The Week in Design

Gonna go back in time

[Image credit: BruceK]

This week, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, a slew of DeLoreans took to the Toronto streets for their annual parade. Who knew there were more than one? DeLorean aficionados honor St. Patrick’s Day because the first round of the above model, also seen in the Back to the Future trilogy, began production in 1981 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Mad good

image credit: Museum of the Moving Image/ Matthew Weiner on the set of Mad Men

Since I’m on the subject of going back in time, the Museum of the Moving Image is offering a pretty fascinating look into the world of Mad Men. The long-running AMC series, which caps off its last season in a few weeks, is featured in an exhibit titled Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men now through June. The exhibition offers a glimpse into the show’s large-scale sets, including Don Draper’s office and home, and more than 25 iconic costumes, props, video clips, advertising art, personal notes, and research material from the series creator.

Key-note

The days of reserving emoji talk exclusively for your smartphone are over! Disk Cactus, an Oakland-based art studio, created an app that can be downloaded to your desktop. PSFK reports on this cool new keyboard function that allows Mac users to type in emojis on emails, documents, etc. Yassss!

I spy peen

One of the coolest function of GPS is that you can literally map out an illustrated object of anything, but for some reason folks don’t attempt to get further than drawing dicks. Such was the case once again, though this time it wasn’t a runner, but a pilot. Gizmodo reports that a pilot navigated his route using Flightradar24, an online service that tracks current flights, to draw a penis. Real mature, dude.

Move to the beat

If ever there was a man who could go beyond being a triple threat in the world of the arts, it could only be Shia LaBeouf (sorry, James Franco). The boy is great as an actor, as an experimental dancer, at wreaking havoc during Broadway shows, as the next Marina Abramovic, etc. This week, as part of the SXSW festival, LaBeouf is live-streaming a new art piece that is close to his heart, literally. As in that’s what it is: his heart-beat, which you can listen to right here. Music to my ears.

Modern life

Stephen Schafer

NPR did a very cool story on 20th-century, post-war U.S. real estate developer Joseph Eichler, whose signature homes can be seen throughout California’s suburbs. This NPR piece specifically focuses on the 108 homes in Balboa Highlands, located in Granada Hills in the North San Fernando Valley. “My greatest respect for all these homes is that [Eichler] wanted integration,” Eichler homeowner Lyla Grossman said. “And that was very new in this area—completely new...And that's why I loved it so much.”

I heart NYC

The New York School of Interior Design is honoring the 50th anniversary of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Law with an exhibition titled Rescued, Restored, Reimagined, which features a look into the city’s most overlooked protected spaces. The exhibition looks at 20 spaces and displays more than 80 photographs. The show can be seen now through April 24. Travel + Leisure highlighted some of the the exhibition’s locations.

Kaboom!

Credit: gizmodo

I’ve heard of storm chasers, but had no idea people chased down volcanic eruptions. Yes, this is a thing. Marc Szeglat captured an insane video of the Sakurajima volcano erupting in Japan.