The Graphic is Everything: Suupa Pop

Here at Laidback the graphic is everything. I am a big fan of people who can use graphic imagery to create and sell with style. Some of the best packaging design that I have seen comes from Japan. The color usage, the funny imagery and use of American verbiage makes it all the more amazing. In Japan there are so many products and limited amounts of self space, so they have to let the packaging speak. So here are some of my favorites from the exhibit I checked out on Thursday that just ended.
Now I love this box juice. Now isn't this hotter than a capri sun pack?


My guess is that this is the equivalent of buying pantyhose from the market or drugstore.
I love the way they make you think that these silicone like perfectly voluptuous lips come from the gloss.

Don't really know what this is about, but it seems like some kind of booty enhancer.
To see more picts check out my flickr page.

Laidback X Riclectic

A new blog, Riclectic that showcases blacks in interior design has gotten laidback. Ri Henson has put together a great blog of designers doing there thing. Even in it's infancy I have found the blog to be extremely informative and a great read. I am exited to be a featured designer on the site. Check it out.

Laidback X A&G Merch

Ol' Play

"Her Cherry"

Design week presents a host of parties and yesterday I stopped into the Metropolis First Stop party right after ICFF and then headed over to The Future Perfect and A&G Merch. tow extremely stylish boutiques that are side by side and have the same owners. While The Future Perfect can be a bit out of many peoples price range, the products are gorgeous and extremely stylish. A&G tends is extremely stylish and fits into every budget and they also carry Laidback. I was told that 2 Headline pillows were sold on Saturday when they put them out. I managed to catch a couple of picts of Laidback in A&G while sipping on some club soda at their garden party.

ICFF

One of my yearly indulgences is to check out and salivate over the brilliant design represented at the ICFF show. I am awaiting my turn to show there. Here are a few of my favorites (will rifle through my cards and tell you who they are later today) as well as a pict of myself and Temar and Teman from Design Star. I am heading back to the show today so you can see more. I bumped into the stylish duo while at the show. They are really nice and fun guys, looking forward to doing something with them in the future.

Design on a Dime Recap and Design Week

Last night Design on A Dime was great.. a ton of people turned put and spent money. I was able to see my pillows in the mix with the Nathanegan Designer vignette. Too bad I had spilled juice in my bag earlier and jacked up my camera because I did not really get to take any picts. The two you see are from my camera phone, and you know how those go. I did get to meet Thom Filicia (Queer Eye, Dress My Nest) and introduce him to laidback as well as a few other people. The white She Rocks and You Rock were being purchased just as I stepped into the vignette. Great night for fundraising and design. (P.S. Sorry for the grainy picts and sis blocking the shot, but she was with the party who purchased the pillows, so she is a friend of Laidback.)hehe

Design Week is in full gear and I have plans to partake in some of the festivities. I am anxiously awaiting checking out the design at ICFF on Monday. Unfortunately I missed the blogfest party and the apartment therapy meetup today. Oh but design goes on. I will be heading to the ICFF and hopefully taking tons of picts Monday and possibly this weekend when I come back from my little sisters graduation. Get em Sherika, Big Laidback Congrats to you lil sis, doing the darn thing, lol!!!

Laidback X Design on Dime Fundraiser

Over the course of the BK Designs weekend I had the opportunity to meet someone from Nathan Egan Interiors. The company is participating in the Design on a Dime Fundraiser that benefits people with HIV. The designers are using several Laidback designs to create the vignette as well as sell to raise money for the event. I am excited and proud to be down! Check back later for picts from the event. I will be attending the Fundraiser and then rushing over to celebrate my girl Najwa Moses' birthday tonight over at Lotus.

Brooklyn Designs Recap

Brooklyn Designs is over and now is the real time to assess the success of the show. We met a ton of cool people and found that there is quite an interest in having something funky and fun to spice up the home. I am still fielding requests and comments from many show goers from the weekend. So shout out to you all, and know that Laidback Hearts the BK!!! Many thanks to Apartment Therapy and Gen Art for shouting us out as what was poppin at Brooklyn Designs.

I also want to shout out David from the Future Perfect and A&G Merch for stopping by the Laidback Booth and adding us to the family. Laidback will be available at A& G Merch very soon (like next week). I am extremely excited because I have been a fan of The Future Perfect for a while now and became ecstatic when A& G Merch opened with more affordable designs. So it is truly exciting that Laidback will become a part of their great style.

Weekend Recap Rapathon

Well in between exhibiting at the Brooklyn Designs Show, Laidback created a lounge area at 1:30am Sunday morning for the Rapathon. We brought a new style specifically designed for the event, the 22" signature lounger. I did stay awhile and check out the rappers, there were a few notable poets, and the usual casualties of course. But hey whatever works to create the Hip Hop Cultural Center works for me and I am glad that we played a role. Check out some of the pictures from the night (early morn). I also caught a few pictures of some of the Old School party flyers from the exhibit.

