology identity designs for Ecsite 2011

CITY: CALGARY

Calgary seems to get a raw deal when it comes to judgements on the cultural merits of the Canadian city. After hearing that it was an 'oil' or 'cowboy' city I was surprised by the amount of cafes, boutiques, arts and music events on offer during my first visit. My second visit earlier this year was even more rewarding as I was invited to DJ at the Northern Lights party at HiFi club and spend some time checking out more of Calgary with one of the organizers, MrGeography. The experience gave me a closer introduction to the supportive and cross collaborative nature of the creative community in the city, something other aspiring cultural hubs could look to for inspiration. Look out for an interview with Mr Geography's RinseOut crew on the DO IT! blog soon, meantime keep up to date with mixes, events and tips from the guys via their site here.
Calgary snaps by Alexander Horne and Julie Arrive.

ART: WLD/WLVS Presents Stu + Stu = Stwo

Art in Aberdeen has been a contentious subject of recent what with the furore surrounding the Union Terrace Gardens project and the will they/won't they scenario regarding the possibility of a new arts center being included in the project. Thankfully under the bureaucratic mist of this saga Aberdeen's young artists and creative do-ers have been busying themselves with projects that most certainly deserve at least an appreciative wink from afar. None more so than the team behind WLD/WLVS who have added an attractive and regularly updated online presence to communicate, motivate and inspire the creative activities of those residing in or from the area. Stu and Stu are part of the team behind this initiative and even manage to find the time to create illustrative drawings and paintings that perfectly mix the raw granite cityscape of Aberdeen with the green natural beauty that surrounds it, each in their own respective style. Don't be a welly and miss their anticipated joint exhibition at Kilau if you are in Aberdeen from the last weeks of August through to October, with free alcohol on hand from Brew Dog on the opening night also it would be naive not to be there if in the AB10 area.
Event Poster for Stu + Stu = Stwo at Kilau, Aberdeen from 14/8/11 until 8/10/11

OSLOVE

THINK magazine: issue 10

The latest THINK magazine came out this week making it a milestone of 10 issues. My contribution for issue 10 was an article following the theme of 'Style' and focusing on an impressive clifftop property designed by the Forma design group and located on the fringes of Los Angeles, California. Stunning views, impressive spatial design and all following a strict sustainable strategy - the Vicino House is something to behold. Read more about the building and other articles from issue 10 via the link here

Image from Vicino House, Los Angeles, USA

PRESS: DPI MAGAZINE

A few months ago Taiwanese graphic design and illustration magazine DPI featured my work and an interview as part of the 'Keen Creative Generation' issue. They were particularly interested in my collaborative work using graphics and music in events such as the DO IT! night I have been running with friends since 2008. Was an honor to get so many pages and be asked about my projects. Thanks DPI, be sure to pick up the mag online or a physical copy if you are visiting or live in Taiwan.

Images from DPI magazine issue 141

CITY: BERLIN

Finally made it to Berlin after five years of trying, cannot wait to go again. Locals may sway in favor of pre-gentrification past times but, the city still has a unique spirit compared to most other urban destinations. Panorama Bar was of course a deeply satisfying experience, took me back to visiting Rex for the first time in my teen years. Best bar was Paloma though, for the post-apocalyptic Blade Runner meets Warriors building and train station view out the futuristic angled windows.
Berlin phone snaps by Alexander Horne

DESIGN: UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA

Following on from my graphic work for the Universitat de Barcelona last year, I have been working on some more logo designs and taking these further by integrating them into web banner layouts.  The new logo, and team banner, was for the TEAM bureau. TEAM represents Trade Unions, Economic Change and Active Inclusion of Migrant Workers so a humanistic essence was at the core of the design. The final design incorporates a group of different sized people shapes huddled around each other with a wave like arrow flowing to the opposite end where the same icons exist in the reverse colour. You can see a glimpse of the final design below or in greater detail on the Universitat De Barcelona website.

My first project with Universitat De Barcelona was a logo design for ESRU, European Social Research Unit, so it was interesting to go back to that design and have the opportunity to develop the surrounding context via a web banner design. The design remains true to the abstract cubist forms of the original logo but, adds dynamism and depth to the banner.
TEAM logo and TEAM and ESRU web banner designs by Alexander Horne

MUSIC: RA REVIEWS

With just a few weeks until Sonar Barcelona time, June 16-18, and to coincide with the announcement of RA's  anticipated off Sonar events and special tenth anniversary celebrations - what better time to have a brief look over some of the releases I recently reviewed for the RA website.

