nooka creative x-change: jabari johnson

I was recently given the opportunity to interview aspiring host/journalist, jabari johnson. jabari is a well known figure in the online hip hop community and has continued to show love for Nooka. be sure to check out his interviews and posts on his site http://www.iamjabari.com/

could you give us a short bio on yourself?
In a nutshell I am a music journalist/host but I do a lot of other things as well. I have interviewed artists like 50 Cent, Lupe Fiasco, Keri Hilson, Ryan Leslie, Soulja Boy, Wale and many more. That led to my online videos becoming very popular and developing a following that has turned into over 1.5 million views.

i always try to discern the differences between motivation and inspiration. what motivates you to do what you do?
Honestly what motivates me is having the ability to influence culture. Everything that I have done in the past and the things I will be doing in the near future are all links to the big picture which is being able to have a voice that can spread positivity to the masses. I know it sounds cheesy but I would like to be able to send messages to the world that help people on a grand scale.

With the direction social media is heading the lines of entertainment, news, fashion, philanthropy, technology etc. are all blurring. Each category can easily be incorporated into the next so while I'm entertaining somebody I can take five minutes to slip in something inspirational or educational, its almost like an obligation.

what inspires you?
I am inspired by people who make something out of nothing. Short web films inspire me especially from students because I know most of them are working with limited resources. When I see a great story in a 5-10 minute YouTube or Vimeo clip I get blown away because the filmmaker only had such a short amount of time to make such a compelling story. I am always online watching short films and mini documentaries and this is where you really see the budding talent of tomorrow. I love seeing who else is out there telling great stories through their camera.

your coverage is very hip-hop-heavy. what else do you listen to?
Yea it seems like I have interviewed every hip-hop artist under the sun! What most people don't realize is that I love all types of music (even though hip-hop is my favorite genre). Right now I am in love with Meiko she is a great singer/songwriter with songs that everybody can relate to. I also like MGMT, Lenka, Flobots, Mike Posner and Cage.

what does "nooka" mean to you?
Nooka is the future. I think the brand is currently where a lot of "lifestyle" brands are headed. Most watch companies could not come out with a fragrance but it doesn't seem weird with Nooka because it just fits. I think Nooka is about innovation and creativity and I can't wait to see what the next surprise is.

what's next for jabari?
Hopefully hosting a television show in the near future is next. I am always trying to become a better journalist and sharpen up my interviewing skills so I hope to be doing that on a larger platform soon. I am producing a documentary entitled Rest In Beats that pays homage to legendary musicians that have passed away. It is directed by Opiyo Okeyo and should be out in the Spring of 2010. I also want to do some more acting and modeling here and there. The future looks good and I will have my Nooka on the whole way!

nooka is available at fine stores and here! follow nooka on twitter: nooka
look for posts from matthew waldman on spacecollective.com/NOOKANYC

spongebob nookapants

everyones favorite sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea is coming to a wrist near you. spongebob squarepants is currently nickelodeon's highest rated television show and 2009 marks its 10th anniversary. we are extremely excited to be a part of history. what better way to mark spongebob's impact on popular culture then being forever immortalized on a nooka watch. we have designed two limited-edition timepieces referencing the palette of bikini bottom on the ZUB ZENH and the aluminum ZENV. these are designs i can imaging on sandy cheeks, spongebob and even patrick! hey, i know marc jacobs is a big fan of the sponge, maybe he'll be buying some of these as well.

spongelevator is the ZUB retail at $175 and the spongenvader $275. they are actually available now, exclusively at comic con in san diego. link here! and will be in stores for fall, but you can make sure you pre-order yours as these are sure to fry… I mean fly off shelves.

nooka featured is available at fine stores and here. join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nookaNOW on twitter.

nooka sightings: oh so pretty!

