OK Go Out-Goldbergs Rube Goldberg

Finally, a YouTube time-suck guaranteed to delight you with repeated viewings.  If, by the end, your jaw is not scraping the floor, you will be sporting an ear-to-ear smile of gee-whiz amazement.

The band OK Go made viral video history back in 2006 with their goofy treadmill choreography. For one of their new tunes, “This Too Shall Pass,” they hired pals, who by day work for  NASA and the Jet Propulsion laboratory,  to execute a mechanical feat of genius inspired by Rube Goldberg contraptions. The vid was posted Monday after the band’s brief battle with their label EMI, which originally wouldn’t allow the video to be embeddable.

It’s extraordinary geekery with one potential setback: the mesmerizing visuals may just eclipse the music. As one commenter on YouTube posted today: AMAZING! but did anyone actually pay attention to the song?

– Michele Siegel

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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 trials and triumphs of modern love?

We’re pleased to announce that best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert, of Eat, Pray, Love fame, will review your entries and decide which Valentine makeover she [hearts] most. We’ve wrangled her for judging duties while on tour for her new book: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage. She’ll pick her fave listener design and tell us what it’s like to have Julia Roberts act out her life story. (The movie version of E,P,L comes out in August.)

Be sure to submit your redesigned Valentines by midnight Sunday February 7.

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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 21^st 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 Andrea Pellegrino, Nina Mettler, and Tom Koken.

Worldstudio designers present their research, and try to decide which colors and symbols represent today's gay movement

Check out the full flag redesign story and visit our website at studio360.org to listen to all archived segments and shows.

-Kelly Sullan

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Gay Flag Controversy in Paper Magazine

Our gay pride flag redesign challenge drew lots of great listener entries – and no small amount of criticism (see here and here).

From Flickr user "aozers"

Yesterday, Papermag ran an interview with Kurt about the kerfuffle. Why mess with a beloved symbol? Kurt: “I think it’s an interesting way to make people look more closely at the things they take for granted, which is something we do on the show anyway.” Read the whole interview here.

Isaac Mizrahi reveals the winning listener design during this week’s broadcast.

Also, Mark Randall of Worldstudio and Kurt talked with WNYC’s Brian Lehrer about the redesign and its critics.

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite design!

(Plus, coverage of the challenge in Mother Jones and UnBeige.)

– Matt Frassica

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Extreme Makeover: Gay Flag

June is gay pride month, and rainbow flags will be flying high at pride celebrations around the country. The flag was designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978 and is recognized around the world. But what would a pride flag look like if it were designed in 2009?

The design firm Worldstudio is taking on the challenge to re-imagine a new flag for the 21st century. But we also want your ideas! Add your comments and your designs to our Flickr pool. On our June 26th show, we’ll reveal Worldstudio’s design, along with our favorite listener submissions.

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Design for the (Japanese) World: Vol. 2

More great design solutions that I wish we could bring back with us to the US:

ITEM 1:

Say you’re shopping in a department store with your toddler and you need to go to the bathroom… where do you stick the kid? TOTO, maker of the world’s most amazing (and complex) toilets offers another great product, attached to the corner of the stall.

ITEM 2:

The Japanese are known for being extremely considerate — but sometimes, even they need reminding. Or perhaps they’d like to politely remind their visitors? This public courtesy campaign is in train cars and stations. This is not your brain on drugs — rather, it’s a gentle, rational reminder not to be stupid:

"Texting while walking means putting a blind-spot in the center of your field of vision."

ITEM 3:

We’ve enjoyed staying 20 stories above Shibuya, one of the busiest pedestrian intersections in Tokyo. So busy, in fact, that they’ve done away with crosswalks: at the signal, hundreds of people cross every which way, then clear out completely to make way for the cars. The wash of people — like four dark waves, crashing into each other and then receding back onto the sidewalk — takes my breath away every time. Especially since I know we’d never be capable of sharing the street so efficiently and gracefully in Times Square.

– Jenny Lawton

(Frustrated Writer/flickr)

(Shibuya on a relatively light day)

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