It would be no understatement to say that Brian D'Souza aka Auntie Flo is somewhat of a pioneer in Scotland's highly reputed and tightly packed electronic music scene. From being one of the first promoters to bring Riccardo Villalobos to UK shores, embracing AV and live multi-DJ performance via his Edinburgh night Pogo Vogue and most recently holding down residencies at two of Glasgow's most acclaimed nights serving new world music (Afro Futures) and dark underground italo and Detroit respectively (Slabs of The Tabernacle). When not playing alongside the likes of Shackleton, T Williams and Mike Paradinas -  It was just a matter of time until a label worthy of his quality took the next logical step in putting out his own productions.  Check out the review of his full debut EP for Huntley and Palmers here. Auntie Flo plays live at DO IT! Abz on the 13th May!

From one new independent label to one that has managed to reach out to heads into dubstep, house and hip hop through some heavy bubbling underground releases. Run from the Dublin based record store, All City is the creative endeavour of Olan O'Brien - a true digger and finder for new and old musical gems. Somehow each release on the label manages to weigh up the sound of now with something that reminds us of the music we loved yesteryear - a vision no less apparent than in the first EP from the collab. series featuring jazzy beats magician Mike Slott and the dubbed out machine city techno of Martyn. A glittery space beats journey on one side and a straight down the road 4x4 club journey on the flip - just how they used to make them. Read about the EP in detail here.

Likewise released on All City, Krystal Klear is apparently a, one a few it seems, heir to Dam Funk's future boogie throne. He does his reputation some real good here with this solid release capped off in style with an old school piano house remix from HudMo. Check out more track info here.

MUSIC: CELLAR SESSIONS

Cellar Sessions is a new fortnightly pre-club concept at the original home of DO IT! events, Cellar Bar 35 in Aberdeen. Hidden away from the rowdiness of Union Street and tucked beneath a bustling corner of Rosemount, it is an ideal location to showcase local talent, visiting guests and most importantly - DJs who have a diverse interest in music old & new.

Growing up in Aberdeen, there always seemed to be a great selection of music on offer from resident DJs and visiting guest acts. From hip hop, funk, house and techno to drum'n'bass - all were covered. Sadly, almost coinciding with the demise of Triptych festival, this mix of output and destinations for  music dwindled. With the Cellar Sessions however, we aim to provide a frequent free entry platform for such a culture to grow again. We will also feature live visuals and art installations.

Above: Cellar Sessions poster designs for Feb/Mar and Apr/May by Alexander Horne 2011.

COMMUNICATING ARCHITECTURE

With centuries worth of critique and theory stored in anywhere from dusty library vaults to the  hard disk of the latest Ifad, it is a surprise to find a dearth of accessible discourse on the state of architecture today. With the exception of publications such as Architonic and the 'mook-esque' Mark from Frame Magazine, there is little else in the way of discussion and dispersion of knowledge for those not familiar with the field.  Architects can be a right haughty bunch, I remember a university talk from a well-known Spanish studio some years back - the opening gambit of 'Somos arquitectos (pause), pero tambien (pause again) somos humanos' brought about an outbreak of revolutionary standing hand claps from the audience of wannabe star-chitects - strange it was such a revelation to be told they are humans as well as architects. Thank goodness then for engaging studios such as JDS, and BIG, and for the 27. project which interviews studios such as the aforementioned on a quest to de-mystify and jargon break down the story of architecture in Europe today. At last, architecture that talks to non-architects. Watch excerpts via the 27 site or follow on Designboom.

MATERIALS: SURFACE DESIGN

The austerity of 2010 may resonate in the everyday working environment, but it is a different affair in the world of materials and surfaces. Leaving behind the need for layering up  with multiple weighty garments to fight the cold winter months and moving toward early Spring - bright pastels are already sprouting amidst a yearning for more solid and vivid colours. Along with this flourish of lightness comes softer and more rounded shapes, simplified natural forms masking inner high performance fibres. With less complex and more natural facades, the internal narrative of such materials introduces moisturising abilities, breathable and thermal regulating surfaces and light organic alternatives to heavy wools or synthetics.

