The Best Halloween Costume Ever! Banksy's Flower Thrower Comes To Life.

The Design Director of San Franscisco's Y Studios, Pittsburgh born George Schnakenberg III, gets my vote for the best Halloween costume I've seen in years. With ample design skills and impressive execution, George turned one of stencil street artist Banksy's most famous works, The Flower Thrower, into a full costume designed to emulate the 2D image.


above: George created the flat looking outfit by creating black and white shadows on his pants, hoodie, bandana and gloves.


The original artwork by Banksy:

Matching the prop:


Throughout the Halloween evening, George had photos of himself taken with various friends and in various environments (please note, I have cropped and adjusted the lighting and levels on some of these images for greater visibility):





George even made up his face to emulate the stencil art:

and managed to eat:


Nice work George!
You've set the bar really high and I can't wait to see what you do next Halloween.

all images courtesy of George Schnakenberg III

Artist Decorated Eames Chairs For Auction Benefit Operation Design

above: Ideas Are Cheap Eames Chair by Joe Iurato

If you're like most design lovers, you either own or have always wanted to own a molded Eames Plywood Chair. Well, now's your chance to have a very unique one and benefit a good cause, all at the same time. From May 11 Through June 1st, the Public Works Department is featuring Eames Inspiration, an online ebay auction of customized Eames molded plywood chairs to benefit Operation Design.



Curated by Billi Kid and Luna Park, each chair has been decorated by various street and graffiti artists and the reserve price is set at $1,000 each. The chairs will also be featured in the windows of Barneys New York on Madison Ave and 61st.

Here's a look at all the chairs available for auction.

Left: Aakash Nihalani and right: Billi Kid

Left: Blanco and right: Cake

Left: Celso and right: Cern

Left: Damon Ganandes and right: Darkcloud

Left:David Cooper and right: Elbow-Toe

Left: James and Karla Murray and right: Joe Iruato

Left: Matt Siren and right: NohJColey

Left: Peru Ana Ana Peru and Skewville

Left: Sofia Maldonado and right: Stikman

Left: UR®New York and right: Veng


some detail shots for you...

above: detail of Elbow Toe's On The Wings Of Desire Eames Chair

above: detail of Sofia Maldonado's Caribbean Clouds Eames Chair

above: detail of Joe Iurato's Ideas Are Cheap Eames Chair

above: detail of UR® New York's Nyc Layers Eames Chair

above: detail of Matt Siren's Skullboy Takes A Seat Eames Chair

above: detail of Damon Ginandes' Awaiting Eames Chair

above: detail of James and Karla Murray's STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face Of New York Eames Chair


Start bidding here.


About Operation Design:

Operation Design offers students direct interaction with professionals and challenges young people in public schools, grades K-12, to put their creativity to practical, important, and real use.

Operation Design organizes architects, graphic artists, design professionals, construction professionals and related professionals to work with public school students to create motivating and inspiring spaces and projects.

Operation Design is an independent 501c3 not-for-profit organization based in New York City.

Having A Ball With Design. Artist Series Basketballs For K1X.

4 ELEMENTS 4 ICONS 4 BASKETBALLS - LIMITED ARTIST SERIES


Just released are the limited edition artist designed basketballs, K1X‘s "4-E" collection. The especially designed basketballs are interpretations of the four elements by the following artists and graphic designers; Marok (Water), Bill Mc Mullen (Fire), Mode2 (Earth) and Frank 151 featuring Stay High 149 (Air).

They each brought their usual a-game and interpreted one force of nature each. All four balls are strictly limited to 444 units and available at selected retail locations only.

THE ELEMENT: WATER


Marok chose the element WATER / Inspiration: design is strongly inspired by the movie „TRON“ / Interpretation: blue panels with grey channels suggest a bathroom-look reflecting the element WATER / Underglass-technique: grafic is printed on TPU material and covered by see-through-layer with shiny look / Packaging: ball comes in high-end display box / Collecters item - ball is limited to 444 pieces world wide and has Marok‘s signature on it.





THE ELEMENT: EARTH


Mode2 chose the element EARTH / Inspiration: design is strongly inspired by his character drawings / Interpretation: Mode2‘s baller stands on the ground getting his power from the element EARTH / Mode2 drew the picture on cardboard by hand - the drawing was then scanned and printed / Packaging: ball comes in high-end display box / Collecters item - ball is limited to 444 pieces world wide and has Mode2‘s signature on it.





THE ELEMENT: AIR


Frank 151 is featuring Stay High 149 in colaboration for the element AIR / Inspiration: design is strongly inspired by his legendary "smoker“ tag / Interpretation: white pu-leather with black and silver printing give the ball a very light look / Logos and tags are stamped with black/silver outlines / Packaging: ball comes in high-end display box / Collecters item - ball is limited to 444 pieces world wide and has Stay High‘s s signature (wayne robertson) on it.




Frank 151 is a rapidly growing cultural icon based in NYC. Its Centerpiece is the Frank Book, a magazine which is capturing the essence of the global urban mindset and lifestyle. The New York-based global media platform is also known for Frank’s Chop Shop – a barber shop providing custom products including exlcusive New Era Caps. Frank151 is influencing, enhancing and changing generations and cultures worldwide.


Wayne Roberts aka "Stay High 149“ aka "Voice of the Ghetto“ was born and raised in the Bronx (NYC). He is Considered one of the founding fathers and living legend of graffiti writing. As a pioneer, innovator and influencer he has inspired generations of graffiti writers.


THE ELEMENT: FIRE


Bill McMullen chose the element FIRE / Inspiration: design is strongly inspired by McMullens favourite color orange and influenced by the 1984 usa olympic star / Interpretation: by using a fluoriscent orange on white and black with black channels the FIRE ball seems to go up in flames / Underglass-technique: grafic is printed on TPU material and covered by see-through-layer with shiny look / Packaging: ball comes in high-end display box / Collecters item - ball is limited to 444 pieces world wide and has Bill McMullen‘s signature on it.



McMullen is a graphic designer, illustrator and artist from San Diego, based in New York City since 1996. McMullen’s designs have found their way on to clothing, album covers and toys for various brands and clients. He has designed packaging, DVDs and promotional videos for many artists including the Beastie Boys, Method Man, DMX and N.E.R.D, just to name a few. Also focusing on his own artwork, McMullen creates limited-run editions, and has released several notable vinyl toys like the famous AD-AT or SHUTTLEMAX for Kidrobot.



For K1X’ limited artist series of basketballs, McMullen interpreted the element of fire. McMullen has created a flame-like sphere, allowing him to incorporate his favorite color, orange.



Each basketball sells for approximately $60.00 USD They are available for pre-order here.


k1x.com

Different Form Of Street Art - Beaded Graffiti By The Oeps Crew.

The Eops Crew of Copenhagen are two anonymous girls who've made their presence known with a new form of street art. Their 'beaded' graffiti (art literally made of small colored plastic beads) has marked the urban streets of London. Berlin, New York, Copenhagen and more.

Here are just a few examples:














Visit the Oeps Crew site here.
To see more, check out the Oeps Crew photo sets on flickr here.