In 1983, looking for the locations that would bring the desolate landscape of the American West to life in his iconic film 'Paris, Texas', German master filmmaker Wim Wenders took his Makina Planbel camera on the road. Driving through Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California, Wenders was captivated by the unique, saturated, colorful light of the wild landscape of the American West - even now, a land associated with cowboys and outlaws, and suffused with the mythology of the frontier. The series he produced, 'Written in the West', was first exhibited in 1986 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and first published in 2000. At the end of July, Wenders will add 15 new images of the sleepy town that gave the movie its name - though no footage was ever actually shot there. Made with a Fuji 6 x 4.5 camera, the new photographs are poetic documents of an abiding fascination and a search for personal memories. Together, they add an new chapter to Wenders' classic 'Written in the West', now Revisited. [ Continue reading ]
The incredible 'Ways of Knowing' by photographer Daniel Stier is the product of a curious outsider's view into the world of science, which has resulted in a series, shot over several years, revealing a strangely fascinating yet highly aesthetic world. The self-initiated project by Stier shows research laboratories across Europe and the United States as well as still lifes of scientific tools taken in photographer's studio. The combination draws parallels between the work of artists and scientists. Both often-times searching to find answers to what move us by examining life - with their own specific tools. The blank expressions of the doctors and students demonstrating the machinery are haunting, almost surrealistic, as they sit seemingly indifferent inside or surrounded by intricate wires and metal constructions. Stier's sharp photographic eye - which reminds us of the work of another lover of heavy machinery; Alastair Philip Wiper - catches the details surrounding these enormous machines perfectly, creating frames which tell rich stories starting in the past and taking the spectator all the way into the future. [ Continue reading ]
The inspirational printed project named Bare is a journal for which founder and Creative Director; Claudia Bruno, as well as Co-Editors-in Chief; Emily Lundin and Courtney Saunders find inspiration in the unadorned moment of truth. The magazine forms their ode to the raw beauty of realism, with all of their collaborators working with no creative brief, except for one quite unusual restriction in the digital age; no use of retouching is allowed. Bare - which was founded in 2014 - gives Bruno and her team the perfect context to work with artists, writers and photographers they admire, creating beautiful stories. Next to the fact that Bruno, Lundin and Saunders all are being located in different places on the globe, the workplaces of the complete team of Bare range from Amsterdam, London, Barcelona, New York City, Berlin, Montana to Los Angeles. Making the magazine a wonderful example of remote working, without it getting in the way of the diverse elegant quality it offers throughout its pages. [ Continue reading ]
In 'The New Bohemians', the Los Angeles-based designer Justina Blakeney defines the New Bohemians as creative individuals who are boutique owners and bloggers, entrepreneurs and ex-pats, artists and urban farmers. They embrace free-spirited, no-rules lifestyles and apply that attitude to all areas of their existence, including their homes. With little distinction between work and play, the new boho home often includes an office, art gallery, showroom, photography studio, restaurant, or even a pop-up shop. 'The New Bohemians' explores 20 homes located primarily on the East and West coasts. Exclusive interviews with the owners, 12 DIY projects created by Blakeney and inspired by objects found in the homes, and a "Plant-O-Pedia" offer insight into achieving this aesthetic. In addition, each home is accompanied by an Adopt-an-Idea section that offers general decor, styling, and shopping tips for easy duplication in your own home. [ Continue reading ]
Graphics is not restricted to 2D surface anymore in today’s print. While traditional manual techniques like screen printing and letterpress still captivate designers with its handmade characteristics and color choices, new technology encourages them to deliver more visual impact by being inventive with conventional materials. The result is a spectrum of interactive prints and playful life like depictions, which tickle viewers’ fancy. In an attempt to examine the cutting edge of printmaking, 'Print Matters' by inspirational Hong Kong-based publisher viction:ary brings together an amalgam of print designs that have gone beyond pure digital printing. Through more than 110 samples of recent graphic identities, packaging, communications and book designs, this book offers a professional look into the use of varnish, foil-stamping, die-cut, thermal prints, technical folds, and many more, with design specifications. We love this inspirational overview of cutting edge work. [ Continue reading ]
