Energy Sources #01 – Jan.22
Energy Sources | Issue 01 | January 2022
Happy 2022 everyone! Hope you had a great start into the new year ✨
This month I premiere a new format for my newsletter: "ENERGY SOURCES". NormallyI drop my energy sources at the end of the interviews, but I now want to establish this listicle format as its own newsletter. This helps me to fill the gaps between interviews and seasons. So, here we go!
I share with you some things I found on the Internet or in streets, that infused me with good vibes.
These are my new energy sources from last month:
Pass The Baton - an NFT arts project
When it comes to NFT projects, I always tend to look for the "why" besides to sometimes great artistry. I found this project, which for me, has it all: great art that evolves over time, a concept based on a true and truly inspiring story and moneymaking for a good cause. I stumbled upon this clip of the documentary about Tommie Smith and his epic fist raise to literally raise awareness for human rights and agains racism. The NFT continues this fight "inspired by the baton Tommie used in four record-breaking races, 7,872 digitally-rendered baton NFTs will bring Tommie’s salute and message of unity and perseverance to digital space. In partnership with 24 organizations fighting for human rights—Tommie’s Legacy Team—the project will use blockchain technology to drive meaningful change."
A nice looking, smoothly running website that compares the real-life sizing of Emojis. That's all. But that's also all the fun. And yeah, that dragon 🐉 is 16 metres long!!! I love emojis and think they should be used even more. Can't wait for the next iOS update to see all new additions. When you're into scales, make sure to also check out the Pokémon-to-Scale – that Wailord though!
Let's stay in the emojisphere for a moment and create some neat emoji mosaics! It is in no way comparable with YungJake's artworks, but it works fully automatic and gives you a great idea on what emojis to use when creating a mosaic on your own. Do you recognise the photo above? Feel free to use some emoji mosaics on your next presentation with this nice little tool.
Springboard: The secret history of the first real smartphone (The Verge)
It's so great to see so much high-quality content being uploaded to YouTube to watch for free (besides some ads). And this one here from The Verge is a must-see for every tech enthusiast, entrepreneurial or creative mind. It tells the story of Handspring, a little startup that envisioned the smartphone as we know it today – nearly a decade before Steve Jobs held the legendary first iPhone keynote. It's always inspiring to see pioneers of their craft talking about their visions and going after ideas they fully believe in. It's 30 minutes long and you might want to squeeze it in your lunch break. Definitely worth it!
2022 Trends & Forecast Roundup by SpaceCadet
January always is the month of Trend Reports. Every major and minor agency publishes their report on what will be hot in the year to come. LinkedIn gets flooded with links to all the PDFs and you fill out one form here, then leave your contact details there to then receive a few. Head over to the team of SpaceCadet as they have collected all relevant Trend Reports for 2022. From Creative, Graphic, Photography or Media Trends to Emerging Tech, Economics or Consumer Trends – you will find some decent insights for your next presentation or brainstorming session there. Use it wisely.
Scan of the Month: Game Boy Compendium
The project "Scan of the Month" started in November 2021 with literally deep-diving into pop cultural things by scanning their insides. For the January edition they have a very close look at the GameBoy family by Nintendo and how they approached handheld and its components in general. Growing up with every single Nintendo handheld shown on the site up to the Switch, I find it mesmerising to look into things and their origins. As SotM states it: "Whereas others went for top-shelf components and specsmanship, Nintendo’s products have historically focused on accessibility and experience, making the most of mature, low-cost, well-understood technology." - love it!
I don't want to talk about Ye's Magnus Opus DONDA again, because we are already looking for DONDA2 right? But the latest music video for the song 'Heaven and Hell' is a masterpiece and has got to be one of the best music videos ever. It's weaved into the Yeezy x Gap x Balenciaga universe but references epic artistry like 'The Fall of Babylon' and the 'Divine Comedy'. It's stunning visuals in 4:3 that empower the drop with the choir to a maximum level of epicness. And it fuels you with some of Ye's endless creative energy. The last seconds of the video are just... 🤯 - a goosebumps-infusing masterpiece you have to watch repeatedly.
On Top of a Mountain with Tyler, The Creator (Fast Company)
Tyler The Creator had one of the biggest releases of 2021 as well. Following the front-to-back 11/10 album IGOR, his latest work 'Call Me If You Get Lost' gave us a best of what Tyler is able to pull off and showed once more how versatile he is. With the concept of the album he creates his own beautiful and colorful world which now finds its place in the more luxurious way of living. This also led him to creating his own luxury version of Golf Wang, namely GOLF le FLEUR. Presenting his own scent, nail polish and gorgeous looking suitcases, he launched the brand with an exclusive pop-up experience on top of a mountain in Malibu, Los Angeles. And that is exactly where Fast Company paid him a visit and sat down for the most chill interview and the nicest Tyler you have seen in a while. This brings you in a good mood by watching it and has some of the best Tyler vibes to it. Enjoy!
NIGO - The Designer bringing a new kind of Cool to KENZO (NYTimes)
The first KENZO show by streetwear legend and creative mastermind NIGO was all over the place. Thanks to a front-row with faces like Ye, Tyler, Gunna, Pusha T and Pharrell and the soundtrack of the show by the same people kicking off with a wonderful track from Kid Cudi (presumably from NIGOs upcoming album), social media was buzzing. If you haven't seen it yet, go watch this version on YouTube. I think the NYTimes pretty much nailed down what I was also thinking and why NIGO is definitely the right choice for the Parisian LVMH brand. Especially NIGO talking about the new cool and possible collaborations: "The focus is to make the Kenzo brand intrinsically exciting. We're always open to doing interesting collaborations, but they're just spice. They're not the meal." Besides that he also talks about his upcoming album: "There's a famous quote from Kenzo san (Kenzo Takada, the founder of the brand). When he was asked, 'What's fashion?' he replied: 'music'."
TOBI.ENERGY PRINTS
If you're interested in some of my personal photographic work from my recent journey to LA click here to have a look at the prints that are available for purchase.
The photo below was taken at Burgerlords, my new favorite 100% plant-based burger joint.
I hope you feel inspired or energized in any way by this newsletter and just keep going!
Make the most out of 2022. Protect your energy.✨
The next interview issues will start in March. I have a bunch of nice guests ready to be heard.
Next week I will be in Paris and collecting interesting findings. I will keep doing the Energy Sources within the normal Energy Transmission and in between issues to fill the void.
Maybe. We'll see.
See you. 🫂