Milkofil is a lightweight textile representative of a group of biomimicry inspired performance materials that are becoming more readily available and desirable for the everyday womenswear market. Made from milk fibres which moisturize the garment-wearers skin while they wear it, Milkofil is a lightweight alternative to cotton or wool and is suitable for machine knitting - making it ideal for use in clothing, underwear and bedding. Similarly soft in tactility, Spiderweave is a super-light and ultra-resistant fibre produced in collaboration with the University of California and Grado Zero Espace in Italy. The web material is sourced from golden silk spiders and then machine woven into fabric form to become a textile that feels like silk, is elastic as nylon and thirty times stronger than Kevlar.

Outlast Adaptive is another textile with ultra-resistant properties, although unlike Milkofil the high performance NASA designed material is not available at a high street price. Using nano technology, Outlast stores heat and releases it when the garment wearer requires it and vice versa when cooling down in a warm environment. As materials such as these weave themselves into surfaces and completed garments, designs such as Camille Cortet's 'Snake and Molting' snake skin inspired tights will become more visible and shorten the difference between nature inspired materials and structures to become finished natural products. 

Above: images from top to bottom ('Snake and Molting' photos by Vincent Van Gurp)

PRESS: THINK ISSUE 8 'RESORT'

Think magazine issue 8 went live together with a new website last week. While web designer Robin Egg Blue was busy on the layout the new site, I contributed to the latest issue with an article on the Ritz-Carlton Tamuda Bay resort in Morocco. What with a relative calm in the face of public unrest in their neighboring countries, the future looks bright for this exotic North African outpost - apparently tourism has doubled there in the last ten years. As contributing design editor for Think, I got the chance to pick up on this burgeoning tourism destination and have a look at the sustainable merits of the Tamuda Bay resort.  Read that article and the rest here. Also featured in Think issue 8, a new advert for my design studio.

Above: Alexander Horne 'One Size Fits' advert. 2011

LA MIXETTE#53: URAKI RIDDIM

Lamixette#53 Uraki Riddim by La Mixette on Mixcloud

Back in January, Musique Large honcho Fulgeance gave me the chance to put out a mixtape for his excellent La Mixette series. Fulgeance is a live performer, producer, label boss and early pioneer of the current 'beats' movement. Armed with an MPC and do it yourself ethic - he has a real modern day hip-hop spirit and is one of the people who inspires to keep putting in the hours organizing events, buying vinyl and generally supporting all other like-minded creative souls. Musique Large plays home to the funky, tropical and boombap sounds of Debruit, Rekick and Fulgeance himself. His own productions vary from boogie, hip-hop to funk. I reviewed his latest EP release on Musique Large a few months back for RA, you can read the review here. Heads up for those that didn't know, support this inspiring guy and his excellent label. Below are some Fulgeance vids and a Low Club guest who we will be seeing soon at DO IT!

ROJO affiliated film: Nova

On the rare occasion when I had more than 20 crumpled Euro notes nestling in my pockets while living in Barcelona, the lure of ROJO magazine was often too hard to sway from. From the reassuring Mook (magazine/book) weight of the publication to the inviting documentation of journeys, processes and finished works from artists synonymous to the streets of cities like Barcelona, Buenos Aires or Berlin. Alongside other Spanish publications such as Serie B, Neo 2 and Pasajes Diseno - ROJO played a formative part to my years in Barcelona, inspiring and introducing artists who did not define themselves as solely a product designer, a graphic designer or an architect. Some great news then that they are about to release a film introducing some of these artists. Check the Nova trailer above, directed by Isaac Niemand and featuring music by the excellent Bradien.

Above: Vimeo trailer of Nova. Film directed by Isaac Niemand 2010.

press: DPI feature my work

◆北歐映像：視覺與音場的加乘魅力｜Alexander Horne
目前棲身於挪威的 Alexander 間不容緩地推行影音表演計劃 DO IT!，他相信聲音加視覺的音場造景時代即將到來，聲音與設計的加乘魅力即將成為日常享受之一。......

....yup! Just before December break, Taiwanese design magazine DPI contacted me regards an interview and feature of my work in their 'Keen Creative Generation' issue. They picked up on my graphic work via the Norwegian illustration trio Cupofill and the above poster, which I designed for a DO IT! Oslo event featuring Mweslee and Telephones in June last year. The magazine came out a few weeks ago, and I am currently waiting to receive a physical copy by post. Get it on with Google translator if you want to read a preview on the DPI site here.
Above: images from DPI magazine 'Keen Creative Generation', January 2011