We recently became familiar with the inspirational print project of editors-in-chief Antonio Maccaro and Pedro Canicoba, named Many of Them. The beautiful magazine has been released thrice now - in different forms - but always in a limited edition publication of 1000 copies. The aim of Many of Them is to offer a space for discussion in which creators can share their perspective about their own field, their languages and the problems they face in their everyday practices. It originally started as a diary in 2008 and it keeps evolving into different formats. All the images and texts are produces in-house, always intending to learn from the external collaborations for the new issues. In the Summer of last year the inspirational Volume III, named after Talking Heads' classic 'This Must Be The Place' was launched featuring photography driven stories on creative leaders like the Cosmic Wonder restaurant, Junya Watanabe, Dries Van Noten, Paul Harnden, Khaven de la Cruz, Christophe Lemaire and Issey Miyake, amongst others. [ Continue reading ]
News from Berlin, as our friends of The Travel Almanac will release number nine of their inspirational magazine next week. Aesthetically the magazine shows a significant break from the earlier issues, with cover subject Charlotte Gainsbourg fragmented into 9 polaroids instead of the usual intriguing portrait, making the new cover a bold move, which we really like. The new edition - underlining why The Travel Almanac continues one of our favorite magazines - has as one of the key themes the fascination and complexity of self-awareness and self-portraiture, first taken on with the inspirational photographer Collier Schorr and secondly discussed with the main representative of the issue; actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, who takes the reader on a walk through her childhood neighborhood in Paris and her newly adopted home New York City. With the other fascinating stories in the magazine taking one all over the globe, from Eastern-Europe, the Mediterranean to the United States, The Travel Almanac 09 proves to be another inspirational read, making us want to continue exploring. [ Continue reading ]
Last November we wrote about the beautiful Art Print Project, which was presented to celebrate the first CITIx60 travel guides by inspirational Hong Kong-based publisher viction:ary and mentioned more guides coming up. Some months later the first new additions are here, with Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Amsterdam being added to the growing catalogue of guides. We were honored to be one of the people to share a favorite for the Amsterdam guide, next to the fact that Tenue de Nîmes has also been mentioned by 100% Halal filmproducer Gijs Determeijer. The aim viction:ary has with their CITIx60 guides is to present a list of handpicked hotspots that illustrate the spirit of the world’s most interesting design hubs. Built on a unique collaboration with local talents all known for their accomplishments from film making, food, advertising to design, the pocket-sized guides are packed with artistic twists and practical info essential for a satisfying trip - presented in playfully designed and illustrated guides. [ Continue reading ]
With a short but wonderful stay in beautiful Portugal coming to an end, we present the latest by one of our favorites from the country: Lisbon-based publisher Pierre von Kleist editions. The relatively small publishing house continues to release incredible additions to their highly focussed catalogue, making the company an inspirational example for the practice of publishing in the contemporary climate - releasing only publications of the highest quality, in limited runs. Their latest release is named ‚Rua Stan Getz’ and features the work of Portugese photographer André Cepeda, who released 'Rien' with the same publisher three years prior to this one. In the year 'Rien' was released, Cepeda spent three intense months in São Paulo, exploring and photographing the city, while reevaluating the very nature of his practice - resulting in this incredible warm series created from an open and sensitive perspective, showing the great talent of the photographer. [ Continue reading ]
Today Acne Studios has launched another incredible project. After 'Snowdown Blue' in 2012 they now present 'Peter Schlesinger Sculpture', a monograph about the work of renowned artist Peter Schlesinger, accompanied by a capsule collection of silk pyjamas that has evolved directly from the work. Through his numerous collaborations with Acne Paper, a friendship has grown between Schlesinger and Acne Studios Creative Director Jonny Johansson and together they developed the idea of doing a book, with photographs by Eric Boman, Schlesinger’s partner of 40 years. The limited edition book contains a pictorial history of more than 150 of Schlesinger’s work, dating from the late 1980s to present day. It is lavishly produced in Sweden on Japanese paper and bound in rustic cloth. Alongside the book, an exclusive collection of pyjamas, a favorite garment of Schlesinger’s, has been designed by Jonny Johansson based on prints drawn by the artist. The collection is produced in the finest silk printed in colours inspired by his ceramic glazes. [ Continue reading ]
