ion » 2008

Hero H.S.

A lot of families moved to the Bronx just to get their sons into DeWitt Clinton High, an all-boys school, with tough entrance requirements. It was the most competitive school in the city, and it turned out a staggering number of successful intellectuals and artists….. Bronx Kids came of age with armor on their feelings and razors in their brains. They rode the trains south to Manhattan hot with expectations. When the comic book burst suddenly upon New York, they were ready to make it their own. - Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones.

I went to DeWitt Clinton and as with any proud alumnus, when the opportunity arises to brag about your school, you do. Notably, this year’s top grossing box office hits, Dark Knight and Iron Man were based on characters created by DeWitt Clinton alumni, Robert Kahn (Bob Kane) and Stanley Lieber (Stan Lee).

Like most of the guys I know who work in creative industries, comics have had a major influence on me. It’s where we learned of story arcs, analogy, symbolism, science fiction, mythology and words such as equinox, endeavor, invulnerable and intangible. Developing characters names, origins and costumes was for many creatives their first foray into the process of research, writing, drawing and design.

Check out some of the comics I collected in high school as well as these two issues of an annual comic created by my peers at Clinton.

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by admin and filed under Collections, Influences | Comments Off

Worth Rooting For.

Root Hill Cafe, one of our favorite coffee spots, is a finalist in Interior Design Magazine’s Best of the Year Awards for the Hospitality/Restaurant/Casual category. Designed by our next door neighbors, RSVP Architecture, the exposed brick space features mounted tin ceiling panels with recessed fluorescent lights and cleverly incorporates an upholstered sloping ramp that creates both seating and spatial dividers.

Located at 4th and Carroll Street, Root Hill serves a damn good cup, and with its smart architecture, it gets our vote.

Good Luck Guys!

Photo by Seong Kwon.

Posted on November 21st, 2008 by admin and filed under Brooklyn, Design | Comments Off

Uptown Music Theatre.

We’ve launched a website for the Uptown Music Theatre. Founded by our client jazz trombonist, Delfeayo Marsalis, this New Orleans based non-profit offers in-depth training in theatre, music, dance and song to young people aged 5 -18.

Posted on November 17th, 2008 by admin and filed under Chemistry, Client, Web | Comments Off

The Number Forty Four.

Forty-four is a happy number.

Shift + 44 = $$.

In numerology the number signifies impeccability, desire with insight, wisdom with reason, intensity, conviction, adeptship, heroism, self-control, discipline, controlled energy focused.

The retired numbers for former baseball players Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey and Reggie Jackson; the number is sometimes considered to be a “Hitter’s Number”.

A number of legend, worn by great football players Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, and Jim Brown.

Bill Clinton (the 42nd President) and George W. Bush (the 43rd President) were born 44 days apart in the summer of 1946.

The Number of the President Elect of 2009, Barack Obama and our subtle celebrational Tee Shirt.

Posted on November 5th, 2008 by admin and filed under Influences | 10 Comments »

Unbought & Unbossed.

On Election Night, Rooftop Films will have a screening of Shola Lynch’s revealing documentary, Chisholm ’72 at the IFC Center.

In 1972, when Shirley Chisholm, a brilliant black congresswoman from Brooklyn boldly bid for the presidency, women had barely made it out of the kitchen, and the Civil Rights Act was still new. But, here was eloquent, composed, audacious Shirley Chisholm — not only the first black woman in Congress, but the first woman to run for the nation’s highest office — demanding that the body politic actually represent all the American people.

Posted on November 3rd, 2008 by admin and filed under Film | No Comments »

Readymade.

sun 211 893 ticket

As a collector of ephemera, one finds beauty in the everyday.

Posted on October 27th, 2008 by admin and filed under Collections, Found, Print | No Comments »

Christopher Wynter.

Also, during the weekend we got to visit one of our favorite local artists Christopher Wynter. His paintings and sculptures are filled with subtle representational images, ideograms and cultural symbols. He was also commissioned by the MTA to create this mosaic installation found at the 110th Street / Cathedral Parkway Station.

Posted on October 3rd, 2008 by admin and filed under Art, Brooklyn | Comments Off

Miranda Maher.

One of the highlights of the Arts Under the Bridge Festival was a visit to Miranda Maher’s studio. Miranda is captivated by birds, which are pervasive in her work. I really enjoyed the smartness of the series called Geometry, where the apparently random flight of birds are paired with mathematical diagrams and her installation Oneiric Oology is at once beautiful, delicate and thought provoking.

Posted on October 2nd, 2008 by admin and filed under Art, Brooklyn | No Comments »

Traverse.

This weekend is the D.U.M.B.O. Art Under the Bridge Festival .

Art will be everywhere: the streets, sidewalks, storefronts, elevators, lobbies, the water, the waterfront, and the parks. Along with the 65 plus new public art projects, over 100 local artists will open their studios to the public and at the new Galapagos Art Space, video_dumbo will feature a non-stop program of video art.

Last year we spent most of our time in the studios on Jay Street, viewing art, meeting artists, running into friends and at the end of the day relaxing with a good brew at ReBar. If you’ve never been to DUMBO, this would be a great time to visit.

Posted on September 23rd, 2008 by admin and filed under Art, Brooklyn, Media, Photography | No Comments »

Sign Up.

