the noteslate: cuz sometimes i want to draw stuff, not iType it
when first reading about this product i felt about 30 times more excited than i felt during the first-ever announcement of the iPad. to simplify, the noteslate takes the idea of paper and the idea of a computer (2 of my very favorite things really) , and smushes them together.
but the word “simplify” is what’s key here: the noteslate isn’t an iPad or an eReader or anything else that starts with a singular lowercase vowel immediately succeeded by an uppercase consonant. there are no apps or games or movies to play on it. it is simply a portable sheet of real live “paper” (complete with matte-finish screen to emulate the feeling of paper) on which one uses a real pencil to jot down notes, ideas, sketches and the like.
the brilliance of this as opposed to a sketchbook is that with noteslate’s 3 simple buttons you can save or delete any screen you want to have quick & easy access to ALL of your ideas, sans scribbles and coffee stains & crumpled up scraps of paper or napkin.
are you other design folk out there as excited about the endless sketching capabilities as i am? if you aren’t yet then this ought to help: the thing costs 99 bucks & has a 180+ hour battery life. i don’t know about you but come june 2011 (the earliest the noteslate will be available) this bad boy will certainly become a staple in my handbag.
possibly even in the black & neon green variety, cuz it flashes me right back to the days of pacman. which is never, ever a bad thing.
{via bltd }
you wish you were my coworkers.
because they get to eat these delicious, red velvety, pink cream cheese frosted delicacies for breakfast.
happy valentine’s day!
future maps
umm…hold the phone right quick. did you guys know that standard world maps don’t actually show countries in correct proportional size to one another?
something to do with only a globe being able to precisely illustrate the earth’s dimensions & characteristics…axes not translating to a 2-D surface…some math & crap…whatever, there’s a youtube clip from the west wing that explains the whole thing here.
the good news is that all this nerd talk is for once NOT stemming from an all day history channel fest. friends, i give you the root of today’s intellectual discussion…FUTURE MAPS!
they use equal-area projection to represent land masses & countries in correct proportions. also, they’re insanely beautiful - litho printed in metallic & luminous inks with spot gloss varnishes on coated silk-finish paper. and starting at £25 (about 40 US dollars), i’d say the aqua/luminous red/gold version has my name written all over it.
{ via oh joy! }
japanese garden kids’ party
if this is not the cutest, most culturally aware party for a one-year-old I HAVE EVER(!) SEEN(!)…well then i don’t know what is.
right about now you might be thinking to yourself: the cakes! the psuedo-sushis! the japanese typography! who on earth could have planned such impeccable detail?
well i’ll tell you. the folks from sweet parlour - sydney, australia’s dessert table specialists. simply so cute & well-thought out that i can hardly stand it.
{ via sweet designs }
nutmegger workshop signs
while cruising one of my old blog standbys apartment therapy recently, i came across peter vogel’s work at nutmegger workshop.
totally awesome hand-done reproductions (and custom originals) of vintage typography, no? nutmegger’s finish is an ultra-believable weathered look which makes these brand new pieces feel like they’ve been plucked from pub walls of centuries past. plus, as AT points out, these offer welcome reprieve from the “keep calm & carry on” wall art we are all so sick-and-friggin tired of.
custom orders take 6-8 weeks, & nutmegger can be contacted via email for pricing.
{ via apartment therapy }
currently trending: playing cards
maybe it’s due to the fact that a classic deck of playing cards rehashes fun childhood memories, or maybe i’m drawn to a semi-gothic, ultra-loose allusion to valentine’s day themes this time of year. regardless of cause i am loving the playing card motifs that seem to be intersecting the worlds of fashion, art & design lately.
rad illustrations by illustrator/designer leon ryan
a simple deck designed for visually impaired individuals, but packing major graphic appeal
joolz’ “third time’s a charm” jewelry collection, featuring a vintage playing card necklace
my beloved martha suggests blowing them up & framing prints
awesome house of cards table by brazilian designer/architect mauricio arruda
puts me right in a queen of hearts kinda mood!
möoi restaurant branding
in my excitement over designing an entirely new menu to go with my foundation room redesign, i spent a good chunk of time scouring the interwebs for inspirational menu design & restaurant branding. i can now say with confidence that if my foundation room menus turn out like total shit, my cause is still not lost. for in my search i have discovered the branding masterpiece that is möoi.
designed by argentinian studio seventhdesign, the whole branded experience of shape, texture, and color is some of the best i’ve ever seen. as if this weren’t enough, please check out the following shots of the actual environment.
just stop it. stop it right now. i might need to plan a trip to buenos aires simply to be in this space.
letterpress valentine roundup
it’s only january, but i can already hear the vday groan. as an artsy fartsy type & self-proclaimed general cynic i know i’m supposed to groan right along with the others. but the problem is that i saw this guy while perusing the aisles of target the other day and i tell you, he just put me in a holly jolly, “valentine’s day can be cool too” kind of mood. the next thing i knew i found myself plotting to make my manfriend’s vday card this year & cruising etsy for some inspiration. and dammit if the fine craftspeople of the etsy community have not done it again. valentine groans be damned; they had me at “venn diagram”.
vintage type…in chalk
most who know the “design me” know that Design Me is obsessed with vintage type. while cruising one of my favorite wedding blogs the other day (ahem, Regular Me is obsessed with weddings, and i’m not ashamed to tell you about it) i came across the work of dana tanamachi, a so-talented-it’s-almost-silly graphic designer & custom CHALK LETTERER(!) in new york, who takes vintage type to a new level of neato-ness by hand-drawing it in chalk.
in case you weren’t grasping the magnitude of the situation at hand, this cute lil’ thing CLIMBS up on ladders and FREEHANDS these…in a temporary medium, no less.
dana’s design work is equally impressive as these massive chalk installations. the below book cover is one of my favorite of her pieces as it merges her chalk artistry with her rad design skills. sigh…i love it when design meets craft.
if you’re having a wedding or any sort of formal affair & live in new york, i command you to hire dana right this instant. considering just about any surface can be covered in chalkboard paint, the possibilities here are just about endless.
{ via 100 layer cake }
pupcakes
this is my dog delilah.
seeing as how it was her first birthday yesterday, i thought it fitting that she be the star of my very first CUPCAKES THAT LOOK LIKE THINGS post of 2011. ladies & gentlemen, i present to you…delilahcakes.
i started with the ears, like this…
then i created some little westiecakes, like this…
as you can see they were lovingly placed inside of my martha stewart cupcake carrier. i entrusted martha would protect them adequately. after all, she’s never steered me wrong (oh wait, that’s a lie. me? no. i’m not bitter).
but to my horror, yesterday morning, martha cupcake carrier in one hand and delilah leash in the other walking to my car, something went terribly wrong. time stood still as delilah lunged forward to sniff a speck on the ground. the leash caught on the cupcake carrier. it teetered…it tottered…and all of the cupcakes went tumbling toward the front of the container, falling like dominoes in some sick, twisted game. i actually cried out “NOOOOO!”. seriously, right there in the middle of my parking garage. i wailed like an imbecile. i was certain they’d been destroyed.
but after arriving at work i did a little damage control, and i still wound up able to place this only-slightly-smushed plate of them in the kitchen for delilah’s birthday party!
you might be asking yourself, “did she really force her coworkers to celebrate her dog’s birthday in some kind of dumb office kitchenette party?” and the answer to that question is…yes. if they wanted a goddamn cupcake, then yes.
what a glorious birthday for delilah!
{ westiecakes via hello,cupcake! }