P Magazine is a Monterrey, Mexico-based, highly aesthetic annual object-book, with each issue published as a limited collector’s edition. The project was first announced in 2012, after which the debut was printed in the Summer of 2013. The impressive project - forming another great addition to the growing field of elegant printed erotisicm - was founded and created by the so-called supermodernist design studio Face, with its founder/head designer Rik Brancho also functioning as the Editor-in-Chief of P Magazine. Next to Brancho stand the other co-founders; photographers Mariana García, who's also Rik's wife and Cecy Young. Additional editorial design for the proejct was done by Cristina Vila Nadal. Following the successful sold out first edition - limited to 300 copies - the beautiful second edition was released in 500 copies at the beginning of this year - make sure to get one until it's too late. [ Continue reading ]
'Study of Pose' is a super impressive and groundbreaking, in-depth exploration of the movement and flexibility of the human body, featuring 1000 stunning black-and-white photographs that showcase the unique collaboration between international supermodel Coco Rocha, The Queen of Pose, and world-renowned photographer Steven Sebring. Supermodel Coco Rocha’s uncanny ability to strike distinctive, camera-ready poses at an astounding speed has earned her international fame throughout the fashion industry - and made her the muse of celebrated photographer Steven Sebring - who launched a self-developed technology of 360 photography in 2013. The concept behind 'Study of Pose' was conceived by Sebring in the nineties, but the lack of a supermodel versatile enough to be his partner kept him from bringing it to fruition, which changed when Sebring met Rocha. In 'Study of Pose', the two specialists in their own field have documented unique poses - theatrical, vibrant, elegant, dramatic, and unlike anything the fashion or art worlds have seen before. [ Continue reading ]
And another interesting new name in the world of watches - also launched at Baselworld two weeks ago: the elegant new watch journal named The Hour. Exploring the culture of watches in the broadest sense of the word, The Hour not only focusses on the creation process of the finer timepieces produced but also sheds light on the people behind these intricate processes - under the creative direction of editor-in-chief Josh Sims, author of 'Vintage Menswear', which we wrote about in 2013. The first issue features an interview with Stephen Urquhart – president of Swiss luxury watch manufacturer, Omega – in addition to conversations with individuals beyond the watch industry, including chef Wolfgang Puck, Brioni‘s Umberto Angeloni, artist Gemma Champ and designer Andrew Pemberton. Providing both candid insight into the production of watches and reflections on the watch industry’s cultural influences on other creative fields, from fashion, photography to the culinary arts. Keep an eye on this beautiful new magazine. [ Continue reading ]
The ever-inspirational A Magazine curated by has just launched it’s 14th edition for Spring/Summer 2015 with the Roman jewellery designer Delfina Delettrez as the curator. It forms the first A Magazine curated by an Italian woman and the very first issue to explore the decorative realm of a jewellery designer, after the magazine’s longstanding relationship with prét-à-porter designers was first diverted in 2013 by the curation of British milliner Stephen Jones. Delettrez has chosen the abstract theme of ‘gold’, tipping an international array of artists, designers, photographers, stylists, architects, philosophers and other creative minds to interpret a myriad of aesthetic, alchemical and metaphysical representations of this precious metal and its intrinsic energy. [ Continue reading ]
In the Summer of last year Phaidon released this highly inspirational handbook of contemporary architecture in photography named 'Shooting Spaces', still an important source for inspiration for us. The elegant book is a visual survey of contemporary artists’ photography of architecture, featuring the work of brother Iwan Baan, next to names like Christoph Morlinghaus, Andreas Gursky, Wolfgang Tillmans, Catherine Opie, Thomas Ruff, Hiroshi Sugimoto, amongst others. Since the invention of photography, architecture has proved a worthy subject for photographers. Shooting Space: Architecture in Contemporary Photography showcases the relationship between the two practices. The book presents a broad spectrum of work from a diverse roster of renowned and emerging artists: Annie Leibovitz captures the construction of Renzo Piano’s New York Times building; James Welling revisits Philip Johnson’s iconic Glass House; Walter Niedermayr shifts perspectives on SANAA’s sculptural designs. [ Continue reading ]
