By Jamie Latendresse, on April 11th, 2010
No longer king of the dipsh*ts, Anthony Michael Hall’s “The Geek” from Sixteen Candles has come full circle. Not only has this classic character reached pop culture icon status, he’s now sparking fashion trends. Jake Ryan’s look is so Abercrombie, so 2003. Go for geek.
Little did Ted know, as he slid in behind Samantha on the bus that fateful afternoon, that his inimitable style would find its way to the shelves and racks that Jack Knows Best. As of this spring, you can completely recreate the Farmer Ted look at J.Crew. Stop by J.Crew men’s and find…
…everything from the pink oxford shirt, to the Levis and Stan Smith Adidas, right down to the green windbreaker; his entire ensemble is present and accounted for. Don’t devastate your reputation as a dude, pick up your geek essentials and bag a babe.
P.S. Don’t forget to make fresh breath a priority in your life.
By Jamie Latendresse, on February 15th, 2010
After an extensive review and redux process, the commemorative Pr1mary Space exhibition posters are complete and up on my Flickr site.
Certainly one of my favorite parts of the design work I did for the gallery, it was really cool to revisit and refresh these designs. I’m hoping to make them available as 1-off prints for sale on Etsy and the gallery’s web site.
By Jamie Latendresse, on February 14th, 2010
After owning an art gallery for several years you end up with quite a collection. It’s the primary (no pun intended) perk of such work. When I lived in Detroit I had the resources to keep everything I collected, even if it wasn’t hanging. Now, living in New York, storage (and wallspace) are at a premium. How do you choose what stays and what goes?
In the last decade I’ve become increasingly less sentimental about possessions. Sometimes out of necessity, sometimes just to lighten the load I carry through life. Fortunately this tendency does not clash with my art collecting ideology. Works of art can be a lot like friends and acquaintances: they come in and out of your life. Things that moved me 5 or 10 years ago may not hold the same allure today. This shift does not diminish the value of those works naturally. Indeed they may be more valuable to others now, than they were at the time of their original purchase.
As my work focus shifted over the past 4 years following the close of Pr1mary Space, so too has my taste in artwork. I’m drawn to design-focussed work more and more and my interest in illustrative painting has waned. Don’t misunderstand me, I still have a great number of paintings and illustrations in my collection – some from the same artists whose work I am here selling – and most of those I will never sell.
Still, things do change and different responsibilities and priorities emerge. I’m honored to have had the privilege both to represent and to collect these artists’ work. I hope to enjoy that privilege again before too long.
By Jamie Latendresse, on December 18th, 2009
For the several last year Pantone has been expanding into consumer products with gifts like mugs and peppermills, home items like house paints, and even eyewear.
Now a partnership with shoemaker Sevees and J.Crew has yielded Pantone colored oxfords! But with such a spectrum to choose from why such boring colors?!
By Jamie Latendresse, on December 3rd, 2009
They’re the answer to my gift dilemmas every year. Normally people tell you, “Hey, don’t get any ideas.” Well not this time. Here’s some lists I’ve culled for the 2009 season that are just jam-packed with ideas.
MUJI. While Muji isn’t necessarily known to all, it should be! This no-nonsense Japanese purveyor of sublime yet nondescript sundries and accessories has been one of my favorites since first encountering it in Japan in the 90s. Check out the cities in a bag.
Bought in Detroit. Detroit, despite it’s constant press malignment, is hip. Don’t listen to what anybody else says. There’s some cool-ass stuff going on in Detroit and hey! You can buy it! PLEASE buy it. My friends and colleagues need the business!
Core77. Every year Core77 does an amazing gift guide of reasonably priced designy things. Well… almost every year. Despite a couple Detroit-based listings this year (like this and this), this year’s list let me down a little so I suggest hitting the previous year’s list. And the year before that. And the year before that. Sure some of the links might be down or unavailable but it will still give you IDEAS. You’re savvy. You can find em.
Cool Hunting. Made moreso by the fact you don’t have to hunt so much. Cool Hunting is a Cool Blog I like to Cool Read. Lots of Cool Things to give you Cool Ideas. (That’s enough.) What? (With the “cool”.) Oh.
