We reports about endless product collaborations here and in some cases the get together of two parties make sense and results in a fantastic new product. In other cases the results are more questionable. Designer Jeff Staple is involved in a lot of them himself and gives us some background on the different types of collaborations and more importantly explains when it is not a collaboration and what makes a good one. He wrote the article for the latest issue of Antenna magazine.

“As soon as man could make things, man was collaborating.

When the first caveman discovered fire, one person found the wood, the other worked the flame. Centuries later, the blacksmith needed to work with the leathersmith in order to make that perfect belt. Long before the word “collaboration” or “colab” was invented, we were collaborating.

The reason is simple. As humans, we are adept at only a certain number of skill sets. Even so called “Renaissance people” are not masters at everything. Eventually we need help. There are two kinds of help: we can simply pay for the help, otherwise known as “work-for-hire,” or we can collaborate. When you collaborate, you’re basically saying, “Hey bro, I’m really good at X, but I suck at Y. You, on the other hand are really good at Y, but you’re miserable at X. If we come together, we might be able to do some amazing things!”

The result is an epiphany. A yin and a yang forming one. Taking the best of the negatives and turning them into positives. Fast forward a few more centuries and we now live in the digital/technological/informational age. Our outputs are no longer only physical objects, but they are experiences now too. People make a living by offering opinions, or by having a certain number of people “follow” and “like” them. It’s a new day where your thoughts are the commodity.

Even with all that, the basic premise of the collaboration is the same.
Nowadays a corporation will seek the services of a cool artist, influencer or designer to work with them on a product. Why?

Read the rest of the article after the jump.

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© 2011 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: David Fischer | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: antenna magazine, collaborations, jeff staple

In the latest installment of his 1-2-1 series Jeff Staple sits down with founder and CEO of Karmaloop.com, Greg Selkoe. They talk about the beginnings of Karmaloop and how far they have come, as well as their future plans.

Karmaloop has always attracted as much hate as admiration. Controversy about its business, its founder and of course the impressive size it has reached over the years result in much talk and also much hate. It is funny from our perspective, because we feel like we grew along with Karmaloop over the years. We remember the times when the 10 Deep’s and Crooks & Castle’s of this world would not sell to Karmaloop because they were not ‘cool’ enough as a retailer. As you can imagine, those times have changed – economic crisis, lots of ‘cool’ retailers closing and a massive streetwear retailer that can actually sell numbers, made it hard to say no to. Karmaloop was one of the very first advertisers of this site and actually made it possibly for me in the early days to spend more time on Highsnobiety.com and less time on doing other jobs to pay rent. That I can simply not hate on.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now check out the interview with Mr. Selkoe here above.

© 2011 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: David Fischer | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: greg selkoe, jeff staple, karmaloop, videos

Influential artist, designer and entrepreneur, Jeff Staple, brings his positive social contagion to the truth tobacco awareness campaign with the “truth 1585 Collection” of limited edition t-shirts. Staple worked with eight boutique’s and street culture stores across the country – Major, Goliath, Bodega, UBIQ, Alife, Burn Rubber, TRUE and the Reed Space – to produce eight original t-shirts. Available now.

To find out more about the collaboration see the video below or visit www.truth1585.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

More images follow after the click.

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© 2011 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: Pete Williams | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: Fashion, jeff staple, t-shirts, videos

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. And while the quote has been misattributed to everyone from Napoleon to Confucius, Turgenev broke the essential idea down in Fathers and Sons, that a complex idea or situation can be conveyed through a single still image.

With ever-improving cameras in mobile phones, it seems everyone is a budding photographer. Results vary, from spectacular to embarrassing. Just check out youarenotaphotographer.com, which highlights some of the worst results of online fauxtographers, for an example of the latter.

