The tracksuit. Loved, hated. Worn by the incredibly fit and the incredibly lazy. Most people have slipped into one at some time or another be it for school sports, fashion purposes or just because you’re hung-over and they’re comfortable. Rappers, athletes, Somali pirates; they’ve all had a go.

So what have we got here? This is a vast topic. Although the tracksuit is considered two piece, the runaway success of the pair is certainly the lower half. Referred to as sweatpants in the US the trouser section is also known as track suit bottoms or jogging bottoms in the UK and track pants or trackies in NZ and Australia.

Obviously the tracksuit was initially designed for sports folk to cover-up and keep warm after a game or work-out, but these days uses are varied. Fashion tracksuits (predominantly by Adidas) gained popularity through artists such as Snoop Dogg, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. Tear-away pants, used by sportspeople for a quick exit, are a hit with strippers and climbing pants with their impossibly baggy crotch section and bonkers patterns seem to have found favor with body builders and MC Hammer.

TV and film have thrown up the occasional iconic tracksuit, most notably Bruce Lee’s yellow tracksuit from Game of Death (1978). This classic outfit has gained a nod in various other movies, referenced famously by Uma Thurman’s character in Kill Bill, Vol.1 (2003). Steve Austin, The Six Million Dollar Man, kept it casual in a red tracksuit with matching trainers. Nice.

So Steve, the bionic astronaut, that’s a whole new blog post right there! Let’s see what Tim thinks about Lee Majors…

Matt

Star Wars GPS by Tom Tom

For any Star Wars lovers out there, who wouldn’t want voices of Stars Wars giving you driving instructions! For $12 Darth Vader can tell you where to go!

You can listen here

Laser Tape Measure

The Leica Distoâ„¢ A5 doesn’t take much explaining. Just point and measure. I am sure it had great uses for industrial and engineering industries, but also for me to play with. How far away is my car? How long is this room I am sitting in? How far is it to walk to the bathroom? Easy and cool. I like it.

Toilet Paper Dispensing iPod Dock

Icarta iPod Dock with dispenser is a multi-tasker gadget for the time deprived. Now who wouldn’t want to listen to some great tunes or create some playlists while you have some ‘alone time’. May as well make the whole experience relaxing and enjoyable while relieving ones self! The hardest decision would be finding a song to match the mood of your bowel motion… what would your song be?

I can’t resist a really useless gadget such as the Hay Fever Hat

Don’t worry anymore about embarrassing hayfever sniffles or colds. You will never be without a tissue. No more snotty sleeves!
Gadget Blogger – Liz

Why has there been no blogging lately??

Well there is good reason:

1. We have been busy working on some fun projects, which is always good.

and

2. The USA team have hit the office, which always makes things hectic but also fun.

For me personally it has been great to spend some face time bouncing ideas around and brainstorming projects with our fearless leader. This is usually done over Skype or Email which, even though we live in a digital world, is never quite as satisfying as being in the same room.

Our clients will, either way, get the best creative in the world. So never fear, first class work is on the way – fresher, faster, fairer!

 Tim

 

Anna has recently started a new business Lila Pearl, making earrings, cuff links and gift tags. She has booked a stall at the Thorndon fair (one of Wellington’s biggest) Ruba and Rose have joined the action filling Lila’s old baby food jars with lollies to sell.

Apart from the occasional trade show design or tour piece we graphic designers don’t often get to delve into the realms of interior architecture or space planning. Industrial design concepting also looks like a fantastic place to play, trying to match your mad scientist schemes to real world problems, and create something that looks awesome along the way.

Loving this three wheeled camper concept from German industrial designer Cornelius Comanns. Based around an existing Piaggio model, the ‘Bufalino‘ offers some great solutions for the individual traveler. Particularly like the washing line out back and the detailing on the fold down seat/bed. Stick a board rack on it and I’ll take one!

Matt

Back in June I posted a blog about Apple’s new iAd network which allows developers to embed highly interactive advertising within their Apps.

Now up and running the platform is receiving mixed reviews. An article in the LA Times says both Unilever and Nissan have been impressed with results with customers spending up to 10 times longer interacting with the iAd than with comparable online advertising.

On the other hand Apple’s control over the process of creating the ads seems to be causing a few issues as the industry is not used to this – and projects are taking longer to roll out than expected, according to The Wall Street Journal .

Matt

While semantic search engines have been around for a while, Hungarian based newcomer iGlue is set to launch an interesting product this September.

Semantic search engines attempt to understand the context of what you are looking for to deliver results which are more relevant. iGlue seems to have taken this a step further by offering a search within the page you are reading. A bookmark hangs inside your browser and with a click gives you a semantic search of that page, matching people, places, etc. to it’s database and displaying the results (images, maps, videos and text) in a separate window. This adds a rich media layer to whatever you happen to be reading and means you don’t need to search again for background information.

Check out this interactive example .

Matt

On July 1 Apple plans to launch it’s new mobile advertising network for iPhone and iPod touch devices called iAds. According to Apple “iAd offers advertisers the emotion of TV with the interactivity of the web, and offers users a new way to explore ads”, with the advertising experience taking place within apps rather than redirecting users to a browser window.

When you select an ad it will take up the screen using HTML5 and from there the user can interact with and explore the ad.

This comes after Apple bought the advertising network Quattro Wireless earlier this year. Google are also looking set to enter the mobile advertising arena (on their Android platform) with an agreement to buy mobile advertising firm AdMob.

IT research company Gartner put the global mobile advertising business at $13.5 Billion by 2013 due to the increase in smart phones and other mobile devices.

Matt

The Augmented Sculpture is an instillation piece jointly produced by German design agencies Grosse 8 and Lichtfront for the recent interior design showcase Imm Cologne 2010 (Cologne, Germany). Light and 2D patterns are projection mapped on to the structure’s 3D surface with beautiful effect.

Matt

Furniture giants Ikea have come up with an interesting guerilla campaign currently running in the subways of Paris. The company has set up mini Ikea environments featuring the actual products and using traditional billboard spaces to add context (and further products). A great way to showcase to comfort and (hopefully) the durability of their products, whilst making life a little more pleasant for the commuter. Nice.

Matt