Nike has teamed up with artist, Tom Sachs, in conjunction with his new show, SPACE PROGRAM: MARS, at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC. The show opens today and there will be a pop-up shop celebrating and selling this artisanal capsule collection in limited quantities.

Astronauts must be as fit as an elite athlete to even withstand the rigors of exiting the earth’s atmosphere. Their daily tasks require a substantial effort and endurance. Equally, their equipment must be up to the task of performing under the most unforgiving conditions.
The journey itself would end up inspiring the Tom Sachs: NIKECraft collection - The Mars Yard Shoe, the Trench, The Marsfly Jacket, and the Lightweight Tote. Nike design and Sachs applied materials that have never been used in sportswear, taken from automotive air bags, mainsails for boats and the space suit itself. Each piece is packed with functionality that would prove useful in the voyage through space. Zipper pulls that double as storage containers, paracord that can be fashioned as a tourniquet and embellishments like the periodic table of elements screened on the inside of a jacket - they all merge visual interest with purpose.

Check out key pieces of the collection after the jump.

Airbag Bag

Airbag Bag

Mars Yard Shoe

Mars Yard Shoe

Marsfly Jacket

Marsfly Jacket

Trench

Trench

Trench

Here’s a quick look into the building of the Mayan Pyramid graphic. We always start with pencil and paper to plan out the execution and then move onto the computer. Inspired by the Teepee graphic and the “All Seeing Eye” pyramid, we wanted to put a Mayan spin to it so we strayed from the original pyramid design and made it into a “Step” pyramid.

You can check out the t-shirt on the WATP Online Store.

Ugh… this dude inserts magnets into his wrist to hold his iPod like a watch. What do you think about this? Do you think this bro is taking form & function too far? What happens when Apple introduces a new iPod body style? I feel like this is a very short-sighted commitment of pain… perhaps that’s why the soundtrack to this video is so damn emo!

I am a car guy. Always have been. On May 10th the world lost one of the greatest car guys ever: Carroll Shelby. Carroll Shelby wasn’t an engineer, never went to college, and, if he’d had it his way, likely would have made a living racing high-performance cars instead of designing and building them. But his simple philosophy on how to build a fast car influenced many designers: “Put a big, powerful engine in a little car,” he once told Popular Mechanics. “That’s where you start.” This is sad news. Rest in peace man.

This video is a great short documentary that Vice News posted back in November about the protests that broke out in Athens. It breaks down the different political factions that fought it out at Syntagma Square while the former Prime Minister, Georgios Papandreou, passed the Austerity measures that the EU and IMF forced on Greece.

Start the countdown: 78 days until the epic finale of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight series. If you’re not planning on seeing this on opening night, we probably don’t need to be friends.

If you haven’t heard, the New Jersey Nets are now officially the Brooklyn Nets. Check out the team’s official announcement and brand identity reveal here. I have 9 problems with the brand already! Perhaps we’ll look back on this brand in 10 years and think this is classic, but I’m willing to bet that the brand isn’t even the same by then. I feel there are a number of missed opportunities with the new brand identity, but maybe the team doesn’t care. Perhaps Brooklynites are so hungry for basketball in their backyard that they’ll get behind anything, no matter how lousy and uninspired.

Problem One: “Designed by Jay-Z” - I don’t believe this for one second. When a problem arises with the plumbing at the new Barclays Center, will Jay will reach for his toolbelt? Yes, I do think it’s possible for Jay-Z to click his computer mouse the few times necessary to make these half-assed marks, but it is insulting to assume that consumers will spend money on something just because Jay-Z “designed” it. We’re talking about the dude behind these! Oh my… Secondly, if these marks did in fact come out of Jay-Z’s camp, I’m sure it was a case of nepotism and a Macbook Pro.

Problem Two: What’s with the Shield? - The shield appeared on the New Jersey Nets logo only recently (1997). It’s not like it was a design element that was introduced for a reason in the first place. I don’t see why they’re keeping it. Does 15 years qualify as the period of time where nonsensical design elements become permanent? Get rid at that garbage and start anew! Don’t even start with the “shield stands for pride” argument! That’s BS.