these photos of the adorable giorgina was sent to me by our man in the netherlands! apparently, she is one of our youngest fans. the netherlands is one market that really 'gets' nooka, and why not – they are one of the few countries that have viewed design as an important professional discipline for years. it is one of the few countries where one can receive government support to pursue purely theoretical design problems, plus they have paté american which is something you'd never find in america [it's raw beef mixed with ketchup you spread on bread in the mornings]. i'm a little jealous having to claw my way towards the top here in dog-eat-dog NYC but i am having a fun claw at it.

nooka is available at fine stores in the netherlands and here. join nooka and on facebook and nooka on twitter.

week-o-press!

this has been a very satisfying week for press and attention and wednesday's not even over! i even had to time to do something cultural – got a private tour of the frank lloyd wright show at the guggenheim with a group from the royal academy of arts [od which i am a fellow]. i highly recommend catching the show before it's over, really quite comprehensive and inspiring. about the show here.

there is great coverage on the opening of the nooka pop-up shop with a focus on the new nooka scent, including this link on partycrasher which includes an on-the-spot interview with me. i was told that i don't normally sound that gay, so it must be the tequila [and obviously, i'm sensitive to how i look and sound on camera!].

super flattering to have such great pieces on so many outlets. here are a few:
on mens style.com! wow
teen vogue. wow
j.c. reports. wow
the nooka strip on acquire. wow
on william yan's blog. wow

i don't want to alienate anyone, because i love all the press love, but there was also a great piece on nylon.com and other great fashion/trend blogs – too many to list! more great stuff coming up so i will update here occasionally.

ALSO...nooka sightings on youtube with dj splurt wearing the ever rad green urban camo nooka! here's a link to one of his shows. here.

nooka is available at fine stores and here. join nooka and on facebook and nooka on twitter.

portable film festival in australia!

It is my pleasure to announce that the Nooka Extra Dimensional National video has been selected as one of the finalists for the State of Design “Film the Future” competition! As a finalist, we will be broadcasted daily at Federation Square in Melbourne. If you’re around the area between July 15th and the 25th, be sure to check us out and if not, make sure you check experience the video at the film festival site here, along with the other submissions.

An overall competition winner will be judged by representatives of the Portable Film Festival, Ewan McEoin from State of Design, and respected Melbourne graphic designer Jeremy Wortsman. The Cool Hunting site will feature the winning entry.

please note, this is melbourne AUSTRALIA, not florida! special thanks to andrew hamilton aka futuretron and all nooka fans in australia.

nooka is available at fine stores and here. join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nooka on twitter.

nooka: the future distilled™

the cat is out of the bag; i have developed a fragrance. this post will read like a self interview as everyone is curious as to why a small company like mine has taken such a bold step. so here it goes:

why a fragrance and why now?
it's been about 4 years since the nooka watches were relaunched as nooka inc., and this is created the perception (understandably) that nooka is a watch company. the true story is that the nooka watches are the end-product of a design exploration of interface design and universal language with a futurist look-and-feel – to me, nooka is and has always been a design lab. i wanted to challenge myself to create new and disparate nooka products that express these ideals, creating a mindstyle™ brand in the process. so this challenge was to approach a fragrance in this manner.

also, i have a personal obsession with fragrance. until age 27 i used to be so allergic to fragrance that i couldn't be close to anyone wearing it without getting an asthma attack. after a serious bike accident, my allergies were lessened in their severity and a new world was opened up to me [any doctors out there that can provide a link to a good article on this subject?]. i then approached scent with out any preconceptions formed from having a spouse or lover wearing a certain scent or ever wearing a scent myself.

what makes the nooka scent unique?
it was developed with my creative process which is quite different than how other brands approach fragrance [i was told]. i presented the noses we collaborated with a matrix of words and thoughts about the nooka brand, what feelings and images i want the scent to evoke and a short list of scents i like and dislike. the result is a fragrance that i feel evokes optimism, a creative spirit and at the same time is very sensual. some notes are chosen to create the global/universal language aspect of nooka and others are references/deconstructions of materials used in our current product lines as well as notes that are directly sensual. it is the mental and the physical together in a way that creates a very round fragrance that is difficult for most people to decipher – which is quite futuristic and very nooka.

