Archive for April, 2010
Apologies to any folks who were looking forward to a bit more coverage from our trip: we’ve been quite preoccupied running around both Hong Kong and China and we’ve hardly had a moment to blog. Anyhow, last Thursday we went to visit one of the factories we work with in China. They had just begun production on our Little Giants sculptures, and we were actually able to see most of the process. While I’ll save the photos and explanation of that stuff for later this week or early next, right now I’m happy to offer a glimpse into the factory’s trophy room. Over the years they’ve kept a literal museum of most/some of their products, including a number of thirty-plus-year-old toys they made for the Japanese market. But I mean these guys had everything — from LeBron James action figures to Popeyes and an old-school Fred Flintstone. The absolute gems however were the silver Mega Men Ultraman characters shown above on the top shelf. Many thanks to Terrance for his hospitality and for showing us around. Look below to check out our favorite toys from the museum. More stuff to come…
So after 16 — at times brutal, at times cathartic — hours on the airplane we finally made it to Hong Kong late last night! First things first: they have Google, which is great … but brief since we’re heading to the factories in Southern China tomorrow. I definitely wasn’t prepared to spend ten whole days without my go-to source for basically everything, so having it at the get-go was oddly comforting. After taxiing from the airport, Jason and I ventured through the area surrounding our hotel, The Empire Wan Chai, and came upon this awesome urban park, complete with a full-sized concrete soccer field and numerous basketball courts. That and a seriously modern and efficient (read: fast) metro system are two things that New York should attempt to replicate ASAP. We slept for about four hours max and got up this morning ready to explore the city. For starters, the best way to describe Hong Kong is like Chinatown on steriods. The hustle and bustle is pretty intense: it makes New York City seem lethargic and tame in comparison. It’s not just the people, it’s the stuff too. Never have you seen so many shops that are the same in both aesthetic and merchandise offerings. But being the product makers that we are, this city is full of inspiration. Maybe that’s because many goods — like the sets of headphones shown above — are presented in sleek, colorful packages, kind of like candy. Some of the headphones are even affixed with plastic gum and Skittles, only adding to the allusion. Check out Panda Bear and Hello Kitty lamps below. Off to the home furnishing portion of the Hong Kong Gift Fair now. Adios! -Quincy
Tomorrow afternoon, Jason and I are setting out on an adventure across the world! We’ll be spending 10 days in Hong Kong and also taking a couple of day trips into mainland China to visit the factories where the Little Giants and another, top-secret product are currently in production. On the tail-end of the trip, we’ll also be attending the 2010 Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair — one of the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. While things might be a little quiet here on The Jailbreak over the next two weeks, we’ll try our best to post daily diary-esque entries with photos and video content. We’ll also be documenting our trips to the factories, giving you guys a unique glimpse into the process of how products like ours actually gets made. Next week will also mark the beginning of our Made in China series, as Mr. James Murphy will be showing us around and answering a bunch of questions. If any readers just happen to be in Hong Kong during our stay, let us know so we can get together for a drink. Also, we would greatly appreciate any recommendations about things to do and see! Have a good couple weeks, wherever you may be! -Quincy
Our real-life friend, Kerin Rose, has been making splash after splash in the fashion world of late with her eccentric eye-wear and accessory line, A-Morir. We think you need to know about her because her work is daring, original and way outside-the-box. She’s obviously pushing some creative boundaries with her concepts and, in so doing, she’s blurring the lines between low brow and high brow. Obviously, that kind of stuff is right up our alley, but we’re definitely not the only ones who are digging what Kerin’s got going on. So far, her hand-crafted shades have been rocked by Rihanna, Snoop Dogg, Mariah Carey, Katy Perry and Fergie, to name a few. (We can name drop for a friend, right?)
