Liu Bolin is quickly becoming known as the “disappearing Chinese artist.” His blending into surroundings is metaphorical of the way in which the Chinese government makes many citizens feel – small, insignificant, invisible. What Bolin sees as a political response to Chinese state oppression, advertisers see as an interesting technique to incorporate into their campaigns.
In the most literal sense, the artist is his art.
Charlie Sheen famously spread #winning during his whirlwind of a meltdown. Almost everyone knows #fail. And with 50% of this year’s Superbowl ads involving hashtags, brands are really tapping into this trend to build a dialogue with their consumers.
But who actually invented the Twitter hashtag?
Enter Chris Messina – an open web advocate for Google, and the self-described “hash godfather.” Messina is credited for inventing the Twitter hashtag in August 2007, when he suggested the pound symbol be used to quickly organize groups on Twitter. The concept furiously spread, on and offline.
Soon, people were using hashtags to add context and humor behind their messages and day-to-day conversations. Even influencing a couple to name their newborn – a healthy 8 lb Hashtag Jameson – after the symbol.
You can thank Messina @chrismessina.
Aggressive Smythson notebooks to off those to-do lists:
The eyewear industry is controlled by a select few corporations who keep prices artificially high. Warby Parker is a new concept in eye wear, creating "boutique-quality, clasically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point." And for every pair of glasses sold, a pair is given to someone in need.
WP is currently touring the country, spreading the word, and bringing their online showroom to life in their interactive bus. This week they were parked right outside of Faneuil Hall.
inside of the bus
happy Warby workers
Next stop: PHILLY!
It looks like the Burberry in-store experience has made a shift to the digital side. The new flagship store on London's Regent Street mixes classic clothes, dark wood and regal varnishes, elegant architecture, with larger-than-life displays of high-tech interactive media.
Opening to the public just last week, the stores are now reminiscent of their client's online experience. Known for a grand appreciation for digital interaction, the blur of on- and offline experience comes as no surprise to avid fans of Burberry.com.
The store is a tech geeks dream, with over 500 speakers, 100 screens, and endless amounts of engagement through communal media displays. There is also use of radio-frequenceing identification technology (RFID) where certain products, when taken into a changing room or held near certain screens, will trigger relevant catwalk footage and other filmed content to appear. All of which will make it harder to resist that purchase, naturally.
Described as “a detective of fads and emerging subcultures, chronicler of jobs-you-never-knew-existed,” Proverb would like to feature writer Malcolm Gladwell for his ability to uncover hidden truths.
Gladwell’s work topples the popular understanding of bias, crime, food, marketing, consumers, race and intelligence, finding inspiration in sneakers, pasta sauce, and cookies. Currently a staff writer with The New Yorker, this star lecturer and bestselling author searches for the counterintuitive in what we take to be mundane.
Named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Gladwell is the author of four books, “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference,” (2000), “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” (2005), and “Outliers: The Story of Success” 2008, all of which were number one New York Times bestsellers. He also published “What the Dog Saw,” (2009), a compilation of stories published in The New York.
This curious, undaunted writer has covered topics from serial killers to steroids, visiting obscure laboratories and infomercial set kitchens.
In 2004 Gladwell participated in “The Pursuit of Happiness” TED conference, where he explored the nature of choice and happiness through the pursuit of the perfect pasta sauce.
Read the fascinating article where he chronicles the decades-spanning rise in IQ scores.
And if you do anything, watch his video lecture at TED, "On spaghetti sauce."
As a dancer turned executive director, Proverb recognizes Yvette Campbell for her vision, perseverance, and commitment.
A native Californian and one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People of 2011,” Yvette Campbell became passionate about dance at The University of California at Berkley, graduating with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Art-Dance. This multi-disciplinarian performed and toured with the university’s dance company, where she won the university’s highest honor in dance, The Eisner Prize.
After suffering a dance injury while studying at The Ailey School, Campbell worked as the School Administrator, and trained three successors. After leaving Ailey, she danced with Elisa Monte Dance for six years as a principal, touring over 26 countries. In 2000, Campbell retired from performing and relocated to London where she continued teaching and choreographing. In 2005 Campbell served as the Director of the Ailey Extension for more than five years, a continuing education program which she named, developed, and organized from its inception. The program has since served more than 42,000 adult students.
