CANLOVE: Upcycled Spray Paint Can Art

Love is in the air on this Valentine’s Day, but Los Angeles-based artists DJ Neff and Paul Ramirez promote a different kind of love. Started in 2011, this collaboration has blossomed into a full-fledged non-profit organization, CANLOVE, whose mission is to upcycle otherwise discarded or abandoned spray paint cans. Over the years, they have saved (by hand!) some 15,000+ spray paint cans from the landfill. And in the process created some beautiful, innovative and intriguing artwork. Armed with “spray bouquets”, blooming flower creations and heart-shaped works, CANLOVE can suit all your Valentine’s Day needs (visit their Flower Shop here). Not only do we love their work on a purely artistic level, but the fact that this work also has a purpose really makes our hearts pound.

Via canlove.org

Fauxsiacs

As we’ve mentioned before, we occasionally have a lapse of design envy. It doesn’t happen too often… after all, we are a pretty terrifically creative bunch here at Barbour. But sometimes we encounter work that is just so damn brilliant. So good, in a “why didn’t we think of that?” sort of way, that we have to concede our envy publicly (in a good way, of course). In this instance, it’s the illustrious work of New York-based designer and letterer Nick Misani. Though we are absolutely taken with Misani’s entire stunning body of work, we are particularly impressed with his ongoing Fauxsiacs series. Here, Misani hones his stellar lettering skills in the context of realistic mosaic illustrations to great effect. Misani’s work is clearly historically influenced, with a modern twist, and it’s no surprise that he has worked with design icon Louise Fili, perhaps the highest compliment. We will be keeping an eye on this series, which features destinations from around the world. The possibilities are endless, and hopefully coming to a city near you! Prints available here.

Via fauxsaics.com and Instagram

Musical Mashup Masterpieces

Musical mashups often produce unexpectedly interesting results. The fusion of contrasting artists and genres can make for some pretty special compositions. Los Angeles-based artist (and United States Air Force Staff Sergeant) Corban Lundborg, also known as COLD, recently explored this concept visually after being commissioned to create artwork inspired by vinyl (hence the 12″ square design). Lundborg draws inspiration from both arresting and iconic vinyl logos, and his love of hip-hop. His series VINYL features hip-hop legends adorned with classic rock logos, and the result is terrific. But Lundborg doesn’t just haphazardly create these combos… his process seems much more thoughtful than that. Take “West Side of the Moon” for instance. Perhaps the strongest of the bunch, Lundborg places Pink Floyd’s famous Dark Side of the Moon logo over Tupac’s third eye, “inspired by his revolutionary message and social maturity. The refracting of light occurs when a wave enters a medium where its speed is different, and Tupac approached the music industry at an unmatched momentum.” Lundborg’s work, too, embodies a rebellious spirit that we really admire. His clear creative talent paired with his contemplative approach is a recipe for success. And we wish nothing but the best for this brilliant young artist’s future.

Via cold-studio.com

Vibrant Natural Visuals by Niaz Uddin

With the majesty of the changing seasons fully upon us, we thought it fitting to look at the stunning work of Los Angeles-based photographer/filmmaker Niaz Uddin. His awe-inspiring photographs of natural landscapes often shot from an aerial perspective, have a beautiful, supersaturated feel that capitalizes on gorgeous colors found in nature.

Via niazuddin.com and Instagram

OK Go’s Revolutionary Music Videos

Just when we thought the golden age of music videos has passed and true innovation was practically impossible, enter Los Angeles-based pop/rock band OK Go, who have made a reputation for music video ingenuity again and again. Their latest two videos, “Upside Down & Inside Out” and “The One Moment” (both released within about the past 13 months) continue to push boundaries. The former is a gravity-defying feat via what is referred to as parabolic flight. Without knowing the context, one would think it was an exercise in CGI and green screen trickery. But what makes this gem of a music video so special is the fact that the video was shot in a single, 45 minute take. Then non-micro-gravity portions were simply edited out, for a seamless looking weightless romp to the song’s three-minute length. The latter, “The One Moment”, is touted with the distinct honor of “the shortest amount ever filmed for a music video.” The video uses just 4.2 seconds of footage, stretched out to the song’s full-length by slowing down portions by some 20,000 percent. Sounds pretty straightforward, but rest assured the logistics behind this were meticulously orchestrated by some super creative minds. OK Go is diligent about offering a behind the scenes look at these mini masterpieces, which just bolsters our assertion that some folks simply use more of their creative potential than others. We cannot even begin to wrap our minds around how one would even dream up these concepts, let alone bring them to life. But we’re certainly glad these guys did. In a single word: inspiring. Now watch the videos… okay, go!

