Not too long ago, we told you about the design competition Cut&Paste, a timed tournament currently cruising through 11 international cities. Last week, Cut&Paste found its way to NYC, where eight local designers were pitted against one another in an edge-of-your-seat battle for first place. We scored big time when we landed an interview with the future winner of the competition. We then scored even bigger-time when time (and talent) placed the gold medal in the hands of a certain Mate Steinforth. Not only had we (Dan Steckenberg) previously posted on some of Mate’s awesome work, but our collective drool actually drowned Dan’s computer, leaving us with a sort of slimy metal spitwad.

…OK, maybe not. But needless to say we were impressed. And with good reason; Mate has one hell of a background leading up to his current ‘07 Cut&Paste victory. A traveler, a computer nerd, an ardent user of emoticons, Mate has earned his position among the design elite with all the work and fervor that one would expect from a guy of his caliber.

Mate currently works for PSYOP, a New York production company that will turn reading this interview into a 45-minute affair (given you click on that link). I say that truly hoping you do click on over, because watching every single one of their brilliant productions just added about that much time to writing this interview, and it was totally worth it. However, if you’d rather invest your time in 100% pure Mate, you can always check out his portfolio at mateuniverse, the site where he keeps a running collection of both personal projects and work he’s done for PSYOP.

In closing (and beginning), I’d like to remind you that Cut&Paste judges its contestants on three things: Originality, Technique, and Overall Dopeness. As you can tell from the posted pictures of Mate’s winning design (more of which can be found here), we are clearly dealing with a man who eats dope for breakfast (and by that I clearly mean “dope” in its context as the noun form of dopeness, not as in “Mate eats pot every morning”). So, read on knowing that you are in the internet presence of a man who can probably teach you a thing or two, who is also incredibly nice, and who — BOOYAH! — just won Cut&Paste NYC.

Joshspear.com: Tell us about Demoscene. How did this throw you into graphic design?

Mate Steinforth: In 1985, when I was 9 years old, I got my first computer, which was pretty early for my generation. So I was interested in technology from an early age on. This naturally led to using the computer as a tool for making images. In my teen years I became active in the computer art subculture called Demoscene. READ MORE…

I first became aware of the problem that electronic waste, or “ewaste,” poses to the ecosystem through the documentary film Manufactured Landscapes, which played here in New York a few months ago. In the film, you see a whole community in China dedicated to tearing apart ewaste — used motherboards, keyboards, monitors and the like — and separating the metals that can be reused from the used-up waste. That waste is mostly toxic, and we don’t have a good way of dealing with it so it tends to sit in landfills and slowly contaminate the soil and water supply.

But Chilean designer Rodrigo Alonso has a better idea of what to do with ewaste. A much better idea. His N+ew project (”no more electric waste”) combines ewaste, epoxic resin and aluminum repurposed from soda and beer cans, and turns it all into a stool that is as much a piece of art and a conservationist statement as it is a place to put your butt. When you go to Alonso’s very swank website you’ll see the stool in all of its disheveled glory under the “designs” tab. You’ll also find Alonso’s other, more domestic but no less intriguing designs there. Alonso calls this his “happy ideas lab.” Aptly put, sir.

Gothamist reported yesterday that the MTA (the body that oversees the subways & buses here in NYC) has inked a $46M deal to wire the subway platforms throughout the city for cell phone use. Just the platforms, not the lines themselves. For those of you who haven’t been to NYC, the subway platforms aren’t the most comfortable places in the world. They’re dark, dank, dingy, and dirty. During the summer, the only thing you want to do down there is stand as still as possible and pray for a breeze. Of course, I’m told this is all a step up from 20 years ago.

But the deal begs a question: just how connected is TOO connected? Does anyone really need to be talking on their cell phone while they’re waiting for the train, only to have to hang up as soon as it gets there? Is there a point when we’re just too plugged in and a break becomes a good thing — even if it is waiting around on a hot, stinky subway platform? Oh, and I should clarify, the MTA is being paid $46M for this “convenience,” in case anyone was questioning their crystal-clear motives.

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Apparently, dead bird artwork is making waves outside the taxidermy-ing circles these days. We pointed out Michael Sans’ Cuckoo Clock not long ago, and now I’ve got another for you: have a look at Ted Noten’s Starling Bag, featuring a starling bird cast in acrylic. It’s unclear from Ted’s site whether the “bag” is functional or intended purely as artwork — maybe that’s a dumb question, but I could definitely see someone in NYC sporting it on their way to work. That’s just how we roll around here.

Anyone else have any aviary artwork moments we need to know about?

Related post: Michael Sans’ Cuckoo Clock

A family album, a statement of personal identity and a nod to tradition; it’s rare for an article of clothing to be any of these things, let alone all of them. Yet the two hats in the Evil Monito x Kangol collaboration — a cabby hat and a fedora — manage to pull off the feat, and to do it with absolute cohesion. These hats are instant classics.

The shape of the cabby model, and the fabric — British millerain wax cotton — are nods to Kangol’s past. The lining of both hats, silk printed with Evil Monito founder Rickey Kim’s family photos, are a nod to Kim’s identity as a first generation American and to the debt he owes to his father, who emigrated to America from Korea in the 1970s. It’s evident that Kim has had a complicated relationship with his father. “As a child, I grew to fear him. As an adolescent, I grew to despise him. As an adult, I no longer knew who he was,” says Kim. Yet by including his family album on these pieces, Kim has found a way to both work through his issues and do what he does best: make striking clothing. Of course, if you check out the Evil Monito store you’ll see a lot of nice things for sale, but you won’t see these Kangol hats. That’s because they aren’t available yet….but they will be soon.