G-star furniture

These special edition pieces of furniture were originally classics of Jean Prouve, the 9 pieces in the set have been re-weorked by G-Star RAW for Vitra producing a very contemporary clean cut collection. I was particularly drawn to the stools composition, makes me think of a font I want to make out of the shapes.

A rather new form of collaboration to me, fashion and product design united, however it seems to work in a very military 'fashion'.

Trainer Collabs

In the trainer world, collaborations pop up all over the place between artists and shoe-makers all the time. Being a bit of a trainer enthusiast I'm always keeping my eyes open for a fresh pair of treads, but it usually  ends at looking at them, given my average budget. I've found a few shoe specific collaborations that I'm quite fond of...

Solebox x New balance

Atmos x Nike Air Force 1

Stussy x Converse Chuck Taylor All Star

Alife x Reebok

Alife x Asics GEL Lyte III

UNDFTD x Reebok Question mid / Vans SK8 Hi

Collaborative clothing

Collaboration can play its part almost anywhere in all walks of life, be it as simply as collaboratively working together to clean the house or creating a piece of art over a period of time. An area I want to specifically focus on at the moment is clothing (including shoes and accessories), documenting some of my favourite and more elaborate findings.

My knowledge of the vast fashion world in all its glory is pathetically slim, and on that note I better get researching, however I do have a particular fondness for one clothing company named 'ALIFE'. These guys produce some really crisp garments on their own but they tend to work collaboratively with more well known companies on a regular basis. I'm going to dedicate a fair portion of this post looking at some of my favourite productions...


Alife / Timberland - 6" Wheat


Not particularly my cup of tea but this classic cut Timberland boot has hardly even had a make-over to the untrained eye and looks like the average 'work boot', but this pair have had 'THE ALFIE INC.' stamp attached and both logos embossed on the back heel. I'm more focused on the t-shirt range they released alongside the boots - 'Rough Like ALIFE Wear' with ALIFE's trademark bold upper-case text that I have a lot of love for.

Alife / Slow Roast Records Showcase

Not only working together on clothing ranges and shoes etc. in this case Alife have joined together with Slow Roast Records to commence a month long tour around Alife stores around America. I like the idea of collaborations opening up new possibilities for each party and allowing them to work in ways and places not previously thought of.

Alife / Dickies - workwear

I'm sure many people know of Dickies workwear - durable, affordable work attire. None of which is overly desirable in a fashion sense, but who cares? it's just for work! For those a slight more fashion conscious in the work place, ALIFE have an answer...

I found an opinion of the workwear online from Mammothworkwear.com - 'I love the style of the new alfie workwear it’s very stylish you would almost think it was not meant to be workwear. Really impressed.'

Alife / Skate wheels and G-Shock

Moving slightly away from clothing and vaguely onto reasons why I believe collaboration to be a good thing. There is always a lot of speculation and rumouring around exclusive collaborations, and ALIFE follow in the mystery, I found these next two images together as part of a preview post offering a taster of whats to come. 

It's all the speculation and mystery that can make collaborations that bit more exciting to wait for, invest in or work on, especially when it's from two brands or companies around your interests or profession. On top of the excitement, often projects like these two above come in editions of small numbers for example the wheels come in an edition of 150 and the watch in 200, making it that little bit more personal when you own one.

Alife / Levis 501

Musical Collabs

I wanted to start looking at some of the top rated, and some of my top rated collaborations in the music world. I'll hopefully post more as and when they pass me by...

A particularly famous collaboration in recent years is that of Jay-Z and Kanye West. The two recently produced an album entitled 'Watch the Throne', a very creativly produced album with a classic Jay-Z feel.

Undoubtedly one of the more classic partnerships in music is that of David Bowie and Queen. Under Pressure (1981) is a worldwide rock hit - 'It was such a fluid arrangement that no one is quite sure who wrote the signature bass line'. It's comments like this that suggest through collaboration they have created something untracable to either party but still, in a word, good.

Decisions - Concept

 1 object - 1 place - 1 activity - 1 opinion - 1 concept

I came to think of the concept I would explore for this project as a result of my own recent involvement in a mural project at a local prison. I was given the opportunity to work along side 3 of my artistically ethusiastic friends, brightening up a local prison waiting room. There were times when I felt a certain colour would fit whilst my friend Greg would completely disagree, and it would turn out we were both wrong and it needed a light blue. The point I'm making is that through our collaboration we produced a piece of work neither of us expected but both really enjoyed.
It's the concept of collaboration I want to take forward here, exploring famous collaborations from music to art, fashoin through to cars.

Bottle Opener?

Beside being able to carry one of the most powerful natural forces in your pocket, the lighter has found its use in other areas of life helping us troubleshoot, in this case, opening a bottle of beer with the absence of a bottle opener. I'm sure most of us have seen lighters today with built-in bottle openers, but rewind a few years before product designers clicked that the two functions sit quite well side by side and it was us beer drinkers and smoke smokers that opened the first beer bottle with a lighter!
There is a short video demonstartion here for those that this is new to.

Imagery

As a graphic designer I tend to find as soon as I'm introduced to something new, or given the task of researching pretty much anything, I'm straight on understanding the visual side, trying to gather as many different images and videos as possible. As a smoker, the 'lighter' isn't an object I lack visual familiarity with, however I'm by no means an expert, yet.

The Lighter

I had a weird obsession with lighters as a child, not in a freaky pyromaniac kind of way, I suppose it was more a case of fascination and awe given my age. But being able to hold fire in your hand and take it anywhere you want is pretty 'good' if you ask me.

As the brief states, a comprehensive body of research is required if one can claim to argue for a subject, so I'm off to find all there is to find about lighters and alongside the tags OUGD201' and 'What is Good', I shall further categorise this research with an 'Object' tag.

Decisions - Object

1 object - 1 place - 1 activity - 1 opinion - 1 concept

I have found it surprisingly hard to pick things I believe to be 'good' in terms of these five subject areas without feeling I'm going to end up thinking it's pretty crap by the end of it! So I started with one sure-fire topic area, an 'object' that I believe is pretty ingenious however so largely taken for granted in todays society...

The Lighter

What is Good?

What is Good? - It is our summer objective to choose 5 specifics that we believe to be 'good' . From these 5, extensively research into each one gathering a broad range of support material to argue our beliefs and persuade an audience that my 'good' really is good!


The five specific areas of which we have to choose something we believe to be good are as follows;

1 object, 1 place, 1 activity, 1 opinion and 1 concept.

To ensure I gather enough primary and secondary research it is my aim to focus my efforts towards each one over the period of the next 5 or so weeks, allocating roughly a solid week for each. As we are to narrow our findings down and present just one of our chosen topics post-summer, it is my sole intention to try and pay full attention to each subject before deciding on taking one forward.