Lyrois

Nike 6.0: The Ill-Mobile

2008-08-12T14:59:00.003+02:00

So, on a scale of 1 to 287, how adventurous are you?

The 8-wheeled ill-mobile is capable of crossing deserts, climbing mountains and taking the team to any secret spot. Racks for bikes, surfboards, wakeboards, skateboards, mean going anywhere for any scene. There's an on deck bbq for grilling up fresh meat, a deluxe camper shell salvaged from a junkyard in remote corner of Oregon and a basement couch for a front seat.

Rails to grind are featured on both sides, and a quarter pipe folds down for impromptu sessions. The stereo system requires 2 car batteries, a set of jumper cables and a little luck, but once it's blasting, it's like a stick of dynamite in your eardrum.

[via]

08-08-08: Faster, Higher, Stronger

2008-08-08T20:08:00.005+02:00

The Olympic motto is made up of three Latin words: "Citius, Altius, Fortius", which means "Faster, Higher, Stronger". These three words encourage the athlete to give his or her best during competition, and to view this effort as a victory in itself.

The sense of the motto is that being first is not necessarily a priority, but that giving one's best and striving for personal excellence is a worthwhile goal. It can apply equally to athletes and to each one of us.

Here are a few things to learn from the Olympians --

Be dedicated and passionate

Keep your goals in mind

Learn to be a team player

Cheaters never prosper

It's not done till it's done

Milk it while you can

Have a backup plan

Have goals after your career is over

Miniature Series: Purple Shadows

2008-07-29T02:54:00.003+02:00

We're almost done with the 2008 styles. Stay tuned for the remainder and for some previews into the 2009 colorways and materials.

Miniature shapes in black and purple vinyl on white aluminum.

Shawn Stüssy's S/Double

2008-07-10T15:01:00.002+02:00

Shawn Stüssy of Stussy fame seems to be doing something that looks very interesting --

[via]

Update: A tongue(s) in cheek interview with Shawn Stussy --

Crooked Tongues: Sneaker-wise, what would you deem a design classic? We saw a spot of Metro Attitude DNA in the S/Double sample you wore in SF recently...

Stussy: ONE THAT STANDS THE TEST OF TIME... DOESN'T METRO MEAN YOU GET YOUR NAILS DONE?

European Wall Decals

2008-07-03T04:05:00.016+02:00

... door decals, that is. The beauty about European houses is that antique wooden doors are all included and genuine.

The same techniques we use to cover buses and trucks with ads, pictures and all-over graphics, come back -- en miniature -- in delicate shapes, cut in elegant, glossy foil.

As promised --

These decals stick to most wallpapers and laquered wood, yet the foil is fully removable without leaving any residue.

Shapeshifters and the Art of Seamless Tailoring

2008-06-11T14:10:00.010+02:00

We're in the textile and fabric business, after all. Well, cut-and-sew conquers other industries as well -- now, BMW builds a Shape-Shifting car out of cloth --

Instead of steel, aluminum or even carbon fiber, the GINA Light Visionary Model has a body of seamless fabric stretched over a movable metal frame that allows the driver to change its shape at will. The car -- which actually runs and drives -- is a styling design headed straight for the BMW Museum in Munich and so it will never see production, but building a practical car wasn't the point.

From prototype to instant classic.

Tableaux Series: Purple and Black on White

2008-05-17T03:17:00.004+02:00

Glossy -- purple and black -- colored shapes on matte white aluminum.

Dirty pictures and clear, clean-cut lines --

As promised and somewhat limited.

Weapons of Mass Design or the Real Thing by Hermes?

2008-05-07T11:38:00.012+02:00

Rifles, rockets, bombs, electric chairs, and chainsaws + bling × haute couture: That's the recipe of Peter Gronquist's Weapons of Mass Designers --

Does anyone see a pattern here [gasmasks, weapons, ...]

It's the old trick of making an extremely violent film featuring some random war theme and calling it an anti-war manifesto.

So far so good... now, if you need a true, maybe non-fabulous revolution, you need -- at least -- one of these --

The Hermès Eurocopter

The helicopter's cockpit upholstered in black leather --

... and the redesigned landing gear --

The french fashion company Hermès recently teamed up with eurocopter, the world's third largest aerospace group to create l'helicoptre par hermès, a luxury helicopter.

No irony here.

Lego Brick Logos and Icons

2008-05-04T07:21:00.005+02:00

We love pixels and we love Lego, in fact, what's the difference between the two anyway? Lego bricks are the ideal 2D-picture elements.

