One vanishing art that can still be studied in the interstices of the assault of global retail is vernacular typography. All over the world, there are cities and towns that retain their rich traditions of vernacular signage. Unfortunately, the fate of these typographic havens is being threatened by the uniformity of corporate advertising, which ignores and subverts local history and tradition. 

Created by Molly Woodward the Vernacular Topography website seeks to collect and document examples of these vanishing symbols of art and culture.

The lucky residents of Beverly Hills can now roll up to baker-to-the-stars Sprinkles, and hit up their cupcake ATM, the first 24-hours cupcake vending machine. We are waiting for more vending machines worldwide. 

This Friday night, 16 March 2012, you can join us in NYC, LA, DC, SF and Chicago to see a live stream of the Sub Pop SXSW Showcase featuring Niki & the Dove, Spoek Mathambo and THEESatisfaction.  The events feature outstanding DJs like Boy Wonder and Jon Huang in Chicago, Chances With Wolves in NYC, Chris Holmes + Brie Larson + Elijah Wood + Turquoise Wisdom in LA, Stretch Armstrong in D.C. and Claude VonStroke in San Francisco. Each will have an open bar and our special South by Southwest cocktail created by celebrated mixologist Jim Meehan, along with food from some of the country’s best food trucks—all for free. For those of you who can’t make it to one of the parties you can watch the stream live on the Tap Into SXSWsection of Cool Hunting, so check back often for exclusive interviews, videos and more.

Visit Tap into Austin 2012 to catch the Sub Pop Showcase livestream on Friday night and learn more about what’s happening in Austin during SXSW.

DigSin is a record label that enables subscribers to download singles for free, for life.

Launched in October, DigSin — which stands for Digital Single — will sign artists for a maximum of six songs each and release singles as free downloads for DigSin subscribers. Revenue comes from single sales on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify, where consumers can still choose to buy or stream the singles if they wish, supported by revenue from display ads on the DigSin downloads page.

Object Dating allows you to find a date based on objects owned by other users. All you have to do is log in and upload five pictures of objects that will represent you. It could be anything from a picture of a treasured piece of jewellery to a bag of old marbles. It’s up to you! You can then send an email to users whose objects you like and let them know you’re interested. Sign in or sign up to get started!

How can we manage our energy and attention for peak performance? How does a constant barrage of information affect our decision-making skills? How can we build better habits, embrace risk-taking, and truly realize our creative potential? Here is a link to the Best of 2011 collection of tips by The 99percent blog. 

Define “doing normal shit”…

It’s called Slavery Footprint and it’s a website that tells you how many slaves are working on your behalf. Created by a nonprofit group, with funding from the State Department the site wants to show that forced laborers are tied to all kinds of everyday products, from electronics and jewelry to the shirt on your back. Based on a bunch of info they collect about your lifestyle (obviously all approximate) the quiz gives you a good idea of how the supply chains of major industries work and what impact your every day life has on the world. Tried and found that 38 slaves ‘work for me’, now what I do with this information? Too bad that the ‘take action’ step of the quiz needs you to log in to share your score and doesn’t really gives any more details on how to really ‘take action’.

Great website by YES studio for Management and Production (M.A.P). The agency was founded in London twenty years ago by the Director Julie Brown to enable a small group of photographers to have support in the development of their burgeoning artistic and photographic careers. The agency has since grown organically and now has offices in London, New York and Sydney representing artists in the fields of fashion, advertising, editorial and art. The new website with its sleek and minimalist design, enables you to discover the latest work of established and emerging photographers, creative directors and stylist represented by the agency. A real treat for your eyes and a great source of inspiration.

Bookmark that doesn’t need any further description. Enjoy.

Lucky for all glossy (or matte) paper addicts it seems that the ipad and all other digital media are not going to stop new print magazines to pop up on the shelves.  Latest to launch is Matter, a new biannual magazine that analyses technology, its strengths and weaknesses and how it affects the cultural development and behaviour of consumers.

The magazine is designed to appeal to a high-end culture and design target market. Retailing at £8 with over 200 pages the first issue is guest edited by British musician Tricky who talks to Matter about music, imperfections and reinvention.

The first issue features an interview with Google’s Creative Director of Data Arts, Aaron Koblin, an article on colour with iconic fashion designer, Rick Owens, and Frieze’s editor Jennifer Higgie’s on twenty years of being in print.

Have a look at the first issue here

Unlike City Guides have teamed up with the Avant/Garde Diaries to bring us a brand new Unlike City Guides iPad magazine that presents a series of guides focused on uncovering remarkable destinations and new perspectives on the urban environment.

The project is to cast a creative eye on the world around us and create guides that highlight five cherry-picked locations inspired by the themes and contributors featured in the Avant/Garde Diaries.

Avant/Garde Diaries is a digital portrait magazine from Mercedes-Benz that documents nascent trends in the fields of art, design, architecture, music and gastronomy. Check out all the latest video diary entries at theavantgardediaries.com and download, for free, issue #1 of Unlike City Guides iPad magazine here.

The new Protein Journal (Number 6) is now available online. In a sleek and minimalistic design, discover a selection of all the best from the Protein OS and Protein Networks from the past three months.

This is the website you never knew you needed: Drinkify matches up the music you’re listening to with a suggested drink. According to the site, Jay-Z should be listened while drinking 10 oz.  of Gin served on rocks, Wu Lyf goes best with 0 oz. of Microbrew, 10 oz. of Lime juice and 6 oz. of Damson Gin combinde in shaker and strain into cocktail glass stirred vigorously.And it works for any music,. By the way Beethoven should be listen with a bottle of red wine. Happy listening.

If Coverjunkie (featured last week) was not enough and you need more shots of magazine cover, have a look at Modesquisse, a collection of fashion illustrations on
magazine and book covers.