Logos are a love/hate thing. If you’re a lover, the bigger the better, and on every article you own. If you’re the latter, you end up leaving a lot of your favorite labels on the racks and shelves. The Comme des Garcons play logo has become one of the most recognizable and loved for the Japanese brand despite being largely plastered on t-shirts and to a lesser extent, cardigans, polos and coats. Haters can’t resist. Neither can the counterfeiters – just check eBay. This is from way back, but a little history on an influential brand never hurt anybody (we suggest starting with Nike’s iconic swoosh first). From Poland to Japan, Filip Pagowski gave birth to CDG’s iconic logo surprisingly organically after working with CDG on and off for a few years before being discovered by Rei Kawakubo.

“The PLAY logo happened just like that! I remember working on something, while all of a sudden not connected to anything, I got this idea of a red heart with a set of eyes. I drew it instantaneously and the first draft was it. The rest is history.”

Read the rest of the interview here.

We recently made our first trip offline into print with our spot in Art & Design Montreal. Straight from the source, through expositions and publications, “A&D will contribute to the rise of Montreal design as much on the local scene as the international…From photography, illustration and graphic design through fashion and industrial design, A&D concentrates on four points of view: personal work, commercial work, the relationship to the client and the creative dimension.”

Our spread features none other than our E in C and the contents of his carry-on bag on a recent trip out West. We’ve always found it pretty interesting to see what other creative types carry around with them, so we were thrilled to share. If you’re wondering, our new logo on the bottom left corner is on lockdown until we drop our upcoming projects.

Big ups to Jimmi Francoeur for the opportunity. A&D is available here.

KanyeWest.com was launched and marks a distinctive new aesthetic in design for the Yeezy brand. Long gone are the Japanese-inspired illustrations, the new look is clean and simple. While typically this is a recommended approach, the site is marred with usability issues. For one, the splash page is completely and utterly useless. Its only function is to generate a click, and frustration from the user. Secondly, invisible menus? Come on, that’s just completely pointless and juvenile. Admittedly, it’s a designer’s wet dream to get rid of everything on the site, but there is a reason no one really does it – because it makes enjoying the site and its content impossible! And really now, the sounds of an airplane? I’m at a loss for words. Your thoughts?

From the ancient Gladiators in Roman amphitheaters fighting to the death, to public executions which still happen to this day in certain regions of the world, it seems to be an inevitable curiosity of life to try to catch a glimpse of that last fleeting moment before it’s lights out. Sure it may be morbid to speak about, but death is that one and only certainty in life. Who among us hasn’t looked at the gruesome shock-photos on Rotten.com as a teenager, or spent hours reading the last statements of executed offenders from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

London-based photographer/designer James Reynolds offers an extremely interesting series of photographs documenting former Death Row prisoners’ requests for their last meal before execution in a collection called “Last Suppers”. The minimalist aesthetic compounds the viewers’ reaction to these images; thoughts of why the inmates chose this particular meal, to their state of mind while eating. While the societal benefits of the Death-Penalty can be debated ad-nauseam, the concept proposed by Reynolds is compelling and important.

READ MORE for the rest of the images.

Nestled along the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, Zach Johnsen is quietly making a name for himself in the art world through his distinctive illustrations. Give him a micron pen and he’ll show you a world you thought only existed in your wildest dreams, or perhaps only in your nightmares. His style of frenetic pen lines and splashy water-based media evokes a serious critique on Suburbia and the overpowering consumerism in America today. But don’t let politics get you down, Johnsen’s art is inspiring and colorful, and has even used commercially many times – from a collaboration with the New York Times, to skateboards & snowboards, to work for NY/CA-based apparel company Tank Theory which he co-founded. His most recent collection, “Dancing Nun” is currently showing at the MOHS Gallery in Copenhagen. We caught up with Zach in his studio in Portland, a little hungover but still very much inspired.

LH: For those who aren’t familiar with you and your work, give them the low-down… who is Zach Johnsen?

ZJ: Zach Johnsen is a 31 year old artist, designer, illustrator and all around visual conductor living in Portland, Oregon.  I do fine artwork for gallery settings. I do commercial illustration. I work in wood and fabric and photo and I also work in print and apparel. I dabble in all types of media and have much to learn.

LH: How did you get your start as an artist… when did you realize you had what it takes to make it professionally?

ZJ: I probably got my first artistic push from my mom who is also a fine artist and graphic designer.  At 18, I decided to attend the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and that’s when I started to really take seriously art making and art as a profession.

Following up on the “Che” print released back in August, Ernesto Yerena continues his Latin-American Political figure collection with another Cuban Revolutionary. Fidel Castro is a man who evokes very contradictory sentiments, especially in the US where he is seen as everything from a hero to pure evil. His contribution to Latin American culture cannot be questioned, and it is in this light that Yerena is highlighting the Cuban leader. While his time working for Shepard Fairey and his affiliation with Studio Number One is very evident, Yerena demonstrates great technique. Honestly with what we’ve been seeing coming out of Obey as of late, this is better that his mentor’s own work. The “Fidel” print is available in two colorways, red and green, with each running as an edition of 50. Available at a random time today here.

