Kara Smith’s vintage-ness

Hand-made in Melbourne with in.cube8r

There’s a shop on Smith Street in Melbourne where all young designers go to live. In.cube8r supports all things craft and handmade in Melbourne, running like a long-term market, with the gallery divided into different areas that the artists lease for a tiny cost. There are more than 75 of Melbourne’s top crafters on show and the gallery is always looking for new designers.

Poupees Russe’s Katarina tote

Lea Nguyen has designed a no excuse handbag, relieving us of that moment when we are at the grocery store and the clerk asks us if we need a plastic bag, only to realize we didn’t bring a handy, re-usable carrier. UGH! The label Poupees Russes, the French name for Russian babushka dolls, offers its first line — Katarina — with the Boria tote being this friendly accessory to your daily stroll. It’s cute, functional, comfortable and helping to save the earth, one less plastic bag at a time. Just the way we like it.

Belinda Chen

Belinda Chen will be graduating with an honours in Communication Design from Melbourne’s RMIT this year. Her vibrant design work takes its inspirations from ‘light reflections, design with interaction, sounds, Murakami, going on adventures and people’. Read more

Flashguns’ I Don’t Not Love You acoustic van version

Flashguns are a killer British trio who just survived a break-up following the recent departure of keyboard player, Oliver Wright. I’m delighted the guys chose to run strong as a three-piece and recorded some acoustic sessions on the road while supporting Bombay Bicycle Club’s UK tour. Before you watch Samuel Johnston’s interesting van acoustic version of their single, I Don’t Not Love You, I suggest you listen to the studio version and Lagos Boys Choir remix [below] to get a feel for the track’s full glory.

KAWS creme de corps

Random collaborations always come as a pleasant surprise. This time New York-based graffiti artist KAWS (aka Brian Donnelly) has joined forces with lavish beauty product manufacturer, Kiehl’s, in a bid to raise money for non-profit art initiative RxArt. KAWS’ design adorns an exclusive line of Kiehl’s skin moisturizers, with all proceeds benefiting RxArt’s mission to install art pieces in US hospitals.

Kill Pixie’s Supreme Beings in Berlin

My fellow Germans — or anyone willing to fly to Berlin — should go check out the solo exhibition Supreme Beings by emerging Aussie artist Kill Pixie (aka Mark Whalen). His latest series of geometric paintings are on display at Berlin’s Merry Karnowsky Gallery until December 19. I’m particularly intrigued by Kill Pixie’s use of candy colours coupled with his depiction of masked puppet-like characters set in celestial and futuristic scenes. Supreme Beings meticulously ‘questions the games people are forced to play, reinterprets the universal human struggle and what will be necessary for survival in the future of our world’.