Pitchfork. For you musos out there Pitchfork put together an eclectic list of ideas for the musically minded. Everything from Kraftwerk and Warp to the Grateful Dead and Throbbing Gristle.
By Jamie Latendresse, on November 27th, 2009
I’ve been wanting to do these kinds of holiday designs since I bought my first MoMA holiday cards 15 years ago. Odd that it took me until now to really get it going! I just don’t see the kinds of holiday cards I’m looking for these days, even at MoMA.
These kinds of modern and abstract representations really appeal to me, especially when applied to traditional imagery like the Christmas Tree and other holiday elements. It’s not something I see nearly as much as I’D like in the holiday card market. I admit that while I call them modern, they’re a little retro too. The ambiguity of that is appealing to me as someone who appreciates the “modern” design of the mid-twentieth century.
I’m just printing these myself for now and I’m going to see how they do. There’s several more at my Etsy store so please go check them out! You can pick up individual cards and sets too!
By Jamie Latendresse, on November 13th, 2009
Just as we start to chill out it’s heating back up with the return of MELTOR! Get yours for the holiday season today!
Illustration by Steve Sholtes. Graphic design by me.
By Jamie Latendresse, on November 8th, 2009
A friend and artist here in New York, Brian Hogan, has taken on an exciting art project. Since October and until December (10/08-12/08) Brian will be teaming up with KickStarter.com to raise funding for a large painting installation he is working on. The project is called “TODAY NEW YORK, TOMORROW THE WORLD” and it will be 20′ x 10′ x 2′ installation of around 350 painted panels built into one large painting environment.
Brian’s work is a striking combination of shape, color and dimension, and since encountering his unique art I’ve made frequent visits to his site to take them in. I’m constantly wishing I still co-owned an art gallery.
KickStarter is an exclusive invitation only website where artists can post projects and bring in funding through pledges. Anyone can pledge any amount, from $1 – $1000+, and in return the artist, in this case Brian, will provide some excellent gifts that pledgers will receive if he hits his funding goal. There are original artworks, silk-screened posters, photographs, a cool book and more, that Brian and his collaborators (Ryan Inzana, Jack Aguirre and Jesse Koechling) have put together especially for this project. If Brian does not hit his goal then you don’t have to pay, it’s that simple.
Brian has asked me to pass on the word and though the project is halfway through it’s funding cycle I encourage you to check out his work, and consider contributing. Every cent and dollar counts! Equally helpful is reposting his project to get as many eyes as possible in on it. I think this is a really exciting project and what KickStarter is doing is a great way for artists to realize larger projects than they’d be able to complete on their own.
Just head over here to pledge. Price of a cup of coffee… don’t let this opportunity pass you by… won’t you please help… don’t make me come over there… choose your motivation. Thanks for reading.
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By Jamie Latendresse, on September 14th, 2009
The Standard, New York. Illustration by Andrew Holder.
For me this illustration captures the excitement of the High Line-straddling Standard hotel in a unique way. A good color palette and the weathered & worn style never gets old to me.
[via: Design Sponge]
By Jamie Latendresse, on September 5th, 2009
Recently I was on the hunt for a military style watch. Oh sure I started with the IWC Pilot’s Watch Mark XVI, but who wants to be that ostentatious. So I set my sights to modest and noticed J.Crew’s custom Timex reproduction. Not bad, not bad.
But then something hit me. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a watch faced in Helvetica? Or Futura? Or some other beloved typeface. (Not Verdana. Ok, sorry I couldn’t help it.) An intensive internet search was begun and I found…
…so little.
Enter my new Chronotype series of watches. You know the Swiss are known for their timepieces, yet I find so few that combine their love of precision time and precision type design.
Yes, I did a Futura one too.
Each of these designs are loosely based on existing styles I admit, but isn’t it high time we designers had timepieces that turned the hours to minutes and the watch face typeface to Helvetica.
What a delightful little sideline this was. I’ve never designed a watch before and I have to say I have enjoyed giving it a try. I’m sure to the well-trained, watchful eye there’s oodles of glaring errors I’ve made but I sure did enjoy the exercise.
[EDIT: My good friend Misha has opened my eyes with these German works of art. Drools.]
P.S. In the end, I opted for a Timex T Series Perpetual Calendar Watch (T2M453) from eBay.
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