Design from Brooklyn with Love

My German roots have been calling me back to my heritage of late. Somehow I’ve been itching to tap in to my ancestry, noticing a strange new attraction to the German language, culture and even design. But I didn’t expect it to manifest itself in beer memorabilia.

As my girlfriend and I were driving along a quaint roadway recently, on a short getaway in Vermont, we came across one of the many barns in the state full of antiques. There, sitting in piles alongside vintage dresses and half renovated furniture, were these (mostly) German beer coasters. For years now I have been collecting coasters on my travels, journaling my way through public houses and bars. As I haven’t done much overseas traveling in the last few years — and the design in the states is admittedly lacking in inspiration — I’ve also been fairly bored with the hobby for awhile now. Now, in this dusty roadside bar, the type-loving half-breed that I am was in awe to find them. Now I’m happy to share, in a nice, new flickr photoset.

I love opening a friend’s link only to explode in a burst of laughter. So it is with the Minipop Cross Stitch photoset my friend Jason bookmarked today. There’s nothing quite like mixing pop culture with old pastimes from the day of Grandma. If only my grandparents had watched The Big Lebowski or listened to Public Enemy, I would have been laughing a long time ago.

I recently took a couple days off and drove up north with my girlfriend. Vermont is the one state in the union I’ve fantasized about since my childhood. But until now I have never stepped foot on its soil. Really, it is no less dreamlike now that I’ve physically been there, but it’s nice to have a tangible image of it in my head. And better still, I have photos to share. Here is some of the visual goodness I came across while traveling.

Still to come in part 2 are more photos (which are still stuck, unprocessed, in my 35mm film dinosaur), and a collection of antique German Beer coasters that I picked up along the way.

M.I.A.’s got a new video out. Bollywood disco. What will she do next?

Sting, Stuart and Andy sounded unbelievable! They ripped through pretty much every classic Police song in 2 hours. Sting’s voice was razor sharp and he looks like he can run a marathon. Well worth the $100 ticket! Check out the pics here.

Ex-Hyperaktivist, Michael Ciancio, has some dope-hot new work on his personal site. Mikey is in the middle of a one year residence at FABRICA, Benetton’s communication research center based in Treviso, Italy. We’re so proud of you (virtual cheek pinch here).

Hyperakt is without a doubt full of visually critical participants in the world of advertising. And, as a short visit to our studio will inform you, we are also made up of happily opinionated music lovers. But we’re clearly not the only fans crapping our pants in light of the latest slap in the face to both music history and (what’s left of) creative culture.

As even those of us without television sets may have heard, The Beatles song “All You Need Is Love” has been newly bastardized — not merely by way of a sloppy remake — but as a TV spot for the diaper manufacturer, Luvs.

View the ad below, read the story from an advertising perspective, or read the ever trustworthy general media’s take.