Showgirl, Bluey Robinson - New Music Video

I've been playing this song over and over and I think his voice is awesome cool. Haven't heard any recent funky newcomers with a sound like his. :) It's all electronic R&B at the moment so it's refreshing to hear a voice like his. woo.. shoowwggiirrl :)

Watch on Youtube

Bluey, 22 year old funky guy from London is a 'distinct British personality' who echoes the likes of 'Prince, Otis Redding, The Jackson 5, Cee-Lo Green and Bruno Mars in Bluey’s sonic spectrum. “I’m influenced by a lot of old music but I’m also a young guy living in London in 2011, so I want to tie the two angles together,” says Bluey'. The single was produced by hit-making mastermind Labrinth who is most famous for his work on the Tinie Tempah track ‘Pass Out’. - (http://www.blueyrobinson.com/about/)

I think the video is casually cool and doesn't over do it with meaningless special effects; the video stays true to the lyrics and I love the summery vibe. I wanna move like those dancers in the video as well! This song has catchy lyrics and Bluey has an incredible voice. Coming from a design background I think the single cover art could have been more eye-catching and echo the coolness of his Showgirl music video however all in all, the song is all you need! :D Showgirl is going on repeat this summer :D

Ooh & check out this awesome acoustic Street Session of Showgirl.  I love how he's so 'out' there jamming in the streets. Goes to show he's a 'real' musician, not a manufactured vocoded over popstar. :) He's just too cool isn't he? haha

Bluey Robinson Links:

Official Site   /   Facebook   /   Twitter   /   Myspace   /   Youtube

M.A.S.H 

Nisha Haq Photography > The Secretary's Chair

For my Chair project (March 2011-) I first focused on fashion photography and using the chair as a prop for various fashion shoot. After all my fashion research I decided to finally shoot in the studio drawing inspiration from Willy Vanderperre’s photos of Lara Stone and Liv Tyler, Giovani Squatriti of Caterina Murino and Nick Knight’s Then Now Next feature for i-D magazine. I liked the simplicity in all these shots and their use of black and white. I have recently done a lot of photos in colour and thought it would be nice to return to the wonders of greyscale. I also decided monochrome would suit these photos better as the outfit I chose for my model, Lauhren Jones would stand out much better especially as they were black and white clothes. I did this shoot in March 2011 in my college photography studio.

 

I was inspired by the Chanel look and with a classy translucent material Asos blouse teamed with a bow tie (M&S), high heeled lace shoe boots and elasticated black mini skirt from New Look with hold ups and stockings (vintage); I wanted to fuse elegance and sexy which lead me to the idea of a secretary especially after looking at this film poster from 2002. I wanted to play on office fantasies and stereotypes of female secretaries whilst retaining the fashion element. On some of the shots I didn’t want them to be too sexy and wanted to portray an easy going lady despite the constricting garments.

FACEBOOK   /   FLICKR   /   TWITTER   /   MODELMAYHEM

Nisha Haq Photography & Design Links:

BLOG: mashthings.blogspot.com

FLICKR: flickr.com/mashnashphotography

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/pages/Nisha-Haq-Photography-Design/18373...

TWITTER: twitter.com/nashdood

M.A.S.H

Luxurious Louboutin F/W 11 by Peter Lippman

One day I'll get a pair of Louboutin's but for now I'll just blog about them!

I love these photos Louboutin F/W 11 collection by Peter Lippman. They are photographed exquisitely and the post-processing is extra-ordinary. I love the fact they've used inspiration from iconic historical paintings and gave a modern Louboutin twist to it.  It certainly makes the shoes even more luxurious than they already are! There have been many adverts/photos where the photo upstages the product however here these photos shows a brilliant collaboration between photographer & designer and equally work with both strengths highlighting the shoe as well as the artistic creativity. Who would ever though that Whistler's Mother would be holding a Louboutin! (last picture)

Source: Trendland.net

Further Reading: Christian Louboutin    /    Peter Lippman Photography

M.A.S.H

Autumn Trend > Siwy Denim A 2011 Look Book

To me it seems crazy to even think about autumn when summer hasn't even really started in Britain (well down in the South West, April was the summer!) but when I saw these simple but very stylish clothes teamed with sexy denim I thought I'd post some trend related photos.