Two days ago the first collaborative effort between Christian M. Andersen's Creative Future and the iconic Parisian concept store colette was launched for pre-order. Compiled as a close collaboration between de two parties involved, the elegant book which was created examines not only colette’s affiliation with art and design, but also the artistic processes, approaches and ideas of the many artists that have worked and exhibited with colette since 1997. The project took more than one-and-a-half years to develop and features a long list of notable artists including KAWS, André Saraiva, José Parlá, Kevin Lyons, Erik Parker, Curtis Kulig, Michael Dupouy, Pedro Winter and Julia Chiang. In addition, the cover artwork of the book is created by the Brooklyn-based artists, KAWS. [ Continue reading ]
Last year we were very impressed by the beautiful debut publication of independent publishing house Zioxla named 'Strange Plants', which will have a just as impressive follow up at the beginning of next month. The new book features the work of 30 artists, 5 more then than the first edition, and explores what these artists think about plants and how they portray them in their work. The very talented editor of the book, Zio Baritaux, brought together a new selection of artists, including names like Allison Schulnik, Misha Hollenbach, Francesca DiMattio, Zin Taylor, Katarina Janeckova, Stills & Strokes and Ren Hang. Schulnik, for example, used her own garden as a character in one of her short films; Stills & Strokes projected colors and geometric shapes onto the leaves of plants in botanical gardens; and DiMattio filled the sculptures in her exhibition with dramatic and unruly flowers. Each artist’s work is accompanied by an insightful article or interview that delves deeper into the relationships between plants and people, resulting in another inspirational book. [ Continue reading ]
Recently we became familiar with the inspirational new publication named The Collective Quarterly, a travel and design magazine resolving around the concept of discovery. Each issue will spotlight a single geographic location, focusing on the artisans, music, food, and natural wonders that make it special. The debut issue kicked in the door focussing on the famous Texan town of Marfa, illustrating a discourse around it through tales of Texas-style justice, a couple who makes boots by hand, a lost Mexican pueblo and other fascinating subjects bound to the location. Their latest beautiful issue Absaroka, which was released at the beginning of this year, is named after a region of Montana that once considered becoming its own state, and features a bevy of local characters and makers, including a company that supplies bags to US special forces, Blackfeet Indians who make their living on the backs of bucking horses, and for instance a man who has spent the past few decades following the movements of grizzly bears, amongst more inspirational stories, which make the magazines a perfect elegant vehicle for armchair travel. Keep an eye out on this fascinating project. [ Continue reading ]
It must be a very good month for Ryan and Tina Essmaker, the married duo behind the inspirational project named The Great Discontent. Their platform was launched as a digital publication focussing on the darker side of creativity; the risks, the failures and the disappointments everyone who creates has to deal with, which they last year translated to a great tactile printed publication. Funded through Kickstarter, and in a collaboration with designer Frank Chimero, who assisted with editorial design and art direction, the first issue of the printed quarterly magazine saw light in the Summer of 2014 and was received very positive. At the beginning of this month the beautiful second issue was officially launched and some weeks later it was announced that the TGD debut was totally sold out, underlining that the step taken by Ryan and Tina to fully focus on their platform was a great decision. The second printed issue, with singer Sharon van Etten on the cover, revolves around the theme of hustle and implores the reader to reconsider the idea of making it —both how we do it and how we define it— which proves to be another perfect angle for the honest and revealing stories by The Great Discontent. [ Continue reading ]
Yesterday marked a highly significant milestone in the 9 year history of our close friends online magazine Fontanel, after the release party on Friday evening at Mendo they officially released their very first printed publication: the definitive showcase of the best design talents who graduated in the Netherlands named 'Dutch Design Talents 14'. The 208-page hardcover book features 19 talents, agency visits, sharp columns and an inspirational dialogue with leading creatives on "the gap" between education and work. This first introduction to an international audience was elegantly designed by Rob van den Nieuwenhuizen (drawswords) and mainly resolves around the 19 talents graduated from renowned Dutch art schools like Eindhoven’s Design Academy, Amsterdam’s Rietveld and The Hague’s Royal Academy of the Arts, after which subsequently a narrative on the overal climate of the current dutch creative culture was formed. Each of the talents is remarkably distinct, one of them is for instance Bob Schiller, who created the EPO Bicycle which we wrote about last year. But despite all the differences in what they created and why, they all share something special in the eyes of Fontanel Chief-editor Willem van Roosmalen: "the combination of a promising attitude and unspoilt creative thinking." [ Continue reading ]
