All hail the McQueen!

here's one aspect of design I have yet to touch on:

The late fashion designer Alexander McQueen will have his photo displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Photographed back in 1996 during the start of his career by David LaChapelle, the image displays the late designer dressed as a queen holding a torch while being followed behind by magazine editor Isabella Blow.

Now Im not a faithful follower of the fashion world, but I do know my way around a thing or two. But I can honestly say I wish I knew about him sooner. I first heard about McQueen after Lady Gaga (yes, I said it) strutted those those lobster claw-like shoes.

Observe the crustacean footwear here

From there, I did my research and I was caught interest instantly. What I like about what I've seen with him is that he was capable of creating out of the box, daring trends. But he did it in a way where it collectively told a story, kind of like organized chaos.

But anyway, here's the pic.

And some of his work if you're curious.(R.I.P. McQueen)
Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2010 Fashion Show: Plato's Atlantis

Source Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15307582

Singing Trashcans?

Okay so this is one of those odd articles that I tend to stumble across from time to time.

Liverpool is getting a new edition to their streets with trash cans that sing to you ever time you throw your garbage away. Created by a company from Derbyshire, England, the musical trash bin plays a remade version of a song by Mike McCartney (Paul McCartney's brother), entitled  "Thank You Very Much", which includes the line "thank you very much for binning your litter".


Honestly, I don't really see too much of a point of having a singing trash can. After all, it's not like the UK has any problem with littering in the first place. I think that the signs that offer those heavy fines for loitering have done a fabulous job of silently keeping the streets clean and free of "rubbish" as they say. Besides, could you imagine having to hear a trash bin constantly thank you for not littering every time you throw something away?


But if you want to look at things on the bright side, this could be an advancement that can later bridge the entertainment world with the environment. I can picture it now: Justin Beiber graciously thanking me for disposing of mt plastic fork. Yes, a little bit farfetched I know. But then again, if they've managed to come this far by coming up with this idea, who knows what's next? *shrugs shoulders*

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-15307042

He's got the whole map In this hands...

Link : Artist Michael Landy has created work All My Lines in the Palm of Your Hand for the front cover of the Pocket Tube Map. The work is the latest artist commission from the Art on the Underground programme.


So it's been about a week or so of living here in London and I think it's safe to say that I have finally adjusted overall to this place. Aside from learning that your "single bills" are heavy gold coins and a formal greeting consists of a handshake and two cheek kisses, while almost losing my life for the 37.6th time from looking the wrong way while crossing the street, it's not so bad.

But the most nerve racking of them all might actually have been trying to stay accustomed to the tubes, their underground subway station. The first few days of traveling through that thing threw me for a loop, because they were so many code names and tubes to through. For one, everything is done by colors. So in other words, no A, B, C, R, Q, 1, 2, 4, etc. Instead, I had to get used to hearing people either call the tubes by the red, pink, orange, black, etc. line (Or by their street names).

Now, let's bring this back to the design scene over here in UK. The reason I'm bringing this up is because I found this image designed by a well known artisit out here in England by the name of Michael Landy, who contributed to a program that celebrates contemporary art and design from all over the world, helping to compliment the underground tube environment entitled Art on the Underground.

His work also earned him a cover of the Pocket Tube Map that they distribute in the underground terminals. Pretty neat if I do say myself. I am a fan of work with double meanings that can say alot without saying much. And Landy's work does just that. See for yourselves! I don't want to give too much explanation on this one, I'd much rather you guys figure it out on your own. Enjoy!




But first, here's the actual map just in case you're curious. (Side note: I live on Holloway Road and my school is located on Marlylebone Street, if you can even see that closely.)

Source: http://www.designweek.co.uk/

A little help here

Can someone answer as to why I cant reply to the blogs of whom I follow? Is there something Im doing wrong?

Free Cheers to the Red White and Blue!

I would like to formally start my blog of the day by saying:

THE COUNTDOWN IS OVER!!!!

Yep, you read right. The time has come and I am finally in London!

Let me start this off by saying that the jet lagging disease is NO JOKE! Bare with me as I'm still trying to get used to being five hours ahead of everything.

So far I've met some rather interesting natives who been giving me a little insight here and there on how to get around. Did some touring around my new neighborhood as well along with some other students. Everything is so beautiful here, from the roads to the townspeople, even the houses. It's just exactly as I would've imagined it to be, if not better. And you can tell that London has really preserve their historic roots through the designs of their roads, stores, houses.


 Tomorrow is day 1 of our orientation where we actually travel to the actual university on Marylebone Street through the tube (that's the subway for all my New Yorkers). Hopefully I can meet some of the Design Instructors as well to get an idea of their programs. But until then, Cheerio!

 Pictures coming soon, maybe some video footage as well.

A little Medal goes a long way

 Breaking (but Random) News

Guess what I just found out? After posting up my blog about the designed medal for the Paralympics, I got a random follow from @UK_Olympics2012!  Maybe that State Farm song does work after all ¯\(°_0)/¯

Typer's Block

This article I found is about...Nah

In today's news...Nope, not that either

 ♫Like a Good Farmer, State Farm is There!♫...Why did I even bother?


