My Christmas gift

I hope that you've all had a wonderful Christmas/holiday and received/gave some thoughtful gifts to those who you love and love you. I received a copy of Stefan Sagmeister's - Made you look. I've been wanting this book for months and just never seemed to pick it up. Well, I almost burst into tears when I unraveled this gift! I haven't got into reading it yet, but am planning to do so tonight! When you slide on the red cover the dog is somber and cute, and when you slide it off he gets ferocious. I couldn't find any other pictures of the back or pages for some reason. But overall, it really is beautiful.

Another self-indulgent design monograph (practically everything we have ever designed including the bad stuff) is Stefan Sagmeister's hand-scrawled subtitle for the first book about his work, Made You Look. This, and the book's clear red case and silver-gilded pages, seem contrary to the raw, handwritten style he is known for, already setting us up for a wild and very personal ride through almost the entire corpus of the 39-year-old designer's work. Sagmeister once scratched words into his skin for his own lecture poster at Cranbrook, and this is the book version--sometimes enlightening, sometimes embarrassing, always self-conscious, and ultimately touching. The story is a conversation between Peter Hall's text and Sagmeister's handwritten commentary, a perfect and believable device for an absorbing dialogue. Self-indulgent as Made You Look may be, Sagmeister lays himself open with idealism, irony, and humor, creating one of the most moving books about design.

Has anyone read this book yet? Does anyone like/dislike Sagmeister?

Toast-its!

Here's a cute idea for the holidays. Instead of sending a card, you can send a bottle of wine chosen from their range of label designs, then sign the back yourself for the personal touch.

Go to the website here.

Diego Gravinese

No, it's not a picture. It's oil on canvas by Argentinean artist Diego Gravinese. Unfortunately his site's currently under construction, I would definitely see myself having this up in my kitchen.

Like what you see? More about him here.

Insane isn't it?

Teux Deux

What deux yeux have teux deux today?

TeuxDeux is a simple, designy, browser-based to-do app and the first collaboration between studio-mates swissmiss and Fictive Kin.

I've been using this app for the past week and I'm addicted. I am generally a really organized person (with the memory of a goldfish) so I constantly carry an agenda in my purse. For those days when I've somehow managed to forget my agenda, there's Teux Deux to the rescue! Sign-in on any computer into your account and voila, there's your 3 o'clock appointment you almost forgot about!

Whether your disorganized or super organized, this app gets two thumbs up for being beautifully designed, and so easy to use. In the works is Teux Deux for your iphone and hopefully blackberries.

visit the site here, and sign-up!

You can thank me later.

Micheal Zavros

I came across this artist's stunning work by chance a couple of weeks ago, and have not been able to get it off my mind. Most of his work is done with charcoal, and some with oil on canvas. Most of his art revolves around high fashion and horses. Mixing hyper realism with traditional charcoal and oil techniques this Australian artist has definitely turned many heads.

His work has been included in the Craftsman House publication Awesome! Australian Art for Contemporary Kids, featuring 50 Australian contemporary artists. His work is held in numerous private and public collections, including Artbank, National Portrait Gallery, Collex, ABN AMRO, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Grafton Regional Art Gallery and TMAG (Tasmanian Museum and Gallery).

More of this artist here

inspired

My apologies for the lack of posts. I really do need to stick to my posting regimen. So much has been going on in my personal and career life. I am hoping to start the new year with a bang. I've been working on getting my website together, as well as working full-time and freelancing, oh and squeeze in Christmas shopping and the ridiculous amount of wrapping paper scraps laying on my living room floor at the moment. I am hoping to add personal flare to my blogging, and in turn hope that I get more feedback from whoever you are, design lover. Keep your eyes peeled, I plan on surprising you.

Colorless Coke Can

Behold the colorless Coke can. Beautiful isn't it?
Not only is it pretty, but it's eco-friendly as well. Concept by this guy.

Amala organic Skincare

I have died and gone to beauty product packaging heaven. The simplicity and elegance of the product design along with the photography is.. well, perfect.

"Amala is a new luxury organic skincare line founded in Germany. Liska + Associates, a New York/Chicago communication design firm, helped launch the brand with a focus on Amala’s natural formulas and whole plant ingredients. The brand program included product packaging, logo development and art direction that captures Amala's fundamental values: purity, transparency and responsibility.

Inspired by artisanal food packaging, Liska incorporated cork, copper and uncoated papers to create a distinctive yet simple shelf profile. The tail of the “a” in “Amala” is a pronunciation key and a reference to plant growth, and each of the four plant illustrations identifies the four color-coded product lines."

*Info by thedieline.com

Coca Cola Can Concept

How great is this Coca Cola can concept? Its geometrical form is a refreshing twist to the traditional cylindrical can. Although there are debates on how much more this mold would cost to make, I think it would be worth distributing as a limited edition. Thoughts?

Untitled Flower Jar

Aren't these vases absolutely stunning? I would totally buy them in both colors, but unfortunately these have not been produced yet. Found on Behance, these beautiful flower Jars are designed by Industrial designer Alessandro Beda. It is still a work in progress, as he is still trying to figure out a way to produce and sell these babies. I hope they come into production soon!

