Bob Staake, creator of the charming children’s book Donut Chef and dozens of New Yorker cartoons, draws with a mouse using an ancient version of Photoshop. This video speaks volumes about the virtues, and humanity, of computer-generated art, and how fluid the process can be, once you loosen your head up (which this video will do). It instantly had me yearning for an accessible, fun drawing program. read more…
why not?
magazine pages as envelopes
Pamela Hovland, the extraordinary designer who has been so essential to the design for The Improvised Life, often uses pages from magazines as her envelopes. Periodically, she culls compelling images from magazines, cuts them out with an Exacto knife and straight edge (or just rips them out, leaving a pleasingly rough edge), and folds each one into thirds to make an “envelope”. She inserts her letter inside and seals the edges with a bit of tape, or an adhesive seal. A self-stick address label provides a white space for the address. read more…
necklace as plug chain
Here’s simple, pretty solution to those ugly generic plug chains. There’s infinite possibilities for stringing beads (waterproof) or using other materials like waxed string,which often comes in beautiful colors.
(The friend that sent this to me didn’t remember where she found it. So we’re unable, yet, to give credit.)
rethinking business cards
Shouldn’t a business card reflect/echo/transmit a sense of the business or person it’s representing?
If you’re in thinking of (re)designing your card, check out the outside-the-box business card that [Re]Encoded.com compiled. They are FUN and make your expectations shift instantly. read more…
hotel room oven-ette
This image from Emma’s Blog reminds me of the usefulness of radiators when traveling in the winter. A hot radiator is a good place to warm bread you’ve swiped from a room service delivery, bought at a local store or have leftover from takeout. Same with cheeses, saved or bought: you can warm some goat cheese, or a slice of cheddar or brie to melting to spread on that warm bread. Just leave it on the paper it came wrapped in or place on a plate you’ve swiped from room service. Those little chocolates the maids leave around can be melted on the radiator and paired with some warm bread to make a lovely improvised pain-au-chocolate. And of course, you can warm any take-out sandwich or bowl of soup.
