Joshua Topolsky

Pretty sad news about the Designers Republic. Apparently the company has folded (in its current state at least) due to a perfect storm of bad events. Ian Anderson says that he’ll resurrect the brand in some form, but I’ve got to say I’m seriously depressed to hear the news. For those that don’t know, the design house essentially invented “modern” design (that is, a ton of what we’ve seen since the mid-90’s), and the rave years wouldn’t have looked the same without them. Should be interesting to see what happens next, but I also feel like this is likely the natural order of things — most artists don’t go on doing groundbreaking work or stay as cutting edge as they were when they started. Why should it be any different when it comes to design? Well, we’ll always have 1994.

Here’s a nifty piece of art from Antonin Fourneau. That is all.

This is an amazing series by Yeon Doo Jung which turns children’s sketches into photos. Not exactly brand new (the set was done in 2005), but still pretty charming. See more here.

If you’ve been deeply in need of a rave connection, maybe I can help. I did a mix a while ago which is currently residing on joshuaryan.com. You can go there and download it or listen online… whatever. It’s got it all.

Also, Eric and I are doing a new mix for The Fader which should be up in a little bit (like this week). And we’re in the new issue, as is Penny.

Yes, it’s all finally, really happening. Please tell me you can play as Justin Bobby.

Please.

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If you haven’t already had the good fortune of stumbling upon Pac-Gentleman while whittling away your 70% of free time at work, enjoy. Above is the work of one Doktor A, a clearly talented artist with steampunk/DIY/retro leanings. If you were worried the good joke didn’t go far enough, a chap named Scott did some ROM tinkering and produced a playable version of the game, replete with handlebar-mustached Blinky and Plinky, plus the inimitable Pac-Gentleman himself in a dashing bowler hat, as seen below.

Via MAKE