Not to sound like an Old-Skool grandad, but Hip-Hop in its prime is an art form of humour, genuine emotion and boundless creativity. When it achieves those heady heights, it looks a lot like El-P’s Stepfather Factory from 2001.

A product for society becomes a product of society in this thought provoking (but ultimately slept on) addition to the nature vs nurture debate.

The video may not have made it to MTV and the like, but when it comes to a creative concept that’s both brilliantly thought out and impactful, work like this should pop up on your radar.

Art work from the Sequences Real-Time Art Festival from back in 2008, proves that not only is milk good for your bones, but it’s good for font design too. Providing you’re willing to make an awful lot of mess.

The 2010 version of the festival runs from October 30 to November 7 in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Madlib is a man of many musical styles and even more pseudonyms.

He recognises though, that the power of his music is nothing without the brand to go with it. Being a savvy type of fellow he also knows you’ll be cold if you don’t have something nice to wear, hence why the man with many styles has many super fresh t-shirts.

From the ashes of Rise comes the UpRise Anti-Racism Festival on October 3 in Finsbury Park London.

The previous incarnation went down in a blaze of contention and glory. Brazen Bunch, Zap! Bang! and twenty%extra™ have bowed to the will of the people to bring back an event that never should have left in the first place.

We’ve achieved an awful lot in a very short period of time, but there’s still much to do and funds to raise. So if you – like us – want to put our money where our mouth is so to speak, then please lend your support by joining the ever growing £1 Crew [larger donations ARE welcome], joining the FB page or just spreading the word.

This Is Collate does exactly what it says on the tin: it’s a stylistic collation of some of the best examples of design showcased using a simple yet dynamic navigation tool called Dynamix.

Click < & > to view the work, click ∧ for info on the work, click ∨ for info on the site itself. Simples.

Art direction, illustration, typography & design by Non-Format for the new Magnetic Man 12″.

Look at how the light version of the typeface in the second image takes its form from the bold ‘M’ of the very bold and striking Magneto Man logo.

If you use your noddle like these guys, custom typeface design needn’t be so hard, but it sure will look hot.

The blueprint for the Church / Synagogue / Mosque of the future perhaps?

The three most practised religions all in place; depending on which way the sun shines.

Mayer Hawthorne on vocals – singing a Tony Bennett classic with beautifully art-directed video and merchandise to match – can only mean another collabo pack from the niche marketing hit-masters over at Stones Throw.

It’s hard not to disappear into the carefully crafted slowmos, but if that wasn’t enough, the track comes loaded on a heart-shaped USB flash drive, thus ensuring that as my heart leaves for sunnier climbs, my wallet also leaves my pocket.

I’m a child of the 70’s and 80’s, which makes me fan of the A-Team, which makes me a fan of Mr.T’s van, which has meant a lasting romance with all vans of the same ilk, which in turn makes me an undoubted fan of Vans and the Places Where They Were.

Google Earth is more than a tool for checking out your neighbours geraniums. In the hands of Dutch designer Thomas de Bruin it’s a tool for developing a full font set – including capitals, lower case, numbers and punctuation – from locations all over the Netherlands.

Our Junior Art Director Jade reckoned it took him ‘like, for ever’ to find the whole font set. Apparently though it took him ‘about a week’, which makes it even more of an achievement. Type-nerds tip your caps please.

Once upon a time, Chuck Anderson was an illustrator who did work for esoteric fashion brands and artists like Lupe Fiasco and Lodown Magazine.

Nowadays the brands get no bigger than Google and Microsoft, because when it comes to the type of slick signature styling that Chuck Anderson can bring, everyone wants a buy-in.

Digging in the back catalogue of must-blogs we find legendary Detroit producer and king of Techno Carl Craig’s 2009 collaborative concert with pianist Francesco Tristano and Paris’s Les Siècles Orchestra.

Musical Director and Conductor François Xavier Roth, when describing the project is quoted as saying “There is no hierarchy in music, only a quest for high standards.”

I can’t put it any better so I won’t say any more, apart from to say give it a try; you just might like it.

If you work with type or have any interest in typography, you’ll understand how challenging laying out type well can be. The thing about good typography is that when you do it well only other type-nerds notice. Do it poorly and it can stand out a country mile.

Antonio Carusone’s 8 Simple Ways to Improve Typography In Your Design is a great article that covers the various problems designers face when setting type and how to best approach them. leading and no more hanging quotes for you.

Not everyone will notice but the sense of satisfaction will be worth it, and those in-the-know will know.

An image of the past combined with the sound of the future courtesy of the music /marketing guru’s at Stones Throw and Bruce Haack, who was not only widely considered as one of electronic music’s true pioneers, but was also a man in possession of the most unassuming of faces.

This is a video of simple teenage abandon with not an alcopop in sight – just coke cans on the table.

Simply put, this is one of the strongest, most poignant music videos you’ll ever watch.

In fact to call it just a music video does it a disservice, but if you want something to do with 9mins 40seconds of your time, you could do no better than watching this.

Carpe diem.

The average coming-of-age film is generally thwart with drama at every turn and a look-at-me-look-at-me element that rarely deserve any attention at all.

So if you come across a largely slept on 2002 film full of character, subtlety and previously untapped performing talent, then you’ll have no doubt discovered what it was like Raising Victor Vargas.

Impressive showreel from Kristofer Ström; the maker of Benga’s Baltimore Clap.

He uses a simple hand-made style full of charm and plenty of character, or should I say characters. Enjoy.

One of Dubstep’s finer exponents – Benga – goes all Art-house Plus courtesy of video direction by Kristofer Ström.

BIG.

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via INX blogspot

Traffic Wardens: We can’t stand them. The Insomniax: If you don’t know them, by the time we’re finished you will do.

Crystle Clear Cinema presents A Bad Day For Benny trailor for the impending short film, featuring Insomniax band member and fully paid up theatre performer Mark Anderson. Benny’s the Warden who can never catch a break, though we can probably agree that he doesn’t deserve one.

With soundtrack by The Insomniax and a cameo by INX’s very own Doctor Sydney Velvet (that’s right), what this video hints at is a) the versatility required by the modern performer and b) the analytical / creative spontaneity of American Director Crystle Clear who discovered a phenomenon we despise and turned it into a short film we can warm to.

Sometimes if you want to create extra footfall for your brand, you’ve got to take it to the streets. Literally.

Brand Mystro has certainly figured that out, so follow him and his tape-deck roadshow, as he travels the tube from markets to the Millennium Bridge getting more than a smile or two along the way.

Genuine human to human interactivity begets viral / trailer, begets complementary blog piece. See how this marketing thing works? I know what it’s like around my way, turns out Mystro’s way is pretty similar.