Culture Soak

I really dig these Pantone inspired products. Simple. Heres a link, check out all the cool gift ideas on MoMA’s online store.

Just in time for your holiday shopping, the Christmas at Keeneland Art Fair has something for even the hardest to buy for person on your shopping list. Held on the picturesque grounds of the Keeneland Race Course, this juried art fair will feature 80 of the region’s best artists and craftpersons and new this year, Kentucky Proud food producers. This year’s art fair will be held from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, November 29 and from Noon to 5 pm on Sunday, November 30 at the Keene Entertainment Center. Admission and parking are free. The Christmas at Keeneland Art Fair is brought to you by Lexington Parks & Recreation, Keeneland Race Course, News/Talk 590-WVLK, Insight Communications and WTVQ-36. Event site.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Photo by the talented Guy Reynolds.

Photographed hand-held through the viewfinder of a 1950’s Argus Seventy-five twin lens with a 35mm and an extension tube on a Canon EOS 1-D.

Who doesn’t like getting a calendar for the holidays? Especially if it is one of the above… or both if you’re like me and can’t decide. Ghin Liew’s colourwheel calendar (above with detail) was designed so the entire year can be viewed at once. It is available here for about $25. Another fine example is the MWM calendar poster set by MWM Graphics. This set of four 12″ x 18″ prints features a different color palette for each season and are printed on a heavy paper stock so you can enjoy the artwork long after the 2009 calendar year. They are available in a limited edition set of 100 for $85 here.

This is a hot item this year and I’m sure you have seen them popping up everywhere. But don’t mistake any metal water bottle for a SIGG. I’ve got one on my list this year, actually Jessica if you are reading this I want the black one on the left. To make it easy here’s the link haha. REI has a good selection online but some of our local outdoor stores have a ton as well. Check out J&H Outdoors and Phillip Galls here in Lexington.

I love getting my magazine subscriptions renewed this time of year. Its becoming a consistent gift to me from my family. Works out great I almost never miss an issue. So here’s a list of some of my favorites with a few designer standards thrown in. For the designer you can’t go wrong with Communication Arts, HOW, Print, Step, CMYK etc. Some of my favorites are JPG, Swindle, Juxtapoz, Arkitip, and Hi Fructose. I pull a lot of inspiration from these publications. So for the same effort it takes to pick up a gift card why not give a year or two worth of inspiration.

If you’re looking for some gift ideas we are going to start posting some of our favorite things we find. Hint hint to our friends and families. We have also added a category so you can go back anytime for ideas. First on the wish list Gela Skins. Check out the site I know you’ll find something. Some of my favorite artists are participating, here’s a short list: Jason Freeny, Brian Despain, and Gianluca Mattia etc. Gela Skins cover iPod, Phone, and laptops, awesome deals on fine art prints and more.

Pet Milk kicked off Saturday night in Lexington at ArtsPlace. It was shoulder to shoulder with people reading their books filled with poems and short stories as they viewed all the great artwork that was inspired by it. The night included music, cookies and what else Milk, fantastic art, and a very creative group of people. Pet Milk proves we need this more in Lexington. The interest and talent is here. Above is just a small peek at the crowd, the cool book and CD they handed out at the door plus check out the killer rabbit admission stamps. Just wish I would of picked up the very cool poster printer by Cricket Press. Congrats Kelli on a great event, we are looking forward to the next one. Read more about Pet Milk here.

I was watching UCLA and Michigan last night and couldn’t help but notice the optical illusion created by the State Farm logo on the court. It was cleverly designed with the television audience and camera angle in mind. The logo jumps out so much (especially in HD) that it is almost distracting… at least until we become desensitized by hundreds of other advertisers following suit. See the video here and notice how much more legible it is than the 2K Sports logo next to it.

I ran across these ads the other day and had to post them. Very clever and well executed.

Advertising Agency: UbachsWisbrun / JWT, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Art Director: John De Vries
Copywriter: Wouter Kiewiet de Jonge
Creative Directors: Nico Akkerman, Bart Kooij
Photographers: Alex ten Napel, Mitch Jenkins
Art buy: Lia Wals
Post production: Magic