Amy Jean Porter is an awesome artist I’ve come across lately in My Search for Amazing, Life-Altering Art and Design (if i said that out loud, it would echo with immense importance). Her drawings, some of which resemble pencil and crayon mediums, make me think of what Napoleon Dynamite may have done with his career had the Liger made it big.
My favorites are the antelope jackrabbit (jackelope perhaps?) and the jaguar which is strangely Liger-esque. Don’t miss the best part – at the bottom right hand corners. The jackelope reads, “There’s something savant-like about you” and the jaguar, “Man, you’ve got good-looking handwriting.”
It’s not an easy thing to know. A good ad isn’t like a ball everyone sees sail over the fence for a homerun. Or a kiss, that when it’s over your eyes open on someone else’s heat. A good ad is a tricky, slippery, evasice beast that doesn’t like to be caught, won’t stand still, won’t come out when called. A good ad is a greased pig when it comes time to put your hands on one. Masters of disguise, good ads sneak out of you in bars, the shower, dreams, even in advertising meetings, and run away to lost pages in your workbook or torn up sheets in office wastebaskets. There are even good ads that hide inside other ads and remain unrecognized even when shown on television. (Heck, there’s likely a good ad hiding inside this one.) Some people think you can only tell a good ad when it appears in an advertising award show. Some people would say theonly good ad is one that “sells product.” Whether or not these are helpful identifiers of what makes a good ad good is not the point here. (I would say emphatically they are not.) What we’re interested in is how do you know – the moment you’ve done it – when you’ve done a good ad. How do you decide to stop writing, talking ot thinking and grab the little bastard before he makes a getaway, pin him down on the floor and call for the creative director? One word. There’s one word that, if it fairly describes your ad, tells you you’re done. It’s not honesty though that’s an excellent virtue good ads often contain. It’s not funny or provocative or wow or … The word is art. In my gentle opinion, the word is art. An indefinable monster of a word that means something slightly different to each person is the secret to good advertising. When you’ve made art, stop. Until you have, don’t. I believe it’s that simple.
Essimar (at Etsy) had some of the most adorable “mini” cards – the Pink Citrus Mini Card set to be exact. Two mini cards (2.5 x 4″) and two mini envelopes for $6.50. All silk-screened and printed by hand. Reminds me of summery goodness!
I’m also really into the Tea Chat cards. Get a set of four in peach, lilac, pink and white with matching envelopes for $12.
I love the Etsy Shop, I just say it enough times. I wish I could have an entire day just to look through the site – and since I’m wishing here, I’d also like enough money to purchase every single thing that I want. Thanks.
Today’s find is Blackbird Press. Here are the pieces that jumped out at me. The notecards are $10 for four and the stationary is $25 for ten. I love the delicate quality of the small initial in the center of all that space.
I came across illustrator Leigh Wells on design*sponge a few weeks back and was really taken with her. Leigh creates images for advertising, design, publishing and editorial clients out of San Francisco. Some of her clients (out of a rather lengthy list) include Absolut vodka, Atlantic Records, Convers, The New York Times and Rolling Stone.
Linda & Harriett letterpressed notecards and hand-stamped invitations will remind you of your grandmother’s quilt, your mother’s kitchen towels or your favorite children’s book. They are the designs of Liz Coulson Libré and inspired by her mother’s taste for the beautiful, the practical and the whimsical.
I’m especially into these tags. Why aren’t more tags available anywhere? I can think of about a million things I could use them for!
I just started the book Special Topics in Calamity Physics but Marisha Pessl two days ago and am so impressed and intrigued by it that I had to share. The book’s layout is an elaborate construction modeled after the syllabus of a college literature course—36 chapters are named after everything from Othello to Paradise Lost to The Big Sleep—that culminates with a final exam. It even includes reference “diagrams.” I’m only three chapters in, but can’t put it down.
Peculiar Pair Press is made up of Amy and Mary Beth – two paper crazed graphic designers (man, can I relate to that!). Their wedding invitations, which are mostly custom with a small selection of retail pieces, were beautiful. But what really impressed me was their site design. I’ve been getting more and more into web design in the past few weeks – possibly because I’m branching out into that realm myself career-wise. I thought that the use of color and details on Peculiar Pair’s site was awesome. Quite a few of their invitations reflect the design showcased. A new line of stationary is anticipated and due to arrive in the near future. Take a look at the site.
Milkfed Press has long been one of my favorites. After a short hiatus and giving birth to her daughter, Astrid Jane, Victoria is back at the press with some adorable designs. She’s also just completed a line for Martha Stewart Weddings – look for it in the Summer issue!
These table cards are amazing, you can pick up a whole pack for $22. (4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ numbered cards from 1-15, plus two Guest of Honor cards.)
Buy Olympia is a cool, small, more indie version of the Etsy Shop. They have so many amazing creatives that you would never, ever find on your own. Nikki McClure and Sarah Utter are only two of my favorites.
Nikki McClure uses an x-acto knife to cut her designs into paper with a result that’s elegant and intricate. I love her First 1000 Days journal and 2007 wall calendar. You can pick up the book for $12.95 and the calendar for $16.
Reading is sexy? Sarah Utter think so. There’s a variety of Reading is Sexy apparel available as well as Knitting is Knotty, Punk Rock Saved My Life, Future Librarian, Raised By Wolves and Crafty Lady.
