Pysanky

In thinking about Easter coming up this Sunday, I can’t help but think back to how fun it was and how much I looked forward to decorating Easter eggs when I was younger. But decorating eggs doesn’t have to be just for kids. In fact, there is a traditional Ukrainian art of decorating eggs that requires a slightly higher skill level. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not given to hyperbole, but this is one occasion when I can enthuse about a truly stunning artistic fashion collaboration between two powerhouse brands, Liberty of London and Target. I am especially excited because the collection includes that sartorial standby every man can set himself apart with: The necktie.

Liberty is an iconic British institution, famed for its extensive collection of ebullient, playful and colorful prints for fabric and housewares. Liberty has been creating unique, inspired prints since 1875, working with artists, designers, and other whimsical collaborators. Each season’s collection has transitioned from an intensely contemporary aesthetic into collectible classics over time.

Continuing their Designers Collaboration series, Target has brought its own brand strengths of good quality, contemporary items at great value into partnership with those of Liberty of London. Target consistently demonstrates the consumer value potency inherent in leveraging core brand traits across different brands, as well as the business success this strategy creates.

So, succumb to sartorial superiority. Despite the hurry to casual wear every day of the week and the denunciation of the necktie as a metaphor for a vacuous, banal corporate persona, any man of genuine style will appreciate the delight in a finely crafted suit set off by one of these gorgeous Liberty of London for Target prints (there are three in the image above). Be a tailored triumph, get to Target now.

At a recent Sotheby’s art auction in London, L’Homme qui marche I (Walking Man I), an iconic Alberto Giacometti sculpture, sold for more than $104 million. At more than six foot, this imposing bronze certainly commands visual as well as substantial fiscal attention. It is not, however, the auction value that I’d like to comment on, although that record breaking bid is worthy of reflection. Rather, I’d like to mention my personal attraction to this artist’s bronze sculptures.

There is something disconcerting yet viscerally compelling about Giacometti’s pieces. They provoke such an immediate sense of the present; dynamically entering our here and now consciousness, but also presenting a cold, distant personality through shape and bronze material. That is an emotional reaction. What I really want, though, is to get my hands on every ridge, dimple, curve and protuberance. My overwhelming desire is to indulge in a physically palpable sensory experience, exploring every element of the artist’s molded expression.

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I might have to whisper this amidst the hyperbole around Apple’s iPad, but I just don’t buy it. Don’t misunderstand me; the iPad will likely be a huge success and will change the industry. I just cannot quite see how this fills the gap between my iPhone and my MacBook. Actually, I can’t see the gap. What I see is a gray area of overlap between my iPhone and MacBook.

I’m no technology geek, so I won’t address the technological wonder or disappointment (what, still no Flash?) of the iPad. What I am struggling with is the whole purpose of this device. When I consider my lifestyle, I don’t see a place for the iPad. Its main appeal seems to lie in the category of technology use that could be called entertainment. But when am I going to indulge in that via an iPad? When I am working (and maybe goofing off a little), whether in the office, at home or a coffee shop or other “third place”, my MacBook serves my needs excellently. During social time, my iPhone provides more than enough connectivity, entertainment and flexible communication to fill those periods. As for other moments “in between”, such as hanging around at airports, laying on the beach or relaxing on a casual Sunday afternoon at home, I’m able to enjoy life absent technology, hard as that might be to believe.

My thoughts are heretical around here, where Apple is loved with a religious fervor. I’m sure a colleague or two may respond on this blog. What I really need, though, is a single device that merges the convenience, connectivity and flexibility of an iPhone with the power and utility of a MacBook, all spruced up with the entertaining delights that might be found on an iPad. Something like an iEverything.

What do you think? How do you live? What do you need?

One affair suggests private relationship issues. Several alleged affairs is a public debacle for Tiger Woods and his sponsors. It begs the question, why do businesses choose to tie themselves to the cult of celebrity? The answer is because there is such a cult of celebrity.

Society has obsessed over recognition of personality for centuries, although the context has altered over time. Recent decades has witnessed the shift away from notability for achievement or exalted position and more towards fame for fame itself. Those recently seeking fame/infamy as the intended outcome include the “Balloon Boy” and the White House trespassing Salahis. It’s Warhol’s 15 minutes on steroids.

The reason why companies tie themselves to particular celebrities is more nuanced than that, of course, especially for the stewards of those corporate brands that sponsor a particular personality. Brands need to communicate their core archetypal attributes, being those characteristics, attitudes, behaviors and, indeed, that personality that those companies wish their consumers to associate with and perceive in their brand. It is easier for a brand to express those traits by illustrating them through something or someone iconic, within which or whom those brand traits are readily witnessed. Read the rest of this entry »