is it for men or for women?
it is for men on a man and a woman on a woman. it is not unisex, there is no one sex in our species, we are not worms. i myself buy a lot of fragrance and am insulted when a sales person asks me "is this for your wife" when i buy a women's scent. it is not my job to tell people what they should perceive as masculine or feminine. moreover, the notes react so differently to individuals skin, it really smells different on each person.

what is the scent called?
the scent is simply "nooka". the marketing tagline for this scent is: the future distilled™.

who did you work with on the project?
pierre-constantine guéros for this scent. you can google him.

gosh, the bottle is gorgeous. can you tell us about that?
i worked very closely with my in-house designer, alexander yoo to develop this bottle. it is an expression of all the core values and directions in the above answers with a focus on the glam future – gem facets and shapes that evoke opulence and space travel. it is both a cartoon diamond ring and a communication satellite in form. you can see the faceted gem-cut theme in all our new products for this year: the belts [nooka NS], wallets [nooka AO] and the not yet released zem™ line of watches.

you can read the marketing copy here. nooka scent is currently available online, at our pop-up shop 330 east 11th street nyc [until august 16] and DDC Lab meatpacking [west 14th street nyc].

follow nooka on twitter!

strip for me baby

this is out of order, i know i need to blog about what a HUGE success the pop-up shop party was last night. give me a day or two to decompress and i will blog about that. i'm also now allowed to blog about my exciting fragrance! i'll blog that this weekend as well. you can read the cool article on timeout here.

the nooka message has evolved from an ethos most simply expressed by the not so marketing/sexy attitude of "question everything" and "explore alternative systems" to a more elegantly articulated theme of "universal language". universal language is a key tool for strengthening global culture and insuring greater cooperation for even greater innovations from our society in the future. i truly believe that fashion is as much a universal language as math and music, and in that sense, i like to think of nooka as a futurist brand. it is easy to see these themes in the nooka time pieces which for the most part do not need any written language skills to use and they're designed with a glam future aesthetic, and would be understandable if sent to another planet as a gift. and i am now proud to announce the release of the nooka strip™ [the NS], our very first belt!

belts originated in the bronze age, in leather form, between 3500 & 1200 BC. the bronze age saw the creation of knives, axes, pottery that were more durable than those previously created in the stone age. In these times, interestingly enough, primarily men wore them, and they were used for a decorative purpose. it was considered rare for a female to be seen wearing a belt.

starting in the 1920s, as fashion changed, so did the function of belts. instead of being for show, men needed something to hold up their pants! no longer was it just military men wearing them [suspenders were more commonly used to hold mens pants up before this change in trend] .

Today, there is a variety of belts - police officers use them to hold their equipment, women wear them with a high waisted skirt to provide some oomph, and plumbers...still don't wear them. There are different colors, different sizes, different materials, different types of belt buckles. It has become one of those things that can 'make an outfit'.

but with all the options for belts out there, i still felt something was missing both functionally and in terms of form and color. so i came up with the NS™. the closure is something i developed with my design team to offer easy adjustment throughout the day [i never found the perfect hole in a traditional belt, and it's really socially awkward to readjust a traditional belt in a restaurant!] which is the functional innovation. the innovation in look-and-feel is apparent – you can do the dreaded "matchy-matchy" look with our belts and zubs!

it looks so good you'll have no problem getting people interested in looking at your crotch, and the mechanism is so slick, your pants can come off faster than they went on. this is why i came up with the product name "strip" [strip of material for form as well, so it's really a pure expression of form follows function]. seriously, belts up until now were too concerned with holding your pants up, and a belt equally concerned with getting-off is truly an innovation.

nooka strip available at den, 330 east 11th street until august 16th, DDC lab in NYC [currently west 14th street location] and here. join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nooka on twitter.