With the holidays right around the corner Brocade Home has launched a new Gift section of their web site. The perfect place to hit up for that hard to find gift for the design-savvy friend/co-worker/relative!
It’s freezing in our office today. Everyone has their doors closed so as to retain the heat their own body is producing. For once sharing an office is paying off! Two for the price of one. But still cold. We’re right at that point of switching over from AC to heat which is a time of year I usually love. Except in Oklahoma. Here we don’t have seasons per se, spring and fall seem to last a week or two between the extremes of hot and cold.
However, it being so cold does make it a perfect day for hot tea. I’m a big fan of Reveolution Tea. It’s made from really high-quality leaves, but it’s sold at Target among other places so it’s affordable. Right now I’ve been hot for their White Pear Tea. (White tea is the highest in antioxidants as a bonus.) You can get it in lots of forms – loose, boxed, single bag, etc. I have the silk tea bags which you can easily use two times each. So many flavors to choose from, so liitle time.
And did I mention the packaging? Their logo is fantastic as well as the simple, clean design everything is packaged and boxed up in.
Thanks to founder Ted – and some young designers who saved the company days before the designs and equipment were to be destroyed – we have Flavor Paper, a small hand screened wallpaper company located in the Bywater District of New Orleans. To support their printing process, the Flavor Lab houses a darkroom, screen etching equipment, and an ink room where they custom mix all colors. I think it would be so much fun to choose a wall in one room of my home and wallpaper away with the boldest, most graphic paper they design!
The little touches, the final thoughts, are what make any event or occassion something really special. Things that will (hopefully) make it stand out in your memory for years to come. Notepolish Paperie seems to be experts in just that. Love their cupcake flags and favor cones.
Mondays are consistently my highest days of coffee consumption. And when it’s dreary and raining outside you can pretty much count on tripling my Normal Monday Intake. I don’t care whether it’s hot, frothy, icy, blended, bottled or all of the above (is that even possible?), I will take it and gladly toss it back.
When I came across Simply Design Coffee I got really excited – here are two of my all-time loves, coffee and design, harmoniously co-existing in a non-Starbuck’s environment. Kudos to the designers at ING who stood up for negative space because it makes the product come full circle.
I’ve fallen – and hard – for the Modern Classics Alphabet that designers Joel and Maria Pirela of Blue Ant Studio created for their (future design addict) daughter, Isabella. They plan on cutting out each letter square and gluing them on to little 3.5 x 3.5″ wood squares. I think it’s a modern, well-designed idea for a child’s room, but I’m 27 and wouldn’t mind it for my office either! Which is great because now you can purchase the poster for yourself…
In honor of my favorite holiday being right around the corner (nine days to go!) I thought a little zombie art might be in order. Take a minute or two and check out Matt Cipov and his crazy-cool artwork. Very, very cool. (Psst…check out the Total Bonus section for some free masks and desktop wallpaper.)
Most of us are familiar with the power and creative talents of Charles and Ray Eames. Their furniture, films and photographs show their ability to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary on so many platforms. This set of cards was designed by Charles in 1952 and contains 32 interlocking pieces featuring colorful images. Pictures of “the animal, mineral and vegetable kingdoms,” as well as textiles and patterns from the Eames’ collections. So, so fun.
Covers is a great site that keeps me, someone very interested in book cover design, up to date on the latest and greatest out there. And it gives me, someone who reads a lot, a great idea of what I want to be reading next. A definite Must Check Out.