After publishing with a blackletter logo since 2007, Fashionista decided it was time to reconside and redesign its stoic face as well as swap its back-end CMS from Movable Type to Wordpress.

The old logo was this oversized, domineering, gothic lettering thing that said “spiky, aggressive, old-school news brand.” That’s not what Fashionista is. The editors of Fashionista are excellent journalists who will be critical when it’s called for, but they’re also unashamedly fashion lovers. They might poke fun from time to time, but they’re not spiky or unnecessarily aggressive. And they’re also inherently new-generation when it comes to how they go about their business — they use a blog platform, Flip cameras, smartphones and various social media to deliver their content and engage their audience — so unless we were being very ironic with the gothic, old-school newspaper font thing it just wasn’t really appropriate. I’m also a big believer that the logo and furniture on the site should be a little subservient to the content — it’s the content that engages and the content travels well beyond the site too — so we also needed something a little less imposing.
— Jonah Bloom, CEO/Editor-in-Chief, Breaking Media

More treatments of the new logo at Brand New.

This appeared in my junk box over the weekend, and the minimalist, yet romantic typeface intrigued me enough to take a second glance.  It looks like Anthropologie has created a website, The Anthropologist, that celebrates their vision of the namesake. Here’s a brief description:

“The Anthropologist an online space for inspiring works and inspiring individuals. It is a testament to the idea that revealing the passions of one person can result in the progress of many.”

I’m very curious with what this special project could culminate into. Perhaps a social platform where creative types can upload work and socialize? There are a couple characters described on the page.

Anthropology appeals to the free-spirited type of girl, who’s not afraid of fine, tailored, and whimsical things. Unlike its sister company, Urban Outfitters which is oozing with sexy Lower East Side girls recently, the Anthropologie girl is a bit grown up,  and has nothing to prove, but to be herself. Where would an Anthropologie girl hang out? Cobble Hill or Park Slope in Brooklyn comes to mind.

Levi’s, a brand enriched with history from the California’s Gold Rush, is sponsoring a game centered on the fictional nephew of Levi Strauss according to Media Decoder. The treasure hunt is a part of the “Go Forth” campaign and launched this week by Wieden & Kennedy in Portland, Oregon.

The game is structured like a scavenger hunt where the $100,000 prize is “buried somewhere in America.” The clues are dictated by Grayson Ozias IV who creates online and real-world references, puzzles, tall tales, and even a quote from Walt Whitman. Details of the game can be found on Levi’s Go Forth site.

I’ve collaborated on live sponsorships and promotions by Levi’s. The concept is there, but I’m interested to see how this game unfolds in real life.

The fashion and art publication Visionaire has continuously used a variety of unique formats to present its content. For the 57th issue, the publication draws inspiration from the two-seater Smart Fortwo car. Visionaire 57 “2010″ will be the first plug-in electric issue in the publication’s history. As seen in the photo above, the plug is shaped like Daimler’s compact automobile. The magazine uses electricity to illuminate 365 pieces of art displayed in the form of a daily calendar.

Visionaire 57 was assembled by 52 renowned guest curators and culture icons, including artist John Baldessari, museum curator Klaus Biesenbach (MoMA), fashion designers Raf Simons and Marc Jacobs, and the architect Zaha Hadid. Natalie Portman and Tilda Swinton also contributed to the publication. Visionaire began in 1991 and now publishes three times a year, each issue with a drastically different format for delivering avant-garde and cutting edge artistic presentations. Visionaire 2010 is limited-edition with only 4,000 copies and will be available for $295 in October.

[Via Design Crave and Auto Blog Green]

I was having a conversation with a digital strategist at one of the most awesome digital agencies in New York about interactive fashion communities and websites and StyleCaster came to mind.  I have been an active user on Style.com for nearly a decade. Creating a mock website on CSS/HTML sealed the deal with my intimate relationship with the very first fashion 1.0 site. Then came The Fashion Spot, a.k.a. TFS where I would gather over fashion tips and interact with fellow users. No other fashion magazine site or blog has been able to personalize these features.

So what is StyleCaster? Their mantra is “personal style experience uniquely tailored to your fashion DNA”. They describe themselves as the Web’s first truly personalized, integrated fashion channel, where you receive all news on fashion, beauty, breaking news, celebrity, shopping, and community just for you. It’s really an innovative way to receive news about fashion and join an interactive fashion community, aside from blogs and magazine websites. It’s the first venture into fashion web 3.0.

How did they come about? Stylecaster officially launched in February 2009. Last week July 1st, StyleCaster raised $4 million in Series A round of financing from investor Dan Gilbert, QuickenLoans.

Who is StyleCaster? There’s really no one person who is the face of StyleCaster, unless you’ve seen the prelaunch video of Jessica Joffe. It’s called “Transformations” and it’s a montage of Joffe getting up and ready for work, and walking through the streets of SoHo. StyleCaster is twofold: it’s a community and an authority.