Citgo Sign

Inspired by the proliferation of very tall signs in the American Mid-West, Matt Sibert’s Floating Logos seeks to draw attention to this often overlooked form of advertising. References can be drawn to religious iconography, the supernatural, or science fiction.

The project consists of two series. Series 1 is a set of images that do not include the ground below the sign and Series 2 is more in the spirit of traditional landscape photography and shows the signage floating in context.

Posted on September 10th, 2008 by admin and filed under Photography | No Comments »

Naked Eye.

The amazing retouch work of Electric Art.

Posted on September 4th, 2008 by admin and filed under Media, Photography, Web | No Comments »

Intermission.

Between Summer and Fall. Have a great Labor Day Weekend.

Posted on August 29th, 2008 by admin and filed under Chemistry, Influences, Video | No Comments »

Analogged.

While we wait to see if Muxtape will ever reboot, I’d like share a few other cassette tape-related sites with you.

With their collection of audio tape cassettes, Tapedeck.org will take you back to the time when deciding on which blank tape to use was the first step in creating your mixtape. My favorite was the TDK SA-X 90.

To create your own version of the classic cassette tape cover use Says-it.com’s cassette tape generator.

If you want an Old School feel with 64 megs check out SuckUK’s cassette package USB Stick.

To convert your old mixtapes as well as all those Ready for the World, Rippingtons and Take 6 cassettes you’ve holding on to for all these years, Ion Audio (nice name) offers a series of products to help convert your analog collections to digital. With their Tape 2 PC deck you can import from cassette to mp3s and with their LP to CDR turntable you can burn direct to CD from vinyl.

Posted on August 22nd, 2008 by admin and filed under Collections, Design, Music, Web | 1 Comment »

Tape Popped.

This past Monday Muxtape went down. On their site it simply reads “Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA.”

The RIAA‘s position is that Muxtape is hosting content illegally. In a statement regarding the closing of the site the RIAA said, “Muxtape was hosting copies of copyrighted recordings without authorization from the copyright owners. Making recordings available for streaming playback also requires authorization from the copyright owners.”

It’s too bad. The site was a great way to share, learn and listen to new music, we really enjoyed using it. Though, I can’t say that I’m surprised, we’ve all had this conversation before, this is what happens when the music industry meets new technology.

Posted on August 21st, 2008 by admin and filed under Media, Music, Web | 3 Comments »

Over There.

This week’s mix is an electronica filled chill out set. The photography used on the CD’s packaging is by our good friend, photographer Jillian McAlley. To listen go to chmstry.muxtape.com.

Muxtape went down shortly after we uploaded this mix.

Posted on August 15th, 2008 by admin and filed under Chemistry, Mixes, Music | Comments Off

The Deuce.

This week’s (aug 8th – 14th) mix is a 70′s inspired set that will take you exactly where you need to go. To listen go to: ~~chmstry.muxtape.com~~.

Enjoy.

Posted on August 8th, 2008 by admin and filed under Chemistry, Mixes, Music | Comments Off

Top Most.

One night while walking past a public school, I noticed several chairs put out for trash pick up. First thing that came to mind – Skellzies. I’m sure a few people passing by wondered what I was doing wrestling with discarded school chairs, but if they grew up playing in the city’s parks and streets, they would understand.

Skellzies, also called Skully, Skelsy, Tops, Caps, or Loadies, was a game we would play for hours, sometimes for the entire afternoon. The rules varied from neighborhood-to-neighborhood, but basically the object of the game is to flick your top (playing piece) through a series of numbered boxes on a Skelly board, working your way up from 1 through 13.

The smoothest, fastest, most prized tops were those created from the foot of a school chair. Having one meant you popped it off at school without getting caught. We’d add color by melting crayons in them.

From time-to-time I’ll see a Skelly board painted in a playground, but I’ve yet to see any kids playing. Maybe they’re just there to pay homage and stir memories. Like Ring-a-levio, stickball and stoopball these street games just aren’t played any more. Icy Smooth has a online version, but if you want to try the real thing, well, I’ve got tops.

Posted on August 7th, 2008 by admin and filed under Influences | 3 Comments »

Flight.

This week’s (aug 1st – 7th) mix, the second one we’ve posted to Muxtape, has an eclectic downtempo groove. To listen go to chmstry.muxtape.com.

Enjoy.

Posted on August 1st, 2008 by admin and filed under Chemistry, Mixes, Music | Comments Off

Pomade.

As promised, we’ve posted the first of our music mixes, from our current collection. To deliver the music, we’re using Muxtape, a cool site that allows users to upload playlists of MP3s and create online mixtapes – kinda old school meets web 2.0.

This week’s (July 25 to July 31st) mix, Pomade, was one of our most popular. We’ve changed it up a bit by adding a new song, but it’s still the same soulful sound. To listen go to ~~chmstry.muxtape.com~~.

By the way, that well groomed, afro-tight illustration is a copyright of Murray’s Superior Products Co. (1926)

Enjoy.

Posted on July 24th, 2008 by admin and filed under Chemistry, Mixes, Music | Comments Off

Candy is good for business.

Our client Lost City and their new silk collection is featured on Daily Candy today.

Posted on July 23rd, 2008 by admin and filed under Chemistry, Client, Design | Comments Off