Headless Pixel Madness with the Dancer's Logo --

Translating High-Res to Low-Res Graphics --

All with old, dirty Lego bricks.

Sippin' Manischewitz

2008-04-20T10:52:00.006+02:00

Go ShaBot, it's your Pesach
We're gonna' seder like it's your Pesach,
We're sippin' Manischewitz like it's your Pesach
And you know we got the ten plagues for your Pesach!

חג שמח

Hag Sameach.

Gas Masks from Louis Vuitton and Gucci

2008-04-10T11:09:00.008+02:00

Diddo Velema, Gucci and Louis Vuitton collaborate on, of all things, gas-masks --

As long as it's got monograms and diamonds, we'll wear it...

If you need even more apocalypse, and matching suits, Kanye West has the pics from Diddo Velema.

Tees: The Mohawk-Logo

2008-04-07T05:21:00.001+02:00

The Mohawk-Logo as requested, on a tee. On the back, the 2008 Dancer's-Logo.

Here is the money-shot --

Lyrois Tees: The Mohawk Shirt.

Special Ed.: Purple on Purple

2008-04-01T11:11:00.002+02:00

We've had it before. The White-on-White edition was delicate, subtle -- yet still all Lyrois. In the spirit of continuous refinement and improvement, striving to achieve ultimate perfection, today, we're releasing the most elaborate creation yet --

Because black on black has gotten old somehow.

Cut & Sew: The Difference between Haute Couture and Prêt-à-Porter

2008-03-26T06:15:00.000+01:00

I know that you know the difference. I also know that you know that one sells the other. But in the shop, it comes down to --

Haute Couture: Envision, design, cut, sew, repeat.
Prêt-à-Porter: Envision, design, cut, cut, cut, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, refine, refine, repeat.

Cut...

... and sew.

Working on it...

Stickers: The Mohawk-Logo

2008-03-17T11:26:00.002+01:00

In black and in white. App. 14 × 8cm / 5.5" × 3.25" each.

Instructions, Obedience, Discipline: The Fault of the General

2008-03-07T05:34:00.002+01:00

If the instructions are not clear, if the orders are not obeyed, it is the fault of the general. But if the instructions are clear and the soldiers still do not obey, it is the fault of their officers. --Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Sometimes, virtuosity develops in the second row. Uninstructed, apparently disobedient and seemingly undisciplined.

The Year of the Rat: Color Me

2008-02-07T05:52:00.000+01:00

February 7th, 2008 marks the beginning of the Chinese year of the rat.

2-THOUSAND-RAT TWO-THOUSAND-LY-RAT 2008
TWENTY-ZERO-RAT TWENTY-ZERO-LY-RAT 2008

The Rat (Chinese:鼠) was welcomed in ancient times as a protector and bringer of material prosperity. It is the first of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. Rat is associated with aggression, wealth, charm, and order, yet also associated with death, war, the occult, pestilence, and atrocities. The Year of the Rat is associated with the earthly branch symbol 子.

Color me.

Wallpaper: Purple Shapes

2008-01-30T04:12:00.000+01:00

As promised, wallpaper, purple on white, water-resistant paper in sheets for spot applications or on a roll, three feet wide. The height of the shapes forming the pattern is app. 1".

Please enjoy the first design from the 2008 menu --

Yes, you can even frame it and get lost in this unique pattern.

Murals Preview

2008-01-07T08:00:00.000+01:00

A partial view of the design draft for an interior wall.

A mural, 5m × 2m -- part of one, that is. Unfortunately, nothing more specific right now...

Between adding and taking away.

Tableaux Series: Special Ed. White on White

2008-01-04T07:00:00.000+01:00

Glossy white shapes on matte white aluminum.

While purple, black, and white are where it's at this year, some prefer to have it one color at a time, with glossy or matte accents respectively, in white on white, or black on black, whichever you like better.

Starting off with white on white, a special edition with unique applications --

Square tiles measuring 10" each.

The regular, three-color editions are coming later this year. Stay tuned for more from the shop.