You can even get weather and outfit forecasts on the StyleCaster App for the iPhone. “The StyleCaster Daily Look’s application delivers you three fully styled outfits based on your local weather. You can click on the outfit to learn more about it and the style influencers who created it.” What I get from this app is the relevant utility of it. I don’t think women seek to recreate the exact looks they offer, but they can get an idea or two about what to pair with and the local weather forecast. Also, the StyleCaster App features a range of styles to choose from and find its origins. So, when women are just out and about, they can use of the StyleCaster App and find out where to buy the featured item and any local sample sales. It really serves the essence of a mobile app.

StyleCaster App on Facebook

photo credits: StyleCaster

It seems like Nike doesn’t want anyone to know it is going green. The sole of Nike’s new Air Jordan XX3 is made of ground-up pieces of old Nike sneakers. You would think it’s more cost-efficient, right? Not at all. The suggested retail price of the Nike Air Jordan XX3 ranges from $180 to $230. Even though its eco-friendly shoes are cheaper to make, the company perceives its consumers are more interested in design and performance than sustainability. This strategy can make or break the brand, especially among its urban and socially responsible consumers.

Nike knows going green has various advantages. Surely there are environmental benefits, but going green offers a more cost effective approach in manufacturing of top performance athletic sneakers. It expects to reduce the amount of material it wastes by 17% over the next decade. While companies like Seventh Generation and American Apparel pride themselves over innovation in the eco-conscious changes they are making, Nike is down playing sustainability initiatives. In its latest digital campaign called Nike +/Running, sensors track physical data, find useful tools to train for the marathon, and connect with others in a friend or foe user experience. Nike is all about innovation and hip athletic gear. How is sustainability relevant to the brand? The brand has always been about winning.

Nike came to the same conclusion after a less-than-successful experiment a few years ago. The company launched its first line of environmentally friendly shoes, the Nike Considered, in 2005. Innovative at the time, the walking boot was made of brown hemp fibers that looked obviously earthy. Critics called the $110 shoes “Air Hobbits” because of their forest-dweller look and feel. It really challenged Nike’s design integrity because it detracted from its high-tech image. The boots didn’t sell well, and within a year were taken off the shelves.

Did Nike learn anything from this experience? Green innovations should continue in my opinion. Like the world around us, consumers’ expectations are constantly changing. With a brand like Nike, experimentation with different markets is key. You shouldn’t abandon a strategy simply because it didn’t work three years ago. “We want to do more and say less,” is the way Laurie Vogel, at Nike, puts it. Overcome with ongoing exposure of sweatshop labor in Asian factories, the Nike also has to tread carefully about promoting itself as socially responsible.

Innovation is still key in Nike’s brand strategy. In 2008 Nike debuted the Air Jordan XX3, which was designed so that all the pieces of the shoe fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. The design eliminates any excess plastic. The company also invented a sewing machine that speeds up assembly time thus saving electricity. With a legendary line of 24-years, Nike plugged in the XX3 as the next generation of Air Jordan. The latest edition debuted in January 2009 and has continued with sustainable manufacturing of sneakers.

What are the results? The Air Jordan achieved double-digit growth during the company’s most recent quarter according to Charles D. Denson, Nike’s Brand Chief. This suggests consumers are happy with the shoe’s performance. Sustainability is increasingly playing a key factor in consumers’ purchases, from apparel to spirits and foods, to household products. Nike’s lineup now includes eco-friendly basketball, football, soccer, tennis, and running shoes.

Nike Quietly Goes Green [Businessweek]

photo credit: Nike and Francesco Bongiorni

I am a big fan of photographer Juergen Teller, who is most notorious for his off-kilter and over-exposed flash photographs in Marc Jacob’s campaigns. This time Mariacarla Boscono is the itgirl for Emilio Pucci’s Fall 2008 ad campaign. And she’s perfect. The Italian model, known for her mod, swanky style, was the right choice for the label’s latest campaign, replacing Malgosia Bela in S/S 08. I’m thinking Pucci’s psychedelic prints are pulled off better by Mariacarlo. Her hair is a rich, luscious chocolate, her skin is rightly porcelain. And she’s not lost in those crazy-color extravagant maxi dresses, fur, head scarves–no dread of suffocation here! Her bouncy hair adds to the sense and style. A large cobalt bag with shimmery plum python and cube gladiator heels spells fun. And the backdrop is dramatic, fittingly Pucci, the marble, the statues, the piano–did I mention Pucci is Italian?

P.S. Psss…Pucci is currently looking at their design assistants to become the new Creative Director as Matthew Williamson has resigned to focus on his namesake business. I want to design for Pucci!