An enterprising Japanese firm, Clone Factory, have taken cutting edge 3D mapping and printing technologies in another direction entirely, by making it possible to have your head cloned onto a doll of your choosing, such as the unusually cheery Imperial Stormtrooper shown above!

The subject simply takes a seat in the photo studio, where they’re snapped’n'scanned, then a 3D model of their noggin is rendered…

The 3D model is then printed onto a sheet of clay-like material, which is trimmed and coloured, before being fitted to the body of your choice…

The results are scarily accurate!

Far from disappearing, the humble compact cassette has found fresh favour on the DIY music scene, with the return of tape-only labels being one of the most surprising developments of recent years. However, taking into account the digital ‘loudness wars’ eloquently deliniated in Greg Milner’s Perfecting Sound Forever, which saw the likes of Metallica’s huge fanbase lambasting the ‘everything louder than everything else’ approach, mebbe the humble analogue cassette’s ability to absorb serious overloading and sound simply triffic makes more sense… and then there’s the excellent blank tape insert art, as reflected by this excellent Flickr set.

With this technique Victor van Gaasbeek used the most basic elements in todays graphic design; the pixel.

The pixels were sliced in half, and with the sliced pixels created numerous animal heads. Up-close all you see is triangles, but when you look from a distance, the big picture becomes clear. Check out Victor’s site @ victorvangaasbeek.com

These ads were made for IBM and their project ‘Smarter Planet‘. Ads created by Ogilvy South Africa,

Taking an early lead from the reissued Big Trak toy in the retro tech stakes is a ‘reimagining’ of the Commodore 64 as a “modern functional PC as close to the original in design as humanly possible. It houses a modern mini-ITX PC motherboard featuring a Dual Core 525 Atom processor and the latest Nvidia Ion2 graphics chipset. It comes in the original taupe brown/beige color, with other colors to follow… No expense has been spared. This is the ultimate hackers keyboard on which to wield your key-fu.”

Suffice to say, a revamped version of the Sinclair C5 that’ll do a ton up the bypass is now looking more likely!

Found at The Dieline.

Following on from the hot 2010 trend for American workwear that we blogged about, transplanted French designer Christophe Loiron has started a new style digression with his California-based brand Mister Freedom‘s Spring 2011 collection, Les Apaches.

Taking inspiration from Parisien hoodlum kultchur of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Loiron’s really gone to town on this homage to his home country’s organic street style. The attention to detail is astonishing, not least this beautiful, specially-commissioned shirt box, painted by Patrick Segui. Expect the influence of the Les Apaches collection to be felt on UK high streets next year — minus the packaging!

Monkee Business, Eric Lefcowitz’s new tome about the world’s first boyband, is now available in a nifty limited edition run of 300 copies that feature a die-cut cover inset with double-sided coins depicting the respective noggins of Messrs Nesmith, Tork, Jones and Dolenz, as used on the regular paperback shown below. The limited edition is available here.

Stranger & Stranger Christmas Absinthe

The Fun Theory

That’s the way to promote your product: show people you love what you do and that you’re competent at it.

When artist Jon Jackson, a longtime Los Angeles resident, made plans to relocate to Noo Yoik, he didn’t want “to string LA along” and so “decided to firmly break it off through a graphic billboard series posted on the famous streets of his first love”!

Needless to say, the City of the Angels hasn’t seen anything quite like Johnson’s series since Elektra Records broke the mainstream hold on LA’s billboards with their revolutionary paste-ups for The Doors’ debut album and Love’s “Forever Changes” set in 1966-67.

You can check out Jackson’s full series here.

Word Lens (or, in Spanish, lente de la palabra) allows you to simply point your iPhone at a sign you want translating and, bingo! (in Spanish, bingo!). Currently only available in Spanish-English / English-Spanish, developers Quest Visual have promised that a large range of languages are, ahem, on the cards…

With snow a cert for the Christmas period and chunky knits a hot high street trend, what better time to celebrate a classic design of the fashion world, the Mary Maxim sweater?

In the early 1950s, the Ontario-based Mary Maxim company — which is still owned by the McPhedrain family — launched the first easy-to-follow, graph-style knitting charts. The company’s multifarious ‘picture knit’ patterns for what are generally known as ‘Cowichan sweaters’ enabled even the most arthritic granny to fashion an ultra-warm and stylish gift for their loved ones. And, zounds, what designs! From bowlers and snow plows, to bison and totem poles, curling irons and golfers, square dancers and steam trains, seemingly endless variations of the patterns were produced…

Fast-forward half a century and vintage sweaters depicting the more sought-after Mary Maxim designs are steadily increasing in price among fashionistas, have provided inspiration for a slew of fashion brands and, most importantly, are still keeping a whole load of folks around the globe nice and warm in the frostiest of conditions.

So when it comes to Winter knitwear, don’t be a dope, kick it like Bob Hope!

The man’s a genius!

Guardian Guide creator Ben Olins’ latest project, in partnership with Jane Smillie, is the self-effacingly great Herb Lester Associates, who have produced a number of gorgeous, fold-up maps designed by Montana’s Michael Newhouse.

You Are Here is a pocket-sized guide to London’s best spots for freelancers to hold meetings and work, May We Help You? details the captial’s best specialist suppliers, and their latest, Wish You Were There, is a look at the city’s hottest shops and entertainments, circa 1960-1966. The maps are available for £3-4 each here.

Beijing 1989

Fatescapes, a project by Czech artist Pavel Maria Smejkal, takes a number of the 20th C’s most iconic images as its base and taps into the collective cultural consciousness in a most striking manner. The project asks you to work out what’s missing – always the test of a true creative – and re-evalutate your relationship to the subject.

More after the jump…

Vietnam 1972

Iwo Jima 1945

Filmmaker, author and photographer Henry Chalfant, the director of much-loved early-1980s hip hop street art documentary, Style Wars, has just launched a new website that is set to feature his astonishing Big Grafitti Archive. Henry’s portfolio features countless breathtaking shots that effectively helped to communicate grafitti art to the rest of the world, and he plans to make the Big Graffiti Archive available as a DVD set. That’s one for the OG Christmas list, then. Click on the image above to check the subway car in all of its glory.

Another ingredient in the crucible of hip hop, New York’s street gang culture, is explored in Rubble Kings, a new documentary from director Shan Nicholson that’s currently on the film festival circuit. Check the trailer below…