HAPPY 2-THOUSAND-LYROI-8

2007-12-31T10:00:00.000+01:00

2-THOUSAND-8 HAPPY 2-THOUSAND-LYROI-8 2008
HAPPY LYROI8 I MEAN LYROIIX 2008 2008 2008
2008 2008 2008 HAPPY TWENTY-ZERO-LYROI-8 8

OK 2008 2008 2008 TWENTY-08 2008 OK OK 200

HAPPY 08 TO ALL OF YOU! EVERYONE 2008 2008
2008 THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. 2008 2008 2
2008 2008 REMEMBER YOUR FOUNDATIONS. 08 08

ONE MORE THING: MOVE... AS FAST AS YOU CAN 
THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY MATTERS IS TIME

Translating High-Res to Low-Res Graphics

2007-12-24T08:00:00.000+01:00

From very high-res vector graphics to low-res pixels in favicons.

Let's see how much we have to remove until the bare minimum, the essence, is left and exposed. Let's see how much we can remove. Let's see what we have to sacrifice on the way.

Check this out: 16 × 16px --

This is the original pic in 320 × 320px --

While the subject of this post is to announce the new favicon -- the little icon that is displayed in your browser's address bar, to the left of this page's URL and in your browser's bookmark list -- it brings along the beauty of simplification.

Here is the 16 × 16px version again, this time enlarged to 320 × 320px --

Now, please go back as far as your room allows and compare the two.

The design of the reduced version of that shape interpretes and translates the characteristics and lines of the original vector graphic. The original flow must survive the reduction in order to recognize the high-res fluid strokes beyond the hard and purposefully not anti-aliased 16 × 16 pixel-grid.

Does it work for you?

Headless Pixel Madness with the Dancer's Logo

2007-12-21T10:00:00.000+01:00

One of several variations of the dancer's logo. A production goof as it turned out.

As somebody pointed out, the dancer's head was somehow missing --

It reappeared in a later version --

Pixel by pixel, whatever it takes.

Introducing the Lyrois S/S 2008 Stylebook

2007-12-17T08:00:00.000+01:00

A partial menu for the year 2008, with spring and summer hints on design, fashion, and art projects, as well as signposts pointing to other things yet to come, explore, and create.

Lyrois: The Stylebook Spring/Summer 2008.

A printable PDF-file is available upon request. Here are the pics --

The colors: Purple × Black × White (× Aluminum × Vinyl...)
Exploring space: Wall decals in human sizes and wallpapers featuring miniature patterns. Big-size shapes mounted to the edges of rooms, tiny ones on the planes of small objects.
Speed: Urban, Streets, Raw, Asphalt, Concrete, Light, Motion.
Fabrics: Purple patterns printed on white and black fleece.
Luxury: Temple, Marble, Gloss, Stairs, Circles.
Cropped and square: Shapes in purple, white, and black on exquisite, white aluminum. Special editions in white on white.
Custom: Corporate art exclusively featuring this year's colorways.
Finite art: Signature-colored miniature shapes on black vinyl.
Innocence: Plants, Leaves, Nature, Organic, Delicacy, Moderation.
Decoration and store furniture: Vinyl decals and 3-dimensionally laser-cut shapes in colored acrylic glass.
Excess: Gargoyles, Creatures, Stone, Spirits, Weird, Strange.
Tees and limited edition prints: 3-color-graphics and one-of-a-kind shirts featuring the dancer's logo.

Enjoy and consider yourself teased...

The Lyrois Story

2007-12-09T22:04:00.000+01:00

Lyrois is an art scheme, an experimental brand, and a design meme in the making. Lyrois sounds similar to the french Le Roi, yet it is otherwise unrelated.

In 1997, Alexander Becker drew a bunch of shapes, 17 figures gathered around the silhouette of a dancer. Since then, they come back, year after year, in always different styles and designs, decorating bags and wallpapers, populating store walls and windows, as well as being featured on tiny vinyl stickers and as huge decals.

The original vector-graphics, their lines combining fragile leaves and powerful graffiti strokes, are never altered themselves, their outlines always remain unchanged. Everything else evolves around these already iconic shapes.

Projects -- upcoming or completed -- include Lyrois-appearances in architecture, fashion, and art productions, as well as unique collaborations in store- and interior design.

Behind the Scenes is covering everything from the Lyrois universe: Ready-made art for sale and to be given away, customizations, commercial projects and collaborations, also previews of work in progress.

Some things are not for the public, which allows only partial views that often lead to interesting speculations about the unseen and many times result in new expressions of a visual language that is built along the way.

Announcements and fragmentary ideas are collected and documented here, exemplary designs and some making-of posts that reveal how it's done.

The peaking behind the scenes, reporting straight from the shop, is based on the idea of developing in public, we could just as well hide everything and wait 'til we're there but that wouldn't be nearly as exciting as creating here and as-is.