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