frank juery

French photographer Frank Juery has some wonderful Polaroids. He plays with light, depth of field and (my fave) little people.

the evolution of logos

This is a great compilation of logos from their conception to current day. I love seeing the ones that have been around forever. The logos from the 1930s and 40s speak to me so much more than the modern ones. And it is cool to see how some have not changed much at all.

via: Swiss Miss

journaling

I used to be an awesome journal writer. That would be BK ... Before Kids. And what's crazy is that the inner growth I have experienced as a mom could fill many many books. If only there were a few more hours in a day. I guess that blogs are journals, but you guys would be bored with my inner thoughts, so let's just stick to the visual.

Chronicle Books recently featured the 1000 Journals Project on their blog. One thousand blank journals circulated throughout the world, beckoning contributors who find the journals by chance on trains, in cafés, and anonymously left on doorsteps. The results are beautiful.

inspire and do

Not sure how I stumbled onto The Do Lectures. But I was not surprised at all to see that they were created by David and Clare Hieatt, the founders of Howies (previously mentioned on S+C). Over dinner one night the couple was talking about how they wanted to DO something about the issues that they cared about. And low and behold, they asked an amazing group of people to get together and tell them how to do it.

Howies has also sponsored Little Big Voice Lectures: practical tools to get media attention to your cause.


Both of these sites are full of amazing inspiration.

Having a new president come January (whomever that may be) doesn't mean that we have to stop working for a better world. We are the people that make the change.

wisdom

This short film by Andrew Zuckerman is absolutely beautiful.

http://www.wisdombook.org/

V O T E !

Today I was thinking about how for the first time in my 35 years I feel fully engaged in my community, in my country, in the world as a whole. I wonder if it has to do with age or having a family or just the general state of this world. I sense that other Americans are feeling it for the first time too. Maybe this is what we have needed to wake up to for so long.

T and I are finishing up our mail-in ballots tonight. I hope that all who read this blog are voting. It is so important. Especially now.

Tomorrow Partners was featured here recently. They have created a series of voting posters that you can either purchase or download for free. Makes the miss the giant ad agency printer. I'd have them plastered all over the place if I could!

via: Grain Edit

jack and lulu

We are working on some calling cards and personalized note cards for a family friend. I absolutely love personalized paper products. They make me want to write more snail mail, a truly lost art.

Jack and Lulu create beautiful stationary and personalized cards. Their products and their site are refreshingly simple.

penguin and fish

Etsy is always a bit overwhelming to me. I tend to just hop around other people's favorites. It is always great to find kindred spirits in tastes. Penguin & Fish is the company of Alyssa Thomas out of Minneapolis, MN. She makes adorable stuffed kitties (seen above). She also has a great eye for other artists (most of whom are on Etsy) and features them on her Penguin & Fish blog.

above: textile art by Fabbiz

above: Orange Moon Toys shadow puppets

via: Bloesem Kids

colorado railroad museum

I have found that it is best to get a toddler out of the house for a couple of hours a day. Best for him AND for me. Tuesday we ventured to the Colorado Railroad Museum and it was SO cool. It should really be called the Railroad Graveyard. Over fifty engines and cars dating back well over a century. And it was virtually empty. D and I wandered all over the grounds, walking right up to and into some of the cars. It was a type lovers dream. I took more pictures of type than of my kid. Where are my priorities?!?

biology geek

The Micropolitan Museum's microscopic art forms exihibit is an amazing collection of microscopic photography. It is hard to believe that these color combos are natural. Our world is so incredibly vibrant. Long before the neon of Times Square these hues filled all space and time. Pretty darn cool.

