I always wondered during my travels to Europe if an expensive line of trashcans from Denmark would gain traction in design and shelter magazine-obsessed America. When I saw the line was picked up by Water Works and DWR (not to mention a few others), I realized that Vipp’s time had come, despite recessionary times. Even artist Dominic Wilcox took a shine to them. What makes this line even more intriguing is Vipp’s noteworthy annual limited-edition artist series, including amazing takedowns from Bono, Helena Christensen, Todd Oldham, Sir Terence Conran, Ron Arad and Christian Lacroix. Taking that momentum one step further is Vipp’s colorful Spring ‘09 celebration of NYC: The Yellow Cab Series. If you have a penchant for colors that pop in your kitchen or bathroom, as well as a desire for mechanical and design detail in everything in your home, then head over to a Vipp dealer to test drive this latest rendition. Death-defying speeds on 7th Avenue during rush hour not included.

As you collegiate types head back to school you’d definitely be wise to drum up some dope new posters to decorate your dorm room walls. Heck, even if you’re not in college you could probably use a few splendid images to spruce up your wall space. We recommend checking out the first series of A3 sized posters from Changethethought. The array of lush pop art images from Chris Cox are printed in sets of 100 on 100 lb True White Paper and are individually signed and numbered. They present a vivid visual feast that will show anyone entering your domain that your taste is undeniable when it comes to art. Head over to the Changethethought online store.

Nearly a year has passed since we told you about Changethethought, a site from our friend and fellow Spear Collective member, Chris Cox. The site is still going strong, but that's not to say it hasn't gone through some big tweaks. Changethethought still exhibits Cox's talent in the realms of print, illustration, typography, motion, the web and apparel, but a recent epiphany has led Cox began to change his thoughts. In his current blog post, Chris admits to feeling bogged down by the thought of “producing heaps and heaps of cool stuff.” As a result, our friend has become much more focused on “better design,” a decision we certainly applaud.

When I had the idea to form an artist collective and ultimately launched the Spear Collective with Jamie this March, we had no idea that we would garner such incredible recognition in such a short period of time. This month, our esteemed collective appears on the front cover of Computer Arts– the world’s best-selling creative magazine. The cover is 1 of 3 limited edition artist-covers that hits news stands today. For this project, Chris Cox, Dan Funderburgh and Ingi Erlingsson collaborated on a design to help share both our collective aesthetic and their vision of true collaboration. The cover itself is seriously awesome, and the inside story sheds some light on the step by step process the three guys used to create the cover.

The collective has been — and remains — one of our passion projects, and we’re humbled to be surrounded with such diverse and distinguished artistic talent. When we assembled these 26 “chosen ones” and began to sense the group dynamic build, we knew something special had been set in motion. Head out to your local news stand pick up this issue– it may be worth something one day. And to the entire Spear Collective: you make us proud! Keep your eyes peeled for more Spear Collective projects coming very, very soon.

On Saturday, March 31st from 6:30-9:00 PM at the Design Within Reach store in Boulder, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and DWR are putting on their second annual White Space event, White Space II. Josh was able to attend last year’s event, and really liked what he saw– it’s basically a live art event that puts 6 local artists to the test of creating something special in a short amount of time– their final work to be sold off to the highest bidder in a silent auction that will go on during the show; the proceeds will go toward future public art events presented by The Collection, a support group of the Boulder MoCA. This year, the Spear Collective’s own Chris Cox will fill some white space with artists Pattie Lee Becker, Paul Kraus, Markham Maes, Amanda Marie, and Jenna Wilson. Other sponsors of the event include Vodka 14 and Avery Brewery– which both happen to be the makers of some of my favorite boutique adult beverages. For those of you in or around Boulder, attendance at this event is mandatory!

Christopher Cox, friend and fellow Spear Collective member recently launched his new portfolio and once again our hats are off– it’s very slick (don’t worry, it’s not nearly as hard to navigate as his desk, shown here). His new site features tons more of his work to better exhibit his talent in print, illustration, typography, motion, web and the most impressive and surprising to us– apparel. Pop by his site, have a look around and be sure to drop into his online shop to see some of his designs on t-shirts, hoodies, etc. Congrats Chris!

Our friend Christopher Cox (the genius behind ChangeTheThought) has a solo exhibition tomorrow in Denver at The 400. He’s calling the show “Pop It Like It’s Hot”– since a lot of his work is influenced by street culture and is essentially pop art. He’s got a ton of new work framed and ready to take home– he’ll also be unveiling 3 new t-shirts and hoodie designs at the show. Music, free food, free drinks, and free love. Drop by if you’re in the Denver area, full invite after the jump.
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Established in 2001, ChangetheThought compromises the freelance projects of Art Director and Denver communications agency Cactus Graphic Designer Christopher Cox. ChangetheThought is unique in its ability to convey messages to its audience that generate a powerful and residual impact. Often these messages target the inadequacies of the political machine, our cultures obsession with monetary wealth, or like this work created for Woodsuch, which was created to explore “the reversed cultural notion that violence is acceptable and sex is vulgar.” Christopher has also recently launched a series of tees that target these same issues. Printed on American Apparel's new Poly Cotton blend these shirts promise to be comfortable. Pick one up from the online store and check out more of Chris' extensive and widely varied portfolio at ChangetheThought.