Hair colouring brand Koleston used a great outdoor strategy to promote its range of natural hair dyes. The company erected a billboard by the sea-side coast of Beirut, Lebanon that created an interactive user experience by utilising the natural environment. The billboard had a die-cut stencil figure of a woman with long flowing hair. The colour of the hair changes throughout the day depending on the time and weather. The billboard cleverly conveys the brand proposition: Koleston Naturals uses natural ingredients in its products.

[via PSFK]

In a series of Tweets, Kanye West has revelaled plans for a new collective of creatives and developers called DONDA.

DONDA is a design company which will galvanize amazing thinkers and put them in a creative space to bounce there dreams and ideas

I am assembling a team of architects, graphic designers, directors musicians, producers, AnRs, writers, publicist, social media experts, app guys, managers, car designers, clothing designers, DJs, video game designers, publishers, tech guys, lawyers, bankers, nutritionist, doctors, scientist,teachers…

DONDA will be comprised of over 22 divisions with a goal to make products and experiences that people want and can afford. I want to put creatives in a room together with like minds that are all waaaay doper than me. We want to help simplify and aesthetically improve everything we see hear, touch, taste and feel.

We can collectively effect the world through design. We need to pick up where steve jobs left off…

You’ll recall that last April Jay-Z dipped his toe in the editorial field with Life + Times, a lifestyle site which focuses on music, style, art & design and gadgetry. Back then I wrote, “you can see this as a half-veiled attempt by Jay’s publicist to associate him with all things ”hip” and “relevant”. Or you can see it as a natural brand extension for a guy that already permeates so much of our popular culture.”

With the benefit of hindsight, Life + Times was a very half-arsed attempt at brand extension. But, perhaps that’s an unfair comparison, becasue Life + Times never claimed to be changing the world.

DONDA on the other hand?

Even though the announcement was infused with Kanye’s trademark cocky bravado (and can be seen as a brand extension of the rapper/designer), DONDA has a real whiff of entrepreneurial excitement. One thing is certain: doubters will doubt. Haters will hate. Kanye will just keep pushing boundaries. We’ll have to watch this space.

Feel like you fit the bill to help out DONDA? Interested parties can email contactDONDA@gmail.com.

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival is only two weeks away. Having its world premiere screening on opening night at the Festival,  in the prestigious ‘World Cinema Dramatic Competition’ category, is Australian film Wish You Were Here - a psychological drama starring Joel Edgerton, Teresa Palmer, Felicity Price and Antony Starr. Four friends lose themselves in the fun of a carefree South East Asian holiday. But when only three return home, things start to unravel. Shot on location in Sydney and Cambodia, Wish You Were Here looks to be a topical drama about Aussies abroad. Check out the trailer below:

Two compositions created by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke for the clothing company Rag & Bone have hit the web. Entitled “Stuck Together” and “Twist”, the tracks soundtracked the company’s New York Fashion Week events last fall. Stream the recordings below.

[via Vulture]

If you’re in to photography you may remember the excitement we all felt when the Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR was released. Now soon to be released is the new Nikon D4. But, one guy that’s not that excited is Trey Ratcliff.

Ratcliff runs the excellent travel photography blog, Stuck in Customs. He recently ran a thoughtful piece on the new wave of 3rd Gen cameras on their way to market. 3rd Gen cameras, as Ratcliff defines them, are “the new line of cameras that don’t use the 20th century technology of a mechanical mirror inside that flips up and down between photos.”

Ratcliff’s article, titled DSLRs are a dying breed – 3rd Gen cameras are the future, reads like well-measured 3rd Gen enthusiasts manifesto and is enough to make you question whether you need that new lens you were shopping for:

I’m not going to buy any more DLSR bodies or lenses. I’m waiting on the descendants of this first phase of 3rd Gen Cameras. Even though you can make a good case for great cameras like the Sony A77, the new lines of Nikons, Panasonics, etc etc — I want to wait for a few more iterations — but I won’t be waiting long.

3rd Gen Cameras are the clear future category for digital photography. Objectively, these cameras have more advantages than disadvantages.

While I’m certainly not going to be throwing out my DSLR anytime soon, this is food for thought and, moreover, indicative of the wave of technological change coming our way.

Daniel Eatock discusses his work Felt-tip Prints (2011), part of the Walker Art Center’s exhibition Graphic Design: Now in Production. Such a great idea.

Claire Felicie‘s Here are the Young Men (Marked), is a series of triptych portraits of marines of the 13th infantry company of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps. The series shows close-cropped portraits of the Dutch marines before, during and after they were deployed to Uruzgan, Afghanistan in 2009-2010. How do the faces of soldiers change — before, during, and then after, war? Can we detect profound or subtle psychological shifts just by looking at their portraits? Take a look at her series and judge for yourself.

Supercool retro clip for Flight Facilities.

Osama Bin Laden's capture

A reproduction of some of the pivotal events in the news of 2011 using Lego. You can see more here.

Occupy Wall Street

The death of Steve Jobs

The Royal Wedding

Joshua Dildine does cool mixed media using spray paint, oils, acrylic and photographs.

[via BOOOOOOOM!]