Who remembers GAP for their bright, light-hearted commercials featuring people like Joss Stone with colourful typography and dances? I even wrote an essay in university about GAP’s branding fail and decline in the 00s but it’s nice to see the brand turn it around. A new direction and positioning, moving away from being known as the family brand to one that appeals to the younger generation, the 20s- 30s. With smart moves such as the Best New Menswear Designer capsule collections in the past few years, it’s nice to see the brand push the boat a little further with their new campaign. The four films have been directed by one of the greats, David Fincher takes a film noire snapshoot look into guys and girls pursuing each other, quite light despite the heavy B&W which ties into the product being pushed: Black Denim. With lines like “Dress like no one’s watching,” “Simple clothes for you to complicate” and “The uniform of rebellion and conformity.” - pay the copywriter, he/she’s done his job well. The film is what makes it authentic, no celebrity featured but a famous director and a step in the right direction. Watch after the cut.

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When considering the more beautiful aspects of design, typography is not exactly something at the top of mind. Until now, I had never watched or read anything associated to type design that has fully engrossed me like this did. Dan Rhatigan, a typographer and director from Monotype, recently worked with Grey London to create Ryman Eco “the world’s most beautiful sustainable font”. Sustainable meaning it uses 33% less ink than fonts such as Times New Roman and Arial. In the video, he talks about the font and if you appreciate anything design, but haven’t quite given typography the time of day, I’ll be surprised if by the end you’re not judging every bit of text you see from now on. It’s quite the art, and while everyone puts there efforts elsewhere with design (technology, architecture etc.), it seems to get left behind. Next time you work on a project, have a longer think about the font you’re using. Catch the video after the cut.

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Australian photographer Jane Long has wonderfuly transformed old black and white images into colourful creative stories. The project came about when she wanted to brush up on her retouching skills, having stumbled across original glass plate black and white images created by Romanian war photographer Costică Acsinte on flickr she became inspired. Inspired to transform these images and give them a new lease of life. Colourising each image and digitally blending her own imaginative compositions, the images have totally taken on a new identity. To find how she created these little gems and to see more of her amazing work head on over to the flipside.

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Small but stellar collection of songs for you this week. The need for a clever and thought out introduction is not there, all that needs to be said is click play, relax and enjoy.

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This right here is an incredible display of how fast technology is developing and also a great showing of how cross-pollination of art forms can create mind blowing results. Project Omote is a collaboration between a projection mapping specialist Nobumichi Asai, a make-up artist Hiroto Kuwahara and Paul Lacroix a digital image engineer. In the video, a model has her face scanned and mapped on which a series of graphics are overlaid in realtime. She displays slow movements and the projection stays intact- it’s amazing. It probably only works with precise movements for now, but once this is fully developed I’m sure the gaming and even the performing arts industries will be all over it (if they’re not already). Watch after the break.

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Do you fancy sinking you ears into a bit of musical ecstasy? Well we have just the right dose for you. Strap the arms up, slap those veins and inject the musical goodness we have on offer. Kick back and enjoy.

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Well, this is everything. I stumbled across a great interview with the cinematographer Chayse Irvin last night which led to me to browsing through vimeo to stumble upon this. They called him the lighting master and after watching this, I can definitely see why. Gatorade‘s commercial focuses on the locker room moment before the game, where the players mentally fire themselves up for the game ahead. The film perfectly captures the intensity and intimacy of those moments through the slow build up. The lighting, sound and colour go hand-in-hand perfectly - by the end of it, you’ll want to jump up and go play.

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It’s been a minute since we last shared a lookbook, mainly due to the saturation of the market. Everyone and their grandma have been producing lookbooks, SLRs are accessible to most people so there’s just hell of lot of mediocrity out there. Stussy presents their new FW14 collection with a dark black.white lookbook shot by photo journalist Francesco Giusti on the streets of Cuba. The fact they’ve used someone that’s not usually do editorial work is evident, the natural tones and depth in the imagery are beautiful. Simplicity of the whole thing works for me, showcases the collection which goes with the current trend of black/white/grey. Head on after the cut for more.

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I’m taking it back to Christmas of ’95. My brother, my sister and I had undone all our presents, when there was one left that our parents hadn’t put under the tree. Out it comes - a fairly large box all wrapped up. Ridiculously excited, we furiously ripped the paper off to reveal a Sony Playstation. My life was changed forever. The Playstation was a major part of my childhood, and holds many memories of my years growing up. Even when I got the whole thing illegally chipped and could get access to hundreds of games for a fiver. Still, it was the introduction of tech in to my life, and I’m fortunate enough to say that I was in the generation to experience this milestone in gaming and technology as a whole. I’m still a gamer, though not as hardcore these days, and I’m sure we can all relate to a little throwback of this amazing console. More on the reverse.

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Each morning I’m plagued with the same basic question of ‘style’…contacts or spectacles. Long gone are the days when glasses were associated with the nerd / book-worm archetype, instead evolving into a lifestyle accessory for a little added sophistication or quirkiness. Season to season, I’ve observed the adoption of non-prescription glasses and statement eye-wear as an extension of one’s style, which over time become synonymous with an individual’s image (think John Lennon or Karl Lagerfeld without their iconic frames). I too have been searching for the perfect pair to complete my ‘look’; my signature silhouette if you will.­

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