Typeface by Toyota. The iQ font Designed By A Moving Car.

UPDATE 6.25.2010: The Toyota iQ Font takes home the prestigious Cannes Lion Grand Prix in Design with this clever concept and execution!

Belgian ad agency, Happiness Brussels, wanted to come up with a unique promotion for the new compact Toyota for Europe, the iQ.


above: the Toyota iQ

They came up with the clever idea to have a car-created font.

The agency hired two typographers, Pierre & Damien from Please Let Me Design and a pro race pilot (Stef van Campenhoudt) to pull this undertaking off. The car movements were tracked using a custom software, designed by interactive artist Zachary Lieberman. ( openframeworks.cc )


above: Stef, Damien and Pierre

They created a program to track the motion of the car's skid; the designers told the driver exactly what sort of skids they would need to create strokes from which they could build an entire font.








The result:

Download the font here




See more shots from The Making Of The Toyota IQ Font set on flickr here.    

Special thanks to Pleaseletmedesign and Happiness Brussels for the images and video.

Swarovski Encrusted Animal Skulls By 2 Different Artists; Peter Pracilio & Suzan Fellman

Note: I want to clarify that these amazing pieces are two completely different artists, working separately, because there has been some confusion due to the original title of the post.

Designer and artist Peter Pracilio (the same guy who designed the world's coolest dog crate, the eiCrate, which I love but cannot bring myself to pay for) has created a series of Swarovski crystal studded animal skulls for one of Brooklyn's hippest Art and Design shops, “The Future Perfect”



Given the present state of the economy, The Future Perfect arranged an art show filled with limited edition work, and named it fittingly, “F@$k the Economy”

For the show, Peter released three one of a kind pieces inspired by Swarovski Crystal and the bigger picture of the hunt we are all on (his words, not mine).

Below are the three pieces for that particular show. All have since been sold.

Work 1 (SOLD):


above: New Zealand Fallow Deer (Dama dama) encrusted in Crystal Clear Swarovski crystal, dimensions: 24" Overall Height 20" Antler Width, Wall Mounted

Work 2 (SOLD):



above: New Zealand Ram (Ovis aries) encrusted in Jet Black Swarovski Crystal
dimensions: 20” Wide 12” Tall, Tabletop

Work 3 (SOLD):


above: South African Kirk's Dik-dik (Madoqua kirkii) encrusted in Light Siam Swarovski Crystal, dimensions: 10" Tall 3.25" Wide, Wall Mount

In addition to the above three for The Future Perfect show, he has created a new work for a new client, Secret Society. This addition to his series " Swarovski Crystal Safari" is covered in over 13,000 crystals. Encrusted in Black Diamond and Jet Black flatback stones, this one of a kind African Blesbok made its debut in Oslo Norway in the Secret Society during Oslo's Fashion Week.




And below is his most recent addition to the Crystal Safari:



above: South African Duiker [2009], Antelope skull and Dark Indigo Swarovski Crystals, dimensions: 11" L x 3.5" W

The South African Duiker is a medium-sized antelope from the subfamilt Cephalophinae native to Sub-Saharan Africa.

check out more of Peter's work at his site here.


Suzan Fellman:
Another artist who has used Swarovski Crystals to embellish animal skulls is Suzan Fellmen:



A former set designer , she chose to embellish the antlers in lieu of the skull with Swarovski crystals. Elegant removable custom iron mount included.




Because each piece is naturally one-of-a-kind, measurements are approximate: 24"-30" high and 16"-24" wide. Weight: 9-13 lbs. Available from her directly.

See Peter Pracilio's $11,000.00 gold-plated version of his modern dog crate here.

Nike X LIVESTRONG Stages & The Art Bikes by KAWS, Fairey, Newson, Scharf, Nara & Hirst

Now updated to include Damien Hirsts's bike!



Stages is a united effort between Lance Armstrong and Nike in which they asked over 20 global artists to help raise funds for cancer awareness by using their creativity to express the LIVESTRONG message.



The "Stages" exhbition will debut in Paris on July 17th during the Tour de France at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin and run through August 8th.


above: one of the rooms of the Stages exhibit at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin

The exhibition will then travel to New York City for an October showing before moving to Los Angeles.


(click on the above image to enlarge)

Participating artists : Richard Prince, Ed Ruscha, Andrea Gursky, Cai GuoQiang, Yoshitomo Nara, Christopher Wool, Jules de Balincourt, Tom Sachs, Shepard Fairey, Dzine, Eric White, Geoff McFetridge, Kaws, José Parla, Raymond Pettibon, Kenny Scharf, Rosson Crow, Aaron Young, Lari Pittman, Kenny Scharf, Catherine Opie

All profits from these sales will go directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation to further their efforts to defeat cancer through research, outreach, and legislation.



You can see images of all the art pieces in the show here.


THE ART BIKES FOR LANCE ARMSTRONG


In addition to the pieces in the art show, several of today's hottest artists decorated Trek bikes for Lance to ride in several of his 2009 races, including in several legs of the Tour de France. The bikes made especially for this occasion that Lance will actually be riding were designed (well... more like decorated) by the following artists: Kaws, Shepard Fairey, Marc Newson, Kenny Scharf, Yoshitomo Nara and Damien Hirst.

Trek Madone Bike design by KAWS:




Trek Madone Bike Design by Shepard Fairey:




And of course a matching Shepard Fairey decorated Giro helmet:

Trek Speed Concept Bike design by Marc Newson:



Trek equinox TTX Bike Design by Kenny Scharf:



Trek Speed Concept Bike design by Yoshitomo Nara:



The text on the top tube of the Nara bike reads, "Never forget your beginner's spirit!"

above photo: Zack Vestal

Trek Madone bike design by Damien Hirst




above: the Hirst design for the final day of the 2009 Tour de France.

all photos courtesy of Trek bikes and LAMJC

As an added bonus all of Lance’s 2009 art bikes will be auctioned off by SOTHEBY’S on October 2nd at the VIP gala opening reception for “Stages” at the Park Avenue Armory with all proceeds going to benefit LIVESTRONG.