Name:
Chris Cantagallo

Aka:  
DJ Cristo Disco. Just Cristo for short.

Website:
http://www.myspace.com/cristo1atl

Where are you from?
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and New Jersey, but reppin ATL

Who do you work for? 
El Bar, The Warren, and one time gigs here and there and everywhere.

What are your Current Project(s)? 
Constantly looking up new and old music.

Who would you love to work with?
Justice and/or Rick Rubin

If you had to give all your sneakers away to charity except for one pair, which ones would you keep? 
I would Definitly keep my black Nike Dunk High Nylons with the gold swoosh. They got to be the most comfortable shoes I’ve worn.

What’s on your iPod right now?
Gucci Mane “in the Kitchen”, Justice “Stress, Genesis”,  Metallica “Battery”, Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter”, Ice Tea “6 in the morning”, Steppin’ Out (Rob Wonder Rmx), ’93 Too Short and Kilo, Prince Presto The Glamour Mix, and Slugger Mixes 1, 2, & 3.

What’s your Favorite ATL food?
Fellini’s & wings at The Local

What’s your Favorite ATL hangout?
El Bar, MJQ, Bookhouse, The Local

What are your Pet Peeves?
Harassing Music Requests while I’m playing records. So annoying.

Shout outs?
Farzana, Prince Presto, Rob Wonder, Rosa, Slugger, Dax, Sumner, Corey King Alga, Henry, The Joneses, PROCESS/EC, Colleen, Tara, Frank 151, Lush Life, Freshiam, Standard, Street Local, Oh Snap Kid for the awesome pics, Zach Wolfe, Mimi thanks for the fresh hair did, and my Poncey Peeps. My mind just went blank… lol

Jeremy Abernathy from ArtVoices Magazine conducted a phone interview with me back in October, as his coverage of the LeFlash event in Castleberry Hill. The interview was just published in the December issue of this print-only magazine, which has distribution in New Orleans, Miami, Atlanta, DC, NYC, LA, and Seattle.

The article mentions Epidemik Coalition and an installation called THE WALL which was featured in Art House Gallery the night of the event. For those who remember, THE WALL is a project I designed which accepts user-submitted images via email and throws them up large-scale in a public space to create a sort of live, electronic, community billboard. Your neighbor’s new baby, an absurd situation in the grocery store, your friends clinking their beer glasses: anything you would photo-blog from your cell phone cam is fair-game for this system that publicizes these images in an outdoor setting. (instead of being stuck in a private setting on your home laptop).

Although brief, the article touches on the point of the project and something all of the EC crew is aiming for: using design to build better and stronger places and people. Until I can get my hands on a copy of the printed magazine to have around the studio, click here to link to the full-page scan of the write-up.

Last week while visiting our foosball buddy, Ian McPherson, at Ruin skate shop, we got a sneak preview of his store’s collaboration with skateboarding staple, Spitfire wheels. Kids have been rolling around on Spitfires for ages. I remember when nothing else would suffice. Congrats to Ian on being part of such a skateboarding legacy. Trade in your crappy Xmas gifts for $$ and head over to Ruin for these babies. Available very soon. I’d call and ask about availability: (404) 943-1178

In the spirit of giving, here’s our contribution to New Years Eve at El Bar. Our PROCESS tote bags will be holding new El Bar tees, designed by Georgios of EC/PROCESS, in addition to other gifts from Frank 151, The Joneses, StreetLocal and more.

Check out production photos after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first picture we ever took for our Christmas cards.

So this week I am bring a little something special to the table, kind of like a little Christmas present for all the people reading out there. Now that the holiday season is upon us I am reminded of a little tradition that we have in my family. Every year, for the past few years, my parents and I get together for a family photo which is then turned into a Christmas card and sent out to all of our family and friends. The scenario is usually the same. We get together in front of the house and pose with the dogs for a few pictures (usually 10 max) at which point we pick the best one. Looking back at these pictures always crack me up and now I share them with you. Read the rest of this entry »

Esper Magazine is a revolutionary web-based, interactive magazine from England. They felt strongly about featuring PROCESS and conducting an interview with yours truly in their premiere issue. Special thanks to Terry, Marc, and the rest of the Esper team for puttin’ us on! Check out our feature here.

Name(s):
Catherine and Lauren Lee

Aka:  
The AsianCajuns

Website:
asiancajuns.blogspot.com

Where are you from?
Born and raised in the D.C. ‘burbs.

