Dear Dream Maker

WE'RE SUPPORTING

I’d been trying to figure out who the illustrator was who had done a few of the beautiful pieces for this year’s Kiehl’s holiday display for a while until I was serrendipitously pointed toward a certain rep’s website to check out some of their illustrators and I discovered it was Justin Gabbard. Score! Since finally coming upon Gabbard’s site, I’ve been back more than a few times to ogle his colorful, chiseled paintings, as well as his fantastic assortment of drawings and experiments. What I find most wonderful is the way in which Gabbard appears to continually tweak his techniques, painting one time, trying it digitally the next, throwing in a little of this and a little of that from one project to the next. Next time I’m out and about in the city and manage to happily stumble across Gabbard’s work, I won’t have the least bit of trouble placing it. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Of all the weird places the world has to offer, the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia has to be one of the coolest. Literally. At 3,700m above sea level, it’s the biggest and highest salt flat in the world, where after dark, temperatures can drop to minus 40 degrees celsius. The best way to explore the salt flat is to hire a 4WD and driver from the Uyuni township. En route, you can even stay at a Salt Hotel, where everything is, quite literally, made from salt: the chairs, beds, tables and even the walls. There’s no heating and the beds aren’t exactly ‘plush’, but it’s worth every salty second. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

For an industry that spends so much time fratenising with musicians, few designers ever admit to being primarily influenced by the music industry itself. Electronic Poet are an exception. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

Hello, my name is Zolton and I’m a text addict. That’s right, an instinctive, compulsive plier of the trade, straight from the Michael Douglas school of confessional proclamation. Yup, I don’t care if it’s quick or protracted; if it’s a group message or one just for me. I’ll take that text any damn way you can give it. And if that’s a crime in these repressed, conservative times, then so be it. Just don’t strip me of my pride. Or my mobile phone. [illustration by Nathan Jurevicius]

WE'RE READING

Illustrator and artist John Malloy has been working on a graphic novel called Channel One and, without wanting to sound too much like Paris Hilton, it’s looking pretty damn hot. Update! As of July 2009, John Malloy has aborted the graphic novel Channel One to focus more on other projects, including his autobiographical graphic novel, Queasy. Stay tuned for details. Read more

Sometimes we need an ad to remind us of what’s important. Normal is beautiful. Keep our oceans alive. Vote. Be more fearless. The Whitehouse Post is an international post-production company whose projects are damn fine. In fact, they are the scary mix of wit and aesthetics that makes any message convincing. Long live Coca-Cola.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

DFA Records need little introduction to dancefloor devotees, but Hold On, a recent release by lesser known artist Holy Ghost!, may not be on the radar just yet. It will be though: we nominate it for track most likely to receive stereo overplay.