caz searches out a london treat

chin chin

Caz took a break from her wanderings in South America (before flying off to Mexico - check back for stories on her return) to discover a yummy treat a bit closer to home:

experiments going on at chin chin labs

Finding the newest, coolest spot is something we do best here at Black Tomato, but usually we are looking towards far-flung countries on distant continents; however, hunting a little closer to home can often ‘scoop’ (you’ll soon see what I did there…) up some pretty exciting treats. The Chin Chin Laboratories in Camden Lock Place is one of these treats.

In this tiny little ‘laboratory’ set up by a lovely, lab-coated, goggled husband-and-wife duo, you might expect the huge flasks to pour out strange green liquids that then need to be reduced over a busen burner before they produce an inflammable sludge that just needs to be poured away at the end of the class. But oh no, this is in fact a high-grade ice cream parlour with a twist. I might even go as far as ‘avante garde’ if I thought that terminology could apply to ice cream making. But then again, why not? This is pretty out there.

There are 3 flavours to choose from- including an interesting special (peanut butter when I popped in) and the process works something like this: pick your desired flavour- which will at this stage look like a sloppy custard- then stand a little further back as boiling liquid nitrogen is extracted from one of the huge flasks at a whopping –196C and poured straight into your sloppy custard, and hey presto: all hail the smoothest, freshest ice cream you could ask for. And it doesn’t end there, pick your topping from a selection including fresh blueberry sauce or salted caramel, and then add a few sprinkles of caramelised peanuts, or perhaps honeycomb, and scoop away. Yum.

So the traditional gelaterias of Italy may not approve, but this is, after all, the ice cream avante garde…

(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)

 Loading ...

ed finds out what they get up to at ilovedust

ilovedust

Ed Schofield, co-founder of Mint Magazine, caught up with Mark Graham, one of the founders of ilovedust – a design boutique based in Shoreditch and Southsea. They chatted about an ‘unaverage’ day in the office:

Ilovedust are a design studio based in London’s Shoreditch and on the south coast at Southsea. They are producing some unbelievable work and are always one step ahead of the game. With campaigns for some massive companies such as Nike, the dust loving design clan are clearly doing something right. We caught up with Mark Graham of ilovedust for a bit of a chinwag…

the ilovedust studio

Hey ilovedust, how is all?

I’m totally drained, but good thanks for asking. We’ve been travelling about the last few weeks working in Portland and NYC with a cheeky stop off in Vegas. It’s nice to be on the way home.

Tell us about ilovedust? What and where are you?

Well we are a shop of 17 designers, illustrators and animators right now, split between Southsea and Shoreditch studios. I started ilovedust nearly seven years ago with Ben Beach. We started off with just us and found it pretty hard going, but after a tough 18 months we had employed Shan Jiang and worked as a trio for around six months before we took on Ingi Erlingsson and Johnny Winslade. We’ve been very successful and as a result have steadily grown ever since, recruiting the best talent we can find. We also have a good supply of interns and look to take the really talented ones on as full time designers as they have a great fresh take on things.

What does an average day at the office hold?

animal alphabet from a to z

For us there is no such thing as the average day – as we never really know what each day’s going to bring. We try and plan ahead as much as we can, but a single call can change everything. And I think that’s one of the things that keep us so fresh – we have to think really fast on our feet. Each project brings fresh ideas, and as we tend to work as a collective on most projects, one person can have an idea which the team works on together and ends up turning into something fantastic. We have a great bunch of like-minded people all working for a common goal, and it can at times be the difference between getting a job finished on time and looking right or not.

We have very talented designers here but, more importantly, very great people. They work hard, they work hard for each other and there is a camaraderie that these guys have that makes ilovedust tick the way it does. Like any family we have ups and downs of course, but as a whole, we each understand that it’s the group effort that gives us the edge. That’s hugely important to our success so far. Without sounding corny, we try to be a family, and it’s good to do stuff together whether it’s playing football, baking cakes in our famous Cake Off Challenge, or just working late and going slightly mad. It’s a big part of working here.

What does an ‘unaverage’ day at the studio hold?

wooden run type for nike

Unaverage … Hmmm that’s a tough question. It would normally start with a fried breakfast or something similar if we can all get the morning off, but that’s pretty unusual. Seriously though, we seem to have a different day every day. Some days nobody really talks as it’s pretty much heads down on work, the next day we’re seeing who can drink the most Dr Pepper in a day (current record – 14 cans). Everyone here works super hard and has a real good attitude to getting things done, we have a few ‘machines’ here who just worrrrrrkkk and drawwwww, Ben and Shan are hard to remove from their Macs at times!

There’s a lot of awesome stuff on the website, overall what have been the most fun projects?

The most fun things lately I think would be the Eames stuff. We’re trying to do more hands-on work with screen printing so that’s been really great – Jodie Silsby is our queen of screen printing. We’re working on a really nice motion project for MTV and 55DSL now that is also crazy, which should be out pretty soon, and a few Nike projects that are going to be huge in a month or two. To be honest we’re pretty lucky when it comes to fun. Long may it continue…

A personal favourite of mine is the work on the ‘ride journals.’ Who is the artist behind those?

ride journal

That’s by one of our lead designers Shan Jiang; he is absurdly good at just .. drawing, although I think drawing bikes takes a huge amount of patience! But we don’t tend to pin point individual work or artists – we’re a team and we all work together and have for a while. There’s definitely an ilovedust vibe to most of our work, regardless of who has worked on it. If you look at our different work and styles they all seem to have a commonality that runs through them somehow; an invisible thread. I think that’s largely down to these guys and what gets them excited as designers. It’s important for us to provide an environment where our designers can learn from each other and grow, and they regularly take time out of actual work to discuss different styles, or creatives or techniques. It helps them to grow, but it also means we keep a fresh perspective on things.

