Spear Collective member Jason Thielke — who very recently took over Denver’s The 400 — has another solo show coming up in Boulder. CMYK, the title of his latest batch of work, will be up for looksies at Art and Soul gallery starting September 7th. I can’t seem to find the ending date for this exhibit, but that shouldn’t be a problem; everyone who knows what’s good for them will be there opening day, from 6-10pm, for Thielke’s reception. Full flyer after the jump. READ MORE…

Whether there’s any other similarities between the two, one thing is for certain: both Fred Durst and Martin Klimas have something in common: they both feel compelled to break stuff. While Durst likes people’s faces, Klimas prefers to keep physical violence out of it and instead, drops porcelain figurines in the darkness and photographs their surface impact with a high-speed shutter. The result is a paradoxical mix of calm and calamity. Rosecrans Baldwin over at The Morning News has a fantastic interview with Klimas about the creative process behind his photography, which is definitely worth checking out — as is the rest of his body of work. If you’re going to try this at home, though, you should probably ask permission before you lay into your dead grandma’s Lladro stash.

Last night, around ten o’clock, I swooped a copy of Charlotte Rivers’s Poster-Art; three hours later, I set it down, not even halfway through the 150+ pages of incredible poster design. A compilation of mass-market, personal, and limited-edition work by both new and old designers, the internationally compiled coffee table-ish book not only introduces the reader to an enormous selection of the best concert/event/for no particular reason posters out there, it also discusses the creative inspiration behind the work. Because posters are capable of having so many layers of meaning and influence, and are more conducive to creative freedom than, say, a full-on advertisement, they have always been one of my favorite mediums from which to analyze graphic design — and with the book’s addition of a explanatory paragraph for each design, I’m in heaven. There’s an impossible amount of inspiration in Poster-Art, so if you’re in a dry spell, pick one up for 30 buckaroos here.

Hey…cheap shirts and great design! Suddenly, I’m feeling a lot better about it being a Monday. Scott Rickey and Amy Fierro, the pair behind my over-early excitement, have three things going for them: a design studio (real or virtual, I’m not sure); a little online shop for pawning off prints, stationary, and clothing, all of their own making; and a blog (which currently seems a bit inactive, but here’s hoping). Obviously, all of that would be inconsequential if the two lacked design skills, but, thank the God of Weekdays, they don’t. They’re actually quite good. And guess what else? They sell very limited-edition (we’re talking runs of 5 here) tee-shirts for fifteen dollars. Fifteen dollars! That’s practically like buying a blank from American Apparel. Actually, what the? It is the same price as an American Apparel tee! Holy mother of…is this the MAFIA?! Best Monday like, ever.

Houndstooth on your dinner table? Say wha? The Haute Surface Collection, designed by Jamie Salm of Mio, a series of interlocking shapes cut from cork, designed to be laid out trivet-style on your dining table. They come in two types, the ZigZag Set — reminiscent of a zipper or railroad — and the Houndstooth Set, my personal favorite. The pixelated look of the venerable fashion classic makes for a humorous addition to the dinner table. Each set comes as a set of 12 pieces (six light, six dark) and can be arranged in any configuration your heart desires. Mio recommends them for use as trivets, table runners, place mats, or even mouse pads — but since I don’t have much use for those, I’d be tempted to slap a few sets on the wall. We can only hope the next step from here is houndstooth flooring.

There’s a good chance that “psyop” doesn’t necessarily mean anything to you, but maybe it’ll help if I write it like this: psy-op, as in psychological operations; as in some spooky government stuff that you don’t really want to know about. Their slogan is “[p]ersuade, change and influence.”

I’m telling you about this because PSYOP is also that name of an advertising agency which seeks to “win the hearts and minds of the public through creative content.” They make really pretty animations, you see, for companies like Target, Adidas, Toyota and others. In their employ is Cut & Paste-participating designer Mate Steinforth, who recently re-launched his site, and it’s quite nice. You can browse through his whole portfolio and see what he’s up to, but the most rewarding way to use mateuniverse — as it’s called — might be to look at his PSYOP slides, such as this one for Mastercard, and then to watch the full, prepared video on the PSYOP site; it’s a little like watching the entire creative process itself unfold. Also, watch this and tell me you wouldn’t give MTV another shot…I guess I have some episodes of The Hills to catch up on now. Damn.

