Bad Monkeys

Here's a preview of a toy design that we plan on releasing next year just in time for all you crazy-in-love couples looking for something devilishly flirty to give on Valentine's.

New Store Opening: TriNoMa

We've just finalized a deal with Ayala to open a small cart in their new super mall, TriNoMa. You'll soon be able to find us in their Teen Zone area (beside Starbucks, across the food court) on the second floor starting in October =)

Brazilian Kawaii (Cuteness)

Inspiring us this week is Brazilian art studio, Mopa. It's seamless blend of Latin-Japanese pop is very thrilling. Mopa is our role model in how to make cute sexy as well.

This is one of the sexy coolest cabinets we have ever seen. This is known as the Crepax Cabinet, named after its creator, Guido Crepax. Here's a description from Opus Interiors:

Guido Crepax (1933-2003), was hugely influential in the development of European comic art in the second half of the 20th century. His most famous storyline, featuring the character 'Valentina', was created in 1965. This series was very much in the spirit of the 60s, incorporating eroticism, and psychedelic, and dream-like storylines. In Crepax's work, many references are made to the works of 20th century 'Avant-Garde' artists, such as Rene Magritte, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Piet Mondrand, Roy Liechenstain, and Andy Warhol.

Copenhagen Street Fashion

Copenhagen, the Danish land of Lego, is one of our favorite cities in the world. The city is beautiful, clean, crime-free and is run by a policy where creativity is a top priority. Artists and designers rule this city. It's no surprise then that the fashion sensibilities of the citizens are bursting with adorable color.

Visit the blog Copenhagen Street Style for more pictures updated daily. We also encourage a trip to Face Hunter, which covers the streets of London. There's also a nice directory of all the known street fashion blogs from around the globe at the right side column of Face Hunter so you can see what the real people of the world are wearing.

Bite-Sized Literature

It's common knowledge that reading a book can expand and strengthen your imagination (which is obviously quite important for us here at It's Cool) far more than watching television or the movie version of the book can. It's also common knowledge that the thick appearance of a book can be an intimidating turn-off for a lot of us.

DailyLit just might be the solution. It lets you choose a classic book you want to read and then sends you daily installments via email. Each one will only take you around five minutes to finish. We invite everyone to join us in subscribing to Lewis Carroll's classic "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." We'll have an amazing mind-blowing experience in just 37 quick parts.

We Heart Tara McPherson

A lot of our work these days is being inspired by Tara McPherson's art. Go through her website where she generously displays all her stuff for free viewing. Last time we checked, there was still a copy of her book, "Lonely Heart: The Art of Tara McPherson", at the Bonifacio High Street branch of Fully Booked. Most of the contents are already in the website though so get your previews there before you decide to let go of Php1,050 for the book.

What we love about Tara is that she's influenced in equal measure by heartbreak, animation and rock music. It really shows too. Her concert posters are held in equally high regard as her gallery and graphic novel work. Tara's art is a sparkling cocktail of dreamy bittersweetness that will make your own personal heartbreak go down a little easier.

Packaging 2008 (Final)

This is the final look of our new toy packaging. At first we wanted to restrict it to one color to keep it more minimalist (and yes, we'll be honest, more cheap), but those few dabs of color on our logo just made it too irresistible.

Cuteness vs. Crime

We here at It's Cool are obsessed with cuteness. Our design inspirations usually come from the Japanese kawaii movement. And so we were so amused to hear that even the Tokyo police is using cute to fight crime!

On top is a picture of Pi-Po, the official police mascot of Japan. The name of the character is based on the sound the Japanese police car sirens make (as in "pi-po...pi-po...pi-po"). Hard to believe that Pi-Po can deter anyone from doing crime but the virtually crime-free record of Tokyo speaks for itself. Maybe all we need is cuteness to win the hearts of wrong-doers and make the world a safer place.

Forever Friends Bear

These are such inspired works of cuteness =)

Kiss - The best bloopers are here


Miss You! - Funny blooper videos are here