Within the zeitgeist, Pantone-mania has reached its boiling point. Sephora recently released a makeup line centered on Pantone’s color of the year, food artist Emilie de Griottes showed a series of Pantone-inspired fruit t(art)s, and the daily practice of Pantonism presses on. But some are looking beyond the color authority’s perfectly plotted squares, embracing the entire color spectrum as a way to express an artistic mission or just make things pretty.
Clear: There’s no shortage of methods for remembering to complete your daily tasks and chores, but few are as straightforward as Realmac Software’s to-do list app, Clear. The app features a gesture-based interface that foregoes buttons and features (like recurring task and notification options) for the sake of sleek simplicity. Users can manage lists exclusively by pinching, pulling, and swiping their screens. Most compellingly, tasks are ordered according to priority, which is indicated through a heat-map-reminiscent color gradient: high priority tasks are tomato red, and those of lower import degrade from orange-red to goldenrod. The app’s clean interface and unfussy design secured much media buzz upon its App store release.
It’s become all too easy to capture an elegant photograph. That’s not to say that professional photographers are in danger of being supplanted entirely by Instagrammers. However, the bar for what defines an impressive photo is continually elevating—which might be why illustration, an art form that’s harder to fake, is emerging as the visual mode du jour among consumers and marketers alike. It’s time to get scribblin’.
Draw Something: No one has gotten kicked off of a plane for refusing to take a break from it (yet) but, just six weeks after launching, Draw Something has already earned a massive league of addicts—30 million of them. The new social mobile game, which is currently the top downloaded game in the iTunes store, is a digital version of Pictionary that leverages a smartphone’s touchscreen. As game creator/OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter noted during a CNET interview, the title stands out in the cluttered game space not only because it forces players to stretch their right brain muscles but also because its strategy hinges on “the mechanics of relationships between people.”
In the taste-based virtual world, it’s easy to get trapped in a “filter bubble” of narrow, pre-approved content. But the inclination to bond with people of similar mindsets exists offline as well. Rather like some of the latest social networks that aim to create real-world connections between users with compatible interests, private social clubs are bringing together urbanites who share specific passions—and a liking for exclusivity.
Bklyn Rod & Gun: Brooklynites longing for the great outdoors might consider applying to this private club, whose members include aficionados of fishing, boating, hiking, camping, and shooting. Located in Williamsburg just a block from the East River, Rod & Gun organizes fly- and bait-fishing outings, voyages into Brooklyn’s surrounding nature, and classes on outdoorsy skills (saltwater fly tying, anyone?)—all activities that appeal to Gen Y’s wilder instincts. The clubhouse is also host to music and social events, which are free and open to the public. The club’s mission is to instill in its community a profound respect for the borough’s limited, yet still lovely, natural resources.
The storm of blogs and websites offering approachable recipes for home cooks has sparked a more mindful approach to eating. And while these informal digital sources are often on par with those found on the newsstand, there’s still something to be said for the satisfaction of poring through the “pages” of a magazine, whether it be on paper or on an iPad. Hence, a mounting army of new food titles are preserving the spirit of the periodical while celebrating the DIY spirit of the Web.
Kinfolk: Kinfolk is proof that one need not display the homemaking swagger of, say, Martha Stewart in order to be the kind of entertainer from whom friends covet an invitation. The quarterly pub, available in both digital and print formats, revels in the elegance of simple, intimate gatherings rather than fussy banquets only achievable by a catering company. Kinfolk is more than just a piece of reading material, however. It’s also a community of artists dedicated to promoting casual, yet still creative, assemblies of friends over a thoughtful meal. The Kinfolk dinner series is bringing artisan feasts to different cities, including Brooklyn, Austin and San Francisco, every month.
As the winter months march on, technophiles are seeking warm environs in which to cozy up to their screens. Akin to recent advances in rain repellents, cold weather-minded innovations are turning up the heat. With access to design this smart, people might actually roll out the welcome mat for Old Man Winter.
Modern Campfire: Though radiators generally aren’t the focal points of upscale dwellings, times are changing. New York-based designer Rochus Jacob has created a modern sculptural campfire which, conveniently, can be placed anywhere near an outlet. Designed with energy conservation in mind, the mostly wood-and-plastic device contains a copper-based heat exchanger that’s similar to the mechanism used to keep laptops from burning up users’ thighs. A slider button controls warmth output, and a built-in boiler requires significantly less H20 than its antiquated predecessors. The portable campfire is not yet for sale, but it could become just the thing for when a camp blanket doesn’t offer enough insulation to prevent goose bumps.