Brooklyn Designs Day 1

Well day 1 is over, what a long day. Ehilirating, yet hot humid and nasty. No sales for us today but quite a response. If you are heading down to 81 Front Street to checkout BK Designs, keep in mind it is hot as hell. Check out the booth and the laidback chick rocking laidack full force, Ol Play custom bag, laidback tee, pins, the gamut.

It's Showtime

After getting only 2 hours of sleep. Laidback is ready to show at Brooklyn Designs. We will be at Brooklyn Designs repping strong, with the pillows of course, custom tee shirt, bag, and pins. When we leave you will know what hit you!!! laidback all the way!!! Here are some picts of the work in progress and the way the table looks until they finish cleaning up the back.

4 Days to Showtime

This is a very busy week for Laidback. We are sponsoring an event happening at City College today, that is supposed to support Anti- Counterfeiting fashion. So they asked me to participate and I gave them a denim "Ol Play" and white "She Rocks" pillows for the giveaway. Unfortunately I will not be able to be at the event, so I am wishing them the best of luck.
I have 4 days left until showtime (BK Design and Rapathon)and plenty to get done. However the new promotional buttons are in. Check them out.

Updates

This week I am focusing more on updating you guys on Laidback and the progress for next weeks events and less on what inspires Laidback. We have the upcoming Brooklyn Design Show next week May 11-13 as well as the Rapathon Laidback Lounge that we are working on. So you can see where the focus must be. I have collected nuff info and good stuff to post so I may try to post on it all here and there, but for now we are getting ready. The pinpack is done and I will be picking that up shortly. We will be running two additional pillow designs and one limited edition surprise. So stay plugged in. Also I am looking for a boombox to borrow for a shoot. An ol'school giant joint. Hit me up if you have a loaner.

Limited Editions

Since I am here working tirelessly to spread the Laidback culture, so that you can see how sweet it is, we are releasing a few limited editions. I shot you a sneak peek of the gold record. Now check out a snippet of one of the tees that I will be rocking next week at the Brooklyn Design Show. It is my goal to have 3 different ones for the 3 days of the show as well as one for my brief stage appearance at the Rapathon. What you think? There will be a limited run, so preorder now if you feel me.

Sneak Peek (New Styles)

Take a peek at 2 of the new styles that Laidback is rolling with. "Her Cherry", a distressed graphic allover print. We are also reintroducing "Ol Play" vinyl, this solid gold joint is a stylish conversation piece for any room in the house or even the studio. Watch out because we might even hit you with a platinum take. All feedback is welcome, tell me what you think before they let me have it at BK Design, lol. These 2 styles along with a few others will be available May 11-13 at Brooklyn Design and online May 15. You can preorder now to make sure you get yours. Hit me at orders@laidbackhome.com

Laidback X Rapathon

I was extrememly excited about the Rapathon and wanted to know how Laidback could get down. Well we will be down. We are working it out so that we can hit some of the sleepy headz who are trying to make the record of an ongoing 24 hr rap a lil cozy as they snooze throughout the night.

24 Hour Rapathon

The Hip Hop Culture Center in Harlem is hosting it's first Rapathon, promoting positivity and working on making a Guinness Book World Record. The way it is going down; participating mc's are going to create one ongoing rhyme, that goes on and on and on past the break of dawn. If you think you have skills they are still looking for artists to rock the mike.

Open Call: Thursday, April 26 at the Hip Hop Culture Center at 2309 Frederick Douglass Blvd (2nd FL of the Magic Johnson Theater) 6pm-9pm Phone: 212-234-7171 or email Director@globalartistscoalition.org

Fly Girl of The Week

Guess who is the Fly Girl of the Week?!?!? I am a daily reader and huge fan of the Fly Girl Blog and am honored to be the Fly Girl this week. I met Andrea last year at a designsponge meetup, she is a dope illustrator and a great creative spirit (the border is one of Andrea's funky illustrations". Thanks Andrea, go over and check out how deep your sistah can get with the Q&A

Laidback Pin Pack

Always the fan of the little buttons that people rock in a colorful cluster on their tee-shirts, back packs, and lapels, I decided to foray into the first laidback pin pack. I will introduce these as giveaways at the Brooklyn Design Show May 11-13 at the Brooklyn Designs Annex at 81 Ffront Street. Any thoughts?

H is in the House (in the Moma)

Helvetica the most widely recognized font in the world and it is turning 50 this year. The Moma has an exhibit going on that chronicles the life of this popular font. Think of the letters on the subway map, they are rocking Helvetica. For those of you who still have no clue what I am talking about, a font is the style of type that you use when you are on a computer. Unfortunately I am not using Helvetica because it is not an option in Blogger. I plan on taking my computer geek behind to check it out, it is running now until March 31, 2008.

Laidback Cries Tears

My heart cries out along with my prayers to the students, families, and teachers, that were affected my the devastating In the wake of the shootings that caused every heart and mind to shutter.

Nicky Giovanni spoke ever so eloquently at the close of the convocation. Exuding and encouraging strength to the friends, families, and the country, she helps us heal and reflect on the fact that we (the world) are in a state of moral decline. Check it out here, thank you Bella for the link.