Self deprecating humour doesn’t normally come high on the young alpha males’ CV, but that could be about to change. Let me introduce you to Shadrack and the Mandem, courtesy of Clickreplay.tv

It’s high time that ‘urban’ male posturing got a full satirical send-up and Shadrack’s series of video treats send the whole culture up through the roof. Coupled with a twitter campaign that takes the concept onto new 140 letter highs and what you’ve got is comedy for a new age with a level of wisdom and insight that is ageless.

In their own words, Clickreplay.tv want to ‘simply be the back bone of, online home grown UK comedy entertainment.’ And anything is possible, as this is what I call true cultural ownership of the good, the bad, the ugly & the absolutely hilarious.

Apparently it took the J-man 3 days to resurrect himself, but fair play and an almighty ‘hallelujah!’ to Dave Smith, who’s managed to do it in 5.

Not a bad effort, considering it was only the end of last week we were mourning the demise of one of the design worlds most creative blogs.

But we shouldn’t have even batted an eyelid, as Dave has popped up on the Grafik magazine blog where he’ll be contributing every Friday with a round up of new work from that week. The new blog is called The Cache – genius.

Can he turn water into wine? Who knows, but if he can continue to seek out all that is gold, then that’s more than enough for us.

It was with much sadness that one the best blogs you’ve never heard of – Grafikcache, came to a close on the weekend.

Why the long face? Well this blogging game is no easy business, and Dave Smith‘s blog was one of the best resources for all things visual – from design to architecture, from books to exhibitions and all things in between.

On the upside though, you can still check the archived images on his Flickr account, not to mention The Directory, where all the agencies / artists featured on the blog can still be found.

When I put it like that it’s not so bad, so no more tears, just promise me you’ll make good use of Dan’s invaluable resource.

If you haven’t had a chance to visit the Chris Ofili retrospective at Tate Britain as yet, head down this Sunday. Not only will you get to see the show for a fiver (bargain!) but you’ll also get to take part in a range of creative workshops and musical shenanigans.

I really can’t recommend this show enough (without sounding like I’m on the Tate payroll) but <em>really</em>, his work will blow your socks off. You’ll be immersed in glorious colours, intricate patterns and provocative narratives. But don’t take my word for it, be part of it.

My friend Jason pointed me in the direction of this masterful video by director and visual effects guru Sam O’Hare.

The way Sam plays with the sense of scale and movement is truly a joy to behold, as it makes for one utterly enchanting piece of work.

Now why didn’t my train-set ever look like that?

You know Jay- Z the artist, you definitely know Jay-Z the brand, but anyone for Dan Tobin Smith the photographer? Didn’t think so, but Tobin-Smith, along with Nicola Yeoman, and Greg Burke are the trio responsible for Jay-Z’s recent album art for Blueprint 3,

At first glance you’d be excused for thinking it was some Photoshop magic, but delve a little deeper and you’ll be rewarded by work that is not just a strong concept, but an elaborate feat of production. The album’s aesthetic and concept actually owes more than a little nod to Tobin Smith’s earlier work for Athlete’s Tourist album, and uses some clever plays on perspective.

So why some keyboards in a corner you might ask. Well Dan (first name basis and all that) refers to the gathered instruments by saying: “These things are like the forgotten pieces in hip-hop…”

Did you realise that the 3 stripes were actually painted onto the instruments themselves? Me neither, but check out the behind the scenes video to appreciate the craft that goes into such a project, or for more from the horses mouth, go to itsnicethat.com, where Dan goes into great detail about the whole process.

The only question left to be asked is: Is New York really running it, or a couple of young designers from London?

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via Sleevage