Sam Weber illustrates Bjork

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Our friends over at Paper Tiger have just released their first print of the new year, and we’re lovin’ it. It’s called a Touch of Class and is the work of artist, Nathan Ota, who had a recent solo show at Hollywood’s La Luz de Jesus gallery. Ota, whose earliest influences were Frank Frazetta calendars and Vampirella comics, primarily creates his work using acrylics and wood panel.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

There’s something quite captivating about the muted tones and soft textures of Anna Fraser’s photographs. The Australian designer has a very precise sense of framing, which is reflected in the slightly insidery, but beautifully balanced perspective that her work provides on places and scenery that only few people ever get to experience. By her own admission, Fraser ‘prefers things that are not usually very fashionable. Like beige, lots of beige and maybe a bit of taupe’. We think she might be onto something. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

Luxury goods have been getting a bad rap lately, and for good reason. Now I don’t know how you roll, but we don’t know many people who enjoy covering themselves head-to-toe in someone else’s initials. Yet for some reason designers think that diamante logos and monogrammed tapestries are the best mediums to communicate their brand. So it’s just as well LA based eyewear label Barton Perreira doesn’t play by the rules. Starting out less than a year ago, you won’t find their designs getting over-excited by insignia. Instead, these guys hand make their frames in Japan to rely on precision, fit and design. And that’s the way it should be.

WE'RE THINKING

UK-based designer Daniel J Diggle has some beautifully obsessive illustrative work on his site, with nice photos of the beginning sketches and process. Read more

WE'RE READING

Let them sing it for you is a web widget that allows you to type in a sentence which is then played back using the same words culled from a library of popular songs. For instance if you type the word “I” it will play Chris Isaak singing that word in the song Wicked Games. If a word cannot be found, you can enter a song which contains the missing word and expand the library.

This entertaining documentary follows a group of seemingly clichéd American teenagers in their last year of high school. Through a comprehensive recording of their lives it reminds us that, when examining anything in detail, there is no such thing as a cliché. The naivety and hope of each student shines through, providing a memorable and accurate portrait of a middle-American high school. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

The Los Angeles musician, Ariana Delawari — aka Lion of Panjshir — is half Afghan and half Sicilian and makes wonderfully enlightened weirdo folk rock. I hope she takes that as a compliment! Her music is delicate and powerful and she is a pure artist. Everything she does has that magic light in it. She made her new album partially in Afghanistan, and many of the lyrics deal with the continued oppression of people’s liberties by the Taliban.