MADMEN Your Living Room! DWR & AMC Promote Season 4 With A Sweepstakes

If you're a fan of the AMC TV period drama about advertising, chances are you've already MADMEN-ed yourself. So, what to do next? How about a chance to MADMEN your living room?



In celebration of the much-anticipated fourth season of AMC's "Mad Men," the network and modern furniture store and company, Design Within Reach, announce a collaborative promotion to give one winner a chance to "Mad Men" his or her living room with a collection of new furniture that embodies mid-century modern aesthetics.


The Grand Prize is two pieces from DWR's exclusive Raleigh collection, the Skagen Coffee Table and Nesting Tables, and the Strata Rug, and the AJ Floor Lamp designed by Arne Jacobsen. (The winner may choose from in-stock fabrics and colors.)


colors and fabrics:


Four first place winners receive "Mad Men" Seasons 1, 2 and 3 on DVD.

Raleigh Armchair and Sofa:


Raleigh is a comfortable, modern collection that draws from mid-century Danish design. Wrapping around the back of this Armchair is a solid walnut frame that brings visual lightness and satisfying aesthetic tension to the design. The collection includes an 85" Sofa, Two-Seater 60" Sofa and Armchair, available in various colors.

Skagen coffee table and nesting tables:

Inspired by the mid-century designs of Arne Hovmand-Olsen, the walnut wood Skagen Table Collection (2009) includes this set of two Nesting Tables, as well as a Coffee Table.

AJ Floor Lamp:

Arne Jacobsen's AJ Floor Lamp (1960) echoes the oblique angles of his Series 3300 furniture, which included the Egg Chair and the Swan Chair. The heavy cast iron base of the lamp is a sloped wedge with a circular cutout that was originally designed to hold an ashtray and to maximize the lamp's functionality as a reading light, Jacobsen created a shade that tilts up or down, directing maximum light to where it's needed.

Strata Rug

The hand-knotted Strata rugs (2009) are handmade from wool using a technique that was inspired by a method for tying Tibetan knots. To create the structure of each knot, a stainless steel rod is temporarily placed along the width of the rug. The yarn is then wrapped around the rod, knotted and then wrapped again, with the process continuing for the entire length of the rug. The quarter-inch pile height won’t interfere with the opening and closing of most doors. The manufacturer is a member of Rugmark, the global nonprofit organization fighting to end child labor and improve educational opportunities for children in India, Pakistan and Nepal.
Available in various colors.



"Viewers of 'Mad Men' are already fans of the elegant, iconic furniture on the show, so a promotion with AMC was a natural for us," says DWR President and CEO John Edelman. "We are passionate about modern design, whether it's a contemporary take on mid-century lines, such as our Raleigh and Skagen collections, or original designs licensed by the manufacturer, like the AJ Floor Lamp by Arne Jacobsen, legendary creator of the Egg™ Chair."

Now through August 4, the "Get the Look of Mad Men" Sweepstakes is promoted in every Design Within Reach retail location, in more than 50 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Visit dwr.com/madmen to enter the sweepstakes and to view the complete Official Rules.


The season premiere is on Sunday, July 25 at 10pm EDT/CDT.

Dell Teams Up With Threadless! Sneak Peek At The 10 New Laptop Designs

The Threadless Collection for Dell Computers

Blending technology, art and fashion, Dell and Threadless teamed up to offer an exclusive collection of original graphic creations. This artwork from the popular community-based design web site is available from the Dell™ Design Studio for customizing select laptop computers.



Here's a sneak peek at all ten designs, but as of right now, only three are available for purchase. The rest will be available soon.

Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 Threadless Collection:
Inspiron Mini 1012 with Blooming by T.J. Zhang:


Inspiron Mini 1012 with Grandma's Hot Air Balloon by Brent Shoepf:


Inspiron Mini 1012 with Rocketbird by Mike Mitchell:


Inspiron Mini 1012 with Daisy by Bryan Ische :




Dell Studio 14 Threadless Collection:
Studio 14 with London! by David Bushell:


Studio 14 with Stone Jungle by André da Silva Cruz:



Dell Studio 15 Threadless Collection:
Studio 15 with Collection by Jimmy Tan W H:


Studio 15 with Electric Sky by AJ Dimarucot:




Dell Studio 17 Threadless Collection:
Studio 17 with Deforestation by Rick Crane:


Studio 17 with Secret Lake by Henrik Lindström:



shop for the Threadless Dell Collection here.

Dell has several special art and design collections, be sure to see them all here.

all images and info courtesy of Dell Inc.

M•A•C & Fafi's Colorful Collaboration

In the US we are all aware of M•A•C Cosmetics. Highly publicized has been their latest collaboration, a line of make up products, scarves, t-shirts, dolls and makeup cases by French artist Fafi.



But who the heck is Fafi?


Above: french artist Fafi and below, her profile from her own site:

Born and raised in Toulouse France, Fafi's strong presence in the graffiti and fine arts scene was first witnessed on her hometown walls in 1994. Back then, as she was painting and hustling, her sexy, funny, and sometimes aggressive girl characters made the whole world look and help kick-start a whole new graphic language; by exploring feminity through stereotypes,and using it to her advantage, she drew enormous attention and thus started to travel the world with thousands of Fafinettes in her brushes and paint cans. Europe, USA, Japan, Hong-Kong, the planet is a playground. And it's only started.

Soon enough Sony would ask her to design a six-character toy set for the Time Capsules collection, an almost natural move for her three-dimensional measures. Other successful figurines would follow, as well as numerous expositions and collaborations with Colette, Adidas, LeSportSac, Coca-Cola and countless press stories in the most prestigious magazines (ie. Vogue, Elle, The Face, XLR8R, Yen etc...).

The animation world started to eyeblink her vision in Mark Ronson video featuring a Fafi-ed Lily Allen. Her multi-faceted work was all documented in her books GIRLS ROCK (2003) and LOVE AND FAFINESS 2006), both being also succesful prints in museum libraries and selected shops.

As for 2007, Fafi entered a new phase. Having become a mother and moving to Paris made her introduce a new depth to her creations. Now not only the Fafinettes are fly girls, they also run a whole universe of creatures, homes and vehicles. It's called The Carmine Vault. It's a dreamy and peculiar place.

Not only are the products' packaging fun to look at and like little art collectibles, but the colors are nice and springlike without being too bold.
See many of them below.




Highly sought after in particular seem to be her little figurines, Eriko, Monoka and Ermine, which sell for 9$ a piece:



The M•A•C FAFI microsite is not only filled with the whimsical product line but is a delight to click through, with lots of multimedia and interactive fun:





Below are some examples of Fafi's sketches for M•A•C:



Read an interview with the MAC creative director about the collaboration here.




The Artist's site.

The MAC Fafi shopping site.