Siwy Denim, launched from New York, create 'easy-to-wear' look for all shapes and sizes and I think would look great on both small & tall people (Horray for little me!) Their latest autumn collection is called 'Crazy on You'.  I don't really see denim as a trend any more as it'll always be trendy! It's just the different cuts and shades and what to wear it with that changes from season to season. I'll certainly be taking style tips from Siwy Denim this autumn. Anyways.. enjoy next season's looks from Siwy Denim:

Source: Fashionising.com

Further Reading: shop Siwy Denim

(Click on images to see bigger)

 

M.A.S.H

Nisha Haq Photography > Dood Looks Like A Lady

One of my most interesting and 'daring' shoots I've done to date. For 'Dood Looks Like a Lady' I decided to get my fabulous gay friend, Matt Giles to dress up as a transvestite for a an hour for my Photography chair project. After continuously seeing how the androgynous look is very in season (especially after the Andrej Pejic case of modelling both females & menswear) the fashion world is becoming more accepting and even promoting this fashionable 'transvestite' trend. This particularly intrigued me where I wanted to explore themes of burlesque styling with a modern 'twist'. I linked this in with my chair project as burlesque dancers often use a chair as part of their act so thought I'd mix these themes up.

For this shoot (shot in March 2011) I dressed Matt in my lingerie (was really funny doing this) with the aid of Lauhren Jones for dressing and some make up. I had asked him to bring in a wig just in case however chose not to use it as his neck length conditioned hair looked very silky and feminine anyway! Despite being very rushed for time as I could only book the college studio out for an hour I only had 15 minutes of good shooting. I thought Matt was a great first time model (especially in clothes out of his comfort zone!) and certainly worked the studio space and followed direction very easily. Here are some of the edited shots from the day:

Check this photo out on:     Flickr    /    Facebook

Nisha Haq Photography & Design Links:

BLOG: mashthings.blogspot.com

FLICKR: flickr.com/mashnashphotography

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/pages/Nisha-Haq-Photography-Design/18373...

TWITTER: twitter.com/nashdood

M.A.S.H

Big Question: Is Technology slowing eradicating Art?

I've been browsing through internet blogs and started thinking about how much new technology is available to us and how easily accessible it is. I'm talking about MP3s, MP4s, e-book readers... you name it. The technological world is creating devices where we don't need CDs, DVDs or books any more, everything is technological including online streaming/downloading. I know I can't say much, I've done the odd song download where I didn't want to buy the album or the one-off movie stream when I couldn't go to the cinema which goes on to a whole new topic about illegal downloading n blah (don't report me to the authorities, I'm innocent... honest!), this post is about how art is left behind.

Music

Being a graphic enthusiast; I feel as if people have forgotten the importance of cover art on CDs and how it isn't impacting as it was before the incredibly fast digital era came; this is mainly down to the increased use of the internet. People download singles or albums in MP3 format and don't bother to buy the CD. I prefer buying CDs and enjoy looking through the album art especially interested in the graphic design (and photography) of the front cover, layout and typography.

Here are some great examples of cover art including iconic, controversial and general awesome design:

 

When listening to music I enjoy flicking through the album art especially if the artist & production team have taken a lot of time and effort into creating an outstanding visual booklet. Although I prefer booklets with lyrics inserted inside I believe concept art is more important. I see albums like a book of songs and each song is a chapter of the story. The booklet should visually represent the concept so that is one reason why album design is very important. I'm quite put off seeing manufactured pop acts with an over-airbrushed face for a front cover and some meaningless sexy poses inside, it just represents the artist as being uncreative and talentless. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE pop music however you can tell the artists that contribute to the CD to those who has everything done for them. So if album art was eradicated then the concept of the album can be lost on the way as music and art certainly go hand-in-hand.

