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Photography

Road Cycling is the most widespread form of cycling

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Road Cycling is the most widespread form of cycling. It includes recreational, racing, and utility cycling. Road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same rules and laws as other vehicle drivers or riders and may also be vehicular cyclists.

Road cycling, which may also be referred to as road biking, bicycling or simply biking is an activity most commonly performed on a bicycle. There are many types of bicycles that are used on the roads including: BMX, recumbents, racing, touring and utility bicycles.

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© Rapha

Dedicated road bicycles have drop handlebars and multiple gears, although there are single and fixed gear varieties. Road bikes also use narrow, high-pressure tires to decrease rolling resistance, and tend to be somewhat lighter than other types of bicycle. The light weight and aerodynamics of a road bike allows this type of bicycle to be the most efficient self-powered means of transportation a person can use to get from one place to another. The drop handlebars are often positioned lower than the saddle in order to put the rider in a more aerodynamic position.

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© Rapha

Mountain bikes fitted with slick or semi-slick are also popular for commuters. Though less efficient, the upright riding position allows the cyclist a better view of traffic, and they can also be readily fitted with mudguards, cargo racks and other accessories.

A hybrid form of road cycling has been gaining solid ground lately called Cyclo-cross. Cyclo-cross (sometimes CCX, CX, cyclocross) is bicycling off road and not to be confused with mountain biking. Cross bikes are nearly identical to a traditional road bike except for its wheels. Cyclo-cross bikes have tread on their tires for the purpose of riding on unpaved roads and rough trails.

In the context of utility cycling, road cycling fulfills various purposes including commuting and also cycle-based businesses (e.g., bicycle messengering and cycle rickshaws) and leisure.

Common courtesy when road biking is to obey the same rules and laws as other vehicles. Being observant and attentive while riding on a road with traffic is very important. Due to the aerodynamics of a road bike, bikers alongside the road may be hard to see by passing motorists. To appear more noticeable, wearing bright and reflective colours will reduce the chance of an accident.

Road racing is a highly publicized and viewed sport in almost every country in the world. The extraordinary efficiency of the bicycle makes it a very popular item for recreational fun, transport, or in racing. It is performed on roads and pathways, but mainly is restricted to concrete or pavement.

Music

Terekke – Miamisphere

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House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the American city of Chicago in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized circa 1984 in Chicago, but beginning in 1985, it fanned out to other major cities such as Baltimore, Detroit, Toronto, Mexico City, New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Montreal, Cancún, Manchester, Miami, London, andParis. It then began to influence popular music in Europe, with songs such as “House Nation” by House Master Boyz and the Rude Boy of House (1987) and “Doctorin’ the House” by Coldcut (1988) in the pop charts. Since the early to mid-1990s, house music has been infused in mainstream pop and dance music worldwide.

Early house music was generally dance-based music characterized by repetitive 4/4 beats, rhythms mainly provided by drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals, and synthesized basslines. While house displayed several characteristics similar to disco music, it was more electronic and minimalistic, and the repetitive rhythm of house was more important than the song itself. House music today, while keeping several of these core elements, notably the prominent kick drum on every beat, varies a lot in style and influence, ranging from the soulful and atmospheric deep house to the more minimalistic microhouse. House music has also fused with several other genres creating fusion subgenres, such as euro house, tech house, andelectro house.

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Many local Chicago house music artists suddenly found themselves with major label deals. House music proved to be a commercially successful genre and a more mainstream pop-basedvariation grew increasingly popular. Artists and groups such as Madonna, Janet Jackson, Björk, Kanye West, and C+C Music Factory incorporated the genre into their work. After enjoying significant success in the early to mid-90s, house music grew even larger during the second wave of progressive house (1999–2001). The genre has remained popular and fused into other popular subgenres, as the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll has been dominated by house DJs since the beginning of the polls. Today, house music remains popular in both clubs and in the mainstream pop scene while retaining a strong foothold on underground scenes across the globe.

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Graphic Design

New ideas can come by way of experimenting with tools

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The mind is an important graphic design tool. Aside from technology, graphic design requires judgment and creativity. Critical, observational, quantitative and analytic thinking are required for design layouts and rendering. If the executor is merely following a solution (e.g. sketch, script or instructions) provided by another designer (such as an art director), then the executor is not usually considered the designer.

The method of presentation (e.g. arrangement, style, medium) may be equally important to the design. The appropriate development and presentation tools can substantially change how an audience perceives a project. The image or layout is produced using external traditional media and guides, or digital image editing tools on computers. Tools in computer graphics often take on traditional names such as “scissors” or “pen.” Some graphic design tools such as agrid are used in both traditional and digital form. Read More

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Graphic Design

The movement began to separate

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In late 19th-century Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, the movement began to separate graphic design from fine art. In 1849, Henry Cole became one of the major forces in design education in Great Britain, informing the government of the importance of design in his Journal of Design and Manufactures. He organized the Great Exhibition as a celebration of modern industrial technology and Victorian design. Read More

Video

The Rapha Continental: Assynt

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The first Rapha Continental UK ride had its fair mix of weather – rain, then sun, then a bit of hail, then sun again – changing from one valley to the next, or as one storm cloud succeeded another in the wind. Luckily, the snow held off until we’d finished riding.

