LETTERHEAD LOVE

My amazing friend, Kat, turned me onto the super cool blog Letterheady a couple of months ago and I have been meaning to post about it since. Letterheady is basically a tumblr-style blog dedicated to the beauty of personal and corporate stationery over the years. For paper-minded and graphic design-focused nerds like myself, it is pure visual heaven.

Let's take a look at just a sampling of some awesome examples, listed by their writers/owners, shall we?

Above: Andy Warhol, from an unknown date



   

Left: Groucho Marx, 1943
Right: Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, c. 1943






Above: Ray Charles, 1990 (tied for my favorite, with FLW's below)




   

Left: Ben Chapman, actor who played Gillman in 1954 film The Creatures of the Black Lagoon, 1981
Right: Muppets, Inc., later to be known as Jim Henson Productions, 1963






Above: Frank Lloyd Wright, 1946 (totally awesome, right?)




   

Left: Woody Harrelson, 1988
Right: Daily Planet, fictional stationery used during Superman: The Movie, 1978






Above: Charles Schultz, 1958




Cool, right? See many many more examples at Letterheady here.

OLYMPICS OBSESSED

I am so excited about the start of the Olympics tonight! Do you get the Olympic fever like I do? For the next two weeks I will be hiding out from the sweltering New York City heat and watching every possible event I can squeeze into my day. But I will also be watching for more than the sporting events; I will be glued to the tv to check out the visual identity of the games too! Want to a see a (monster) preview of all things design-related for the Olympics? Follow me after the jump . . .

HEAD TO TOE: SUMMER WEEKEND WARDROBE

Just a quick post today (since I am late for work!) that clues you into my favorite weekend wardrobe during this steamy summer days. There is nothing better than a perfectly fitting t-shirt—not too tight, not too loose—a cute pop of pattern and a pair of comfy/cool sandals. Throw it all into a fabulously functional duffle and you are ready for anything. Now let's get going!


V-Neck Slub Tee from Land's End Canvas, on sale for $9.99


Twill Printed Shorts (with sailboats on them, cute!) from Old Navy, on sale for $18.50


Lemmert Sandals from Aldo, on sale for $31.49


Canvas Overnight Bag from JCrew, $36.50

THE MINI GOLF OPEN

I love Improv Everywhere missions—where groups of strangers gather together to put on a funny, improvised event to delight unwitting onlookers—but this one takes the cake for adorableness. Much like the Carousel Horse Race, it elevates an everyday activity (i.e. mini golf) to the excitement and professionalism of a big, televised tournament. Complete with scoreboards, clapping crowds, sportscasters and even the real Claret Jug from the British Open! How cool!

Watch the video and check out more of my favorite Improv Everywhere stunts here.

TOO COOL FOR STOOLS

When you live in a tiny New York City apartment like I do, you come to appreciate the beauty of products that do double duty. Enter the simple stool. Alternately architectural and colorful, functional and decorative, seat and side table, this small piece of furniture provides the opportunity to make a big (and useful) statement in your home. So I present you with a round up of some handsome, modern and brilliantly designed stools; which one would you take home?

1    |  Turn Stool by Boex

2    |  Offset by Giorgio Biscaro Design Studio

3    |  Hut Hut by Kalon Studios

4    |  ST10 Jean by Stefan Diez

5    |  Stool by Torben Skov

6    |  Eternit Stools by Nicolas Le Moigne

7    |  Stool by Glimpt

8    |  Smart & Sleek Stool by Wisteria

9    |  Drop Stool 25 by Objeti

10  |  AP Stool by Shin Azumi for lapalma

11  |  Sembilan Studio by INCHfurniture

12  |  Monarchy by Yiannis Ghikas (it's a rocker, how cool is that?)

HEUTE TODAY

  
  

How beautiful are these products from the German home design shop heute - schmidt? I love how simple yet fun their fabrics are; I would happily buy each and every pillow, bag and tea towel in their online store. Check out all the goodness for yourself here!


(hat tip to and first photo from A Merry Mishap)

STRING IT UP: GABRIEL DAWE

Holy cow. How incredible are these thread installations by artist Gabriel Dawe?!! I love the misty planes of color created simply by stringing up sewing thread in big open spaces. Wouldn't they look beautiful in a big soho loft or at a museum? I may have to try to pull some strings (haha, get it?) to get them at the Whitney!

See more of Dawe's work here. And if you like these, you might like this stuff too.


(thanks to plenty of colour for the tip)

LE TOUR ON FIRE

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I am a reasonably big sports junkie. In the last couple of years, I have turned my athletic interests to the Tour de France, an epic bike race that lasts three weeks, covers over 2,170 miles and has been likened to running several marathons a week (for all three weeks) and climbing three Mount Everests. Intense! I also like it, of course, because the best climber (aka the 'King of the Mountains') of each stage gets to wear this sweet red polka dot jersey.

This year's race has been particularly exciting: lots of impressive performances and even intrigue! One stage was rocked by flat tires caused by tacks a spectator had thrown on the road. Scary.

