gommi arcade x nooka at ac gears

text by michael a. traverzo


last friday, the gommi arcade x nooka "future shock" watch collaboration kicked off with the official launch party at ac gears in nyc. about 400 guests browsed and mingled throughout the ac gears shop, sipping on hennessy black (one of our great sponsors), while listening to the beats of power 105's dj challez. guests included celebrity stylist, alexander allen, who you can learn more about here, bmx rider nigel sylvester, jamie falkowski from time out new york, double up dance group and dustin canalin from udrcrwn to name a few. william yan and robin from 9th street parlor were also in attendance. special shout out to malcolm and zak, ac gears, hennessy black, smart water, as well as honey, for making this a night to remember (well for those of you who didn't have too much hennessy black).

nookas own, michael a. traverzo tended the bar.

also, be sure to check out the unique clamshell blister packaging designed specifically for the release of the gommi watch. it features some sick artwork by joe perdomo.

black and white photos courtesy of freddy mejia, color photos courtesy of matthew waldman.

learn more about hennessy black here! be sure to try hennessy black spice and hennessy black berry, as these two drinks were a huge hit at the event!

the gommi arcade watch is available here, as well as both ac gears stores!

be sure to check out the gommi arcade interactive art Installation at ac gears greenwich ave. store march 26th - april 30th!

weekend in pittsburgh

after a stellar night at the nooka X gommi arcade launch party at AC Gears on greenwich avenue in NYC, my boyfriend and i headed to pittsburgh PA with artist and friend, hiroki otsuka and his boyfriend andy. a posse of new yorkers descended on pittsburgh to attend the opening party for Playboy Redux: Contemporary Artists Interpret the Iconic Playboy Bunny, curated in part, by our dear friend Eric Shiner. Hiroki was one of the featured artists, and in fact, i will be seen on the playboy channel's coverage of the show with him! the highlight of the opening was the pajama party which filled the museum with locals and a lot of people from NYC. the show is still up, so if you are in or near pittsburgh PA, check it out. more info here. nooka was well represented on the wrists of hiroki, andy, eric, frank and myself. learn more about hiroki otsuka here.

the fun continued as eric gave us a private tour of his favorite bars. it was rare for me, but i was out bar hopping til 4am and had a great time with nyc performer maine, artist ain cocke, and eric's local posse. the drag shows were interesting enough to be classified bone-fide performance art, and even the crowd at the bars was enough to make simple people-watching a renewed pleasure [we ended up at a private club called the moose house before late cocktails at eric's loft]. hanging out with maine anders was a hoot! i really enjoyed the physical city as well – with its rusting bridges seemingly to appear out of nowhere at the end of a street to its ever changing views from the hilly landscape – it's a stunning place – part big city, part back-country, and part ghost town. there were enough museums and things to see to keep one busy for a weekend, and i highly recommend it.

and, as much as i enjoyed the warhol museum, i do not think it belongs in pittsburgh when there is not one in NYC. i am not saying that there shouldn't be a warhol museum in pitt, but 1. andy warhol made his career in NYC. even i am old enough to remember nights rubbing shoulders with him at the VIP rooms at palladium and area [i was an underaged club kid, luckily in a time when NYC allowed teens into clubs!]. NYC was his inspiration and his home from early adulthood til the day he tragically died. 2. he put pop art on the map! the "pop" in "pop art" = popular which implies it requires a LARGE audience, which quite simply is not happening for the work in it's current location. i think it's more appropriate for the warhol museum in pittsburgh be in the house he was born in or lived as a child with the permanent collection and foundation in the city he loved – NYC. just sayin....

nooka sighting: joe jonas

joe jonas was out this past sunday sporting the white zub zirc. the pictures are courtesy of jonasworld.org.

be sure to pick up your white zub zirc here!

follow nooka on facebook and twitter!

matthew waldman X graniph

for years nooka staff and friends of mine always looked forward to the souvenirs i brought back from trips to japan. and the most beloved/coveted of these is always the fresh crop of graniph t-shirts! i literally keep half a suitcase empty to make room for the 20 or so t shirts of theirs i would buy each trip. this being no secret, my dear friend tomoyo in tokyo made an introduction to the design team of graniph and the project below was born! so, special thanks to tomoyo, yamada and graniph for making this happen – i'm really very thrilled. i of course, will blog again when it gets closer to the release date and i have more samples to photograph. verbage from the press release is below.

nooka and graniph are thrilled to release a new collaborative t-shirt, designed by matthew waldman this may, available in japan only. the limited edition t-shirt features a star made of the nooka’s popular Creatures of the Night CAMO print. This exclusive design is printed on a heather grey shirt, with sizes ranging from extra small to large for men and women. Anyone who purchases this collab t-shirt can enter to win one of the 2 creatures of the Night watches. this campaign will hit graniph shop sometime in may 2010.

Graniph is a clothing design company based out of Shimokitazawa, Japan, that specializes in producing designer graphic T shirts. Using a unique design strategy, Graniph releases as many as 100 new designs every month featuring different artists and designers around the world.

this t-shirt will be available in countries with graniph shops and online for other regions from their site. you can also get the nooka camo watch here, and the music skins here, not to mention the fabulous nooka strip [belt] and yellow zub watch muscle boy michael is wearing in the photo.

nooka press: time out magazine

text by michael a. traverzo

in this weeks time out new york, the nooka strip was featured in a very fitting part of the magazine, the parsons vs fit spread. i say "fitting" since the green strip was pictured on a parson's student, coincidentally, the school where matthew waldman has taught. you can bet this was very exciting for matthew to see!

be sure to purchase your green nooka strip here!

follow nooka on facebook and twitter!

design process: subtle changes

i am always told how well nooka as company does with branding – normally, companies retro-fit corporate identity systems piecemeal and only consolidate and rationalize when they are big enough to hire a large branding agency. in actuality, i started nooka with the brand fairly well articulated before i had actual product and the brand is as much a product to me as the actual objects we design and sell.

well...here is our first major [minor?] change since i debuted the logo 10 or so years ago – BOLDER logotype. it will be a subtle to unnoticeable change to the layman, but i'm sure the design crowd will appreciate the change.

it also contains the "mindstyle™" tag line.

here at nooka, we love evolution via iterative process as much as inspired design explosions!

hennessy black x nooka

text by michael a. traverzowith a new blend of jasmine and orange flowers mixed with citrus, honey and grapes, hennessy has taken the brand beyond cognac to the premium mixed spirits, with the introduction of hennessy black. sleek, sexy, clublike, hennessy black blends more than just drinks. music, culture and now, the release of the exclusive nooka collaboration. only 700 pieces have been produced, infusing the the zub zenh 20 with graphics inspired by hennessy's insignia.

you won't be able to get your hands on this one of a kind "mix" unless you're a hennessy vip!

straight or mixed – hennessy black is the highly versatile, decidedly different new cognac from the world's leading cognac house – distinctively smooth with a fresher, lighter flavor.

forgot to mention, since becoming involved with this project, nooka founder, matthew waldman, has concocted the nooka sidecar – now the official party drink of the nooka lab: equal parts hennessy black, cointreau, fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice [half lemon half lime], and a splash of simple syrup [or sugar] to sweeten: shaken vigorously with crushed ice, strained and served in a small sugar rimmed water glass or tumbler – YUMMY!

thanks to kdu, the keystone design union, for getting us involved. learn more about the kdu here!

follow nooka on facebook and twitter!