While stylish DNA art is one way to surround yourself with world-class design, there are amazing examples of well-made, well-designed products everywhere. We are going to start highlighting one each week.
We love this great retrospective on the history of the boombox from our friends at MoCo Loco inspired by TDK’s awesome new 3 Speaker Boombox.
INSPIRED: TDK LIFE ON RECORD BY ZIBA DESIGN via MoCo Loco
What inspired Paul O’Connor, creative director of Ziba Design, and his team to revive the boombox, in the form of the new TDK Life on Record series? The chance to explore its cultural origins and its place in our collective history. O’Connor, David Thorpe, Oved Valadez, Mike Lemmon and Kaitlin Paul embraced the opportunity “to connect with those who get it at the expense of offending others,” as they implore us to take out our ear buds and play music out loud. Among their inspiration were “mixed tapes, the act of creating, sharing, socializing music” and “people who still care about their s**t.”
This boombox makes me want to break out my old blue BMX bike and pedal down the street pumping a little Grand master Flash on my shoulder if only I weren’t terrified to drop it and destroy this work of art.
The inspiration comes from 80′s street culture and hip-hop combined with a modern, sleek design and minimalist look that make this the ultimate personal music device.
I think MoCo is onto something when they compare today’s culture where everyone has earphones and music is a personal, isolated thing to the 80′s when music was your voice, something to be shared.
Nostalgia aside, you can add this to my birthday gift list, along with a new BMX bike.
Web celeb Veronica Belmont, recently named one of Fast Company’s 2011 Most Influential Women in Technology, just posted a review of the DNA Ancestry Portrait to her blog.
DNA as art via Veronica Belmont.
All very cool, and which brings me to the photo you see at the top of this post. DNA 11 is a company that makes art based on your own personal DNA. They offered to let me try their service, using my data from 23andMe (though they will send you a kit of their own if you haven’t done one already) to create a QR code portrait containing my ancestry info (maternal line only in this case) called an Ancestry Portrait. This is what you see when you read the QR.
Veronica provided us with ancestry data she had received from genetics testing company 23andMe and we turned it into a one-of-a-kind DNA Ancestry Portrait.
Now simply by scanning her portrait with the DNA Art Scanner, Veronica, or any interested visitors to her home, can find out more about her maternal lineage.
DNA 11 can take ancestry data from any genetics testing company including 23andMe, Navigenics, Ancestry.com, Family Tree DNA, deCODEme or National Geographic: The Genographic Project to create a DNA Ancestry Portrait. You even save $150 by supplying your own data.
Thanks to Veronica for her awesome review.
The video game industry is going wild with motion sensors and controllers that allow you to use your body more directly in the game but nothing quite like this:
White blood cells pitted against each other in ‘Blood Wars’ via Olivia Solon, WIRED UK.
Blood Wars is an art-science installation that will pit white blood cells from two different people against each other in a “tournament” that aims to see which person has the strongest immune system.
The exhibit by artist Kathy High takes white blood cells from two combatants, dyes them different colors, places them in a Petri dish and films them under a microscope to observe their interactions.
The piece is part of an exhibition sponsored by research laboratory SymbioticA and Dublin’s Science Gallery, called Visceral.
What a cool combination of art, science and blood sports.
You can check out video of the “matches” at the Blood Wars website and may the best leukocyte win.
As Valentine’s Day approaches there will many kisses given away but only a select few will last forever as a one-of-kind art piece.
The DNA 11 KISS Portrait makes the perfect Valentine’s Day gift but how do we make them? Here’s how:
- We send out a KISS Portrait Colection Kit to the customer like the one pictured above.
- Inside the customer will find a tube of M.A.C VIVA GLAM Lipstick, some KISS collection sheets, a color swatch, a collection envelope and an instruction card.
- The customer then applies the lipstick and plants a big kiss on the collection sheet. We supply more than one so you can try more than once to get just the right look.
- The customer places the KISS collection sheets in the envelope indicating their top 5 preferred KISS imprints then fills in their address information and color selection and mails it off to DNA 11.
- Once the samples have been received, they are put trough our high resolution scanner and sent to the designer.
- The designer then picks the best print using criteria such as how well it transferred to the collection sheet, visibility of fine detail and general aesthetic appeal. The process of creating the KISS print is done mainly by hand to insure that all the fine details are captured. The print, is then converted to a vector image to ensure the highest level of quality.
- Next the KISS print has the customer’s chosen color palette applied and is send to print.
- Each KISS Portrait is then printed using Giclée printing techniques on high-quality, acid-free, polyester-cotton canvas, using pigmented inks designed to resist fading. Each piece is also sealed with a non-yellowing protective varnish to further prolong the print life.
- KISS Portraits are then stretched around a wooden stretcher frame and stapled on the back. Our 1.5″ depth stretcher bars are made of high quality North American Birchwood and include a unique support system which prevents warping and the canvas from skewing or sagging.
- Each portrait is hand-signed by one of our in-house stretchers so you know it was made by made with care.
- Your unique KISS Portrait is then wrapped in plastic to protect it, boxed and shipped to you.
Here are a few tips and trick for getting the best KISS print for your KISS Portrait from our Lead Graphic Designer, Melissa Edwards:
- Do not rub your lips together when applying the lip stick. This prevents the lip stick from going in the cracks and creases of your lips which is a good thing.
- With a slightly open mouth, press your lips against the paper. Avoid pursing your lips together, as this creates the unwanted “O” look.
- The darker the lip stick over all the better, the more cracks the better.
Some more love for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift, a DNA 11 KISS Portrait, this time from MSNBC Today and Techlicious.
KISS Portraits are featured in the article Give him a kiss that will last forever, written by Suzanne Kantra from Techlicious.
DNA 11′s unique art made with love is also featured in the Techlicious Valentine’s Day Gift Guide.
There’s still time to order a KISS Portrait gift kit for your sweetheart in time for Valentine’s Day.
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