Plenty (though certainly not all) of people who are native to big cities such as New York are often too jaded to see the bizarre beauty inherent in the urban cityscape. Hailing from the war torn Bosnia and Herzegovina, and surviving that region’s tumultuous conflict, has given Kolorit (a.k.a Milos Radoicic) a keen appreciation for his adopted surroundings of the Big Apple’s urban jungle. Much of his photography shows a knack for finding a vitality in the seemingly mundane aspects of street life, while placing accents on both the symmetry and texture inherent in the scenery. For a closer look at Kolorit’s talent for creating arresting images, check out his site.

While Qoob TV fills my musical void and helps me keep up on the tunes making it in the Northern Hemisphere, there’s still a whole wide world of music that I wouldn’t have any access to if it weren’t for The Pop Manifesto. Designed as an online magazine with the occasional accompanying music clip paired with a story, The Pop Manifesto profiles the type of artists you’d likely only get on a mix from your jet-setting Swedish friend: Delorean, The Tough Alliance, Sally Shapiro. The design is easy, the photos are fresh and to mix it up a little they’ve thrown in features on clothing brands as well as a sexy fashion spread. Call it coincidence, but the new issue does highlight a few hotties from the Scandinavian country. Maybe this time it will be you who who introduces a few new artists to your friend.

Upper Playground and Digital Gravel have partnered to produce a limited edition line of Barack Obama T-shirts featuring artwork from the Upper Playground x Barack Obama sold-out print series. The Obama graphic T-shirts showcase designs by The Date Farmers, Munk One, Sam Flores, Alex Pardee, Grotesk, Morning Breath and Ron English. Under 300 tees were made for each graphic, and the retail price for each shirt is just $20. All proceeds go directly towards creating new promotional projects in support of Obama’s bid for president up until the election in November. The shirts are currently available in men’s and women’s styles.

When most people are asked to name three people they’d love to have dinner with, living or dead, usually go with the some holy trifecta along the lines of Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr., and Gandhi. While All Day Buffet might never be able to deliver on that type of panel, they’ve generously compiled quite the lineup of lively innovators for The Feast. On October 16th at NYC’s Scandinavia House, they’ll gather 150 of the world’s most inventive minds to discuss prevalent issues and galvanize a movement for socially conscious change in arenas ranging from business to science. Speakers will include Piers Fawkes of PSFK, Scott Belsky of Behance, and Ecopop’s Chad Rea amongst others. While we have no idea if any meal is actually being served, the conversation is sure to be riveting. So get yourself a ticket pronto before they run out.

PatchTogether is an almost year-old community project for character designers and toy collectors. Initially based on the model of several T-shirt websites, PatchTogether presents a space to submit toy designs and have them critiqued, voted on and possibly put into production. Winning designs are selected based on member participation such as voting, comments and the number of hits for the page. They are then manufactured in PatchTogether’s factory in China. The site’s founder, Miller Song, refers to this way of making toys as “prosumer product.” A handful of designs, including the popular Yeti Guy and Timmy the Toxic Slimeball, have been chosen as winners and are currently available for pre-order. Last month, PatchTogether launched a new On-Demand service. When pre-order demand meets a set run number, production of the toy begins. With the On-Demand service, designers don’t have to win PatchTogether’s competition to have their toys produced. Currently, PatchTogether makes toys in vinyl and resin, with metal, wood and plush as options for smaller runs.

Hiroshi Fujiwara, Junya Watanabe, Takashi Murakami. These are all household names by now, and if you are not familiar with them, you should be. I think the late Amy Spindler said it best in her 2002 NY Times article: Japan (Tokyo) is the capitol of fashion. Since then, the aforementioned men and others, have helped expand Japan’s roster beyond just technology and fashion and have brought to the forefront of culture, design, music, and art. There is something about Japanese products that appeals to so many, and transcends the played out Anime/Manga fetish that (admittedly) led the way for this “invasion.” For an interactive crash course, Felissimo Design House is hosting the Japan C event. The 11 week event is an all-encompassing celebration of everything that “cool, cute, creative, and clever within Japanese culture.” In addition to the exhibits, there are weekly events with designers and product demonstrations. The event, which started on August 16th and goes through November 1st, is free to the public and will feature over 70 Japanese firms. If you get a chance to check it out, leave a comment and let us know what you think. I am particularly fond of Shin Tanaka’s (papercraft) work and think the plant in a keychain idea is pretty awesome as well.

After prior partnerships, with the likes of Wood Wood and DPM, you could say that Penfield is no stranger to dope collaborative. This Fall season they’ve prepared yet another piece de resistance by joining forces with NYC based streetwear store Alife Rivington Club to churn out a technically taut wind-runner jacket, the stylish and shipshape 100% nylon A.R.C. Penfield jacket. It comes in three color combinations full ofouterwear amenities such as pouch pockets, an adjustable hood, and elastic cuffs.

I wear (almost) exclusively collaboration or quickstrike sneakers, so believe me when I say nobody does it better than Atmos. Just the other night, I was showing a friend all the small details that they put in their kicks. Continuing this trend of innovation and quality, Atmos has teamed up with (the other) beloved striped shoemaker K-Swiss for a six part collection. The featured shoes include the Classic Lo’s (black & white), Classic Luxury Edition Boot Jewel, Si-18 Bristel High, and Si-18 Rannell. The sneakers are unmistakeably K-Swiss but with twists like D-ring lacing, suede, gold accents, and even crystals in the Luxury Edition boots. Limited to just 300 pairs globally, the collection is dropping September 18 at Atmos Harlem as well as Saks Fifth Avenue with Atmos Toyko debuting on September 28th. Mark your calendars!

More pics after the jump.

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