If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

New Polka Organic Snail and Sturgeon Caviar Has Beautiful Branding and Pretty Packaging.

A new organic artisan caviar out of Amsterdam named Polka has recently launched with lovely brand identity, photography, packaging design and advertising by art director and photographer Joost van Brug who owns the Amsterdam agency Reluct.

The name Polka Caviar, was named after Polkadots, which technically are described as a series of the same sized dots equally distributed - not unlike the caviar itself. The packaging is clad in tins with black and white lids that feature the logo design and embossed dots.

The black and white polka dot nesting dolls display for the brand reference Russia (commonly associated with fine caviar) and their iconic Matryoshkas.

The caviar is available in two types, Snail (the white eggs) and Sturgeon (the black eggs), which are raised under friendly biological conditions. The results are eggs containing no pesticides or preservatives. The entire process is certified organic.

Organic Caviar D'Escargot:

above: Available in the following sizes: 20, 30, 50 en 100 g

Organic Caviar (Sturgeon):

above: Available in the following sizes: 30, 50, 100 and 250 g

above: Andrew Nicholls preparing a blini with Polka Organic Sturgeon Caviar at Vesper bar

In the video below, Andrew Nicholls, founder of Barcheaology, shows how to make a Polka cocktail that pairs perfectly with Polka's organic caviar.

Recipe:
2 oz bishkek vodka
1/2 oz d.o.m. benedictine
1/4 oz saffron gin
1/2 spoon of absinth
lemon zest

For sales info: Contact eerlijk-eten

Sleevefaces. Vinyl Visages That Are So Simple And Yet So Captivating.

Sleeveface is a website that showcases the illusion of people replacing their own body parts with album covers - in most cases their heads. Some of them are hilarious, others seamlessly constructed and still others compellingly bizarre (no photoshopping allowed).

While the quality of the photographs is mediocre at best (some are out of focus, others poorly lit) it doesn't detract from the amusing appeal.

Founded in 2007, the site began as an idea, then a website and now, a book

As founder Carl Morris describes it "It started with a Paul McCartney sleeve, then swiftly led to one or more persons in Cardiff, Wales having TOO MUCH fun ransacking their record shelves – from Rolling Stones to Nugent to Bowie to Cymande to Streisand. And people brandishing cameras yelling “up a bit, down a bit”. (You can view the "How to Sleeveface" video at the end of this post).

Here are some of the best (some have been cropped or altered for better visibility) :

Sleeveface the book, a 192-page compilation of Sleeveface pictures, was compiled by Carl Morris and John Rostron with the help of friends – and talented contributors from around the world.

If you'd like to submit your own "sleeveface" you can send it to their website, join their Facebook group and upload it there or join the group pool on Flickr

How To Sleeveface:

A special thanks to Mike Yagi for bringing this to my attention.

The Most Fantastic Swimsuit I've Seen In Years, Shark (JAWS) VS. Mermaid (Ariel).

Black Milk Clothing of Australia, whose fashions I've blogged about a few times, has really hit it out of the park with this hilarious swimsuit - named for obvious legal reasons - Shark vs. Mermaid.

The Shark and the Mermaid (strongly resembling Disney's red-headed singing amphibi-girl, Ariel) are together on a one piece suit mimicking the famous JAWS movie poster, with the image printed on both the front and the back of the suit.

A customer uploaded image of the suit:

It's presently sold out, but they are sewing more! Go to their site to get on a mailing list to be notified when more are available.

Black Milk Clothing

The Meth Lab From TV's Breaking Bad Is Impressively Reconstructed In Legos.

above: the Lego version of the Meth Lab in Breaking Bad; below: the tv show's Meth Lab

A crafty brick builder has recreated the Meth lab from the TV drama Breaking Bad, complete with minifigs.

The Lego version of the Meth Lab:

io9 reports "If you've ever wondered what the taut methamphetamine drama Breaking Bad would look like as an innocent plastic brick diorama, ponder no longer. Redditor GaryIsYouDotCom recently posted his friend's reconstruction of the show's state-of-the-art clandestine drug lab.

Minifigs representing the actors:

Actors Bryan Cranston (Walter White) and David Costabile (Gale Boetticher) in Breaking Bad:

There's no laundromat above it, but there are recreations of Gale's coffee machine, Walt's pure blue crystal meth, chicken merchant Gustavo Fring, and that episode where Walter goes bonkers trying to kill the fly. Blast some TV on the Radio while you ogle this, and then go into the bathroom and practice your Heisenberg face.