A major catalyst in this digi-photo revolution has been Instagram, which has been cutting through the world of social networking like wildfire. An homage to the Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid, as well as the fantastically addictive cult of Lomography, Instagram turns the camera on an iPhone into an entire photographers toolkit, allowing a host of filters and lighting options.

The true genius of Instagram is in it’s social aspects, and for many it’s taking over from Twitter as the way they share their day to day lives. Twitter allows expression of what’s on our minds. 140 character thought bubbles. Whereas Instagram functions as a sort of picto-Twitter, allowing glimpses into our aesthetic realities.

Debate is raging on (ironically, primarily on Twitter), but many people clearly feel that a picture may be worth a thousand words, but an Instagram is worth at least 141 characters.

This column will, once a week, take a look at some interesting IGs and IGers, in the world of streetwear and beyond. With over 15 million users, I can’t possibly see everything, so if you want me to check out your shots, or have recommendations of IGers, hit me up on Twitter: @quentincrispy, or on Instagram: cottonrazorblade.

Check out this weeks selection, featuring Jeff Staple, Edison Chen, Aaron Bondaroff, Bobby Hundreds, Juxtapoz Magazine, Mia Valerio and Rocky Xu and  and others after the jump.

Happy Snapping.

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Post tags: a thousand words, aaron bondaroff, bobby hundreds, edison chen, instagram, jeff staple, juxtapoz magazine

Benny Gold has unveiled this season’s Guest Artist Glider tee shirt done in collaboration with Jeff Staple. Staple’s design mimics a schematic blueprint of the BG Glider Plane logo and is available in three colors: white, black and blue. Whenever you have two guys of such immense talent getting together like this, the outcome is bound to be something else. Good work, guys!

Take a look at the tees after the jump.

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© 2011 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: nickestrada | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: benny gold, jeff staple, tees

In the latest 1-2-1 episode with Jeff Staple, the New York creative sits down with none other than mysterious artist Neck Face. They talk about the artist’s childhood, school life and his new work. Enjoy!

© 2011 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: David Fischer | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: Art, jeff staple, neck face, videos

Jeff Staple presents the latest installment of his 1-2-1 with jeffstaple video series. This time artist Jose Parla is being featured. They talk about his childhood, his school life and of course about his recent work. The episode was produced in conjunction with letsredu.com. Check it out!

© 2011 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: David Fischer | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: Art, jeff staple, jose parla, videos

This is the seventh installment in the “1-2-1 w/jeffstaple” Series. Each segment, jeffstaple, Founder and Creative Director of Staple Design & Reed Space, talks to someone one-to-one. Direct. Intimate. No BS.
For this segment, Jeff talks to Scott Campbell about his childhood, his school life and his recent work. This video was produced in conjunction with letsredu.com.

© 2011 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: David Fischer | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: jeff staple, scott campbell, videos

Click here to view the embedded video.

© 2011 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: Pete Williams | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: Fashion, jeff staple, staple

Thursday night MADE in Berlin hosted the All Gone 2010 book release and exhibition. Bringing together many of the today hard to find items that the All Gone books have showcased over the years, the space was also decorated with large size prints of the new 2010 issue which was released this past week. Pretty much 100% of the items that are in the All Gone books have also appeared here on our website over the years and last week we realized how many great things went down in that time and especially how many we forgot about.

Michael Dupouy, the maker of the All Gone book series was in place to sign issues for people. DJ Jeff Staple and Busy P were in charge for the music of the night. As you can imagine the exhibition attracted lots of people, with a huge line building up outside the building on Alexanderplatz in Berlin. Lucky for all of you, the exhibition will remain open to the public until February 2nd.

Take a look at the space and some of the people from the exhibition opening after the jump.

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Read the rest of All Gone 2010 Exhibition Opening at Made Berlin – Recap

© 2011 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: David Fischer | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: all gone, books, busy p, Events, jeff staple, made

The other day we reported about the REDU Homeroom event and exhibition that was held at The Reed Space in New York. In the above video Jeff Staple talks to the participating artists, including Jose Parla, Scott Campbell, Neck Face, Lucien Marc Smith and Luis Gispert.