Books

Moving to books I think that people should hold a book when reading. With the new e-book technology where people can just download numerous books to fit on an e-book; people need not buy real books just download data. I'm quite against this technology; yes it's easier and has many benefits especially for people 'on-the-go' but the feel of holding a book and all the other senses we take for granted when reading books will simply be lost. I love the smell; touch and sight of books filling up my shelves and to see that it can all fit in to one small compact silver object isn't satisfying for me. It's like having a whole beautiful closet shoved into one tiny box; no one can admire it. I recently bought a book called 'How to do more of just about Everything' (which is an addictive read!) and I hadn't bought one in ages! I forgot how much I enjoyed reading books and flicking through pages rather than sitting hours on end on my laptop. It's the same with CDS and DVDs as I like collecting and seeing them on my shelf in front of my eyes and the array of colours and designs that feature on the covers makes the stories/music much more exciting. Furthermore I believe the existence of blurbs will be lost and people will soon lose touch with the importance of books; the bearer of knowledge. So not only is technology diminishing art but possibly making people less active in terms of not going to the library and researching the old way: using books.

Cinema

Technology has also impacted cinema and with increased sales of devices that offer high quality (even HD quality now!) video functionalities eg. iTouch, people are downloading movies rather than buying DVDs or with the click of a button people can view ratings on movies online and need not bother to see whether the cinema poster art will affect them to watch the film. Gone are the days when artists hand created movie posters to be put especially outside the cinema; this is one reason why Bollywood hand made movie posters are still in high-demand and a joy to look at. The film industry is obsessed with super Photoshopped film posters and there have been numerous blunders that just ruins the art of film and design. A recent example is X-Men: First Class first film poster where many people were shocked at how awful it was and had no reflection on how amazing the film was (honestly is an awesome movie so go watch it now!) but thankfully the marketing team have changed it!

Original posters:

More examples of pretty bad film posters:

All these art forms; cd covers, film posters etc. are not only a form of artistic expression they are created to sell the product so of course has the advertising & marketing element. Does this mean that films, music and book sales will decrease a lot without the impacting presence of poster and cover art?

Well we've already seen a decline in album sales. Statistically this would look like artists and record companies aren't selling as much as before and the music isn't getting out to the public however due to the internet age; data can spread like wildfire making it easier to download both legally and illegally alike especially with the emergence of a blog culture. Sooner or later shop shelves won't be selling hard copies of albums and books, people will just be solely using the internet for everything this includes reading magazines and newspapers online with software/sites such as 'Other Edition', 'issuu.com' and downloading apps to read on iPads and other tablet devices.

In conclusion I believe that printed art for the entertainment industry such as CDs, books and film posters are slowly becoming unnoticed and unappreciated. I honestly hope it doesn't become a dead art form. I don't think technology itself is eradicating art but the development of this has inadvertently lead to the decline of printed art which would be a huge loss to both art and entertainment worlds. Everyone loves to see images and viewing a picture is one of the quickest ways to receive information rather than read words; it is also one of the most powerful methods of communication. If this is lost then hearing about new releases, the experience of reading a book/magazine/newspaper etc. could possibly have detrimental effects on socialisation and the impact of media. I believe advancing technology is brilliant such as the invention of portable devices like iPods, internet blogging (I wouldn't be posting this entry otherwise!) and applications on smartphones etc. has transformed the world in many amazing ways and has made information quick, cheap & accessible and has made people more interconnected because of this, but lest not forget the importance of printed media and where it all began. I hope CDs, DVDs & books etc. are not replaced by the internet and downloadable apps but somehow I've got a feeling it won't be due to the priceless experiences of printed media.

M.A.S.H

Please let me know what your thoughts on this matter are! Post a comment below!

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If you wish to use excerpts from this entry please credit me and link to this entry page. Thanks.