DNA 11’s Blog - Original Creators of DNA Art

Have you seen seen the viral WII Video on Youtube that’s been viewed nearly 4 Million times? It’s called “Why Every Guy Should Buy their Girlfriend WII fit”. Personally I think it’s a WII commercial cleverly discussed as a viral video but either way it was surprised to see one of our portraits in it.

We just wrapped up the Montreal Design Show (SIDIM) last week. It was one of the best shows we’ve done all year. We met some great people including fellow designers, architects, interior designers and clients. As a VIP guest of the event SIDIM even put me up in the new OPUS Hotel. If you are ever in Montreal I encourage you to check out this very luxurious, unique and modern boutique hotel.

This year we decided to get creative and design a booth that was built from recycled materials and could also be 100% recycled. Mission accomplished. Nothing in our booth was wasted this year. The booth was made 20% from cardboard and 80% from wood. All the wood was donated to a local farmer and the cardboard was tossed into a recycling bin at the end of the show. Even the metal hardware was recycled. The Booth space was worth nearly $10,000 but the booth only cost us around $300 to make and we recieved a lot of looks and great feedback from the attendees.

Mnay thanks to our design intern Anthony Chimbuya for all his hard work and dedication and to our friends at Spade Magazine for making the event possible.

I just received my DNA Ancestry DNA collection kit from dna.ancestry.com (a division of Ancestry.com).  I ordered my kit online. The process was straight forward and very easy.  I ordered the “Advanced Paternal Lineage Test (Y-Chromosome 46)” kit for $199.00 USD. Pricing starts as low as $149 for the less precise and indepth Chromosome 33 test.  For some reason they recommend the less expensive Chromosome 33 test on the site but I wasn’t totally clear why.

The kit arrived by standard mail about two weeks later. The packaging is elegant and simple and just as easy to use as the site. It included:

In a few weeks I will be receiving my results by e-mail. I am very eager to see how this turns out. I will be posting my results for everyone to see.

For a complete overview visit dna.ancestry.com

Our friends at the Xprize Foundation invited us to be sponsors of this years event and we happily accepted the invitation. Last week Nazim and I flew down to San Francisco to attend the prestigious event and do some serious networking. We got to meet some very interesting people and rub shoulders with the likes of Richard Branson (Virgin media mogul), Google co-founders Larry Page (chairman of Xprize) and Sergey Brin, actor Robin Williams, and Al Gore’s wife, Tipper.

Over 2 Million dollars was raised at the event. DNA 11 contributed by donating our art for the silent auction and awarding each “vision circle” board member with their very own DNA 11 portrait.

DNA 11 founders with actor Robin Williams

Anousheh Ansari’s DNA portrait was presented to her on stage

More coverage from and images from CNET, Mercury News

Yesterday DNA 11 was featured on The Today Show on NBC. The audience was over 4 million viewers. It seems like each week we are getting more and more publicity. Could Oprah be next? Stay tuned….

The best part of this video is when Al Roker says he loves our art.

YouTube Video Link below (might take a few seconds to load):

Last Friday we were invited over to NPRs *New* Manhattan Studio to do a little radio interview. It played on Sunday. Over 3 million listeners. The offices were so new that I was the first person to be interviewed in that particular studio. Construction was actually still going on. As we were leaving we were asked to sign their guest-book- it was really cool. I found Clint Eastwood and Frank Miller’s signature. Frank’s signature is by far the craziest signature I have ever seen. Frank created SIN CITY and was a fellow guest at Semi-Permanent NYC this year. We’re big fans of his work.

Listen to the interview from NPRs web site

More pics…

Josh the studio tech:

Me in the booth yapping away:

Seems like we’re spending more time in New York these days then at home. I’m not complaining. As you can see by previous posts we love being in New York. Both Nazim and I were there for ten days. We met some amazing people as always. The main reason we were there was to exhibit at a huge event called NYIGF (New York International Gift Fair). Over 2500 exhibitors and 40,000 people. We had an amazing booth and a great location. Thanks Jessica Lo for your help designing the booth. Here are a couple of pics…

Rob Walker wrote a great article about us in the New York Times Magazine on December 24th. We are getting tons of press lately and a lot more coming in the New Year.

Check it out. Let us know what you think.

We’ve been getting some great press coverage this year. I just did an interview with the Wall Street Journal today and HOW Magazine. Tomorrow I’m getting interviewed by Rob Walker the well-known and highly respected writer for the New York Times Magazine. He writes a great column called Consumed. Our friend Josh Spear just featured us on his very popular blog. These are all world-class media outlets so we’re honored. Maxim magazine even did a small review on us last month. Not too many products could appear in all these magazines and publications and appeal to such a broad base of readers. I guess that’s one thing that makes us special.

 What we’re really happy about is being highlighted as anideal holiday gift by ForbesLife Magazine (Dec. issue). So far the response has been great. The media has been fantastic to us and I hope it keeps on coming…

 Here is the excerpt from Forbes:

“It’s So You! Ottawa-based DNA 11 updates the concept of the portrait for the C.S.I. era, transforming clients’ “genetic fingerprints” into abstract works of art. This complex-sounding procedure is actually a snap. The Canadian company mails out a collection kit. You swab the inside of your cheek, send in the sample, then select the size and color of your DNA portrait. Six to eight weeks later you can display your double helix for all to see. Priced from $390–$790. www.dna11.com. “

We’re leaving for NY for a few days. Some really exciting projects on the works and we’re meeting with some pretty important people in the modern design/art world. Wish I could talk more about it! Stay tuned…

 I love NY. The energy, the hustle and bustle, the people, the food. We always make sure we stay at “Boutique” hotels when we travel. Last time it was the QT hotel this time we’re going to try out Time Hotel. Unfortunately, Night Hotel was sold out. This is the best time of the year to visit the Big Apple.

Things on our to-do list after we take care of business:

-Meet with Geoff (our affiliate manager)
-Visit the WIRED store
-Hang out in Soho and Chelsea
-Visit the new Puma Store
-Check out the MoMA

I’ll make sure I post some pics over the next few days.

What’s your favorite place or thing to do in NY? I want to hear your ideas…