I would definitely use a Wrap-n-Mat
(via swissmiss »)
Category filter: Design
Wrap ‘N’ Mat
Midori Kraft Envelopes
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 Brands Itself
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 Spring Colors
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!
Great Barrier House
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 »)
The Official Manufacturing Co. UPDATE
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.
Heliotrope Raising
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 »)
Fast Eddie’s Barber Shop
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 »)
Holmenkollen Ski Jump
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 »)
Turning Off Celebs From News Sites
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
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.
Cody Haltom
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 »)
Wieden+Kennedy HQ
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 »)
LetterMpress
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.
Mobilegs
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 »)
Solar-Powered, Zero Energy, Transparent LCD?
Over the course of 2010 there were a bunch of concept videos and designs based on the idea of translucent displays, and even display technologies that were so cheap they could be applied to any surface. Now, a mere two months into 2011, to hear that Samsung has unveiled a 46″ LCD television that is solar-powered, zero energy, and transparent. Well this is just a complete mental explosion. I do have to say it starts to feel a little scary when the most absurd future visualizations from the movies of your childhood start to become realities, and we have definitely gotten to that point.
The prototype was unveiled at CeBit in Germany. The television has integrated solar panels that draw energy from ambient light in the room, so dark screening rooms will no longer be friends with the televisions of the future. The translucence of the display is actually attributable to the display being so thin. The next obvious jump is to start integrating this type of display into glass surfaces for any and all applications. The biggest one off the bat is obviously going to be car windshields. Yes another hazard on the road! My cynicism aside the combined super powers in this new TV really are rad and the energy efficiency side of it really impresses me coming from a big corporation like Samsung.
(via Inhabitat »)
Huski Lodge
Huski Lodge is a boutique hotel in the Victorian Highlands of Australia. It was designed by Elenberg Fraser based on studies of snowflake geometry and Australian timber framing. The faceted design and positioning on the site work together maximize views and light in each of the separate apartments. It is intriguing to think that the architects studied snowflakes in the design of this building when you see the way the building and snow interact with one another as if they were old friends.
(via SUBTILITAS »)
Gregg’s Cycles New HQ
When designing a retail space for Gregg’s Cycle in Bellevue, Washington Weinstein AU decided to create a building that literally put the bikes out front, and really leverages it’s design to highlight the bicycles. Instead of submitting to the norm and creating another street level retail experience with limited parking Weinstein AU opted for a raised concrete design that provides protected parking below along with easy access to the rear of the building and more parking out back. It also physically boosts the bikes up towards the sky, which definitely accentuates their concept of highlighting the bikes.
This style of, product first retail design is becoming more prevalent. One specific instance that the Gregg’s Cycle reminded me of is the Freitag Flagship Store in Zurich. Design that is both relevant to the brand, it’s products and also develops a customized approach to display that is only applicable to their specific goods and location really creates a richer and more unique shopping experiences. This thought process or equation can and should be applied to other media and applications.
(via ArchDaily »)
Haus K
Haus K is a nice simple design by Yes Architecture, many of the aesthetic cues are taken from local architecture so the house could harmonize with it’s surroundings. The brick structure they built on top of was originally a wine cellar and one room wine press, and instead of demolishing the existing structure and building in it’s place the architects chose to use it’s existing brick layout as a foundation of sorts for the new house. I only wish there was some better information and more images of Haus K available.
(via SUBTILITAS »)
Still Liquor
This branding and identity work by Javas Lehn for Still Liquor on Capitol Hill in Seattle is a simple and thoughtful solution. I am not 100% positive of the significance of the car element, I would infer that it has something to do with prohibition, but cannot be certain. I do love it though.
(via Design Work Life »)