Well, the only way I see this happening is in an extended ride north. When I say that I mean a long, terrible, trying trip…
– The Idea of North, by Glenn Gould, 1967

We stayed on the shores of Loch Assynt, surrounded by hills made from some of the oldest rocks in the world and every morning when we woke, we checked them to see how their dusting of white had crept down closer overnight. The day we embarked upon the long journey down south, it snowed on the loch; the large, wet flakes hurled themselves towards the van and exploded on the windscreen. Read More

Video

Dieter Rams: Less and More

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Rams began studies in architecture and interior decoration at Wiesbaden School of Art in 1947. Soon after in 1948, he took a break from studying to gain practical experience and conclude his carpentry apprenticeship. He resumed studies at Wiesbaden School of Art in 1948 and graduated with honours in 1953 after which he began working for Frankfurt based architect Otto Apel. In 1955, he was recruited to Braun as an architect and an interior designer. In addition, in 1961, he became the Chief Design Officer at Braun until 1995.dieter-rams-BRAUN-Receiver-REGIE-510

Dieter Rams was strongly influenced by the presence of his grandfather, a carpenter. Rams once explained his design approach in the phrase “Weniger, aber besser” which translates as “Less, but better”. Rams and his staff designed many memorable products for Braun including the famous SK-4 record player and the high-quality ‘D’-series (D45, D46) of 35 mm film slide projectors. He is also known for designing a furniture collection for Vitsœ in the 1960s including the 606 Universal Shelving System and 620 Chair Programme. Read More

Music

Terekke — Fantasee

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A month or two ago, a friend I talk about music with online was telling me about seeing Laurel Halo and Peter Van Hoesen in Brooklyn and speaking with a guy there who “produces tracks” – how many of those have you met at a party? But he insisted I’d like the tracks, and at some point he slyly mentioned that the guy was recording for L.I.E.S., for my money one of the hotter labels going right now (check Legowelt’s recent Sark Island Acid for proof). Chalk one up for randoms at parties with music hobbies. The tracks on Terekke’s Soundcloud (two of which, Damn andPf Pf Pass, appear on his debut 12”) depict an introverted, uniquely smudged take on dance music. If you’ve ever jammed old WBMX) recordings where radio fuzz and cassette hiss make, say, Mr. Fingers’s Can You Feel It even more narcotic, this music should sound like a perfect companion (listen to Damn on the right). I asked him a few questions about his project, roots and ambitions. Read More

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Fashion

Visvim/WMV 2014 Collection

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A sun-drenched New York City studio space served as the serene, rustic setting for Japanese contemporary label visvim‘s Spring/Summer 2014 collection. Alongside a look at the menswear collection, designer Hiroki Nakamura included an extensive preview of WMV‘s newest offerings – the womenswear label presently embarking on its third season.

Per its continually developing design aesthetic, both lines further explore the farming, Americana and organic motifs within Spring/Summer 2014. Patchwork, frequently seen across a selection of drawstring skirts, corduroy overalls and jackets, take cues from French, Japanese and Amish techniques, blending them into purposefully contradictory pieces. Nakamura makes adventurous experiments with denim, which includes a special Okayama-sourced blend; as well as suede, which is hand-rubbed with indigo on a nicely textured jacket. On the more technical side of things, the shop coat and fireman’s jacket silhouettes are taken directly from the old French canon, though here treated with protective GORE-TEX on the lining. Read More

Fashion

One up-and-coming fashion cause is trashion

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Within the fashion industry, intellectual property is not enforced as it is within the film industry and music industry. Robert Glariston, intellectual property expert at Creative Business House (an organization specializing in fashion and trademarking), mentioned in a fashion seminar held in LA that “Copyright law regarding clothing is a current hot-button issue in the industry. We often have to draw the line between designers being inspired by a design and those outright stealing it in different places.” To take inspiration from others’ designs contributes to the fashion industry’s ability to establish clothing trends. For the past few years, WGSN has been a dominant source of fashion news and forecasts in encouraging fashion brands worldwide to be inspired by one another. Enticing consumers to buy clothing by establishing new trends is, some have argued, a key component of the industry’s success. Intellectual property rules that interfere with this process of trend-making would, in this view, be counter-productive. On the other hand, it is often argued that the blatant theft of new ideas, unique designs, and design details by larger companies is what often contributes to the failure of many smaller or independent design companies.

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Video

Made by Hand: The Bike Maker

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Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are referred to as “cyclists“,”bikers“, or less commonly, as “bicyclists“. Apart from two-wheeled bicycles, “cycling” also includes the riding of unicycles, tricycles, quadracycles, and similar human-powered vehicles (HPVs). Read More