The new independent magazine named At Large was conceived in early August of last year with the clear goal to be not just another lifestyle magazine. The ambitious premier issue is dedicated to the talented artists, writers, photographers, and designers who came to Editor-in-Chief Randall Mesdon and his team, as friends and collaborators, which resulted in photography-driven stories honestly portraying the subjects as they actually are. The debut issue of At Large has no less than four covers —including rising stars Jack O’Connell from Unbroken and Luke Grimes from American Sniper— both shot by Randall himself. Bruce Weber contributes a beautiful original portfolio to the first issue, to go along with photo-collages by Jack Pierson and limited-edition bandanas by Young. A third cover, our favorite, features pro surfer Ben Skinner, photographed here by Ben Weller with styling by Julie Ragolia, with an accompanying candid seaside story within. The fourth cover, with artist/model David Alexander Flinn is shot by Mark Abrahams, styled by Deborah Watson. The long-haired Travis Smith takes center stage in another fashion feature, photographed by Matthew Brookes and dressed by Bill Mullen in the season’s sharpest, cleanest sportswear pieces: completing a very elegant first introduction. [ Continue reading ]
We have written about the beautiful CITIx60 Art Print Project by Hong Kong-based publisher viction:nary when it was released last November, and they now present another great project in the form of an inspirational book totally resolving around the Chinese character. Considered one of the most intricate writing systems in use, it holds a presence of typographic beauty comprehensible beyond language barriers. Thanks to the growing popularity of Asian cultures, graphic innovations of these centuries-old characters have begun to shine through in the world of modern design, demonstrating excellent skills at crafting ideas and visualizing abstract concepts within complicated forms. The publication by viction:ary gathers works from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and beyond, creating an incredible curation of the most interesting contemporary examples. Stylistically categorized chapters of logo designs and applications offer a close cultural insight into the art of strokes and structure of characters. It then expands the focus to identities, posters, packaging, advertisements and set design. [ Continue reading ]
We recently wrote about the inspirational online project of quarterly men’s style magazine Jocks&Nerds together with Detroit-based brand Shinola. Now it is time to shine some light on the core activities of Jocks&Nerds, which recently released its 13th printed issue, for Winter 2014/2015, being another high quality addition to their overal output. The London-based magazine released the very first issue in Autumn 2011, since which it has been producing insightful, photography driven stories, both online and in the printed quarterly on style, history and culture. With as a result topics ranging from pop culture and fashion to literature, art and film, created by Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director Marcus Agerman Ross and his team. The current issue that hit the stands worldwide and online in December features a list of great stories, starting with cover star Wong Kar Wai, who released his film 'The Grandmaster' on Kung Fu myth Ip Man in the USA at the end of last year. Other stories to be found in the 13th release feature musician Brian Wilson, photographer Gordon Parks, a beautiful editorial shot by Ned Wolfgang Kelly, director Martin Scorsese, a story on the history of (professional) basketball in New York City and finally a tremendous story on soul singer Sam Cooke. [ Continue reading ]
And we are back in the new year, in which we will start a lot of new exciting projects and share more beautiful stories both under the Another Something & Co. flag as within Our Current Obsessions: stay with us to be a part of another amazing year. Today we go back to 2014 one last time, and shine light on the incredible book 'Down the long driveway, you'll see it,' which was released at the end of last year by writer Matthew Arnold and photographer Mary Gaudin. In the book a tremendous collection of photographs is gracefully presented, showcasing some of the most beautiful modernist homes in New Zealand, ranging from being built in 1950 until 1974. The somewhat ambiguous title of the book derives from a phrase in an email from one of the owners of the houses, Bruce Martin, giving directions to his home at the rural Māori settlement and surrounding area in Hawke's Bay, named Bridge Pā. When Matthew and Mary arrived at the lovely house, they found a lifetime’s of pottery in it, made by both Bruce and his wife Estelle, together with gifts from potter friends. As this exquisite mix of craftsmanship and design turned out to be reminiscent for all the one-of-a-kind homes shown in the book, the quote became a symbol for this extraordinary project. [ Continue reading ]