But what does this have to do with art, design and all things obsessive imagist? Well I recently stumbled upon these beautiful Tour de France posters created by Neil Stevens, brilliant mind behind the Crayonfire studio, which feature typographic and illustrative designs of each stage of the race, all while capturing the drama and excitement of it all. I may just have to pick up one of these posters for my tour-obsessed Dad or Dad-in-Law . . .

Check out all of the designs for 2012 here and the rest of his portfolio here.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: MERCI BOUQUET

   





Just some pretty flowers for you to look at on this steamy Wednesday. All were arranged and photographed by me; see more of my photographs here.

See other floral favorites on my Pinterest board here.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

As my wedding draws nearer (only 47 days!) I can't stop thinking about how much love is in the air. I keep noticing kissing couples on the street, cheesy songs on the radio and hearts everywhere. It helps that hearts happen to be cool right now, so I thought I would do a quick round up of some love-related accessories. Hope you like it!

1 ♥  Tippi Sweater in Heart Me, JCrew, $89.50

2 ♥  ban.do iPhone Case, $25

3 ♥  Betsey Johnson Love to Shop Wallet, ModCloth, $58

4 ♥  Striped Heartnote Cardigan, Madewell, $72

5 ♥  ban.do Heart Tote, $20

6 ♥  To Have and To Gold Earrings, ModCloth, $11.99

7 ♥  Sun-thing To Love Glasses Case, ModCloth, $24.99

8 ♥  ban.do Signature Scarf, $95

GIRLS LIKE GUYS WITH SKILLS

Numchuck skills, bow hunting skills . . . knife skills (I am not crazy, this is a reference to this movie)! How are your knife skills? Despite thinking of myself as pretty handy in the kitchen, my knife skills are a bit weak. I can never seem to remember quite how to hold the knife and what differentiates a julienne from a batonnet. Enter Heather Diane, the amazing California-based illustrator behind the blog Illustrated Bites, who put together this brilliant visualization of all sorts of knife knowledge. Super helpful, right? You should also check out her other posts where she illustrated recipes, different varieties of vegetables and much more! It's information at its most artistic.



    


So what do you do with your new knife skills? Use the clever 'OCD' cutting board above to make sure you get all your cutting measurements correct, pick up this interlocking knife set to find the right blade for the job, all while wearing this fabulous cut-resistant glove to keep from nicking your pretty little fingers!

Still need some more cutting-edge guidance (get it?)? Check out Martha Stewart's Cooking School; it's a super helpful book that walks you through everything from chopping and dicing to sautéing and icing.  And get cooking!

HAPPY WEEKEND

What do you have planned this weekend? I am headed up to Brimfield (read about my past excursions to the epic antiques show here and here) with my mom to scout out some goodies for the wedding. And on Sunday I am headed to CT for my bridal shower! Two of my favorite family friends (dubbed my honorary aunties) are hosting the shindig and I can't wait to spend time with all the wonderful ladies in my life.

Hope you have something fun on tap! See you back here on Monday.

(image of green and pink bridal shower inspiration from here)

SNEAKERS, TRAINERS, COLOR GALORE

Have you noticed how much athletic wear has blossomed in the last couple of years? Designers are getting much more creative with shorts, tank tops, sports bras and especially sneakers. I remember a time not that long ago when if you wanted a colorful sneaker (that you could actually work out in) you had to hunt out small, speciality brands like Kangaroos. Now Nike, Reebok, Puma, Saucony and many others have put out some kickin' colors and super cool patterned treds, all while offering high performance. Since I am a bit of a gym rat, and am looking for a new pair of sneaks', I thought I would share some of my favorite picks:

row 1
Reebok Realflex Optimal, $73.99  &  Puma Osuran NM Womens, $54.99

row 2
Nike Free Run+3, $100  & Nike Mayfly Industrial, $45

row 3
Saucony Jazz Originals, $50  &  Nike LunarSwift + 3, $69.99

row 4
Puma Faas 250 Trail Women's $67.99  &  Nike Flex 2012 Run, $80

row 5
Adidas Running CC Aerate W $78  &  Reebook RealFlex Scream Rivet, $75.99

row 6
Nike Free Run +2, $100  &  Puma Pumagility W, $67.99





But despite all of these amazing choices, I was still feeling like there was something missing. Enter NIKEiD, a section of the Nike website that allows you to customize every aspect of a sneaker (including an inscription on the tongue!) to look exactly the way you want for about $140. This is my first crack at customization; pretty cool right? They even let you make an ad-style poster to share with friends and show off your new kicks.

You can make your own here.


Please forgive the weird lines in the top round-up photo; I am having some technical difficulties with my InDesign!

BRIGHT AROUND THE EDGES

Alicia and Tony, of the beautiful blog and custom painted furniture/home shop Chroma Lab, know what's up. Their blog posts are overflowing with big juicy color—fun products, beautiful artwork, and much more—and when I saw this post about Marisa Swangha's photographs of the vivid pages of vintage books, I knew I had to share it. Consider these at the tippity top of my wish list.

See more of Marisa's fabulous work at her Etsy store here, see past tips from Chroma Lab here.