© 2010 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: David Fischer | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: interviews, jeff staple, jose parla, neckface, scott campbell, videos

Click here to view the embedded video.

© 2010 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: Pete Williams | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: 13th witness, Events, jeff staple, videos

Click here to view the embedded video.

“This is the fifth installment in the “1-2-1 w/jeffstaple” Series. Each segment, jeffstaple, Founder and Creative Director of Staple Design & Reed Space, talks to someone one-to-one. Direct. Intimate. No BS.

For this segment, Jeff talks to Leonard McGurr, better known as Futura.”

© 2010 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: Pete Williams | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: Futura, jeff staple, videos

In their latest “50 Favorite Sneakers” installment, Complex sits down with jeff staple. “For over a decade, jeff staple has influenced the way our culture operates. From his consulting and design gigs with brands that range from Nike to Apple to Burton, to the retail experience he crafted through the Reed Space stores, there are few people globally to have such influence on all things early adopt-able and consumable. [...] He’s been collecting sneakers since before a lot of us got into the game, and he has the industrial and graphic design experience to speak intelligently about what makes a pair of kicks great.” Check it out here.

© 2010 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: Pete Williams | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: complex, jeff staple, Sneakers

Brand RMX presents the second part of their interview with Staple Design and Reed Space founder Jeff Staple – “From Good to Great”. Enjoy!

© 2010 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: David Fischer | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: jeff staple, videos

One of our favorite female-focused online publications, hearty Magazine, worked with Jeff Staple on a collaborative sticker. Entitled “This Is Not a T-Shirt”, the sticker features a doodle of a heart on a blue notebook background, touching on the nostalgia of “being a kid and collecting stickers and sticking them everywhere from notebooks to skateboards (and sometimes in the streets).” The sticker will be available March 29th at Reed Space New York and online at hearty.

Take a leap for more images of the hearty Magazine x Jeff Staple “This Is Not a T-Shirt” Sticker.

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© 2010 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: Pete Williams | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: hearty magazine, jeff staple, stickers

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Across rue de Charonne” is an action shot caught in 5 mn with Dj Neil Armstrong, official Dj of Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 Tour and Jeff Staple, founder and creative director of Staple Design. Take a walk through Bastille (typical Parisian area) with these two creative minds, sharing current projects during their trip in the City of light. The film was produced by R+I Creative. Enjoy!

© 2010 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: David Fischer | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: dj neil armstrong, jeff staple, videos

This January sees the launch of The Staple Archive Collection for Urban Outfitters. “We started to talk about how cool it would be to go back into the archives of Staple,” says founder and creative director of Staple Design and Reed Space, Jeff Staple. “We wanted to dig out some exciting designs as well as some designs that may have never seen the light of day and reissue them exclusively for Urban Outfitters,” he adds.

The collection consists of three graphic t-shirts featuring well known Staple designs, done in a super-soft washed cotton with a redesigned label that states the design is from The Staple Archives. Available both in-store and online at www.urbanoutfitters.com next month.

© 2009 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: Pete Williams | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: jeff staple, staple, t-shirts, urban outfitters

Click here to view the embedded video.

© 2009 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: Pete Williams | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: airwalk, jeff staple, Sneakers, staple, videos

jeffstaple1-2-1 with Yone from joshua on Vimeo.

Jeff Staple got together for URB with Yonehara Yasumasa, aka Yone, the Japanese photographer that we have featured already many times, mostly due because of a multitude of interesting projects that he has been involved in, in recent years.

The interview touches on how Yone got started with photography and what his involvement was mit Egg magazine and Smart Girls magazine in Japan. Enjoy!

© 2009 Highsnobiety for Titel Media. Author: David Fischer | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | %%sharethis_link%%
Post tags: jeff staple, videos, yone