QR Code Greeting Cards Become the New "Mix Tapes" and Send You to Spotify Playlists.

above: A series of greetings cards that when scanned with a QR code reader direct people to themed music playlists within their Spotify Premium smart phone app.

Once upon a time, the "mix tape" was an overture of intimacy, of sharing, a gesture to show you cared by sending someone your own personal musical playlist as a message. Now, Stupid, a collective of young creatives in the UK, have designed greeting cards with customized artful versions of QR codes (they call them QR Images) that when scanned, lead you to specific playlists on Spotify, making them the mix tapes of the new Millenium.

How it works:


The Cards:

above: Music for art lovers

above left: Music for Cooks; above right: Music for Monsters

above left: Music for Geeks; above right: Music for Love

Stupid is presently in talk with various UK companies about producing the cards en masse, but for now, if you'd like one contact them directly here.

About Stupid:
A collective of young creatives who want to work on interesting and challenging projects. With their mix of creative disciplines they hope to do most projects entirely in house allowing them control over the entire creative process. However when they do use outside specialist talent they make sure it's someone very special with an inherent ability to think stupid.



WTF are QR Codes and what is Spotify?
If you're not at all familiar with QR Codes or Spotify, and the above post sounded like a foreign language to you, learn about both at the links below:

• How QR Codes work
• About Spotify

77 Of The Coolest Backpacks You'll Ever See. Eastpak's Artist Designed Bags For Charity.

above and below: the unique artist designed Easpak bags range from goth and edgy to playful.





I once thought Eastpak was just a bunch of utilitarian nylon backpacks and bags, but boy was I wrong. I had not been aware of their numerous collaborations with artists or their huge selection of uniquely designed and patterned bags.



But most interesting is their Eastpak Artist's Studio in which 77 of the most creative personalities from eight different countries (one continent) were selected to produce original creations from a number of limited edition 'blank' EASTPAK bags. The bags were available to bid upon with the proceeds from each donated to various charities.



The artists were selected from different backgrounds and include painters, sculptors and poets as well as musicians, graffiti artists and television personalities. Below I have shown all of the bags and called out some of my personal favorites from each country.



Spain:













Belgium:









Netherlands:









Germany:









Greece:













Italy:









UK:







Hong Kong:













EASTPAK is proud to support this select group of artists and the communities that feed their inspiration. All proceeds of sales of these one-of-a-kind creations were be donated to a local charity organisation in each participating country.



Other Eastpak Designer Collaborations:

In addition to the Artist's Studio project, they have also had collaborations with prominent designers as Raf Simons, Quinze and Milan, Christopher Shannon, Eley Kishimoto Ed Banger and Gaspard Yurkievich and Antoine Peters.



For availability please check eastpak.com.

Alfabetika. Whimsical Posters That Brighten Up Children's Rooms And Their Minds.

Alfabetika are a line of reading and counting basics made charming and stylish. Numbers and alphabet letters come to life in the form of whimsical drawings by the beautiful and talented designer (and a personal friend of mine) Anne-Lise Borgen.







The Norway born designer, who is now based in Paris, first came upon the idea to create Alfabetika when she couldn't find a suitable gift for her niece. She wanted something both cool and educational and when nothing struck her fancy, she set out to design her own.



The highly original characters were inspired by her dog Jakko's personality, cute looks and funny mannerisms combined with her love of mid-century modern design.







Staying true to her Scandinavian heritage, the alphabet posters come in both English and Norwegian Versions.



In addition to inspiring someone you love, each sale from Alfabetika’s webshop donates 5% to UNICEF, making this a gift that benefits the recipient as well as a less fortunate child.

Jakko:

Anne-Lise:


Keep an eye on Alfabetika, Anne-Lise will soon be launching custom name posters!


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