Last Sunday afternoon, the William Brown Project set up shop at the Cynthia Rowley boutique in the West Village. Special offerings included homemade pork products such as rillettes, vinegars, savory jams, and bacon. William Brown came about from Matthew Hranek’s love of the outdoors and simple, pure, great-tasting food.
Eight years ago, Hranek and his wife purchased a 131-acre property in Mileses, New York. The pastoral land had a pond, plenty of trees, but no dwelling save for an old red barn. They set out building something modern and simple, and after much research decided on prefab housing by architect Oskar Leo Kaufmann’s company, OLK.
After settling into their new home, Hranek moved onto his next project. Wanting to have more control over the flavor of what he ate, Hranek began raising pigs with his neighbor. They started out smoking bacon, moved onto rillettes, and continually developed their arsenal of charcuterie.
On and around 12/12/2009, photographers around the world such as Stephen Wilkes donated their time, equipment, and expertise to take pictures of people who otherwise would not have the finances for professional portraits. Founded by Jeremy Cowart, 2009 was the debut year of the “Help-Portrait” movement.
Initially faced with cynics, Cowart counters on the Help-Portrait website: ”I love seeing a 53-year-old man dance in front of the camera because he’s never had his photo taken. I love taking the very first photo of a 5-year-old child and being able to give that to his mother. Lastly, I love knowing that photographers are getting to experience all of these moments themselves.”
Help-Portrait is an open movement where anyone can become involved. In New York, Heart Art co-founders Celeste Holt-Waters and Audrie Lawrence spearheaded ten city-wide events. The duo reached out to numerous photographers, producers, photo assistants, studios, equipment rental houses and charitable organizations to ensure that Help-Portrait reached as many people as possible. ”[Help-Portrait] is meant to unite and benefit the community by joining people together in the spirit of giving back to the community and a love of photography,” said Holt-Waters.
The Soho Partnership has been helping the homeless in New York since 1992. The “Project Stay” program boasts a 72% success rate of people who remain employed for two years or longer. We invite you to shop at the store, where all proceeds of designer clothes such as PHI will go to The Soho Partnership. Have some drinks, peruse the selection of clothing, and check out the new store window designed by Am I Collective and styled by Joseph Delate. Please join us for a party for a cause tomorrow!
UseYourHead (Party for A Cause)
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
262 Mott St. New York, NY 10012
(212) 334-6755
www.useyourheadnyc.com
RSVP: rsvp2useyourhead@gmail.com
More news from Copenhagen: The Hopenhagen campaign from Ogilvy continues to blanket the city and other parts of the world as COP15 Climate Change Conference continues. Hopenhagen is “a movement to empower citizens to help create a better future for our planet by working together to combat climate change.” Global partners in the Hopenhagen campaign include Coca-Cola, Siemens, and SAP.
Andrew Bannecker worked on a series of posters for Coca-Cola that are displayed throughout the city as COP 15 is underway. The posters can be seen anywhere from on the sides of bus stations to giant billboards stretched across building facades.
The posters’ themes deal with Coca-Cola’s three main initiatives for sustainability: water conservation, recycling, and PlantBottle – a renewable, recyclable, plant-based plastic used in Coca-Cola bottles.
Comments Bannecker, “It’s seems clear that with the current environmental changes facing us, something needs to be done now. I hope that Hopenhagen will be a catalyst.”
If you’re wondering what to get your loved ones this holiday, look no further than the premiere gift guide, “The Flyer’s Collection.” It’s the peak time of year for travel so make sure you fly in comfort. Scratchy fabric seats? Try “Leather in a Jar.” Feeling the tight cabin space? Zip into the “Full Body Compression Garment.” No leg room? Strap yourself into the “Knee Jockey.”
These are just a few of the JetBlue offerings to get you through flying in high season if you were not able to book a JetBlue flight (actual items not for sale). The gift guide lampoon concept is the brainchild of Jim Wood, creative director at JWT. He worked closely with Jamie Chung and stylist Ariana Salvato.
In order to raise awareness on the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, the World Health Organization established World Aids Day in 1988. Observed on December 1st, it is a chance for organizations and individuals to “demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic.” According to 2008 data from the United Nations, approximately 33 million people around the world are living with HIV.
In Latin America, JWT worked with GAPA/BS (Grupo de Apoio à Prevenção à AIDS da Baixada Santista) on a campaign with the message “Be pure. Safe sex is never wrong.” GAPA/BS is a philanthropic foundation that hopes the campaign will change the perception of purity – that to remain pure, all it takes is protection. Several artists including Gary Baseman (work pictured above) and Tatiana Arocha volunteered their talent for the project, creating art for T-shirts, print media, and animation.
Representatives from the 192 countries that make up the United Nations are currently gathered in Copenhagen for the Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 15. Ten days of talks are scheduled until December 18th, aiming to establish official guidelines for reducing emissions from greenhouse gases.
Last September, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon reached out to global advertising agencies for support. After three rounds of intense reviews by the International Advertising Association and the United Nations headquarters in New York, OgilvyEarth’s compelling “Hopenhagen” campaign was chosen as the voice of the conference.
Ogilvy invited several photographers to participate in the project, but there is one in particular that is catching the eye of people around the world. Joachim Ladefoged’s photograph of two boys flexing their arms as Earth’s bodyguards is displayed prominently on a billboard in the center of Copenhagen Square.
