What is The History of Plaid?

The new Channel Stitched Ruby Series Bags from Altego have an beautiful Plaid pattern on the inside. Plaid is steeped in tradition and folklore. Here is a brief history on the interesting material.

Plaid

Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colors. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland. Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns. Tartan is one of the patterns known as plaid in North America, but in Scotland, a plaid is a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder, or a blanket.

Tartan is made with alternating bands of colored (pre-dyed) threads woven as both warp and weft at right angles to each other. The weft is woven in a simple twill, two over – two under the warp, advancing one thread each pass. This forms visible diagonal lines where different colors cross, which give the appearance of new colors blended from the original ones. The resulting blocks of color repeat vertically and horizontally in a distinctive pattern of squares and lines known as a sett.

The Dress Act of 1746 attempted to bring the warrior clans under government control by banning the tartan and other aspects of Gaelic culture. When the law was repealed in 1782, it was no longer ordinary Highland dress, but was adopted instead as the symbolic national dress of Scotland.

Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the highland tartans were associated with regions or districts, rather than by any specific clan. This was because tartan designs were produced by local weavers for local tastes and would tend to make use of the natural dyes available in that area. The patterns were simply different regional checked-cloth patterns, where of the tartans most to one’s liking – in the same way as people nowadays choose what colors and patterns they prefer in their clothing. Thus, it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that specific tartans became associated with Scottish clans or Scottish families, or simply institutions that are (or wish to be seen as) associated in some way with a Scottish heritage.

It is generally stated that the most popular tartans today are the Black Watch (also known as Old Campbell, Grant Hunting, Universal, and Government) and Royal Stewart. Today tartan is no longer limited to textiles but is used on non-woven mediums, such as paper, plastics, packaging, and wall coverings.

Sources:

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How Fast Can You Read?

This is an interesting test to see how fast you read. Takes about 3 minutes. At the end it’ll tell you how long it would take to read some classic novels. It would take me 27 hours to read War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy if I didn’t stop reading. In reality it took me about 14 months to finish that book!

Source: Staples eReader Department

Life Sized People Made From Office Supplies – WOW!

The Following comes to us from My Modern Met. This is by far one of the coolest and most intrecate things done with simple office products. Beautiful.

Colombia-born, Miami-based conceptual artist Federico Uribe uses objects from daily life to construct life-size sculptural figures. His medium of choice? Pencils. Although most artists use pencils as a tool for sketching illustrations, Uribe utilizes multicolored pencils fastened together with plastic zip-ties to create a nuclear family—father, mother, son, and daughter—in his series entitled Pencilism: Sculptures.

The multifaceted artist has also employed the ordinary drawing utensils to create massive and elaborate paintings in his collection called Pencilism: Paintings. The multihued sticks are cut and tightly situated against each other. The “paintings” are somewhat sculptural in their construction with tips and edges of the color pencils sticking out. There is a remarkable texture added to the images because of the elements used and their assembly. Uribe’s ability to produce the large-scale works with such an ordinary object, redefining its use, is truly astonishing. The amount of time taken to build each piece also seems unfathomable to me.

The Avengers Made from Office Products?

The Avengers.. the movie you’ve been waiting to see for 7 years. Yeah. Well Wieden + Kennedy Agency from Portland built this fantastic set for Target. We liked it and thought we’d pass it along.

via Behance

• Art Director: Drew Dayberry

  Copywriter: Casey Hall

  Creative Directors: Guy Seese, Chris Mitton

  Executive Creative Directors: Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman

  Photographer: Adam Levy

  Retoucher: Greg Radich, SGS

  Art Buyer: Amy Carleton

  Models made by LAIKA

  LAIKA Art Director: Nicholas Weigel

  Model Fabrication Lead: Rob Melchoir

  Production Coordinator: Alix Iverson

  Character Fabrication: Katie Mello, Margaret Meyer, Sara Neiman, Joe Schmidt, Sarah Hall

  Producer: Rebecca Bowen

  Executive Producer: Lourri Hammack

  Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland

  Client: Target

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Staple City – Office Supplies Taken To A Whole New Level [PHTOS & VIDEO]

Peter Root is a patient man. This is one of the cooler things we have ever seen done with simple supplies found in an office.

Here is what he had to say: (Source)

Ephemicropolis 2010

100,000 Staples
Approx floor area 600x300cm

Stacks of staples were broken into varying sizes from full stacks about 12cm high down to single staples. These stacks were then stood up and arranged over a period of 40 hours.

Click here to see feature in March 2012 issue of National Geographic Magazine.

The Making of Ephemicropolis from Peter Root on Vimeo.

This Unique Furniture Combines Style, Form, and Functionallity

We make laptop sleeve, and backpacks but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a keen eye for well designed products. In fact, we like to think our backpacks and accessories are well designed and slightly unique. Over at My Modern Met they’ve compiled quite a list of extremely unique products with amazing design elements. Would you consider putting any of these in your house?  Let us know in the comments.

