MADE

Go visit MADE.com. They make some wonderful, reasonable priced designed furniture. Some of my favorite things include the Stroller Desk and the ginormous bean bag chair.

Weird but amazing

There are so many really cool bordering on weird things out there. One of the ones I found...an eyelash typeface.

You read it correctly...a typeface created by Amitis Pahlevan out of false eyelashes. A completely different concept but I think the letters turned out beautiful.

Brainstorm

Have you seen Brainstorm Print and Design? They are a wonderful printing and design studio currently relocating to Philadelphia. The thing they are best at--show posters which I think would be the most fun job ever! I also like the fact that they will print your own artwork...go check 'em out.

Three Potato Four

With a great name like Three Potato Four, how can you not already love this mom and pop shop who have everything from old letters to furniture to paper. It is lovely. Some of my favorite things I found (besides the letter "a"'s they have) are this Manhattan poster (I love NY),

this paper file (just plain adorable) and

this chickadee vase (becuse my grandmother used to song me a song about chickadees).

SOOOOOOO genious

Ok this is the most beautiful idea ever! And kudos to Oscar Diaz for conceptually designing this. Now only if it really existed and I could buy it. Seen on Design Mom, this calendar appears over time with the ink soaking the next number within a 24 hour period. Truly amazing.

Um yes please!

If anyone every asked if I wanted this pendant lamp the answer would be yes! The detail is so intricate...it looks so pointy yet honeycomb-like. You can find it at West Elm.

Mouse Path

I spotted this on Design Mom and just HAD to try it. I would have never thought about the beauty of your everyday mouse path. Above is mine from yesterday and I think a series would make great office artwork. The program developed by Anatoly Zenkov, tracks your mouse paths, clicks, and idling with a series of lines and circles. You can find out more about it here.

Keep Calm Gallery

I'm sure a lot of you have seen the "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters that are popping up everywhere but have you looked at what else the Keep Calm Gallery has to offer? They have some truly beautiful prints and home items.

They started in January 2007 by Jucas Lepola and Haley Thwaites because of their "passion for typography in poster design, British heritage and the medium of screenprinting." I want to work there...pretty please.

Just plain pretty

There are seriously just too many cool things out there.

Eunsuk Hur's fabric that is laser cut, acid printed and etched.

Bone china Hanging Leaves by Swedish designers Maria Larsson and Maria Olevik.

Wooden tape dispensers by Tinted Mint and pretty tape (p.s. I LOVE tape...my mom used to give it to me for Christmas and birthday presents)

Didoni font cookie cutters by Tove Hedman.

Helvetica cookie cutters by Beverly Hsu.

Areaware

Have you seen Areaware? They are based out of NYC and manufacture and distribute design products. They have everything from kitchen to baby to office to just plain cool things that you will think "I must have that". I have seen them before (see the radios I posted earlier) and below are some of my new favorite items from them.

Forget me knot ring. $50.

Elongated rattle. $70

Mechano chair. $500.

Great Valentine's Day gift.

Check out these Maple Valentype Blocks. Wonderful! And to even prove the point that you should buy them, read House Industries' product description....it's great.

"As a potential or current House Industries customer, your discerning tastes have undoubtedly driven you to become hopelessly intertwined with a mate who is at least as critical, cynical and mercurial as you. After another long day of ignoring the growing level of commitment and continuous evolutions that define ongoing close interpersonal relationships, you’re not going to want to show up at his or her door with a commercially-produced holiday greeting, a dye-sub printed digital calligraphical representation of the word “love” or a bundle of acetate-encased roses that you haphazardly purchased from a street vendor. With very little advance planning and a relatively low percentage of your hard-earned daily income, you can resolve this conundrum by purchasing one of these lasting tributes to your undying love. And, since the vagaries of complex human emotions are rarely apparent until you’ve already forgotten an important date or emotional milestone, we are supplying you with an all-important deadline and call to action."

Nendo

How inspiring is this design studio out of Japan? I'm not really too sure what their main focus is but I find Nendo truly amazing. Just read their concept, you'll want to go out and change the world.

" Giving people a small " ! " moment.
There are so many small " ! " moments hidden in our everyday.

But we don’t recognize them.
and even when we do recognize them,we tend to unconsciously reset our
minds and forget what we’ve seen.

But we believe these small " ! " moments are what make our days so
interesting, so rich.

That’s why we want to reconstitute the everyday by collecting and
reshaping them into something that’s easy to understand.

We’d like the people who’ve encountered nendo’s designs to feel these
small " ! " moments intuitively.

That’s nendo’s job."

You must go browse thorugh their works, it is all so fun and genius. I am especially in love with these chocolate pencils. A pack with a variety of chocolate and a sharpener for grating on top of desserts. I want to us them!

Pod Hotel

The last time I went to New York City right before the holiday I stayed at the Pod Hotel. It was a great time, a little hotel in Midtown East with wonderfully designed accommodations that have quite a minimalist approach...and all for a great price. There were community type rooms as well as private rooms, great patios and views, helpful staff, and at a very central location. I would definitely recommend it!

Adorable website

While snooping around the internet, I stumbled upon a wonderfully designed website. Saxelby Cheese Moongers in New York. You must go visit it, I promise it will make you smile. Simple, yet fun and informational...I wanted to go to every section. Especially check out the "Farms we love"...who doesn't love an interactive map that looks good. Hmmmm must go find some cheese now.

Cute poster

Made by Erin Jang for a bride who wanted to give it to her man. How adorable. She also has some other pretty cute stuff so make sure you check it out.

Fun cards

Check out these fun cards and stationary by Pancake & franks (adorable name), a designer from Arizona now in San Francisco. I love the simple design of them, paired with great colors, and fun visuals/sayings. You can order them of the website here.

Beautiful Packaging

I cannot stop looking at this packaging for Blossa årgångsglögg, a Nordic vintage mulled wine. It is by BVD, a design and branding studio out of Stockholm. Absolutely stunning. They have also designed some of the Absolut bottles...what fun!

Found another Piggy Bank!

How awesome is this one I found in the Cool Hunting Gift Guide. Th bank is by Touch, a company who partners with designers to create things handmade not mass-produced (great idea!) The Drop piggy bank is by a designer in Portugal and I am admiring the colors as I try to decide which one I will get someday. I'm leaning towards aqua or yellow...what do you think?

I'm so happy....

I stumbled upon Julia Rothman. Just looking though her stuff has made me so inspired this morning. First of all she is an illustrator, painter, and pattern designer from Brooklyn, New York.

Her work is really wonderful and makes me wish I could draw better. And today I discovered her blog, Book By It's Cover, which is basically where she shares all of the wonderful books she has seen over the years.

And lastly, in 2002 she helped start a design firm where she does the illustration, one partner the design, and another the animation. Sounds like a perfect partnership. Anyway their website is the best I have seen in a long time, so original and fun. The navigation, illustration, and simplicity is genius....and they do great work, you must check it out. Tell me you are not inspired?

In Love...with a piggy bank

Oh my land! I have to have this piggy bank. You can find it here at Orange and Pear (such a cute name) and for only $22! As a graphic designer, it comes with the territory that I would love anything having to do with typography and how cute are piggy banks. There are so many cool ones out there. Maybe I should collect them? Do you know of any good ones?