Seen already in several news outlets such as BBC News, the image is being picked up by the media and distributed around the world. Ogilvy Creative Director Michael Paterson says, “We think it will become one of the iconic images of the conference.”
Launched in 2004, Tory Burch is a lifestyle brand with classic American sensibilities. In just five years the brand has grown in popularity to fast recognition, with many women sporting the Tory Burch medallion on their ballerina flats, totes, clothes, and more. Shoppers who visit the Tory Burch website will be greeted by a special homepage featuring the work of Andrew Bannecker as animated by KTV Media.
The cheery animation is a first by Andrew Bannecker, who hopes to do more animations in the future. Keep checking the Tory Burch website for new animations as the rest of the series unveils!
Cavit, the number one imported Italian wine brand in the United States and producer of the best-selling Pinot Grigio, was looking to raise awareness and bring its Italian heritage to the forefront. Alan Cresto worked with Agency212 on a new campaign that expresses what Cavit and other Italians have known all along – that life is meant to celebrated!
FriendsWithYou recently opened their flagship boutique in the heart of the Miami design district, perfectly in tune with Art Basel festivities. The boutique is a place “where fine art meets consumer products.” Marking the opening was a new line of limited edition merchandise including apparel, fine art, sculptures, prints, collectible toys and everything FriendsWithYou.
FriendsWithYou is a multi-disciplinary group that specialize in spreading their positive message of “Magic, Luck, and Friendship” through large-scale installations, special events, toys, and more. We invite you to “Shop Happy!” with them.
FriendsWithYou Flagship Boutique
3930 NE 2ND Ave, Suite 202
Miami, FL 33137
Steuben Glass has made functional and fine art glass products for over 100 years in New York. Their involvement in the arts has lead them to collaborate with artists such as Isamu Noguchi, Miro, and Georgia O’Keefe. The Madison Avenue flagship store houses an expansive gallery that is now showing the work of Stephen Wilkes.
For five years, Wilkes photographed the hospital complex on Ellis Island where immigrants with questionable health and contagious diseases were kept. Some eventually joined their families across the Hudson River, while others perished before they could reach their new life.
Wilkes’ photographs are of abandoned rooms with peeling paint and empty hallways overtaken by plant growth. Since his time on the island, the hospital buildings have been renovated and the signs of the past have been removed. Visit the exhibit Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom to get an eye-opening look into what was once the gateway to America, captured in time.
Stephen Wilkes, Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom
The Steuben Gallery
667 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10065
Showing now until January 4th, 2009
Robert Nachman, Creative Director of Steuben Glass, talks about the impact of Stephen Wilkes’ work, the importance of history, and more.
2009 has been a busy year for Tristan Eaton, founder of Thunderdog Studios. He’s traveled around the world for Dell Design Studio, launched the B-Bot iPhone application, been featured in Art for Obama, released Thundermutt 3.0, and created murals for the Ace Hotel. We caught up with Tristan again to discuss his latest project, the rebranding of the 2009 Soul Train Awards for Viacom’s new network, Centric. The comprehensive campaign includes logo design, a new train design, print and outdoor art, subway station takeovers, animation sequences, on-air graphics, and the Soul Train award itself. Interspectacular wrote, directed, and animated the pivotal opening sequence (shown above) and all transitional elements. Bernstein & Andriulli produced the entire show package.
With a television show as heavily embedded in America’s cultural history as Soul Train, all eyes were on Tristan and Thunderdog Studios to see where they would take the updated identity. Never one to shy away from high expectations, Tristan was honored to be chosen for the task. Working closely with other Viacom networks VH1 and BET, he sought to keep the funk and spirit of the original show while making it look sharp and modern for today.
When it comes to holiday entertaining, who better to consult than domestic maven Martha Stewart. Gracing the cover of the November Thanksgiving issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine is Matthew Hranek, who’s succulent turkey still-life is sure to inspire. Hranek and Martha Stewart Living have worked together on many issues, each as beautifully produced as the last. Hranek also shot the feature story, which is available for download at the Martha Stewart website. See more of his work here.
Martha Stewart Living November 2009 issue on sale at newsstands now.
November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. Virgin Mobile declares that youth homelessness is public enemy number one. Through RE*Generation, the charity arm of Virgin Mobile, a charity concert with performances by Public Enemy, Blink 182, Weezer, and more was held at the George Washington University Lisner auditorium. All proceeds went to Sasha Bruce House, a non-profit shelter for homeless youth in Washington D.C.
Contributing to the night was Textual Healing, “a series of interactive public projections and performance formats that encourage creation of dialog through text messaging from mobile phones.” At the concert, anyone could text their message to a specific number and see it projected it onto the auditorium wall. Txtual Healing has done a series of projects a round the world, you can view more of their work here.
It’s that time of year again, for happy gatherings and festive cheer. Mei Tao captures the seasonal spirit in J. Crew’s holiday catalog. Mei Tao has shot for J. Crew in studio and across the globe. This time, J. Crew had her flying down south to capture the latest looks against the pristine, wintry backdrop of Chile. Accompanying her to South America was stylist Sarah Clary. Tao, Clary, and J. Crew are longtime collaborators.