What is everyone at the studio listening to at the moment?

The last hour has been :

ilovedust

More than human – White Zombie
Waiting – George Michael
Bass Song – Band of Horses
Birthday Furs – Jerimah V Handsome Furs (The hood remix)
Just a friend – Biz Markie
A Real Fire – Dave Kitt
Hungry Like the wolf – Duran Duran
OH Yeah – Foxy Brown
Union Square – Tom Waits
The Places inbetween – Doves
Cubick – 808 State
Sail Away – Terry Callier
Walking on a dream – Empire of The Sun
Oh Word ? – Beastie Boys
That’s Just The Way It Is – Bruce Hornsby

You guys have a studio in an old butchers shop down south. That must be a pretty crazy place to work? Do you have any photos of your studios?

Yeah were in the middle of a big facelift as we have just taken another studio space upstairs. As we grow we tend to collect more and more and more…stuff.

Grey or turquoise?

ilovedust glasses case

Turquoise, it holds a special place in my heart,  I once bought a Mini cooper with my best mate Mat Page, we stripped it all out sprayed it turquoise and grey throughout then took it out for its maiden voyage.. the wheels fell off and we wrote the whole fuckin car off. Good times.

Meat or veg?

Meat all day long. Meat is great a little spicy jerk chicken or a medium steak…no way asparagus is going to stand up to that. We work in a butchers – it’s practically what our branding is based on.

Link via Mint Magazine

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

defying gravity in cambridge

There’s something about this video that makes us all want to go about daily life with a difference. Watch PhilyDee and Kie Willis defy gravity as they make their way across Cambridge.

warning: this video makes free running look a million times easier than it actually is.

(4 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)

 Loading ...

abbi’s menu de las dias in leticia

leticia, colombia

Abbi Kemp arrives in Leticia, Colombia on her way into the jungle

We all have that iconic image of the bird’s eye view of the Amazon and its winding river with David Attenborough’s voice etched into our minds. It’s worth a trip to Leticia for that alone. As you fly over, your heart will skip a beat. And you’ll know that you’ve arrived when the humidity hits you smack in the face.

the amazon river, puerto nariño, colombia. 2010

Leticia is a small town in Southern Colombia, a gateway to the Amazonian rainforest. There are no completed roads, so the only way in and out is by boat or plane. Take a 20 minute walk and you will find yourself in Brazil (Tabatinga) without even showing your passport. Or head into Peru by boat to visit one of the many indigenous communities. It truly is a frontier town.

Although not particularly attractive, it’s the perfect place to soak up local life. Watch the fruit and vegetables being brought in from Peru, indigenous women and men heading home with supplies and fisherman bringing in their catch, if you’re lucky you’ll see a 400kg Arapaima (that’s one big fish). At sunset, head down to the park and watch the parrots flock into the treetops to settle for the night.

captured night monkey in a ticuna community, puerto nariño, colombia. 2010.

The local cuisine mainly consists of ‘menu de las dias’ – soup, juice, meat, rice, beans and plantains all for a mere £2.50. For breakfast, pop into one of the super cheap bakeries, you won’t be able to resist the smell, trust me. And you most certainly can’t leave Leticia without filling yourself up with the Colombian bowl of Sancocho (best with freshly caught fish from the Amazon river). Finally, wash this all down with a healthy, delicious jugos con leche o agua. Guanábana and LuLo were my favourites.

Despite Leticia’s isolation, it still maintains that typical South American energy. Music blares from huge sound systems, fiestas break out from nowhere, football spills out from every bar, tooting mopeds whizz past and everything is “mañana mañana”.

before sunset over the amazonian river, colombia. 2010.

The highlight of Leticia is heading into the vast Amazonian rainforest and becoming one with nature… but for me the true jewel is Puerto Nariño. A tiny village 2 hours upstream, where you can fish for Piranhas, visit local communities and see the pink Amazonian dolphins. It is worlds apart from Leticia… tranquil, clean and the perfect place to totally switch off. No phone signal, no internet. Bliss.

You want to discover something? Some place different. Some place outside your usual territory? Then Leticia’s the town to do it. Head to Colombia now.

Click through the image below to see more of Abbi’s photos of Leticia

To check out more of Abbi’s great photography – take a look at her work here. For your own Colombian experience, get in touch with Black Tomato.

children from a ticuna indigenous tribe, puerto nariño, colombia. 2010.

an accesorised tropical rainforest green tree frog, the amazon, colombia.

small girl from a ticuna indigenous tribe, puerto nariño, colombia. 2010.

before sunset over the amazonian river, colombia. 2010.

captured night monkey in a ticuna community, puerto nariño, colombia. 2010.

the amazon river, puerto nariño, colombia. 2010

the huge arapaima fish

local stores

local girl sitting by the water

leticia's more exotic wildlife...

riverbound

riverside trading

fruit stalls at the market

(9 votes, average: 4.78 out of 5)

 Loading ...