Today Jackson, our Tasteologie editor, popped by Artisanal LA and discovered the delicious world of I Heart Pies! And i’m currently smitten by their adorable octopus logo and their Gang of Gentleman Utensils (which you can see on the next page). He reported back that the Pecan Pie was awesome and not too sweet ~ and sadly the peanut butter s’mores pie sold out too quickly for him to try! Take a peek at the pics of the branding and booth… and PIE that he brought back on the next page!

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Tags: desserts - food - gifts - logo

2am is a socially acceptable time to admit secret crushes, right? Well i’ve had a long time intellectual and visual crush on SEED. Broke my heart when the gorgeous print mag ceased to be. And the tagline on their Seed Media Group page title “Science is culture.” i adore. Impeccable design. Brilliant insights. What more could you want? Apparently business cards designed by Sagmeister Inc.. How did i never notice these? When they did the branding ~ the logo is apparently reflective on the letterhead… to “reflect the room, etc.” And the business cards… “version of the portrait of the bearer” ~ aren’t they amazing? I can’t believe i only just discovered them tonight! See more images of the logo, the philosophy behind the designs, and the business cards close up on the next page.

p.s. can you imagine Invader adapting these into tile portraits and taking them to the streets?

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Tags: branding - business - graphic - logo

While its fascinating (and exciting!) that Evisu is evolving once again ~ and this time with newly appointed CEO/Creative Director, Scott Morrison, at the helm. As a former Paper Denim & Cloth junkie ~ it's hard not to be excited to see what Morrison is doing to reinvent Evisu while looking back to their heritage... For those who forgot, Morrison was also behind Paper Denim & Cloth as well as Earnest Sewn. While initially those Evisu Seagulls on the back pockets make me envision a denim lifestyle that never quite fit my own... when they sent over a few, i fell in love. They denim feels incredible as ever, just softly broken in enough, yet hugging you in all the right places... and the subtlety of the back pocket designs was just enough to grab your attention, but not enough to slap you in the face like so many can lately... (yes, i'm a little over the over embellished pockets, but also like pockets to have a bit of character!). Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Evisu when i started looking into their heritage, was the evolution of the Seagull... and how the line came to be. It's fun to see Morrison looking back at the heritage of the japanese line even with the separation from Evisu Japan.

The full story can be read on the next page, as well as lots of pics of the signature pocket designs... but for the short version: Hidehiko Yamane, a love of fine denim, founded the company in 1991 in Osaka. Having a hard time finding the finest quality pre-WWII selvege denim, he found a 50's american shuttle loom and started the "replica movement" ~ his originals mimicking the Levi's Original Red Tab 501XX... and my favorite part? He personally hand painted his Seagull logos on each pair! What i love about what Morrison has done with this, is he's taken that hand painted logo and distressed it to a perfectly worn in subtlety, so noticeable, yet so understated. Take a peek at them on the next page!

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Tags: denim - fashion - gifts - logo - packaging - shopping

As if you don't already think i'm strange enough ~ that NY trip for design week, which branched off into a roadtrip up to play in the woods in vermont... has been extended a few more days, and from vermont, we kind of decided to spontaneously drive down to Earlysville, Virginia... which is where i'm now posting from! If there's one thing i've learned/realized during this little random adventure, it's that for me, inspiring design details pop up nearly everywhere everyday in my life, and whether that's at ICFF or while driving for 10+ hours straight down New England... design is omnipresent, and what really keeps me going.

On that note, my silly exciting find of the day yesterday was after about 8-9 hours of straight driving, stuck in INSANE traffic in NY that was moving at about 20 mph for over 2 hours, and i found myself staring at large semis and their various mud flaps and signage and the typography on them... and then i saw it. Mudflaps with FLYING MOOSE! Forget unicorns and pegasuses... flying moose! I forced dan to try and take a pic of it with his iphone (which i will have to bother him later to get it off)... the one we saw was like the one in the bottom left, it seemed friendlier than what appears to be the newer version on their site now.

So continuing on the Jackalope theme of north american mythological creatures... we sat in traffic discussing the idea of flying moose, and then reading up on the background of the Manac Trucking/Trailer Manufacturer which had this awesome creature as their logo. Turns out that this magnificent creature comes from a native american legend! Very cute tale, read it on the next page, and also see a picture i found of the statue of the Manac flying moose logo!

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Tags: animals - logo - nature - travel - truck