Tatte Cookies and Cakes

This cute little place is in Brookline Mass. The menu is a mix of mediterranean and middle eastern inspired pastries. I would love to decorate my kitchen and dining room like this. 

Mas Info Graphics

The possibilities are endless! Check out this web site as well.

Info Graphics Galore

Info Graphics are a fun way to spice up otherwise dull information. Check out this web site for inspiration!

Quirky collections

I found this article about what drives people to collect, when collecting is a healthy hobby, and when it becomes extreme. I wonder if any of us would run around the city wearing an orange cape and calling ourselves Captain Beany? :)

52 cupcakes by the Cupcake Queen

The Cupcake Queen started this blog when she embarked on a mission to bake one cupcake a week for a year. The hitch was that she had never baked before. Through her blog she narrates her failures and successes and lets her audience in on how the cupcakes tie in with what's going on in her life. Birthdays, new jobs, sports championships. And her photography is beautiful. Check out her blog at 52cupcakes.blogspot.com

D.C. Tourism

I have been doing a bunch of research for my booklet project and came across two great D.C. tourism sites. Washington.org is really user friendly and easy to navigate depending on what interests you. For example, if you were, say, a foodie, the page would be filled with current and relevant foodie events, restaurants to visit, etc. Cultural Tourism D.C. is another great site. It points you to D.C.'s historic and cultural attractions. When you're looking for something to fill all those free Saturdays you have coming up, check them out!

Fondation Maeght

Check out this link to the Fondation Maeght. This is the modern art museum in Southern France where I picked up those two illustrated books from class. They house work from Chagall, Miro, Braque and Giacometti. The outside of the museum is even more beautiful than the galleries within. The image at left is from the back of the museum. There are some even better images at this web site.

Louise Fili

Louise Fili has designed some of the most beautiful food packaging and restaurant identities. I can't imagine a more amazing career than one that combines food and design!  Check out her web site to see her portfolio gallery. 

Sex Advice Column

Savage love is more of a column, but the writing is fantastic so I had to share. Dan Savage writes this weekly column in response to letters and calls from his readers. The letters are usually hilarious. He tells tells them how it is, with a lot of sarcasm and humor, and his advice is usually spot on. 

101 Cookbooks

101 Cookbooks is one of my favorite blogs. Not surprisingly, it is about food:) Heidi Swanson started the blog when she realized that she had accrued over 100 cookbooks and had better start trying some recipes before she bought any more. 

She is also an amazing photographer so the images are always beautiful. I love her recipes as well. They are mostly, if not all vegetarian, and she experiments with a lot of whole grains, natural sugars, and seasonal vegetables. I also have her book: Super Natural Cooking, and every recipe has been delicious. 

I think I might make this dish ravioli dish for dinner tonight. yum. 

Designer Toys

Kidrobot produces and sells limited edition, collectible toys for adults. The toys range from smoking bunnies to crazy alien creatures. They have a huge following and have developed some great marketing strategies to keep demand for Kidrobot toys at a maximum. They will do thing like send people on their listserve an email saying that they have something like 10 minutes to get to a certain spot in New York for a chance to purchase one of the newly released toys. 

Check out this web site for news on other designer toys.

how to survival guide

These books will either make you laugh or make you paranoid. They give you step by step instructions on how to survive in disastrous situations like "how to survive if you are stranded on an iceberg" and "how to survive a two way hold down".  

Stimudent

I found this old packet of stimudents in my linen closet. They have explicit instructions detailing that you need to place them between your teeth and how to move them back and forth gently. As if you would ever want to jam those wooden skewers in there. yikes. The image of the mustache man is there just because i thought it was yucky:)

Stop Motion movies by Pes

My coworker showed me this web site the other day. The movies are all done in stop motion. I am thinking of making my movie in the same style, although they won't be quite as sophisticated as these are:)

Planet Unicorn

You have to check out these short movies on You Tube. The story line follows three unicorns: Cadillac, Feathers, and Tom Cruise. They were wished into being by a little boy named Shannon. Hilarious. 

Harry

Ha. Couldn't resist putting a picture up of my doggy, Harry. 

Hirshhorn paper contest

In light of the construction paper workshop which the class worked on this past weekend, I wanted to share these amazing entries for a contest at the Hirshhorn. The only rule was that the contestants use just one sheet of paper. It is amazing what people were able to come up with. This link also has other interesting images of art, but the ones at the top are all from the contest. 

