Alexander McQueen for Target

Courtesy of Nylonmag.com

I am sure many of you have heard the news that Alexander McQueen has joined the ranks of Comme des Garcons, Stella McCartney, and Karl Lagerfeld, and is officially designing a line for Target. Upon hearing this, I promptly swooned in anticipation, and began planning my strategy of circumnavigating every shop carrying the collection in a 50 mile radius of Jersey City. I began fantasizing of a summer wearing gold embroidered peacocks, military coats, and Napoleonic-themed sun dresses.

Then I saw the preview. And then I frowned.


Courtesy of Nylonmag.com

Ok, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of really great basics in this collection. There are some extremely nice jackets and cardigans, whose pieces have a very intelligent, angular and minimal cuts. There are a few pieces I definitely want in my wardrobe: specifically, the one-armed tank, the grey geometric dress. I will beat someone over the head for the grey motorcycle jacket. The grey platforms are the nicest shoes I have ever seen come out of Target. (Yes, I have a thing for grey).

BUT. But. This is ALEXANDER MCQUEEN. you know...


Courtesy of Style.com

And yes, I know it would be impossible for them to provide the level of embellishment and perfection as the runway piece, but I expected it to at least have some CUES from his standard fare. Even Comme des Garcons pieces for H&M had that quirky flair that made them feel like they were Kawakubo. There are certain cues I feel are undeniabley McQueen, them being:

- unique, multifaceted fabric patterns
- eccentric embellishment
- a sense of drama

All three of these are severely lacking in the Target pieces. And not one pair of interesting pants?


Courtesy of Nylonmag.com

I am disappointed. I think that even for a more conservative retail market, McQueen could have pushed the boundaries further in this collection. Instead, it feels like he almost forcibly contracted to become more desirable to a larger market, rather than simply being limited due to material and economic constraints. I would have liked to see at least one beautiful fabric pattern (I find the monochrome neon pink tribal and grey face-screens rather generic and dull), and a couple of pieces that held on to the eccentric sense of imagination that makes McQueen's work so unique.

However, I feel that whenever a high-end designer embraces the retail end, it is a step in the right direction. Make sure you cue up early friends - this is sure to sell out quickly.

To see the whole preview, click here.

What do you think of the collection? Am I alone in this?

The Greatest Animated Gif Ever Created...

I must found out who made this, because they deserve a savage high-five.

The Best Spam Ever

Ok, so spamming is evil and horrible, and anyone who partakes in it should be dragged out and beaten with a baseball bat covered in flesh-eating fire ants. But today I found this in my inbox, and I have to just take a moment to show the world how brilliant (and hilarious) this piece of spam is:


Click here to see full size.

You have to hand it to this guy (or gal; don't let it be said I am sexist about my slimy slimebags). This is by far the greatest piece of phishing spam I have ever seen. I mean, it has it all - the White House banner, the FBI address, ROBERT MUELLER. The person who made this is by far the most ambitious spammer in the field. But the piece de resistance has to be the final note at the bottom of the email, warning the recipient about email imposters!

Bravo, slimy email spammer. Though one note for next time: the FBI probably doesn't use "gmail."

When Good Logos Go Horribly Wrong

The story: Last April, the United Kingdom's Office of Government Commerce begins a rebranding campaign, spearheaded by London-based design firm, FHD. One of the major pieces of this new visual identity is, of course, a logo. The new logo, a stylish and rather simple affair, is launched with much fanfare to the company and public:




The logo is well-received, and production is started to put it on all sorts of office doo-dads. A spokesman for the OGC reports, "The new identity has been extremely well received, as it presents a very clean, uncluttered and modern identity."

An uncluttered, modern identity.

And then someone turned their head a bit:


O snap.

It turns out that the logo has a bit of a hidden "visual identity" - the kind you don't want your mother to see.

Remarkably, the Office of Government Commerce has chosen to move forward with the logo, and issued the following statement regarding the "gripping" graphic object:

"The proposed version, which you have sent over, has been shared with staff, and is now going through final technical stages. It is true that it caused a few titters among some staff when viewed on its side, but on consideration we concluded that the effect was generic to the particular combination of the letters 'OGC' - and is not inappropriate to an organisation that's looking to have a firm grip on government spend!"

(Snatched from The Register, thanks Hutch!)

I have seen the future: and it is a creepy Japanese girl

Motion Portrait says about their services: "MotionPortrait is the technology that automatically creates 3D face model from one single picture, which can be animated in a variety of facial expressions."

What that translates to is "HOLY FUCKING GOD MAKE IT STOP"
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If you'll excuse me, I need to go cower under my desk.
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