In 2011, Campbell became the Executive Director of the Harlem School for the Arts, an institution providing arts education in music, dance, theater and visual arts to the Harlem community for the past 46 years. An extraordinary visionary, talented, and confident leader, Campbell has already raised over two million dollars to advance the Harlem School of the Arts. Campbell’s love of the arts is evident as she strives to make HSA one of the premier schools of the arts, serving the Harlem community and beyond.
When asked about the challenges ahead, Campbell says “These are tough times, but tough times are when you need the arts. The Harlem Renaissance, blues, jazz, hip-hop — they all came out of hard times and the possibility of change.”
Read more on Campbell & the Harlem School for the Arts here.
As a nationally recognized art director, designer, author and educator, it should come as no surprise that Proverb recognizes Archie Boston for his outstanding contributions to design and teaching.
Considered one of the nation’s leading design instructors and a highly respected graphic designer, Archie Boston was the first African American to receive the prestigious AIGA Fellows Award from AIGA Los Angeles in 2007. He has been honored by the New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles Art Directors’ Clubs, Communication Arts, Print Magazine, and the Type Director’s Club. He is also one of Graphic Design: USA Magazine’s top 35 design pioneers.
Most renowned for his contribution to design education, Boston chaired the graphic design program at California Sate University Long beach for 12 terms over 32 years, and was named Outstanding Professor of the Year in 2004. He was also the first black man to serve as president of the Art Directors Club of Los Angeles.
Currently operating his own design-consulting firm, one of Boston’s most recent projects involves a series of historical design documentaries, which are now available in university libraries across the country.
In his final lecture at CSULB in 2009 Boston said, “I want to be remembered as a professor who cared about his students and did what he thought was best for them. I want to be remembered as someone who stood up against criticism and spoke out on controversial issues. And finally I want to be remembered as a designer and educator, someone who documented my experience as an African American.”
Visit his personal site here or read the AIGA article here.
This month, Proverb honors filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who recently became the first black woman to win a best director award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her feature film Middle of Nowhere.
Los Angeles native and UCLA graduate, Ava DuVernay appeared on the film scene with her critically acclaimed 2008 hip-hop documentary, This is The Life, which debuted on Showtime in April 2009. In 2010 she directed and produced My Mic Sounds Nice, a film documenting the history of female hip-hop artists, airing as BET Network’s first original music documentary.
Two other network music documentaries directed and produced by DuVernay include Essence Music Festival 2010, a two hour concert film chronicling the nation’s largest annual African-American entertainment gathering, and Faith Through the Storm, a documentary about women in New Orleans who have reclaimed their lives after personal devastation during Hurricane Katrina.
Prior to her groundbreaking career as a filmmaker, DuVernay founded DVA Media and Marketing in 1999, an award-winning firm providing strategy and execution for more than 120 film and television campaigns. She also founded AFFRM, the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement, an initiative to distribute and gain a wider screening for independent black films.
DuVernay’s most recent achievement as the winner of the US Directing Award represents a shift in African-American filmmaking. Her feature, Middle of Nowhere, received glowing reviews from both critics and audience after its Sundance premier in January. This compelling drama tells the story of a woman’s separation from her incarcerated husband and the journey to reconcile her marriage with her identity.
We’re a huge fan of this talented young singer/song-writer/producer at Proverb, most recently for the release of his fourth album, No Beginning, No End. Combining jazz, soul, drum’n’bass, and spoken word, Jose James has created a unique brand of vocal jazz, which awarded him the 2011 DownBeat Critics Poll “Rising Start Best Male Vocalist.” Often referred to as a “jazz singer for the hip-hop generation,” James’ blend of modern jazz and hip-hop presents widely in Europe, and has debuted on several of our mixtapes at Proverb.
Performing both solo and in collaborative projects, James traces his inspiration to John Coltrane and icons of ‘70s jazz-soul such as Gil Scott-Heron and Terry Callier. He has worked with some of the genres’s most respected players, and has performed in premier concert halls such as L’Olympia, Royal Festival Hall, and De Roma.
“Trouble,” James’ new single from No Beginning, No End, was inspired in part by Marvin Gaye and the beats of underground hip-hop artist Madlib. Telling the story of a man trying to love a woman, his world, and himself, James hopes that it will “inspire people to keep strong and enjoy the beauty of their own lives.”
