Yesterday Elsa and I pleaded our case to the keen design students over at PSU.
Kate Bingaman-Burt has a great program going on over there, keep up the solid work folks!
A big thankee also goes out to Ben Vickery for showing us how our own computer works.
Ahh, I see…
/awh
For anyone who enjoys working on things aside from work, Elsa has started a great little blog for those such adventures. As she puts it “This is a place for my many side projects, thoughts and ideas.”
I can personally vouch for them all, especially the bread.
/t
BIRD by Andrew Zuckerman (Secretary Bird for the win!)
On November 16, 2009, larvae that hatched six days earlier flew aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station. The larvae successfully fed, grew, formed chrysalises, and emerged as adult butterflies. via BioEd Online
Related: Spiders in Space
/t
What if… woah.
/t
If anyone missed out on their size of the Black Bear shirt reprint, a few more were found in the post-holiday shuffle and are now available in the shop…
Go on over to GOOD.is and check out our latest transparency in collaboration with GOOD and Whole Foods.
/t
As Elsa mentioned in the previous post this list includes the albums we listened to and loved this year here at AWH HQ. The list includes some (most) albums that were released previous to 2009. The following is my list.
01. Earth, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull
It’s hard to write about an album/band that you respect so much. So I won’t.
02. Andrew Bird, Noble Beast
Beautiful rich and layered music, as pure a musician as you can find.
03. Mulatu Astatke, Ethiopiques, Vol.4
This collection of arrangements is as sassy or as eerie as you want it to be. The smokey rythyms stay with you, perfect for those late night work sessions.
04. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
A gorgeously arranged, highly textured album, with plenty of off-key jam to go along with the subtle harmonies and hooks.
05. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
Elsa really nailed it on this one, simply a hopeful album.
06. Mew, No More Stories Are Told Today…
One of the best math-rock albums released since their last (And the Glass Handed Kites).
07. Asuka Ota & Hajime Wakai, The New Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack
So file this under music that only I find listenable after a couple tracks. Seriously though, the desert levels music will blow your mind.
08. Clipse, Hell Hath No Fury
Soundtrack to almost all of 2008 and a large enough portion of 2009 to make the list. It’s what rap would sound like if we all lived in ghetto moon colonies (fingers crossed).
09. Baroness, Red Album
Sturdily built songs with plenty of layers to be found. So smart, so heavy.
10. Passion Pit, Manners
Tired? Groggy? Uninspired? Instant relief is found here.
HONORable Mentions:
Bowerbirds, Upper Air / Bon Iver, For Emma Forever Ago / Creedence Clearwater Revival, Best of /Mastodon, Crack the Skye / The Streets, Everything is Borrowed / Earth, Hibernaculum / Jay-Z, The Blueprint III / The Dead Weather, Horehound.
It’s end of year, and lots of lists are being made and shared, especially music lists.
We thought it would be fun to make a list of some of the music that has been playing at AWH HQ this year.
This is a list of albums we listened to and loved this year, which includes some that were released previous to 2009. The following is my list- enjoy!
01. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
All around amazing album, and according to my itunes, the one with the highest play count this year. The melodies are so beautiful, and Ed Droste’s voice gives me goosebumps.
02. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
This was the soundtrack to our drive from NY to OR- it’s such a hopeful album, it made me happy to be moving to the Northwest.
03. Fever Ray, Fever Ray
This album is haunting and at times disturbing- a perfect winter album.
04. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
Simple and beautiful.
05. Andrew Bird, Noble Beast
Lovely- so smart and well crafted.
+ 
06. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter ll + No Ceilings (mixtape)
I love Lil Wayne, always have, probably always will. His lyrics are pretty nerdy, and he really shines in his mixtapes where the references get even weirder. Weezy 4 life.
07. Clipse, Hell Hath No Fury
Clipse is an example of music Tyler and I can agree on and play out loud. In anticipation of Till The Casket Drops which came out in early December- we bumped HHNF, which is still my favorite Clipse album.
08. Passion Pit, Manners
For when a project is dragging and a little extra high-pitch man-voice is needed to uplift, Passion Pit is the way to go.
09. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!
I’m a sucker for anything from YYY- this album was a bit slower than their past ones, but it has a good balance of fun/introspective tracks to keep it interesting.
10. Jay-Z, The Blueprint 3
My favorite of his recent albums-all the New York references made me miss the city just a bit. It’s over the top and epic, gotta love that.
There it is, looking forward to a new year with great new music.
/e
Always With Honor
is a design collective specializing in icon, information and map design run by Tyler Lang and Elsa Chaves.
