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just a simple happy thanksgiving day shout out to all those who
follow our blog.
we're thankful for a great year thus far and look forward to the work
ahead.
happy thanksgiving.
sometimes the cultural influence of cinema extends well
beyond conventional expectation and lands firmly onto the
foundation of american folklore.
as anyone who has a true connection to both film and
rock-n-roll would attest, christopher guest, as nigel tufnel
in the 1984 masterpiece spinal tap, offered one of the
all-time best single lines in the history of cinema.
today is the day to celebrate his comic genius.
(big) bottoms up!
a huge shout to heavy d.
a true pioneer that kept the laid-back beats based in the roots
of R&B as he navigated his way through the infancy and maturity
of rap. he most definitely left his mark on the world of music
and entertainment.
although known for his generous size and lyrical flow, he also
proved he had some acting chops buried in his artistry.
peace to the brother.
he will be missed.
Dwight Arrington Myers 1967-2011
although we all thought ali was a much more compelling
personality and boxer, joe frazier brought out another level
and complexity in ali we're not sure anyone else could have.
the two boxers are inevitably linked together in most people's
mind because they both personified issues greater than simply
themselves that stood contentiously in opposing corners.
and they both had their reasons.
sociopolitical reasons. stylistic reasons. cultural reasons.
and that connection existed long before they stepped into the
ring for the fight in the garden back in 1971.
but today?
smokin' joe stands alone.
Joseph William Frazier 1944-2011
having designed mark arcenal's flagship store in japantown,
SF,
back in 2007, he knew who to come to when it was time to make
his LA store stand out from the crowd.
form3, no doubt.
we sat down, sharpened our pencils and came up with a design
strategy that would fit well within the budget, yet look like a
million bucks.
then derek, anthony, matt and the rest of the crew went to work
like villains on this project.
it is called illest, alright?
since we used walnut so prominently on his SF store, we decided
to repeat aspects of that design in order to create continuity between
the two locations.
we created a centered "belly" of walnut paneling throughout the space
that we attached plexiglas shelving, custom t-shirt display and custom
metal hanging rods.
yogi and vince went to work merchandising the store and...viola!
another form3 design in little tokyo!
back in late summer, while we were in the midst of four projects
in two different cities, we were approached by jeff phan from the
san jose-based clothing and lifestyle boutique, aristocrats.
he and his partner linn, were wondering if form3 had the time
to fit in another late summer/early fall project.
for these guys?
no problem.
we don't need to sleep.
they were looking at a space in little tokyo, los angeles, that
fit their needs perfectly.
with just under 1000 sq ft on east second street, they were ready
to hit los angeles running.
in a neighborhood that has seen nothing less than a complete
revitalization (and has seen an enormous increase in the amount
of foot traffic) in the past few years, they made an excellent choice
on a block that serves as the heartbeat of the community.
like always, we spent our evenings hunched over a macbook pro
with google's sketchup running for hours. a few days later we met
again with jeff and linn, and presented our ideas.
what was pretty amazing about that meeting was that there were
absolutely no change requests.
not one.
that's a meeting worth being in.
as jeff put it, we exceeded all their expectations and needs.
the only question: when could we start?
uh, the next day?
aristocrats-los angeles opens 11.11.2011
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