Peep Show

If not Day of the Dead, than why not something equally as silly as creating scenes out of peeps or gummy bears? Our office submitted a peep diorama to the Washington Post Peep Contest this year. Our submission was clearly the best, so I'm not sure why it didn't make it into the top 100...(By the way, this is not a pic of our diorama, ours was much cooler)

Day of the Dead

It has been really difficult to come up with a good narrative for the imovie assignment. My latest idea involves using art from the Day of the Dead. It's quirky and humorous style could be a great source for story ideas. Just imagine: how did these two get together? And will their relationship last?

Soul'd but not out- April 8 @ 7:00

I also wanted to let you all know about an AIGA event, which I was in charge of putting together. It is at the new-ish restaurant Marvin downtown and will feature a panel of indie/DIY designers/artists/musicians/gallery owners. Each speaker has pushed the bounds of what it means to be a designer and an artist.  Check out the website for more info!

Ironing Art Exhibit

One of my fellow graphic designers at UM, Brian Payne, is having his work (in collaboration with Okan Arabacioglu) exhibited at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore starting this Friday.  The exhibit will be up for about a month. If you have a chance, stop by and check it out! Click here for the Gallery's web site.

Typographica

This web site offers news and commentary on typography.  Each year they have some big name designers pick their favorite typefaces. There were a lot of great display typefaces in this year's selection and it was fun to see a typeface which I had used in a project this year. http://typographica.org/

Typography Day March 28 and 29

This sounds like a great conference. It will feature two days of speakers and workshops dedicated to typography. Too bad it's in Bombay. http://www.idc.iitb.ac.in/~typo/index.html

Designing with Type

I found this image on the designing with type web site. www.designingwithtype.com. I love how the type mimics what is going on with the illustration. They have a huge list of student projects, to look through. Great for when you need some type inspiration.

Cabin and Cub

I love the kitchy look of these collage pieces. I can imagine them looking right at home on the wood paneled wall of a 1950's home. I also like the depth, which the artist creates using a colored, patterned background, a black and white line drawing, and a detailed, painted image. Check out the website at: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5006448.

street art

I found this image while looking at hoogrrl.com, a blog about the underground art scene in the D.C. area. It took me a second to figure out which piece was the art, but when I did, I thought it was hilarious. 

Words

warble

inculcate

vociferous

obstreperous

surreptitious

apoplexy

mellifluous

cantankerous

curmudgeon

flibbertyjibbit

quagmire

tabernacle

ethereal

hobgoblin

mercurial

querulous

sassafras

amphipod

Classic Typefinder

Rookledge's Classic Typefinder is a great resource for exploring new typefaces. It categorizes the type by text and ornamental typefaces and categorizes them according to their characteristics. The book does a great job of making less intimidating the recognition and selection of typefaces.

 

Art of Information Graphics

I stumbled on this sight while looking for new ways to design information graphics. Although the information is pretty dull, the firm has done a great job of giving it visual appeal. Check out their website at: www.artoffacts.com

Christopher Niemann

I had the opportunity to hear Christopher Niemann speak and he is as funny as are his illustrations. His humor is dry and quirky and his concepts are always outside of the box. When I am feeling stuck for a good concept, I find that looking through his web site helps to spark my creativity. Take a look at his website: http://www.christophniemann.com/man/bpages/portfolio.html.

Grow for Good

Back to doing research for my project. I have chosen to do a campaign to encourage people to buy locally. I found this campaign on Food and Wine's Web site called Grow for Good. The title is short and to the point and the playful graphics give the campaign a grass roots, accessible feel. It has persuaded me to use a lighter touch with my headline rather than a scare tactic. Check out the full campaign at http://www.foodandwine.com/promo/growforgood/

Food For Life

Remembering our discussions of Benetton's ad/social awareness campaigns in Visual and Verbal Rhetoric, I looked through their archives to get some ideas for our current project. Most of their impact comes from the dramatic imagery. So, while not great for headline research, it is a good demonstration of how to keep copy to a minimum, yet still have an effective call to action. Check out their gallery of campaigns at: http://press.benettongroup.com/ben_en/image_gallery/campaigns/?branch_id=1190

Regrettable Advertising Campaigns

As I was brainstorming for our third project, I began looking through this great book: The Gallery of Regrettable Food. It mocks the most unfortunate of American classic recipes like the salmon tart salad or the south-of-the-border cheesy meatloaf. He also has a web site: www.lileks.com, where he has an extensive archive of absurd advertising campaigns from the past hundred years. While the ads are funny, his dry, witty commentary is hilarious.

Graham and Brown Wordplay

I found these ads on the web site for a British Advertising company. They rely heavily on the humor of the juxtaposition in their imagery supported by a slight twist of words. Although they don't follow the ideal headline formula including a noun and a verb, I still found them to be effective. The twist of the words paired with the quirky images lets consumers know that the company designs edgy patterns and will appeal to that specific audience.