Via okgo.net

Airportraits: Airplane Photography Like You’ve Never Seen

Architectural photographer and (self-described) “aviation dork” Mike Kelley has found a new and intriguing way to capture commercial airliners. If you’ve seen one YouTube video of airplanes taking off and landing (yes, that’s a thing… proof here, with over 2 MILLION views), you’ve seen them all. But Los Angeles-based Kelley documents these aircraft in a whole new way. What if you saw a flock of jumbo jets taking off or landing? Amazing sight, right? This talented photographer captures these very scenes in his brilliant series, cleverly titled, Airportraits. Kelley has spent the better part of nearly two years photographing airplanes and airports. After his initial piece, Wake Turbulence, a day’s worth of takeoffs from LAX’s south runways composited into a single image, took off (pun intended) via social media and subsequently named one of the top images of 2014, Kelley mapped out a plan to capture the “inherent beauty in aviation” through similar composite images from airports around the globe. The result is absolutely awesome, from shooting the underbelly of planes from Dockweiler Beach in Los Angeles departing around sunset, to the descent of morning rush arrivals at London’s Heathrow Airport. For fellow aviation dorks in your life (or folks like us who appreciate stellar photography in general), prints available here.

Via mpkelley.com and Instagram

Hot Diggety Dogs!

It’s been a while since we featured the work of Los Angeles-based design and illustration studio DKNG (previous posts here and here). Since we had just looked at some stellar minimalist bird illustrations, we thought DKNG’s dog breed illustrations a fitting followup. Design duo Dan Kuhlken and Nathan Goldman were commissioned by Golden Doodle “lifestyle brand for dog lovers” to illustrate ten of their favorite dog breeds, which were eventually used for some rad swag aimed at dog lovers. The results are terrific! We love DKNG’s bold, clean style.

Via dkngstudios.com

100 Hoopties by Jenny Beatty

Serial projects, that is, ones that are repeated at daily intervals for a set period of time, are really an exemplification of self discipline and ferocious creativity. One such example is a project called 100 Hoopties by Detroit-bred, Los Angeles-based designer and cyclist Jenny Beatty. While completing a masters program at SVA in NYC, Beatty spent one hundred consecutive days immersed in her two loves: design and cycling. Beatty exercised her stellar design skills and unending creativity while reimagining iconic pieces of artwork using only scrapped bicycle parts. In her own words, “The idea came about very serendipitously. I was living above a bike shop that was going out of business, and would walk past coming home every night to a sidewalk filled with left over “junk”. One day I came across a pretty much new set of mustache handlebars with butchers basket and snapped the gem up for future use. The bars/basket sat on my landing for the next 5 months – taunting me to do something with them. When the time came to submit our ideas for 100 days – I tried to think of something that would summarize my life of cyclist and graphic designer. As I was writing out my thoughts, I kept trying to find ways to use this basket and handlebars but it wasn’t until I started thinking about taking it apart that the magic happened.” Magical, indeed. Here are a few of our favorites.

More serial projects here and here and here.

Via 100hoopties.com

Artists Mark DB7 Turning the Big 4-0

Few athletes are as globally recognizable as icon David Beckham. Even here in the U.S. where soccer is not nearly the sports juggernaught that it is just about everywhere else on the planet, Beckham is a mainstay in the fabric of our vast celebrity culture. So it was fitting that the Bleacher Report recently commissioned artists to create unique illustrations of the soccer superstar to mark his 40th birthday. We really love the diversity of styles here. We won’t mention our favorites, but it’s safe to say that they are all pretty fantastic in their own way. These assorted artists, whose backgrounds and influences are as distinct as their artistic styles, include Steve Welsh (UK); Alexis Marcou (New York City), previous post here; Sebastián Domenech (Buenos Aires); Dave Merrell (UK), previous post here; Brandon Spahn (Bloomington, Indiana); Bram Vanhaeren (Belgium); Nikkolas Smith (Los Angeles); Melvin Rodas (Philippines); Rory Martin (San Francisco); Gabriel De Los Rios (New York City); James White (Nova Scotia).

Via Bleacher Report

Play with Oreo

Few food items are more iconic than the beloved Oreo cookie. Introduced 103 years ago tomorrow (Happy Birthday, Oreo!), this sandwich cookie has long been recognized as the best-selling cookie in the U.S. With credentials like that, it’s no surprise that the Oreo brand has a massive advertising budget that allows for some terrifically creative campaigns. Its most recent, Play with Oreo, has spawned a commission of 10 global artists (Shotopop, Jeff Soto, Ryan Todd, McBess, Andrew Bannecker, Geoff McFetridge, Andy Rementer, Alex Trochut, Craig and Karl and Brosmind) to create Oreo-themed masterpieces. Spearheaded by advertising firm The Martin Agency, these whimsical ads will be showcased outdoors in New York City, Los Angeles and Indianapolis, and across Oreo social media channels, throughout March. Makes us wanna reach for a tall glass of milk, and dunk.

Via playwithoreo.com