Campsite is a New York based design blog and studio run by visual designer Max Ritt.
It is always great to see a home that using conventional forms and materials can still break some rules. The Glade House by Frederick Phillips and Associates does just that. Using common shapes and construction found in historic architecture from the surrounding region, but imposing a unique organization they were able to create a beautiful modern house.
(via ArchDaily »)
Even today there are rather few blogs and web based editorials that truly craft unique quality content. The Brander as far as I know is the first to do such a thing for brands, their development, and the people behind them. Pairing amazing photographs with comprehensive writing they truly rise to the occasion of covering people and brands that have risen to top of their field, or in some cases created a field.
(via Quipsologies »)
STRAND Design is a great example of a product and furniture design operation that is making highly usable everyday things. Their Core System tables and desks are sturdy and practical, but still have an impeccable construction and material choice. Also the Tree Theory Messenger is awesome. It has a nice balance of handmade characteristics and obvious durability.
(via Pitch Design Union »)
Concrete created this powerful, and playful brand for Canadian celebrity-chef Mark McEwan and his new concept restaurant Fabbrica.
(via Design Work Life »)
Using some pinnacle quotes that have become almost dogmatic to the design world Michael Beirut created these program designs for a Gala and award presentation at the Architecture League on March 8th. Massimo and his wife Lella were awarded the President’s Medal(past recipients of which include John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Hugh Ferriss, Joseph Urban, Richard Meier, Robert A.M. Stern, and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown) from the AL “in recognition of a body of work so influential in its breadth that it has shaped the very way we see the world.” And in some ways how we experience and interact with the world, the prime example being Vignelli’s work for the New York Transit system.
One life is too short for doing everything.
We like design to be visually powerful, intellectually elegant, and above all timeless.
If you can design one thing, you can design everything.
If you do it right, it will last forever.
The life of a designer is a life of fight against the ugliness.
(via WANKEN »)
I would definitely use a Wrap-n-Mat
(via swissmiss »)
I have always loved little envelopes for organizing and saving little treasures. They are for sale over on Tenue de Nîmes, grab some while they last.
(via iso50 »)
Peru has recently launched a new identity that is intended to elevate the image of their country on the international stage. As a beautiful country with amazing internationally exported goods, and an economy largely based on tourism this sound choice. They hired Future Brand who was behind the 2003 rebrand of Australia that has been widely applauded.
(via @Issue »)
Field Notes has a serious knack for keeping their simple product current and fresh. Every time I look they are releasing some brilliant new books. Right now you can order in their new Spring Colors, which are actually not colored at all. They are actually a set of blanks with a sheet of Futura Bold dry transfer type. Not sure any of us designers need any new sketchbooks, but FN keeps us wanting new ones!
Named after its locale, Great Barrier House resided on Great Barrier Island off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand. Working closely with architects Crosson Clarke Carnachan they were able to create a highly sustainable solution that also fit their living requirements.
(via SUBTILITAS »)
I posted about the The Official Manufacturing Company previously here. Their work is always impressively bold and holds very specific characteristics based on each client and their brand. They also maintain a client list equally as impressive as their work, including Ace Hotel, Rudy’s Barbershop, and Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Last time I posted about them I had just encountered the new packaging Stumptown had released, which they designed. Since that post they have done more great work for Stumptown along with a slew of other great stuff.
Bang Architectes as a solution for an addition to a Paris home created this awesome wood-framed building called Heliotrope Raising. A portion of the structure is raised above the ground leaving the backyard fully accessible. These great photographs of the finished addition were shot by Julien Lanoo.
(via SUBTILITAS »)
Boston based Richard Arthur Stewart designed this bad-ass identity for another hometown business called Fast Eddie’s Barber Shop. The brand really culls up lots of history and everything manly and majestic about the classic barbershop experience.
(via Design Work Life »)
The newly completed Holmenkollen Ski Jump is an amazing site. Designed by Julien De Smedt Architects the update to a normally very bland sport complex is stunning. The observation skybox is definitely one of the most amazing parts. Despite it’s abnormal function the structure integrates very well with it’s surroundings.
(via The Fox Is Black »)
Michael Surtees of the blog Design Notes and the new web shop Gesture Theory has recently launched a Google Chrome extension called Silence of the Celebs. The extension gives you the ability to remove headlines of celebs from CNN, Huffington Post, and TMZ. You can choose from their default list or add your own. Additional features are said to be coming soon, including the ability of the extension to function on any site.
The Noun Project is an awesome new project with the mission of “Sharing, celebrating and enhancing the world’s visual language”. By creating a library of symbols and icons they have created a universally accessible visual language that anyone can use at anytime free of charge. Whether you are a designer or otherwise you can download and use the images. Beyond having created a visionary idea, the UX and site design are very fun to use despite their simplicity.
I have wanted to post about Cody Haltom for quite a while now. He is a member of Public School, a collaborative studio in Austin, Texas. Besides being a super talented and diverse group they also publish a blog, which is a key source of inspiration for me on a daily basis. Cody’s work has two major elements that I find really inspiring. He has a very simple clear way of using type that I always find difficult to achieve. The other thing is obviously the interesting graphic scenes he creates and then photographs. This is by no means a hyper original idea, but I find Cody’s style of still life to be really playful and it helps to balance out his cleaner more rigid type work.
(via Grain Edit »)
This first time I caught a glimpse of the Wieden+Kennedy headquarters in Portland was in the film Art & Copy. The space itself is truly amazing, unparalleled, and gives new validity to the idea that a creatively designed workspace is a better place to do creative work. The design itself was concocted by Allied Works Architecture, which is a wonderful solution for this project and the existing structure was built within. The biggest and most prominent element of the design to me is that it has been built around an amphitheatre style performance space. All the other sections and work areas branch off around it. This sense of communal space that brings all the other parts of the company and physical working environment together is a great idea.
(via ArchDaily »)
By now anyone and everyone has most likely heard about LetterMpress. It has received almost double it’s goal in funding on Kickstarter, which I think is a good barometer for its high potential. I only wish it was going to be available on iPhones as well.
The app. itself will allow you to create custom letterpress compositions and prints in a user interface and process that parallels the real act of letterpress printing. You will also be able to print directly from the app. or export vector files of your designs for use in other applications such as AI.
It’s great to see design being applied to big issues that have the potential to benefit real people. Often with design we don’t see major impact beyond the edges of the creative pond. Once in a while though, there is a design innovation so distinct and necessary that it makes everyone go “duh!”. Mobilegs created by Mobi is one such innovation. Mobi is a mobility products development studio that came out of Studio Weber + Associates in Minneapolis.
Most people have suffered the agony of a broken leg or sprained ankle, and by agony I am referring to the chafing, irritation, and bruising caused by trying to maneuver around using crutches. This winning innovation was invented by Jeff Weber who has designed several successful pieces for Herman Miller with their main focus being ergonomics. So solving the crutch problem makes sense as a next step for Weber.
(via Herman Miller – Discover »)
