Top Five Moments of Mass Effect

Bioware’s Mass Effect 3 arrives onto store shelves at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow, concluding one of gaming’s biggest, and most critically acclaimed, trilogies in the past decade. For one last time, players will be thrust in the customizable role of Commander Shepard, placed dead center in humanity’s struggle against the synthetic…

Downtown’s First Friday (March 2)

Art walks are more often about people watching and shenanigans and less about the actual art. We’re here to guide you through both. Presenting our very own Field Guide — an evolving guide to art walks around town.From time to time, we’ll introduce some of our favorite spots and dish out some…

A Sneak Peek at Frances Studio’s Summer Pop-Up

In case you haven’t heard, Medlock Plaza’s throwing a pretty sweet party tonight. The complex on Camelback Road and Central Avenue in Phoenix is home to candy shop Smeeks, vintage spot Frances, record store Stinkweeds, and piercing and accessory store Halo. And tonight, the businesses will stay open for the…

The Artistifier: Make Any YouTube Award-Winning

Their site, The Artistifier converts any YouTube video clip into a silent black and white movie in the style of The Artist, which took home Academy Awards for best picture, best directing, best costume design, best original music score, and best actor over the weekend. …

The Pinterest Doily Lamp Disaster

Introducing Pin Up Girl, a weekly guide to all-things-Pinterest. Our resident pinner, Laura Gill will take a look at some of the best eye candy from around the web and provide a few pointers on how-to crafts, as well as weigh in on weekly trends and highlight local and national pin…

Evolution Design’s New Boho Dress for the IIDA Couture Show

For this year’s fifth annual International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Couture show, local teams have spent the past few months stitching together interior design principles and materials to make cutting-edge fashion. The Project Runway-style challenge assigns groups of professional and student designers a color scheme, source material (think carpet, drapery,…

Big Brain Update: Safwat Saleem

​Safwat Saleem (thankfully) isn’t throwing in the towel any time soon. The local designer said he was on the edge of giving up personal projects last year, but we’ve been lucky to catch his work during Phoenix Design Week at an exhibition at monOrchid and at Regular Gallery for You…

Brass Heart Necklace at Meat Market Vintage

Each week Gem features one standout piece from a local shop. Whether it’s a jacket, necklace, or handbag, it’s on our have-to-have list. What: After seeing heart-shaped buttons and appliqués in Anna Sui’s Spring 2012 line and the lovable slew of Cupid-worthy accessories from Marc by Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu,…

Big Brain Update: Joseph “Sentrock” Perez

Joseph Perez has had a busy year. When we caught up with him last year, the local artist and dancer was break dancing/painting (in one motion) and kicking off The Rise Project, a youth urban arts program. Since, we’ve seen his work grow out of his pop-up studio on Roosevelt and…

Marni for H&M: The Good, The Bad, and The Stuff We’ll Wrestle You For

Now that you’ve had time to mull over Marni’s upcoming capsule collection for fashion-for-the-masses retailer H&M, we present our take on the line — full of primal-meets-geometric patterns, chunky jewelry, exotic prints, and unexpected shapes. As is the case with all diffusion lines, this one (the follow-up to H&M’s collab…

The Colour Clock: A Timely Take on Hexadecimal Colors

​ Welcome to the Morning Buzz, a catch-up on interesting happenings around the city and country and a quick guide to what (and who) to keep your eyes on. We’ll be here, first thing every weekday, to get you going. Here’s what’s buzzing this morning:  Your day just got a…

Adult Entertainment Virtual Convention: Inside the World of Wank-Craft

The main virtual hall​Most conventions are pants-mandatory kinds of affairs — even those of the adult nature. For the world’s first virtual porn convention, however, I’m not wearing any (relax…I’m in my PJs).This past weekend, XBiz and Red Light Center hosted the Adult Entertainment Virtual Convention, porn’s first online-exclusive gathering…

Where the F#*k Do I Post This? (A Social Media Flowchart)

​Thanks to social media, our cool sightings, funny lines, lunch habits, dog’s yawns, and daily outfit inspirations are broadcast to our social network (and beyond). And for better or worse, these outlets have become easier to sign up for … and get sucked into on an hourly basis. Here’s a quick…

The Oscars: The Good, The Bad, and a Whole Lot of Right Leg

​ Welcome to the Morning Buzz, a catch-up on interesting happenings around the city and country and a quick guide to what (and who) to keep your eyes on. We’ll be here, first thing every weekday, to get you going. Here’s what’s buzzing this morning: Today’s buzz is bound to…

A Hanging Changeable Art Wall

Introducing Pin Up Girl, a weekly guide to all-things-Pinterest. Our resident pinner, Laura Gill will take a look at some of the best eye candy from around the web and provide a few pointers on how-to crafts, as well as weigh in on weekly trends and highlight local and national…

Crafting a Pinata for the Mutant Pinata Show (Part Two)

​As the Mutant Pinata Show, which will be at Bragg’s Pie Factory in March and April, gets closer, appearance is key in order for our pinata to make its wow statement. But while we’re working on our show entry, we’ve decided to create a much simpler pinata. Wait for it –…