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Sang Mun is a designer who worked with the NSA in some capacity during his service in the Korean military. Despite his experience with the controversial agency, his ZXX typeface, designed to be illegible to computer text-scanning software, was actually inspired by a slightly less intimidating agency, Google. Specifically, the algorithms used in Google Glass.

The typeface, which has four variations, targets the different methods of optical character recognition Google and other tech companies regularly use. The typeface also has a great name: "ZXX" is a code the Library of Congress uses for books with “No linguistic content."

Read more at Wired, see the typeface in use in our YACHT "Party At The NSA" feature, and download it for free.




A year after an Autumn/Winter lookbook that took the Hill-Side across the globe, the Brooklyn-based menswear label return home this season with a new lookbook titled Twelve Brooklyn Apartments. Shot by Backyard Bill with styling help from James Wilson of Secret Forts, the A/W ’13 campaign presents the Hill-Side’s wares in a natural light, as just another interior detail among some of Brooklyn’s most comfortable living spaces.

Excellently composed shots show scarves, ties, and pocket squares strewn about living spaces and dusty work corners; some clean and arranged, others messy and cluttered. But like Hill-Side fabrics, the focal point is in the details, and the lookbook provides the perfect glimpse into what inspires the brand’s aesthetic.

Check out our favorites snaps below, shop the full collection at Hickoree’s and view the full lookbook online.

For his design trilogy, Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized, Gary Hustwit and his crew shot nearly 100 hours of interview footage. After editing, only about 3% of that footage made it into the final cut of the films. In order to make use of the other 97 hours of conversation, which were cut for time and narrative and not quality, Hustwit has collected transcriptions of the interviews in a new book called, Helvetica, Objectified, Urbanized: The Complete Interviews

He's seeking funding on Kickstarter for publishing, and in addition to the Build-designed book, rewards include an hour-long highlight reel of the best unused interviews, an iPad version of the book, and bundles with custom Field Notes journals and DVDs of the three films. 

Back Helvetica, Objectified, Urbanized: The Complete Interviews on Kickstarter.








Photo by: BJ Enright | NY Art Book Fair

Ask anyone how they're enjoying the New York Art Book Fair and you'll likely get a response along the lines of, "It's great, but I'm overwhelmed." That's not a knock at the fair's organization, which was excellent, but instead a reaction to the sheer size of the event, both in the number of exhibitors and attendees.

Despite the evidence that the fair is primarily a "buyer's market," as confirmed by curator Shannon Michael Cane in our preview interview last week and the collectors leaving with bags full of books, the event manages to feel not entirely driven by pure commerce. No publisher makes a hard sell to those flipping through books, and while you'd surely be missing out on some great titles, it's entirely possible to get a lot out of the fair without making a purchase.

Those who braved the crowds and impressive roster of exhibitors saw plenty of Nothing Major favorites including Edie Fake, the Packet Biweekly Team, Gottlund Verlag, Nieves, Rollo Press, Bad Day, and Kayrock Screenprinting.

Check out our photos from photographer BJ Enright.

 

 

 

Dinosaur Jr. by Dinosaur Jr., Rocket 88 Books

No one would have predicted that a scruffy post-hardcore band from Northampton, MA would be together and touring after three decades, reconvene with its original line-up, or issue a deluxe coffee table book. Dinosaur Jr. by Dinosaur Jr., due in November from Rocket 88 Books, features an oral history of the band as told by the musicians themselves J, Lou, Murph, and ex-members such as Mike Johnson, friends, family, and others. It will be backed with unseen photos, rare flyers, and Dino Jr. swag—reaching back to the Deep Wound days. The book will be available in two editions: the full-color, hardback “Classic Edition” on heavyweight paper with art by Marq Spusta and a limited signed “Signature Edition” which includes a detailed tour diary from 1987-1988 with photos and a clamshell box with three art prints.

 

The book is available for preorder on dinosaurjrbook.com.