Source: My Modern Met

1. Multifunctional Sofa Bunk Bed

This design by Bonbon is a clever solution for compact, modern living. The space-saving couch doubles as a bunk bed and combines practical function with super chic design. With one simple movement, convert the daytime seating area into sleeping accommodations for two. Bunk beds in the living room?! This calls for a 1980′s slumber party with Tom Hanks and Elizabeth Perkins! You can learn more about all of the space saving designs on the Bonbon website.

2. ABC Bookcase

Typography enthusiasts will just adore these alphabet-inspired cubes that combine letters and numbers with useful storage. An interesting departure from your standard bookcase, the shelves can be organized to form any words or phrases that you choose. I particularly enjoy the idea of having an ongoing game of tic-tac-toe in my living room! Designers Eva Alessandrini & Roberto Saporiti really did it right with this custom design for furniture company Saporiti.

3. Little Black Dresser

Every fashionable woman has at least one basic Little Black Dress (LBD) hanging in her closet, but this LBD makes an extremely bold statement functioning AS the actually place to store clothing. The Straight Line Designs, Inc. concept, carved in the shape of a flirtatious dress, contains a chest of drawers that hang on the wall and store all of your precious clothes and accessories.

4. Lomme Egg-Shaped Bed

Lomme (Light Over Matter Mind Evolution) is an egg-shaped luxury bed designed to maximize comfortable sleep and rejuvenation. The LOMME World team developed this sleeping atmosphere with light, sound, and massage therapies that foster a cleaner, healthier, happier existence. Owners can scroll through a variety of interior colored lights, a selection of soft, soothing music and meditations, and built-in massage options via the installed iPhone. Once the settings are in place, fall into a deep sleep as the gradual fading light simulates sunset and then naturally awaken from a restful night as the virtual sunrise brightens the interior space. Seriously, I don’t think sleeping can get much better than that!

5. Centipede Bench

I’m no engineering expert, but common sense tells me that all of the legs on a wooden bench should be touching the ground. This Centipede bench definitely shatters that assumption! Designed by Héctor Esrawe for the green furniture manufacturing company Pirwi, the piece is an undulating seat design with multiple legs that visually generate a light, airy sense of movement. There are three versions: Centipede I and II are made as a single seat and Centipede III is a longer bench that can accommodate multiple people. Even more reason to like this piece, the materials are environmentally friendly and allow for minimum waste. I just hope it doesn’t scurry away while I’m taking a rest.

6. Wha Cabinet

Designer Tembolat Gugkaev is an expert in clever, yet practical, furniture design. The designer’s Wha Cabinet not only serves as your average, everyday curved bookcase, but at night, it turns into a practical reading lamp. An additional surprise is the rainbow lighting that makes for easy shelf navigation in the evenings. This unit has such great personality! Find out more about all of his unique designs on his website.

7. Giant Birdsnest Chair

The Giant Birdsnest Chair, designed by O*GE, can serve two functions. First, it seems like the perfect place to snuggle up and take a nap. Second, and probably a bit more functional, the seating area was designed to encourage working, playing, and socializing. It can fit up to 16 people and is meant to inspire creativity and new ideas. Also, based on these photos, I think a giant lamp to shine overhead is a must-have accessory!

8. Stacked Cabinet No. 6—Together We Can

There’s nothing boring about this stacked cabinet. It seems like it could topple over at any moment! But rest assured, designer Vincent Leman from Dust Furniture* always combines beauty with high quality construction to produce, “gravity bending furniture with personality, while leaving function fully intact.” This particular design was based on the concept of three people lifting each other up to reach a higher goal, and stands seven feet tall. I love the playful, cartoon design that will easily add a little fun to any room.

9. Modular Shelving: Vjunok/Bindweed Series

With this unique design, you can bring a touch of nature into your living room and use it as a bookcase. Russian designer Maria Yasko merged her interior and industrial design skills to create this tree-shaped shelving entitled Icelandic Tree. The combination of the shelf structure with the wall art adds a certain charm to an otherwise bland wall. Plus, the curved and bending shelves are an efficient use of wall space. Check out two of her other shelving designs on Behance.

10. Floating Lamps

This futuristic lamp will spark intrigue and conversation in any room in the house. Designed by Light-Light, the Floating Lampis constructed with several cutting-edge technologies to create what appears to be an optical illusion. But don’t be fooled, once you get up close you’ll see that the lamp actually consists of a base, above which a magnet disc floats. The low power consumption and sleek, elegant design make this piece a timeless classic while at the same time leading the trends in funky, must-have interior design.

Today in History

April 18, 1955 was a sad day for the world. The greatest mind in history, Albert Einstein, passed away. One of the most famous photographs of his life is the photograph of his office on the day he died (below). In memorandom, Life Magazine talked to the photographer, Ralph Morse about his famous shot.