Watch a short video-teaser on the making of the Fidel Print after the jump.

Patrick Molnar is a designer by profession, but at heart he’s a hardcore gamer. Together with fellow German Phil Penninger, a most impressive collection of Videogame Systems and early home computers has been assembled and made available to the masses. Spanning over 35 years, you’ll find all the classics from the US & Japan, complete with photos, original packaging and a biography -all available online and as a nice soft cover coffee-table book. From a pure design perspective, it’s brilliant to see how the gaming industry has evolved over time, and impressive to see how revolutionary the early-systems really were. Sure the games nowadays are insane high-def masterpieces, but nothing will ever beat the classic stylings of the wood-paneling on the Atari VCS.

It pretty much all began with the Magnavox Odyssey, a behemoth of a machine from 1972 that opened the door to a new type of entertainment, something that combined the social aspects of board games, with the new-aged technology of the digital world. There are some great classics in this collection, and some very interesting oddities; from the multiple Pong systems (which was almost an industry in itself), to the self-contained Vectrex which came with its own monitor, to my personal all-time favorite: the Sega Master System 1, which took 8-bit graphics to whole new heights. If you’ve got a few hours, go reminisce about your wasted youth here.

Berlin designer Frank Buchwald’s Machine Lights series is comprised of 12 steampunk lamp designs that are handmade in extremely limited quantities and look like they could have come straight from the set of Dark City or Blade Runner.  The main structures are made of raw brass and steel, which are hand burnished to create a unique antique black and brown hue.  The industrial design aesthetic, complete with visible coils, filaments, cables, and flexible brass tubes, really lends these lights their edge.  Production time is at least four weeks depending on the model and prices are not for the meek (from $3,800 to $5,900, with Type 09 jumping all the way up to $15,500).  Buchwald will also entertain custom requests.

Ever since we’ve featured them on the site, CXXVI has been generating some serious press. We fell in love with their hand-numbered, hand-printed T-shirts mainly based on their blue-collar imagery and aspirations. But then when we actually put on the shirts and re-fell in love with the way they felt and looked. Matt & Jon have taken this same approach with their first foray into the art world with CXXVI, releasing a limited edition print, fittingly titled Shop Union. Hand-screened on archival paper, the edition of 50 numbered prints has been dyed and aged to encapsulate that same gritty feel you see throughout the brand’s designs. Available here for a limited time.

I had the pleasure of seeing Tim Burton’s new exhibit at MoMA in New York last week.  The display encompasses more than 700 pieces, including sketches, home movies, sculptures, paintings, illustrations, costumes, and props, and moves chronologically from his time as an imaginative young boy in Burbank, CA, to the present as a major studio film director.  As you purvey the vastness of the man’s exploits, it’s hard to imagine where he finds the time to create it all.  His personal creative well is certainly bottomless.  Some of the highlights for me include his boyhood contest-winning, cartoon-like public safety fliers for the city of Burbank, a handwritten character outline for Edward Scissorhands, and his early twisted, macabre drawing that, at times, hued closely to the work of Ralph Steadman.  It was quite intriguing to see how many of the characters from those early drawings directly influenced or found their way into the larger-than-life characters Burton has created for the big screen.

The exhibit is highly recommended for both film (there is quite a sample of movie props and costumes) and art lovers alike.  Just be prepared: this was unquestionably the most crowded display I’ve ever experienced at any museum.  That said, it was definitely worth it to get a voyeur’s glimpse inside one of our time’s greatest creative minds.  The exhibition runs through April 26, 201o.

Ever since we first fell in love with tilt-shift photography, we knew it was just a matter of time before advertisers jumped in on the craze. McCann Malmö and Upper First have recently produced a spot for Swedish Home Decorating retail chain Colorama, using this technique with time-lapse video.

Over the course of the last 30 years, Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) has grown to become recognized as one of the two or three most important modern art museums in the world.  Beginning this week, in celebration of their 30 year anniversary, MOCA is displaying their entire permanent collection for the very first time at their two main locations in downtown Los Angeles.  It is no secret in the art world that MOCA fell on financial hard times last year.  An already diminishing endowment, combined with the global economic downturn, left the institution on shaky ground.  However, it is a testament to the museum’s importance that individuals and companies from all over the map have pitched-in to to make sure that MOCA and it’s collection can carry on, and by all reports, the situation has improved over the last year.  So, with that note of positivity, we can turn to recognize the beauty and significance of the more than 500 piece collection, with highlights including Jackson Pollock’s No. 1, 1949 (1949), Jean-Michel Basquait’s Six Crimee (1982), Jasper Johns’ Map (1962), and Doug Wheeler’s RM 669 (1969) installation.

The collection will be on display until May 3rd, 2010.  If you live in LA or, are going to be in the area, it is beyond recommended that you check out this celebration of contemporary art.