 All photos by Imogen Brown
As profiled in a late-March issue of Time Out New York, chef Melia Marden and filmmaker/DJ Frank Sisti Jr. live in what is quite possibly the coolest (and most colorful) 1br loft in New York City. Surrounded by pop-culture memorabilia and vintage furniture, the couple’s East Village abode is more art gallery than living quarters. Some of the items displayed include limited-run books and comics, a neon sign in the shape of a TV, a massive No. 2 pencil, outdated technological devices, a gumball machine, and a throne dedicated to their always-growing toy and figurine collection. Click through to see a bunch more photos, or head over to TONY to read the article in its entirety.
Wait until members of PETA get ahold of this one: A company called Radiant Farms in County Meath, Ireland, is the world’s sole distributor of, yes, Canned Unicorn Meat. Unknown to most, Unicorn meat is an excellent source of nutrients, and even more exciting, each part of its body tastes (as indicated in the graph above) like a different happy thing. Except the underbelly, which reportedly tastes like superglue. Overall, the meat is said to resemble “rotisserie chicken with a hint of marshmallow sweetness,” and is packaged in a Spam-like container emblazoned with a rainbow. What’s more, the tiny sparkles inside the meat (read: the best part) are actual bits of ground rainbow, collected by the Sisters at Radiant Farms. There is nothing in the world that tastes better than a rainbow. Click here to pick up a 14-oz. can or two before the picket signs and nude celebrity photo-shoots start to materialize. Check out a larger image of the Unicorn Meat and read a list of its “Meat Specifications” below. Fresh from London graphic design outfit Haniboi comes this creative re-purposing of the cassette tape as a coin, cash and credit card container. The four-colorway offering is awaiting its release in the UK and online sometime next week, but in the meantime we have some exclusive information about the product straight from the Haniboi camp. The “Hanitape” (as it’s being called) is press molded out of recycled silicone rubber into a single form so it doesn’t tear apart when bent. Additionally, the case is held together by hidden magnets — a pretty interesting mechanism for making sure stuff doesn’t fall out. Look on Haniboi’s website around the 21st for purchasing info, or sign up for their e-mail blasts to receive an update when it officially drops. Click through for a bunch more photos. Things That Might Be Art is a new weekly feature here on The Jailbreak. We will present you, our readers, with a product, idea or creation that skirts the line between art, design or something else entirely. Then you will tell us what you think via a handy poll. Sound good? Great, let’s get started.
Street performers are artists, right? And while they don’t have the luxury of a canvas or a stage to work on, they do get to practice their craft out in the open for everyone to see. It must be a calling that constantly hovers between the most- and least-lonely activities imaginable. The best street performers I’ve ever seen were on Las Ramblas in Barcelona — a stretch of town inhabited by throngs of tourists by day and then by prostitutes and peddlers at night. The street artists dress like angels; they dress like demons; they dress like Tim Burton characters; and they dress like Atlas, weighted down by the world on his shoulders. But the man shown above didn’t come from across the pond. No, Mirror Man is an American institution, first (and only?) popping up outside the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles in October 2009. Perhaps his mirrored costume is somehow commenting on the lack of internal reflection in our society, or maybe he just wants to make everything around him look cool by bouncing light in tangents off his façade. Do you think the Mirror Man is art? [Gizmodo via Toxel / Photos via Flickr]
Vegetarian readers: avert your eyes or (for Apple users only) hit Command + W now. Artist Lauren Venell‘s array of meaty plushes might just convert you back to the dark red side. Her limited run of “Sweet Meats” includes individual and family sized stuffed pork, hambone, T-bone and bacon. Pick one up from our friends over at the Neon Monster.
When the App Magnets were first released in March, Yael, from one of our all-time favorite blogs, The Dieline, dropped a note about featuring them on her influential and widely-read online packaging resource. It was our great pleasure, being the fans that were and are, to send her a sample so they could better photograph and examine our newest product. After a few weeks of waiting, the article and two beautiful images have been posted. We have to admit that it’s a great honor to have our product highlighted for its packaging — a craft we’ve worked tirelessly at perfecting. Included in the article, which is embedded below, is their review of the package and the product, along with some thoughts from Jason about how the magnets came to be and what they represent to us here at the Jailbreak Collective. Please check it out below, or head over to The Dieline and read it on their turf. Thanks, Yael! We appreciate it.
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