After getting a call that April morning from a LIFE editor telling him that Einstein had died, Morse jumped in his car and sped from his house in northern New Jersey to Princeton.

“I headed to the hospital first,” Morse told LIFE.com, “but it was chaos — journalists, photographers, onlookers. So I headed over to Einstein’s office [at the Institute for Advanced Study]. On the way, I stopped and bought a case of scotch. I knew people might be reluctant to talk, but that they’re usually happy to accept a bottle of booze, rather than money, in exchange for their help. Anyway, I get to the building, find the superintendent, offer him a fifth of scotch and like that, he opens up the office.”

What Einsteins office looked like on the day he died

Source LIFE

Does Your Backpack Ever Get So Heavy You Fall Into A Lake Like This Lady?!

We know, sometimes we stuff our backpacks so full of books, laptops, and other stuff that it weighs tons. While Altego Backpacks are made for extreme loads, we caution picking them up around large bodies of water…

The Backpack Theory – What Do You Carry In Your Backpack?

An intriguing view on life & our backpacks. From: Up In The Air

How much does your life weigh?
Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a backpack.
I want you to feel the straps on your shoulders. Feel them?

I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life.
You start with the little things.
Things on shelves, in the drawers, the knickknacks, collectibles.
Feel the weight it all adds up.

Then you start adding larger stuff.
Clothes, tabletop appliances, lamps, linens, your TV.
The backpack should be getting pretty heavy now.

You go bigger.
Your couch, your bed, your kitchen table, stuff it all in there.
Your car, get it in there.
Your home, whether it’s a studio apartment or a two-bedroom house.
I want you to stuff it all into that backpack.

Now try to walk. It’s kinda hard, isn’t it?
This is what we do to ourselves on a daily basis:
we weigh ourselves down til we can’t even move
and make no mistake; moving is living

Now, I’m gonna set that backpack on fire.
What do you wanna take out of it?
Photos? Photos are for people who can’t remember.
Drink some ginkgo and let the photos burn.

In fact let everything burn and imagine waking up tomorrow with nothing.
It’s kinda exhilarating, isn’t it?

…

This is how I start everyday of my life.
Now this is gonna be a little difficult, so stay with me.

You have a new backpack.
Now this time, I want you to fill it with people
Start with casual acquaintances, friends of friends, folks around the office.

And then you move into the people you trust with your most intimate secrets.
Your cousins, your aunts, your uncles. Your brothers, your sisters, your parents.
And finally your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend.

Get them into that backpack.
Don’t worry I’m not gonna ask you to light it on fire.
Feel the weight of that bag.
Make no mistake your relationships are the heaviest components in your life.

Feel the straps cutting into your shoulders.
All those negotiations and arguments and secrets, the compromises.
You need to carry all that weight.
Then you set that bag down.

Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically for a lifetime.
Star-crossed lovers, monogamous swans.
We are not those animals.

The slower we move, the faster we die.
We are not swans, We’re sharks.

25 Unbelievable Pictures Of The Tornadoes That Hit The Dallas/Fort Worth Area

We, here at Altego, are based out of Fort Worth.  We had some wild weather roll through yesterday.  Here are some of the unbelievable photos from the storms.  Via Buzzfeed

Picture Sources:

1.)    Via: lascocks

2.)     This is an upside-down tree. Via: twitpic.com

3.)    Source: annabellalovesyou

4.)    Via: lockerz.com

5.)    Via: inothernews

6.)     Another picture of a semi being tossed around. Via: thisiskenn

7.)    None

8.)    Via: cdl-life

9.)     Hail. Via: echelonhaven

10.) More hail.

11.) Via: what-we-become

12.) Via: diablasquaw

13.) Via: flickr.com

14.) Via: undoneattheseams

15.)  Bill Brangers, right, and Benjamin Powell, 5, left, look at the trailer that a tornado lifted from the Powell’s driveway to a neighbor’s yard two doors down. (AP / Kim Johnson Flodin)

16.) Via: undoneattheseams

17.) Source: themonotonediaries

18.) (AP / AP)

19.)  Patricia Daugherty searches for her belongings after her home was destroyed by a tornado n Arlington, Texas (Getty Images / Tom Pennington)

20.)  A sign is destroyed from a passing storm in South Arlington, Texas. (AP / Paul Moseley)

21.)  Arlington police officer Rick Stewart returns a man’s dog. (Getty Images / Tom Pennington)

22.)  Found near Forney, Texas. Via: this-is-awesome

23.)  Smashed cars lay in debris. (Reuters / TIM SHARP)

24.)  Homes in Lancaster, Texas. (AP / Khampha Bouaphanh)

25.)  And one more picture of the 18 wheelers. Via: twitpic.com

20.

Why Work? Build This DIY Vortex Canon Instead

Who actually works at work?  Build this and your day will be much more fulfilling!

New Bag Lines Coming Soon!