to move up and down
Here’s what Canada’s new $5 and $10 polymer bills look like
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield showed off Canada’s new $5 polymer banknote from space on Tuesday.
Hadfield joined finance minister Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney live via video conference from the International Space Station to unveil the new bill, which features an image of the International Space Station. (Bank of Canada)
The organizing committee for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games has narrowed its search for the tournament’s mascot to six finalists … and this is what they came up with.
Not sure why two of them have masks (vigilante mascots?) or why that moose is so darn happy. And don’t even talk to us about the raccoon.
The winner will be chosen by Canadians through an online vote. Because that ended well last time.
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Top trends from Toronto Fashion Week’s fall/winter 2013 showsSome of the more interesting trends to emerge at World MasterCard Fashion Week a few days ago in Toronto? Biker jackets, for one. And wearing white for winter is another. And we’ve got a bunch more that’ll scratch your style itch, with a full gallery of pieces from the shows.[Chris Young/Canadian Press]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/e82dc05cd83ea84e1f77c81e5b86eaca/tumblr_mkafasIPN81s0oiwfo1_1280.jpg)
Top trends from Toronto Fashion Week’s fall/winter 2013 shows
Some of the more interesting trends to emerge at World MasterCard Fashion Week a few days ago in Toronto? Biker jackets, for one. And wearing white for winter is another. And we’ve got a bunch more that’ll scratch your style itch, with a full gallery of pieces from the shows.
[Chris Young/Canadian Press]
The Toronto Poster Project: Pictograms
Artist Sarah Lazarovic continues her artful series about the city with a local spin on wrapping paper. Each pictogram is representative of a place, person or thing that symbolizes this city. Try your hand at deciphering the icons, and learn your score at the bottom of the poster. Then print the page out for use as it’s intended.
Introducing the Toronto Poster Project!
This weekend, we launched a continuing series in which artist Sarah Lazarovic reminds us why we should celebrate our city. “We live in such an incredible, rapidly evolving metropolis, it deserves to be posterized,” Lazarovic explains. Our monthly placards will aim to enlighten and inspire. From geography to taco-ography, we’ll explore T.O. visually, frequently inviting your collaboration. Save them, hang them, love them, use them. Click here for full size: http://natpo.st/PNq5Ax
Bank of Canada to release new $20 bill
On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada will begin circulating a new $20 bill made of polymer instead of paper.
The new bill pays tribute to the contributions and sacrifices of Canadian men and women in all military conflicts and is being released just before Remembrance Day. The note features a view of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial on its back. (Handout/Bank of Canada/The Canadian Press)
From London to Toronto, there’s a little bit of 007 in all of us
When Roger Moore was hired to play James Bond in Live and Let Die (1973), the producers subjected his flowing locks to a “short back and sides.” Producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli proudly declared that Moore now looked “more masculine,” and reminded the press that “he is not just a civilian; he is Commander Bond.”
And yet stealthily, over the years, the Secret Service agent has become a fashion plate — to the point where Daniel Craig’s tightly cut Tom Ford suits for Skyfall are integral to the movie’s buzz. The exhibition Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style, which premiered at the Barbican in London this summer and now resides at Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox, offers all manner of Bond clothing and gadgets, models, storyboards; the important stuff in the films, short of Ken Adam’s unforgettable villain-lair sets. And besides giving us just what we’d expect to see — after all, the Bond films revel in predictability — its procession of design for Bonds, Bond girls and Bond villains helps to chart a pop-cultural history of masculinity, femininity and the Other.
Read more: http://natpo.st/TYhZAA
Eighty-three sculptures of those weird-looking Olympic mascots are popping up around London ahead of the opening ceremonies.
To recap: Wenlock and Mandeville (the Paralympic mascot) are “magical beings” created by a London design firm for the Olympics to “capture the imagination of children.” But they ended up looking quite, uh, you know, and then everyone wondered who signed off on this plan. Also, since London is the land of CCTV, the pair have cameras for eyes so they can “record everything.” It says that on their website. No, not creepy at all.
Click through for a full gallery of the madness.
A home with a 360° view: Rotating P.E.I. house lets you see the ocean from every room — in turn
When Steve and Stephanie Arnold finish building their house on Prince Edward Island, every window will have a stunning view of the Gulf of St. Lawrence — at the click of a button.
Their two-storey circular house, being built in North Rustico on a rotating platform, will be able to swivel and place an ocean view outside whatever room they choose.
It will be the first rotating house in Canada when it is finished next spring, Mr. Arnold says.
Bra with built-in ice packs, a wind chime and a sprig of mint aims to keep women cool
These cups are filled with a gel that remains soft and supple even when frozen, giving the wearer “a cool sensation against her skin,” the company said in a statement.
A traditional Japanese wind chime — and a mint leaf — dangle between the cups giving an impression of cooling “by way of its refreshing fragrance and sound.” (Photo: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)
Hats that pay tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli’s surreal style
Karyn Gingras, the milliner behind Lilliput Hats, explains the ideas behind a few of the styles (modelled by studio staffer Tina) in her new capsule collection homage to Surrealism, Elsa Schiaparelli and sometimes, just plain silliness.
What do you think of the new Brooklyn Nets logo? It was designed by minority owner Jay-Z, who says he was “inspired by the New York City Transit Authority subway signs from 1957.” Photo: NBA.com/Nets
These days motifs like wrens and finches are for the birds. Instead, Canadian entrepreneur Amy Kwong opted for a zig-zag take on a pop culture moment with her Smitten Kitten line of gifts and stationery. The line’s new ‘Put a Burt on It’ stickers – Burt, as in Reynolds – are her cheeky 1970s-inspired twist on a favourite Portlandia episode and are for sealing her new letterpress greeting cards.
And for writing the quip inside, Kwong has revived an old-school grade school staple: the #2 pencil ($10 per 5-pack at Bookmark: The Library Store in Vancouver, Vanderburgh Flowers, Kid Icarus, the Drake General Store and Nathalie-Roze in Toronto; and in Smitten Kitten’s online store). Each wooden pencils is engraved and riffs on a group theme, from Zombie lore and Woodys (Allen, Guthrie) or Chuck Norris’s killer moves to break-up clichés (“I need some space”) and recent Twitter hashtag memes (#potentiallyawesomesupergroups and #winnning). It adds up to a stationery kit that’s so irresistibly retro, we’ll all be putting pencil to paper this season. Canada Post should be sending her a thank you letter.
Weird helmet of the day: The competition helmet of the track cycling sprinter Simona Krupeckaite of Lithuania is pictured during the training session for the London 2012 Olympics. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
Mies van der Rohe’s architecture celebrated with a Google Doodle to mark design pioneer’s 126th birthday
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the groundbreaking German architect whose sharp, angular designs still feature prominently on city skylines across North America, got a Google Doodle Tuesday for his 126th birthday.
In Toronto, Mies is responsible for the Toronto-Dominion Centre, a six-acre cluster of buildings that, on any given week day, houses about 20,000 workers. (Google; Reuters)
