THINGS survies the waves of Sao Paulo, science, portraits and fresh perspectives!

It only seems like two shakes of a lambs tail ago when Things was last here. Well, that lamb has been frantically shaking its time tail, suddenly thrusting us all into the weekend! If you’re currently completing a sofa hopping tour of London, you’ll probably have to start thinking about the Monday morning housing situation; if you wear a suit to work, you should probably think about ironing all those crisp white collars soon. In the meantime, stuff all of that and read this, go have a drink or three and dance like it’s the saviour of sanity. So, let’s get to it. Strap in ladies and gents, you know the drill.

Portrait Salon 12

What better way to kick things off this week than to flick through Portrait Salon 12, which considers our changing relationship with the portrait. As social media has exploded into our everyday lives, “we’ve never been more aware of our own image”, uploading huge archives of pictures, scrambling through tagged posts for that extra ‘special’ image, only to subsequently (according to Facebook) replace it on average 20 times a year!

It can all seem a bit weird, but when we think about it, can profile pictures be considered as artistic portraiture? The one surety is the expanding popularity of the social photography network, Instagram. While not “taken seriously by the photography world”, its effects are certainly changing the rules of the game. Judging what makes a great shot is a subjective process and Portrait Salon 12 not only portrays those images that traditionally wouldn’t make the cut, but also “critiques the subjectivity and absurdity of judgement”.

www.portraitsalon.tumblr.com

Same indifference hand printed cards

Waking up in the UK this morning could be described as cold and this alone would be a huge understatement! But among the frozen this time of year, there is always cheer. It is, after all, nearly CHRISTMAS! With this in mind you’ll be needing some cards to delight your loved ones. In this quest, look no further than Daniel Honan and Michael Crowe’s beautiful matchbox style designed cards. They are as charming as a baby in a reindeer outfit! So, go grab ’em while you can.

www.sameindifference.bigcartel.com

The Where The Why and The How

Next up on our list of things that makes us smile the smile of a Grandad sucking on a Werthers Original is The Where, The Why and The How. Science has never been trendier, gracing our screens with exciting theories explaining everything from why stuff explodes to the Higgs boson particle. it’s exciting times for scientific discovery, yet some questions remain. The Where, The Why and The How is here to explain those life long questions such as, ‘Why do we yawn; Why do we blush and why-oh-why do cats purr?’ Using concise explanations and accompanying illustrations, you’ll be retiring your quizzical faces with that wise old Grandad grin very soon.

www.chroniclebooks.com

Women in graphic Design

“Why do apparently so few women feature in the history of design? Why is it still the case that so few women speak at conferences?” These are just two questions addressed by Women in Graphic Design. As one of the only ‘blokes’ studying Feminism at my University, I was continually surprised to hear of the genuine obstacles lingering like a stale cabbage fart in those environments still dominated by men.

While discussions have continued for years, the realm of Graphic Design has “repeatedly prevented women – with few exceptions – to be recognised in ‘official design history’”. And there’s the key word – history, or rather, ‘His-Story’; what happened to herstory?

Women in Graphic Design is a thorough research project aiming to rewrite the wrongs, highlighting the significant, ground-breaking, yet largely forgotten contribution women have made in Graphic Design between 1890-2012. About time too!

www.jovis.de

The Sao Paulo Survival Kit

If you go down to Sao Paulo today, you’re sure to find a surprise! In order to meet that surprise square in the face, you’ll be needing a Sao Paulo survival kit which includes a variety of objects to keep you intrigued, engaged and informed.

Inside, the package includes a paper full of interesting people to meet in the vast city that sustains over 20 million souls, a map to find all the key locations and a pretty awesome selection of images guiding you on survival issues such as ‘how to stay dry on your motorbike, and how to pull your cart around.’ Very cool, now let’s get some tickets and a cart.

www.colorsmagazine.com