Who do you work for? 
Catherine – City of Decatur. Three cheers for municipal government!
Lauren – Lampe-Farley Communications, Inc. as a graphic designer.

What are your Current Project(s)? 
C – At work: updating the city’s website. At home: creating a playlist with a New Year’s theme, knitting a teapot cozy and beefing up the blog.
L – Turning the blog into a full-blown website, illustrating/painting, and making traveling plans around the world (pipe dreams at the moment).

Who would you love to work with?
C – I would love to create sets with Tim Walker, roam the streets of NYC with The Sartorialist and plan a city plaza with William H. Whyte.
L – Jeff Wall (as his assistant, lacky, coffee-fetcher), Eve Ensler (again, anything required), Stephan Sagmeister, Christian Louboutin, my sister (on more than just the blog).

If you had to give all your sneakers away to charity except for one pair, which ones would you keep? 
C – My beat up Chuck Taylors are my only pair of sneakers. I wore them all around Europe and dread the day they fall apart. They’re 6 years old, but I’ve been able to preserve them pretty well since I mostly wear heels – 3 to 4 inch heels are best for us short girls.
L – I don’t own any sneakers, but have about 9 pairs of boots, and the rest are heels of some sort. After 8 years in pointe shoes, Cath and I built up a reasonably impressive tolerance to foot pain. 

What’s on your iPod right now?
C – Empire of the Sun, MGMT, Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip and A Charlie Brown Christmas.
L – (I don’t own an ipod, but my playlist would be the same as Cath’s. We have the exact same taste in music, but luckily not other things)

What’s your Favorite ATL food?
C – Roasted onion and pork sandwich from Sawicki’s, Brewhouse’s fish and chips, and shrimp and grits at Watershed.
L – Margaritas from Taqueria del Sol, cinnamon sugar doughnuts from Duck’s Cosmic Kitchen, anything from Southern Sweets, and cookies from The Cookie Studio.

What’s your Favorite ATL hangout?
C – Brickstore Pub.
L – Brickstore, The Grange and The Wren’s Nest

What are your Pet Peeves?
C – Squeaky doors. WD-40 is a godsend.
L – Loud mastication.

Shout outs?
C – Cheers to all of our fellow Atlanta bloggers!
L – All of our readers! You guys seriously make our day, everyday.

Black El Bar keychain

Remember to pre-pay your $20 for New Years Eve at El Bar. You’ll get one of these “No Cover / V.I.P.” keychains that will allow you to get into El Bar for FREE in 2009. It’s totally worth it! If you can’t make it by the bar in time, you can always email them at and they should be able to work something out with you.

Keychains will come in 3 different colorways, see them all after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

On Friday afternoon, Kobe Bryant made a surprise appearance at Dillard High School to visit with Florida’s 2007 – 08 boy’s state championship basketball team. Kobe spoke to the team about training, mental-game preparations and the proper footwear needed for speed as the squad prepares to defend its 2008 crown. Dillard’s basketball team is one of the premier programs in the state of Florida, garnering four titles in a row from 2001 – 2004, and again this past season.

Probably the most interesting part about his surprise visit was when he announced that the team would receive customized Nike iD versions of the new Zoom Kobe IV sneaker. I caught wind that this was going to happen last week but I had to remain hush-hush until after the event, which is almost too good to be true! Could you imagine being one of these players? To us, it’s like Tinker Hatfield showing up at our studio in downtown ATL to let us design sneakers with him. Pretty much never going to happen!

Check out more photos of Kobe’s surprise visit after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

European-based clothing designer and friend of EC, Megan Huntz, stopped by the studio friday for some help with updates to her website. We incorporated some beautiful shots of girls wearing Megan’s handmade dresses taken by EC’s Jorge Menes in Barcelona, Spain this past summer. Megan just wrapped-up with a special holiday clothing sale at Atlanta’s Center for Design Study and is prepping for continued work on her dress line in 2009. Her items are carried in multiple boutiques in Italy and Spain, check her website for more information and store names. Being in the holiday spirit, Megan left sporting an I Bike ATL shirt courtesy of yours truly.

While she was here, I asked Megan if she had any ideas for a conceptual sweatshirt for me. Something I could ride a bike in. I have some ideas and am ready to create. Now just to find someone with a sewing machine state-side…