Above: butterfly wing
Below: pine needle

Via: ColourLovers

moo

I have wanted to tell you all about MOO many many times but am always dumbstruck with wanting to say too much. MOO is a printing company. They can make custom cards with your pictures or custom cards with their designs (really fun designs by a variety of designers). They have these fabulous mini cards. And books of small stickers. I think it would be awesome to have a book of 100 stickers of just one person's face. Our kid would love that! You could make tiny address labels. Or flash cards for a baby. Tags for gifts. Christmas cards. "We've moved" cards. The possibilities are endless.

brand name pencils

This post really deserves a whole new category. It could fit under "type" or "design". But I think I need a new theme ... "collections that show an incredible love for the subject". It could also be called "infatuation" or "too much time on your hands". But I like to think that collectors are helping us. What would we graphic designers do if the world wide web didn't provide all of these awesome collections?!?! We would be in libraries, book stores, the yellow pages ... racking up huge phone bills trying to find just the right reference for our next job.

Bob Truby's Brand Name Pencils has over 140 different pencil brands. A large majority of them are no longer made. Bob reminds us that the USA craftsmanship of the past is gone. Only two pencil manufacturers remain in the US.

I love the pencil company graphics as well as the variety of type and design on the actual pencils. Who knew there were so many?

scrubbles

If you are a fan of vintage illustration and ephemera then you must check out Scrubble's Flickr sets. From View-Master frames (how in the world did he get them?) to Housewife Magazine Ads of the 70s to just overall wonderful illustrations (quite a few Charlie Harper ones in there).

spelling change

It is no secret that we are Obama fans. I was reading last night that the creative industry has really rallied around this candidate like no other. He seems to speak our language.

Spelling Change is a site where creative professionals have designed letters that somehow exhibit what the Obama campaign has meant to them. Now you can take this "living alphabet" and make words that mean hope and change to you. After creating a word you can email it or make it into a t-shirt, bumper sticker or postcard.

You can even submit your own customized letters.

what has martha stewart done to us?!?!?

The business of looks and presentation is out of control. Six years ago, I was a mad woman planning our wedding, wanting everything to look like it was straight out of the MS Weddings magazine. Little did I realize that so much of what you see in those mags is staged or cropped to look absolutely perfect. And they use awesome photographers.

If you do want your event to resemble anything from the Martha Stewart library, you should hire Amy Atlas. Amy is an event planner out of NYC. She specializes in high-end dessert tables. The pictures on her site make me salivate. Everything is perfect. And her eye for color is wonderful.


*The other factor I left out was that Martha can't do anything about the weather. It rained over ten inches the weekend of our nuptials. After worrying so much about what everything looked like, I was forced to focus on the actual point of the whole shindig ... I was going to get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend.

via: DesignMom

color stories

I love that clothing is so vibrant these days. Remember the days of khaki, black and gray?

The color story is nothing new. Interior designers do it. Clothing designers do it. Graphic designers do it. But it is really cool to see it happen in the everyday world. Domino has as feature where they turn an outfit into a room. And Caramel Baby and Child, a children's store out of London, features outfits that tell a color story matching a children's book.

Very cool idea.

minted

The world of invitations/announcements/holiday cards has grown exponentially in the last few years. It is great to see so much good design available to all.

Minted has been all over the blogosphere. And for good reason. They feature all of the best designers, fabulous calligraphy and design challenges that allow fresh designers to get their work noticed.

every moment now

This site is beautifully simple. It is a graph of all of the daily articles featuring the presidential candidates. Be sure to watch the debate tonight.

via: SwissMiss

paul rand

There are 952 members of the Paul Rand modern graphic design fan club on Flickr. And there are 115 wonderful examples of his work. I love his bold color and big graphics.

darden studio

Awesome type. Gorgeous website.

fabric

It is difficult to find great fabric out here in Denver. No specialty stores and no Ikea (soon to remedied!). But I suppose that leaving a big city like Chicago nothing but New York would compare. Fortunately there are plenty of wonderful online fabric shops. Two of my favorites are Volksfaden and Reprodepot. Volksfaden is more eye candy. They feature their fabrics with really cool collages. Being out of Berlin, shipping can be pricey. Most of the same fabrics can be found at Reprodepot out of Easthampton, MA. Featuring vintage reproductions and designer classics (Marimekko, Denyse Schmidt, and Amy Butler among others) there is a lot to choose from.