You can check out the full ad campaign at:http://www.10associates.co.uk/selected_projects/wordplay_campaign/

Milton Glaser

I remembered from a class reading for Visual and Verbal Rhetoric, that Milton Glaser believes strongly in using ones skills as a designer to affect social change. I checked out his web site and found many posters dedicated to different social campaigns such as saving Darfur, a poster about the design of dissent, and other issues of social justice. I was particularly interested in the Darfur posters given our next headline project. Check out his web site at: www.miltonglaserposters.com

Except You

I attended the AIGA conference in Denver this past October. Command X, a sort of Project Runway for graphic designers was one of the highlights. The contestant's final challenge was to design a campaign to encourage young people (18-24) to vote. The winner, Nichelle Narcisi, designed a campaign which blew the judges away and even brought one of them to tears. No joke.

It was an interesting concept, drawn from people's fear of being excluded from the group. The idea was that instead of telling people why they should vote, that one should show them about all of the missed opportunities to affect change in important areas such as the economy and the way when they doesn't vote. The campaign also insinuates that voting is something that EVERYONE else is doing and that by not voting, you are excluding yourself from your peer group.

It didn't bring me to tears, but I agree that it would be an effective campaign. This is the link to an article in the Design Observer in case you want to check out the full campaign: http://www.designobserver.com/archives/029268.html

Diana Abu Jaber

Diana Abu Jaber is one author who I return to again and again. Abu Jaber grew up listening to stories told by her Jordanian immigrant father and his influence is clear in terms of what she writes about, the style of her language, and the form her stories take. Her writing ends up being more like oral story telling than written prose. Her descriptions are vibrant and her characters well-developed. Below is an excerpt from my favorite book of hers: Crescent

The sky is white.

The sky shouldn't be white because it's after midnight and the moon has not yet appeared and nothing is as black and as ancient as the night in Baghdad. It is dark and fragrant as the hanging gardens of the extinct city of Chaldea, as dark and still as the night in the uppermost chamber of the spiraling Tower of Babel.

But it's white because white is the color of an exploding rocket. The ones that come from over the river, across the fields, from the other side of an invisible border, from another ancient country called Iran. The rockets are so close sometimes he can hear the warning whisk before they explode. The ones that explode in the sky send off big round blooms of colors, pinwheels of fire. But the ones that explode on the ground erase everything: they send out streamers of fire that race across the ground like electric snakes; they light up the donkeys by the water troughs and make their shadows a hundred meters long. They light up every blade of grass, every lizard, and every date; they electrify the dozing palms and set the most distant mountains-the place his uncle calls the Land of Na-on fire. They make his sister's face glow like yellow blossoms, they make the water look like phosphorescence as it runs from the tap. Their report sizzles along the tops of the tallest western buildings and rings against the minarets and domes. They whistle through the orchards and blast acres of olive trees out of the ground. They light up the Euphrates River, knock down the walls of the old churches, the ancient synagogues, the mysterious, crumbling monuments older than the books, monuments to gods so old they've lost their names, the ancient walls dissolving under the shock waves like dust.

Kinderkookkafé

I rediscovered this web site, World Changing, while researching my next project. I heard World Changing's founder speak at the AIGA conference back in October and was very inspired. This particular article describes a new restaurant concept which is part restaurant/part cooking school. No adult can eat there unless invited by a child and the child prepares the meals-some as young as 2 1/2 years old. I am considering using this restaurant as the focus for my next project.

Check out the full story at http://www.worldchanging.com/archives//006240.html

best of food writing

Again back to my culinary obsession. But this time, I wanted to share a link to some great food writing. Leites Culinaria is one of my top sources for great recipes, but even more so for its features and interviews. David Leite, the founder of the site, is my favorite author. I really enjoy his witty and well- informed writing. Check it out at www.leitesculinaria.com

designingwithtype.com

This is one of the first sites I go to when I need inspiration for a unique type treatment. On this site, you'll find type-based student projects from design schools around the world. In addition, the contributing designers have listed their favorite typefaces.

culinary inspiration

Cooking is one of my favorite creative outlets. I have bookshelves full of cookbooks and subscribe to many cooking magazines. I am always searching for new cuisines to try and new ways to use ingredients. Knowing my culinary obsession, a friend told me to check out the menu for Toloache, a restaurant in New York City. Just looking at the menu makes me want to travel to New York. But more so, I love working from the descriptions of the dishes and trying to recreate my own version. This week: tamal de puerco. Check out their menu at http://www.toloachenyc.com/media/toloache.html.

lotta jansdotter

I love this bag. It comes from the collection of Lotta Jansdotter. Lotta's style is whimsical while also having an urban edge. I will often check out her web site: jansdotter.com, when I need inspiration for a new project.