Wouldn't you buy one?

Matrioska

A Matrioska suffering from acute radiation sickness.

Jaime Pitarch. Chernobyl (2007). Lime tree wood, aniline, oil, varnish

A work by Jaime Pitarch for The Rest of Now, an exhibition which runs until November 2 in an ex-aluminium factory in Bolzano, Italy, as part of the Manifesta Biennale.

italic anyone?

Although I am generally not a fan of italicized fonts, I could definitely see this in my living room. Might be a little awkward to frame though :P

bunny

I must have this.

paper folds.

So during college, we had a paper folding class at some point during our 2nd year and most of us hated it. We just didn't see the point of it whatsoever. I thought it was a waste of time, and I spent most of the time catching up on other classes. I came across these pictures (above) and thought wow, so that's the point of that class. It's been about a year and a half since I've graduated, and I must say this: Whatever you think was useless in college, really isn't. Anything I've taken so far has come back and proven to be useful and smart some how. Neat huh?

foil stamps

foil stamps on business cards get me all hot and bothered. If only I could afford printing my business cards with this beautiful effect. sigh. 

For those of you who don't know what foil stamping is: Foil stamping is a special kind of printing procedure where heat, pressure, and a metallic paper (foil) is used to create different shiny designs and graphics on various materials. Foil stamping gives the stamped design a shiny and incredible look and is increasingly becoming the preferred method of printing in many an industry. for different kinds of foil stamping, click here.

i heart pudding.

Now that's what I'm talkin 'bout. Realistic packaging, targeted to.. well, you, me, that girl over there, and that tall dude. According to a design study people buy packaging to reflect who they are not only for what they need. The larger scale pictures are my favorites. Most of the collection is in the thumbnail hereunder. What do you think?

Designed by Yvonne Nieweth, a Dusseldorf Germany based designer:

"A design study about the development of brand identities: 30 pudding packages. People no longer simply buy what they need; they buy what reflects their own images of themselves. The content of your shopping-cart is a mirror of your identity. A pudding package for every kind of pudding buyer."

*info found here.

truth be told...

mhhmmm..

The Trouble Maker Campaign

Designed by HanTang Communications Group for Quzhou Seezo Trading. Love the tagline "Such tragedy could have been easily avoided".

"Wptt Contraceptive (a brand name) hopes to create a new packaging of novelty and visual impact. The objective is to emphasize the high contraceptive effectiveness of the products by indicating the painful consequences of having sex without a condom. More than 100,000 people have used the condoms and the sales increased by 21%."*

*information provided by thedieline.com

Suck UK: Digit Message Tape

I'm an addict when it comes to online subscriptions, one of which I was starting to get annoyed with because nothing ever appealed to me and decided to unsubscribe to. As I was doing this, I for once found something. Digital Message Tape. It retails for 10$ and is totally worth it since the pen comes with the tape. 

Using the included pen, you can "black out" the full alphabet plus digits, all in stylish digital type. 

Cool huh?

instant droolage.

I'm working on some promotional banners and posters for work and while doing some research this baby popped up in my google search. Instant droolage. I believe these were made by a university with a limited print of 100. As you can see, it's from last year and do I ever wish I could've got my hands on one. I'm super obsessed with red type.

Republica Dominicana.

So sorry I have been horrible at keeping my blog up-to-date. Mind you, I have one hell of a great excuse. I was toasting under the hot sun down south. My brain really needed a break from, well, everything here in Montreal. It didn't hit me how stressful this city was until I was lying on a beach doing absolutely nothing.

Well, now that I'm back, I'll get back into the swing of things. Keep your eyes and hearts open.

xo

Amateur Theater Festival

nothing does it better than beautiful photography and simple typography. ♥

Moiré. Marc Kappeler & Markus Reichenbach

1.‘We rather trust in ice storms than snowguns’
Season's greetings card, 2008, 148 x 210 mm

2.‘I rather trust in crafts than marketing’
Poster, 2008, silkscreen, 905 x 1280 mm

more moire here.

arabic typographic poster

speaks for itself.

10 Things They don't Teach You In Design School

Cute article I stumbled upon while at work. Although at least 4 of those I did learn while at school. My teachers couldn't stress BACK UP YOUR WORK enough, seriously. ⌘S is engraved in my brain forever. I do need an external hard drive though, keeping my stuff on DVD is a little nerve wrecking, not gunna lie.
click here to read the article.

Here's my #11: double check, triple check, and then check again. No matter how many times you think your client has sent you the correct text, half the time, they don't proof half the shit they write. So remember to check spelling over, and over and over again. Nothing will kill you more than having a finished product in your hands and then realizing you spelt something out worng.

Anyhoot, hope this is useful in one way or another.

umph.

Sorry it's been a while since my last update! So much is going on in my personal life, that I have unfortunately fallen behind on my design blog. All for good reason though, I'm working on my website, which I will definitely be sharing with all of you as soon as it is up!


On another note,
i am so utterly in love with black and white photography. I also really love how 3D they've made this look using perspective on the type.

someone, anyone, be cool enough to accept work like this in Montreal.