So Im sitting here scratching my head, thinking of what to write for today. And my mind is...well...you guessed it...BLANK! *Sigh* Let's try this again tomorrow.

In other news: 6 more days til my departure.Yay!

Winning!!!

British designer and jeweler Lin Cheing was chosen out of 100 other contestants to design the medals for next year's London Paralympics Games. A sample of the medal was displayed at the British Museum (which I'll remind you was the same place where the six designers displayed their Pylon designs)

I have to be honest with you. When I first heard about it, I expected to see something a cliche, Greek inspired piece. But as I read through the inspiration behind it all, I was impressed.  The idea for the medal came from a structure at the British Museum of Greek goddess Nike, better recognized as the "Winged goddess of Victory". The medal shows us a close up section of her wing, which represents "spirit in motion" while capturing the great qualities of winner: Endurance, strength, and perseverance.


Check it out my fellow readers, and tell me what you think.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14970699

Overwhelmed...

So the days are drawing near and I feel like I am slowly but surely losing my sanity. More and more I'm noticing that my room is turning into an office filled with a thousand papers of things on my to do list to have done each day of the week. Call this office, fax this schedule, do this laundry, e-mail this professor, buy this suitcase, submit this assignment, make this payment...And the list goes on. Who knew preparation could be so darn stressful? Not to mention having to deal with family and friends, online classes, and communicating w/ advisors from three different advisors. Ah well! I guess these are the times where people wish that dairy godmothers were real. But until Science can make prove that they do exist, Ill just continue to remind myself that the late nights and hair pulling will soon end. I just gotta keep telling myself things will get better. That's right. Things will get better. But how soon?

Next-Generation Electricity Pylons Unveiled

 The Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) and the National Grid set up a competition to find designs for electricity pylons, six of which were set for display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Looking through all of the designs, I can see that a lot had to be taken into consideration before one can make just any design to replace the old, current pylons. When it came down to my favorites, it varied down to two different categories. The Best Design Award in my eyes would have to go to the "Flower Tower" because the overall structure appears to give off an organic appeal. The curvy part of the structure symbolizes "the bloom of a flower or a branch of a tree" which I think compliments the English landscape from where it will be placed. But if we're talking about purpose convenience, The Most Efficient Award would probably go to "T-Pylon"  because it seems most efficient. Designed with the intention of being "most compact as possible", the T-Pylon is two-thirds lower than the normal English pylons which means less interference with planes. Also, the conductors compacted together allows for more concentrated space.



What do you guys think? I encourage you all to check out the video with all the finalists and their explanations of their designs. Be sure to tell me what your favorites are as well.

Oh and just to throw in a side note: Did I mention that the winners would £10,000? For you my sterling illiterate readers, that's $15784 in US dollars. A nice chunk of change if I do say so myself.



Next-Generation Electricity Pylons Unveiled

A Crystalized Point of View

Over the many years, artists have been asked to produce different works for the famous St. Paul's Cathedral.
 And to commemorate the Cathedral's upcoming 300th anniversary, John Pawson, a famous British designer, has been called to design a very interesting piece.
His design includes a half cylinder steel table top that sits a crystal lens at the bottom and top of the southwest tower, which allows for an expanded visual of the projected spiral staircase surrounding the structure. It's amazing to me how something so small could have such a remarkable and underlying meaning behind it. I think this is one of those structures which allows for visitors to just observe the tower and all of its beauty through a different viewpoint. Just that alone would make someone like myself want to appreciate the contributions that so many have put towards the Cathedral for centuries. Who knows? Maybe I can get a glimpse of it first hand in these next few weeks!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14923912

Here we go

 Hello new world. I know many of you all may think that I have already arrived at the land of tea and biscuits (London, that is). However, I'm still in New York City, and wont be setting sail for the "new world" until the 28th of this month. In fact,

And now for the topic at hand: Design Scene in London. A pretty vague topic I'd say with so much to touch up on. From Graphic, to Product, to Interior, and of course Fashion.The topics for research and discussion are endless. So I guess I'll try to touch up on different aspects of design until I find my official "product" for further discussion. For one thing, I know that the university I'm attending is best known for the Graphic and Fashion programs, so I really think I'll get some beneficial information talking to the professors and program leaders there. And speaking of Fashion, had I known I was going to get this "beat" I probably would've left sooner to head off to head out to the UK for their Fashion Week. Crud! But anyway, I digress.


 Overall, I'd say it was definitely a good topic to touch on, because I can really get first hand idea of foreign interpretations of design away from my traditional American insight. My personal goal is to get a general sense of the inspiration behind designs. I'm sure past history, media, and overall trends are a big influence these days, but what other aspects impact various aspects of design?



By the end of the semester, I hope to have a clear concise idea of the British rendition of design and what has influence its multiple aspects, past and present. But in the mean time, until I leave my Amber Waves of Grain, I guess I'll be doing some browsing here and there on different articles that stand out to me. Until then, consider this an introductory for the most part. Let the countdown begin!