Problem Three: No Actual Net - Any avid sports fan has always questioned why the New Jersey Nets never actually depicted a net anywhere in their brand identity. It seems like this would be a great opportunity for the team’s namesake to finally be represented. Either that, or change the damn name altogether! Was there a brainstorming session AT ALL? If the team is moving to Brooklyn and rebranding, what’s the point of keeping a name of a losing team? Or was it too pricy to file for a name change with the league? I know how the commish loves to make that money. Whatever the reason, it’s just weak.

Problem Four: Clip Art - Every shape from the Brooklyn Nets brand identity looks as if it came straight from a clip art library. You know, one of those free vector art packs that you get from the Google? Don’t get me wrong. I truly believe less is more, but what we have here is very uninspired. I can image the creative meeting lasting a grand total of 30 seconds. Whoever is really behind the mark said, “Uh… yea, I flattened the Nets logo and put a B on the basketball. That’s about it. Let’s see what Jay thinks!” WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SKETCHING? Oh wait, I forgot, Jay-Z doesn’t write his lyrics down. He just spits off the cuff, so therefore he’s allowed to throw stuff around in the computer without any forethought. Myyy bad!

Problem Five: Just B - Seriously? B. Just a B on a basketball. When I see this B on a basketball, it reminds me of a Sesame Street character saying, “B is for Basketball!!! Yaaay!” C’mon! Also, it wouldn’t surprise me if Jay-Z the “Art Director” wanted the B there for his wife.

Problem Six: Typography - I’m disappointed that they didn’t take the opportunity to create a custom typeface inspired by Brooklyn. Why not? There are so many visual cues they could’ve drawn from: Neighborhood ironwork, signage, and the architecture of the Brooklyn Bridge to name a few. Sigh… I’m starting to get upset at this point.

Problem Seven: Colors (or Lack Thereof) - Okay, so the intention of only using Black and White as brand colors is a bold decision. It is also very noble, but I’m sure within a few seasons we’ll start to see other unnecessary colors bleed into the brand identity. Take a look at the Celtics. They’re a classic NBA team. Their colors are Green and White, but they somehow managed to create this noncept and this other vomit inducing ensemble. Establishing a tertiary color could help the team’s brand from future embarrassment .

Problem Eight: Team Gear - It’s clear that this brand isn’t for me. In fact, it’s not for anyone I know that lives in Brooklyn. The gear looks like something myself & Georgios would create in 2 hours if someone said, “Hey guys, I need you to design some gear that is middle-of-the-pack, stereotypical hip hop. Don’t bother pushing the envelope or raising the status quo when it comes to expanding the brand. We just want to move units real quick. Just use whatever is leftover from your clip art library from earlier.” At the end of the day, I feel like the brand’s tone of voice isn’t as inclusive as it could be. In fact, it tries so hard that it’s not cool.

Problem Nine: Impending Jersey Reveal - The team is making us wait until September to see what the jerseys will look like. This is just a load of superfluous PR hype. The pomp and circumstance is vapid. I’m sure the jerseys will be black and white, with NETS on the home jersey and BROOKLYN on the away jersey. What’s the point in holding back on this? The shield with the B will appear somewhere, perhaps near the back collar of the jersey. I’ll be shocked if the team uses custom lettering or numerals for player names and numbers. Yawn… Get over yourselves, Brooklyn Nets marketing team!

Jack White’s debut solo effort, Blunderbuss, dropped on Tuesday to the delight of the eccentric songwriter’s cult-like following. I recently realized that I too, may be one of those fans I speak of. I don’t recall consciously making the effort to purchase each one of his previous albums, but as it turns out, I own hard copies of each White Stripes record. So with that in mind, I was eagerly awaiting this new release from Mr. White, as my life had been devoid of his tunes for a few years. I can honestly say that this might be my favorite collection of tunes he’s ever released. Blunderbuss is my new album of choice, and Trash Tongue Talker is one of my new jams!

Download: Jack White - Trash Tongue Talker

Nike is the new official supplier for the NFL. Check out the commercial that will hit the airwaves tonight during the NFL draft!

You can never be too prepared for a Zombie Apocalypse. Map of the Dead is a great tool to locate resources near by incase of a sudden outbreak. It lists everything from gun stores to grocery stores and marks the highly populated areas in red. Here’s a screenshot of the W.A.T.P. studio off Ponce. Unfortunately, we are right in the middle of Atlanta and no gun stores near by.