Extreme Makeover: Uncle Sam Edition

I’m as patriotic as the next guy.  But this morning on the subway, I couldn’t help but feel a bit deflated by this: Uncle Sam, how could you?!  Playing into our all-American desires to get rich quick and bling ourselves silly? That’s why we at Studio 360 proposed a radical redesign of our nation’s spokesman.  [...]

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The Next American Idol

Sometimes we cling tightly to things we deem “traditional” without realizing they’re not as deeply entrenched in our history as we thought. Take Uncle Sam: he hasn’t changed much since J. M. Flagg’s iconic World War I recruitment poster, in which he appeared as an older white man wearing a snazzy red, white, and blue [...]

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Studio 360’s Redesign Challenge: the Fourth of July

Studio 360 has a summer project in the works and we need your help: we’re redesigning the Fourth of July. Don’t worry, it’s not a complete gutting.  We’re keeping the red, white, and blue, the cookouts, and the fireworks.  But there are a couple of elements that we think can use some sprucing up. Exhibit [...]

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The Penny Gets a Makeover

In this week’s show, Kurt says that we can find the Lincoln Memorial on the back of any old penny. Well, that old penny is getting a new backside. Last week, the United States Mint released a new one-cent coin, in honor of the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. While it still features his head on [...]

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Playing With Our Food

We got nearly 200 great entries to our redesign Valentine challenge. And on last week’s show, Elizabeth Gilbert picked the winning entry: a bouquet of rolled bacon strips that look like roses (only yummier!) by Sarah Tisdale. As Gilbert said so aptly, “Nothing can compete with a bacon bouquet.” It made me wonder why we [...]

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Be Elizabeth Gilbert’s Valentine

Valentine’s Day is just two weeks away – and we’re hoping that 2010 can be the year of the new-and-improved Valentine.  We’re thrilled that so many talented folks have submitted their ideas to “Be My Valentine: A Studio 360 Design Challenge.” And doesn’t a competition merit a celebrity judge?  One who is familiar with the [...]

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Change of Heart

Have you noticed how the rituals of Valentine’s Day seem to be designed for children? The red hearts, the overload of candy, and that weird baby Cupid. It’s all so bizarre, and may I say — nauseating? We here at Studio 360 think the so-called holiday is due for a serious redesign. And we need [...]

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Worldstudio is SO Over the Rainbow

When Studio 360 asked the New York-based design firm Worldstudio to give the gay pride flag a 21st century makeover, we had to leave a lot of great conversations out of the final story. Here’s a little bit more from the lively brainstorming session Worldstudio principle Mark Randall held with his team of designers, including [...]

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