Hub & Spoke

[designhubme-blog]

James bond, Skyfall, run up some stairs, bump into people, win some tickets, drink Coke Zero...So many things to keep up with! Here is how it was all promoted. #Brilliant!

[designhubme-blog]

After the insane success of RedBulls stratos mission, we share with you a scaled down version of the whole experience, in LEGO! Simply awsome!

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Share Beirut Internet Activism Culture

This week SHARE Beirut is in full swing. "SHARE Beirut is a weekend-long public, free and non-commercial hybrid event blending an Internet culture and technology related daytime conference with dynamic cutting-edge music festival by night. It will bring together hundreds of passionate people, forward-thinkers, cultural creatives, activists and artists from Lebanon as all around the world for talks and parties in 72 hours of powerful gathering to share ideas, knowledge and creativity." Visit the site and read more HERE.

[designhubme-blog]

IKEA regrets this happening in their Saudi catalogue

If photos speak louder than words, then this one takes the lot. I am an IKEA fan and am disturbed and disappointed by this. They should have never let it get published, but they did, and now they regret it. So what do you think about this? Read the full article here.

[designhubme-blog]

Across the pond it is elections season. Homer Simpson seems to have his say in all of this, and I must say that this is a good one. :)

[myexperiencedesigned]

No Place Like Home: Shoes that guide you home. #IxD 

[designhubme-blog]

When Beirut gets hit by International street artists.

Beirut has been witnessing a wave of street art by artists from all over the world. This is all part of an exhibition organized at the Beirut Art Center in association with Fondation Saradar and a team of three curators. The artwork can be seen all over Beirut. CLICK here to check out the website and find out more.This is definitely something to see, so check the maps and make a trip around Beirut to see the work. The huge piece in the photo above by Chilean artist INTI is in the Hamra street area. Mind Boggling!

The one negative thing in my opinion about the permission that was issued by the Beirut governer (allowing the artists to work in Hamra, the old train and bus station and many other locations) is that many writers are abusing it and are out vandalizing property with primitive sesame street graffiti all over town. We love street art and love the scene, but throwing ugly things up on peoples store fronts and walls of buildings is simply not cool. I suggest you get practicing in those black books and plan your piece before cluttering the neighborhoods. 

[designhubme-blog]

Will animated gifs become the future of photography?

Ever since I was introduced to Cinemagram (a smart phone app), creating animated gifs on the go has been easier than ever. Now, I am not saying that the app is the ultimate way to create animated stills, but it is definitely a great platform for quick experimentation. So are animated gifs the future of photography? I somehow believe they are. With the rise of "paper" capabale of displaying short videos the whole game will probably change when it comes to still photography. Imagine flipping through a magazine and feasting your eyes on a clothing ad where a woman for example is standing on a cliff and the only thing moving is her hair. If you ask me, I would say thats pretty awsome :). The possibilities are endless. Now let us hope that paper I mentioned will be available everywhere.  The photo you see above is by New York City based photographer/blogger Jamie Beck. 

[designhubme-blog]

Greetings! I am back after a long vacation that took me to Scandinavia and Sweden to be more specific, which lead me to this video for Carlsberg beer from last year. And Swedes do need to loosen up a bit, but I do understand that its tough when you wait for the summer all year, and it doesn't show. Check out all the missions performed by people for Carlsberg on the youtube page.

[designhubme-blog]

30 Billboards in the UK get vandalized pre-olympics

What happens when a group of street artists take over existing billboards in the UK to push forward a statement regarding branding regulations for the London 2012 Olympics? CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE IMAGES HERE.

From the Brandalism website:

Installed over five days in one continuous road trip that has covered the length of the country, the Brandalism crew have hit 33 spots in 5 cities. Edited and developed on the fly, this project sees the culmination of 8 months work and we will be adding more content to the site after we get some serious sleep, updates will follow daily…

[designhubme-blog]

Arabic/Turkish coffee pot gets a smart makeover

Howdee, folks! Yes it has been a while since we posted something and we are not too proud of it, but we are back with some fresh design stories that will hopefully inspire. So I have some slightly mixed feeling about this post. My first impression of this coffee pot is a good one in terms of looks. Nice contrast, nice mix of materials, colors... My second impression is about functionality and the reasons for its creation. In Lebanon arabic/turkish coffee if very popular and has been since the beginning of time I suppose. The process of making this coffee can be a messy one, only if you do not pay attention and you let it boil over. So maybe this coffee pot should be accompanied by a manual called: "Arabic coffee for dummies?" Do not get me wrong though, I like the way it looks and will probably buy a few myself :) CHECK OUT MORE PHOTOS HERE.

[designhubme-blog]

Every time the word Sweden comes to mind, we might think of blonde people, trees, vikings, snow, cold weather, deer, moose, seafood, quiet people, democracy, telecom and so on. What do we think about when we see @Sweden? Ok, a twitter account for the country Sweden sure. So who would take on such a responsibility? Check out the Video :)

[designhubme-blog]

What does LEGO look like on the inside?

When I was growing up, LEGO was one of my favorite toys. I also do not think I ever built what the box said I was supposed to. The fun was all about how many different things you could build and go against the flow :). Artist  Jason Freeny took it to the next level. LEGO anatomy! This is amazing! Check out the full project here.

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Want to avoid facial recognition? Easy Peezee

So another week begins with another post here at Hub & Spoke. An interesting article on avoiding facial recognition. Since the world we live in today has become more and more monitored and privacy keeps diminishing by the minute, tricking cameras into NOT recognizing your face is a perk :D. I tried it with my smartphone and it works. Now imagine what it would look like when everyone walking down the street has their head tilted to one side or the other. FIND OUT MORE HERE.

[designhubme-blog]

Here is a super clever anti-smoking video from Thailand. Videos speak louder than images & words :D

[designhubme-blog]

When students inspire through great design ideas :)

Hey folks, it has been a few days since I last posted something. I was hiding and just resurfaced :) So while going through some student work on lovely package i saw this kids work. Mountain milk from Norway. I can only say that this is beautiful work and makes me want to grab one of those bottles straight out of the fridge and guzzle it down with some cookies. Mm'm. CHECK IT ALL OUT HERE!

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The team at Interesting Times are back with a new video for LB (Lebanese Brew)! Get ready, summer 2012 is the last summer on earth, make every moment count, go all out, balls to the wall, cakes in face, beer in the belly...Check out the full campaign right HERE!