“On the site of a thousand years of violent history, ACDC were pitted against Iron Man in a ground breaking architectural projection mapping project. The front facade of the Great Keep at Rochester Castle, was brought to life using the latest in 3D animation techniques. This onslaught of the senses, saw the castle confront it’s ultimate challenge. Warping, morphing, spewing and collapsing before the audiences eyes. Let there be rock!”

01. If illustrators designed football shirts… (above)

“With the World Cup just around the corner, it’s not surprising to find that various brands with strong connections to the glorious game are producing spanky new products for us to buy. Both Umbro and Nike have commissioned illustrators to devise emblems and badges to be embroidered on to alternative versions of national team shirts…” Andre’s work is above. (creativereview)

02. A Heavy Batch of New Vinyl from Important Records

“It’s been a little bit since I’ve gotten to write about some good doom metal records, and that’s exactly what Important Records just dropped on the masses.  First up is the year-and-a-half late vinyl issue of Ocean’s heavy, heavy album, “Pantheon Of The Lesser”.  This 2xLP comes on clear (edition of 100), orange (edition of 100), or black vinyl (edition of 300).  It is housed in a four-part handmade letterpress jacket.  All this for $25.  Visit ImportantRecords.com.” (omg)

03. Sneak Preview of ‘Los Angeles, I’m Yours’

“I wanted to start posting some previews of Los Angeles, I’m Yours so everyone can get a sense of what we’re up to. We’ve been busy all week putting together the show and I think it’s really starting to look great. The first image is a giant chalkboard wall we’ve got that we’re going to putting the names of the artists on as well putting some shelving to display the work.” (+kn)

04. This magazine stinks

“For issue 23, the magazine has teamed up with Norwegian smell artist Sissel Tolaas. It comes in a simple, ordinary booklet format using a gloss paper with a slightly heavier stock for the cover. The entire issue is visually uninventive – one lengthy (but fascinating) Q&A interview runs in 12pt sans serif throughout the pages.” (magculture)

It is never too early to think about swimming trunks. Here’s a nice selection of swim gear from the Paul Smith collection. Choose from a variety of prints that will keep you looking fresh in the sun. Look for them at finer Paul Smith retailers around the globe. (porvocacao)

More looks at the Paul Smith Swimming Trunks after the click.

This set is not only the absolute business, it is also on sale.

For my money, Cook’s Illustrated beats the pants off other food rags. The advice is sage. It doesn’t mess about with staged photo shoots. And, when you really need to know how to roast a chicken or which kind of grocery store bacon carries the touch… they’ve got your back.

17 years of quality can be had for for just $320 direct from Cook’s Illustrated.

Think-Silly has a great photo essay from inside the Roberu Leather Fatory in Tokyo. “Located at the corner of a small street in Yokohama (Tokyo), a modest three-hundred-square-feet studio is the beginning of a label called Roberu.” The walk thru is available in English as well, so do not fear the linkthru.

Some more looks from the Roberu Leather Factory Tour after the click.

“Through two distinct shoots, and over a period of three months, photographer Chris Milliman worked with Freeman Transport to document daily life of co-founder Benjamin Ferencz. At home in Missoula, MT, Milliman follows Ferencz through his routine. Picking up mail. Answering buisness calls. And, of course, riding his bike. Home and Away gives visual record to the Freeman idea. A lifestyle led by the bicycle and an open sense of adventure – whether that be in culture, food, or purely in the possibilities presented through travel…”

Of course, art direction and design was done by  Ferecnz’s The Design Cooperative. 500 newsprint books have been produced. They’re available now direct from Freeman Transport.

Opening on May 2, 2010, Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg at the National Gallery of Art assesses 70 of the American poets photographs. The exhibition offers the material to public eye for the first time with significant scholarly view. All facets of Ginsberg’s photos are discussed – especially portraits of fellow Beats.

A full catalogue is available now, with essay by senior curator and NPG head of photography providing the necessary context.

Happy Socks does it right for 2010’s World Cup with a great series of nation inspired socks to rock during the tournament. How can you Germans not resist wearing those? “Recognizable the world over by their colours, flags, and kits as well as their respected his- tory in the world of football, the eight countries represented are Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, South Africa.
Six past World Champions are represented with each embroidered star signifying the number of titles won.” Look for them on May 21st at Happy Socks retailers around the globe.

More looks at the Happy Socks World Cup Series for 2010 after the click.

McNairy loves the collaborative works. And why not? Not only does it give his line the opportunity to extend its reach but also allow a few select partners to get some exclusives of their own. Take these Country Brogues for Scandinavia’s Tres Bien. “We wanted a classic English brogue only we wanted it in suede and we also wanted to give it a more sporty look. A classic shoe to match with your technical parka. Therefore we added the white, light weight foam sole. Goodyear welted of course.”

More looks at the Mark McNairy for Tres Bien Shoes after the click.

Here’s a look at Church’s latest collection. There’s a little more suede in this autumn collection than we’re used to, but other than that it’s business as usual for the company. It’s always difficult for a company with such genuine heritage to create something new but, despite a few missteps (and by missteps we mean their awful attempts at trainers), companies like Church’s have managed to straddle the lines successfully.

But enough rambling. Take a leap to see the rest of the collection, including one boot that looks like it was originally meant for Prada’s mainline collection.