I don’t often sit for a whole 6 minute video these days but I enjoyed every second of this one.  It features Michael Wolff, co-founder of Wolff Olins Agency and he is arguably one of the most accomplished thinkers about brand (one of my all time favorite topics).
Best Part: When Wolff makes the point that if you go to a store you don’t respect that much and they are out of your favorite product you think “what a crap store”. If you go to a store you really respect …

3 years ago I fell in love with a painting I saw in a gallery in Santa Fe.  I stood there for nearly 2 hours looking at it.  From every angle.  First one way and then walking by it, and then going into another room before coming back.  Then  trying to decide if I could justify spending more than 2 months rent on this.  I took the card of the gallery telling myself that I could always have it shipped.
Over the next 3 years, I thought about this painting often.  …

I have been obsessed with block printing the last few weeks since I’m dying to make some kind of business cards myself.  I’ve been eyeing up this kit to start because it includes everything you need to start printing for under $50.
If you’re not familiar with block printing it’s basically where you carve a stamp into a piece of linoleum and paint ink on it and stamp it on things.  People use them to make pillows, T-shirts, tote bags (think for the farmer’s market), cards (mine will …

I was in Mineral Point this Saturday showing some relatives around Wisconsin and I always try to show people that Wisconsin is more than a big beer and cheese factory (not easy when our state is, in fact, kind of a beer and cheese factory).  The difference between Mineral Point and many art centered areas is that it’s more than galleries.  All of the artists live there and you can also go through and see many of their studios and workshops.
When we walked into Bruce Howdle’s gallery he shouted “Oh!  …

So I was complaining a few days ago about how I was feeling uninspired and wanted to see something cool and so I stole a few hours from my workday and saw “Exit Through The Giftshop“.  If you have ANY INTEREST IN STREET ART you should go see it.  It will make you want to make things that people will love.  It will make you want to throw a party.  It will make you laugh at copycat artists.  I thought it would be just about Bansky, (remember the guy who …

Wow. Portuguese street artist Vhils makes this incredible art by digging into plaster and brick and they are so scarily realistic. Now, the marketer in me is immediately thinking “why isn’t anyone sponsoring this guy?” followed immediately by… “who would be the ideal sponsor?”  Converse sponsored that tattoo artist from Mexico which was a pretty bold / great move. 
Vhils reminds me of that quote about Michelangelo saying that his sculptures were already in the stone and he just carved the stone to let them out.
What about …

If you’re anywhere near Milwaukee or planning to be there make sure and stop in at my favorite store / art gallery Hot Pop.
It’s chock full of tooth shaped post it notes, vinyl toys, awesome shirts and they’ve always got someone interesting showing their artwork.

Right now, it’s Minnesota based artist Rudy Fig…. .who at 21 makes some really cool art. It’s girly but not in an overly girly way.  In a cool macabre way.

To say I’ve been anxiously awaiting summer would be a mild understatement but when I stumbled across the retro photos of Jena Ardell, I spent about 20 blissful minutes on her site.  She photographs lots of beach scenes but my favorites are the lovely little beach bungalows that you can almost imagine yourself in. 

The Shoot Factory is a full service location agency in the UK, which means they can make your home, office, building, look great for a shoot or event. The guy who founded it came from the advertising industry (not surprised) If you are looking for great inspiration for your own house or apartment go to the site and browse their work. Could you even think of a cooler job?

via DornobWith over 150 installations worldwide, Dougherty trains trees to grow into inhabitable spaces in fields, forests, or even more urban areas. Aren’t they cool?