Dinosaur Jr. official book trailer from Rocket 88 on Vimeo.

Ernest Alexander jacket, GQ for Gap BNMDA 2013 Capsule Collection

For many of us, any mention of the Gap gives us a shudder—reminding us of ill-fitting shirts and jeans of the past. And we're not going to say that the 2013 GQ for Gap Capsule Collection is a homerun yet—we've yet to try anything on, and fit is among the true tests of any menswear brand's quality, whatever the price point. But, we're definitely intrigued by the collection from GQ's 2013 Best New Menswear Designers in America. For the most part, it looks like solid basics we'd gladly wear—and the prices are in a realistic sweet spot for those that aren't in a position to pony up for American-made goods. We'd like to see how the Bespoken suede baseball jacket looks in person. Otherwise, our eyes our drawn to the corduroy Bespoken spades shirt, the Ernest Alexander canvas weekender bag, the Ernest Alexander wax jacket, the Bespoken tweed jacket, the Baldwin selvedge denim and the Aviator Nation reversible vest. Is this good exposure for the upstart brands selected? Sure. Is it Gap stealing a bit of their cool? Also a yes. In this case, we say try before you buy.  

See the complete collection at GQ.com

Electronic R&B slinger Autre Ne Veut's latest video from the much-gushed-about album Anxiety is just out—and it should also bring a bit more attention to BANGS's director Allie Avital Tsypin. Upon initial viewing, the movements of the formally-dressed partygoers seem very odd—but near as we can tell, they're synched up pretty tightly with the musical elements in the song. The tuxedoed men appear to lock with the kick drum, for example. The arty video is a production of MOCAtv—and also pumps us up for a live October tour from the Hampshire College grad otherwise known as Arthur Ashin.

Back when Ellery James Roberts still counted himself a member of the Manchester outfit WU LYF, the band's online presence consisted of only an immersive, video-heavy, and slightly mysterious website. Since WU LYF disbanded, we've heard new music from his former bandmates in the form of Los Porcos, and a track from Roberts's own solo album back in June, "Kerou's Lament."

In advance of the release of his first solo full length, Roberts has stared to keep an eponymous Tumblr, with massive photos and videos of digitally manipulated faces, analog photography of bleak office buildings, and a textural goat image posted yesterday morning. If you've got questions about any of the visuals, Roberts has a pretty active "Ask" section.

Follow Ellery James Roberts on Tumblr.






The expertly curated online shop Need Supply doesn't need to do anything extra to impress us, it stocks all the right labels in our book. But with its fine, follow-worthy blog and print publication, Human Being Journal, it does so anyway. The mag is ad-free—unless you consider the whole thing an ad—and features top-notch photography and some solid stories, too. The menswear editorial, photographed by Will Godwin and Lauren Lyon, features threads from Soulland, Han Kjobenhavn, and Engineered Garments. Check out some sample images, plus some behind-the-scenes pics of the making of the magazine below.

 The Human Being Journal Issue No. 3 is available September 23rd.

Sphere Desks by Hella Jongerius

The UN didn't, that we know of, ask a group of Dutch designers to renovate the North Delegates' Lounge specifically for President Obama's visit this week, though the U.S. leader now has the option to take a break in a newly designed space, donated by the Netherlands to the UN. The project is the work of a group of collaborators, led by Hella Jongerius and including Rem Koolhaas, Irma Boom, Gabriel Lester and Louise Schouwenberg, who contributed original furniture and architectural input. The group maintained the art already on display in the lounge, but removed an entire mezzanine added in 1978 in order to reveal more of the lounge's view of the East River. The space, which was previously designed by Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer, has distinct areas for formal meetings as well as a place for casual food and drinks. This smaller scale renovation follows a much larger renovation of the United Nations building started in 2010 to reduce energy costs. [images via Hella Jongerius' Jongeriuslab and Designboom]

On Wednesday September 25, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will visit the United Nations to officially open the lounge.