Features from Swindle Magazine’s 12th issue are up on its website, and it’s packed to include articles about Brooklyn street art collective Faile, the L.A. art scene, and the 50th Anniversary of Ghana. Yes, that’d be the country of Ghana. Issue 11 contained information on something called “Pro Wrestling Guerilla,” and on the artist Matt Leines, whose work looks like this. But you’ll want to buy Swindle instead of just view it online, because it’ll be glossier, bigger, and more hard-covered in person. You can get it in a lot of places, including at You Work for Them. I feel like these guys don’t need me to write anything about them, though — all I really need to do is give you a link. Which, it seems, I’ve already done. Enjoy!

A couple of weeks ago, I flew out to London aboard the much-buzzed-about Virgin Upper Class. I’m surprised it took me this long to try Virgin, but it was indeed worth the wait. Being a major branding sucker, I was pleasantly exposed to the consistency of the Virgin identity throughout the entire experience; there are very few brands that deliver that ‘oh-man, that’s Virgin’ experience in everything they do better than these folks.

Pre-flight and the Lounge at Newark

Lounges usually embrace nothing but drinks, peanuts, and the occasional edible ‘finger sandwich.’ Even British Airways’ first class lounge paled in comparison to the Virgin lounge in Newark, where I enjoyed a handful of treats before my flight. I actually went from a few pieces of sushi as a light snack to a big, fresh salad and a delicious bowl of pasta — an odd combination, but I had to try a bit of everything. Weirdly enough, WiFi in the lounge was non-existant. I have to guess it was down, but the ‘Sony’ sponsored movie room was pretty nifty.

The In-Flight Experience

No more than 5 minutes after boarding, I was offered a flight suit (a set of awesome pajamas I’m still rocking), and not much longer than 20 minutes after take off the cabin attendants turned my seat into a sea of scrumptious pillows, with a proper bottom sheet, and a down comforter that created a truly inviting bed. Even before sleeping, Virgin branding was evident — the earplugs were packaged in a black paper sleeve with the word ’silence’ written in soft, lower-case Virgin typography delivered in gold, lowercase helvetica. In full disclosure mode, I must admit that I spent almost the entire flight sleeping. I requested not to be awakened, but before I crashed I did have a chance to play with all the gizmos, gadgets and in-flight entertainment. As I began to get sleepy, I asked for a second goose down pillow and completely checked out, sleeping almost six hours until the purple glow of the lights came back up. I was pleasantly awakened in order to have adequate time to take off my flight suit and prepare for landing.

With only a 5-minute glance at the in-flight entertainment system, it was pretty clear what I was dealing with. Virgin’s incredible positioning in music and entertainment gives them an unbeatable edge in the in-flight entertainment arena. Choices include dozens upon dozens of movies (probably hundreds), multi-player games, seat-to-seat messaging, and the like. Had I been on a day flight, I likely would have spent the entire time playing with the system.

If there were any downsides, as odd as this might sound, it’s that the flight was too short. There really isn’t enough time to get a proper night’s sleep, watch a few movies, along with enjoying the on-board, stand up bar in just seven hours. I do wish the seat had a ’tilt’, but I guess it’s almost impossible to have a completely soft lie flat bed that also delivers the ability to “tilt” this bed for better viewing of a flat screen.

Revivals Lounge at Heathrow

I’d never actually used the landing-lounge in an airport until I tried the Revivals Lounge at Heathrow. The main reason I stopped in was to grab something to eat since I’d slept through the breakfast service during the flight. What was meant to be a quick stop became an opportunity to take a hot shower, put on a fresh set of clothes, order some soft-boiled eggs (I’d just landed in England, after all) and take my time starting my day. Had I not decompressed after seven hours in an airplane, I would have been far less ready for my meetings that day.

All nuts and bolts aside, what made flying Virgin so refreshing was a combination of the brand’s wit, humor and dedication to no-questions-asked comfort. After all, I am a Jetrosexual, so why settle for anything less? I give Virgin the Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow thumbs up.