MOOSE! How fantastic is this moose character for AIGA Alaska’s The Big One 2016? Flipping around instagram as i woke up, i stumbled upon this awesome character by Headron Collider (i think - it’s what it sounds like from the fb page), and i had to collect up the pics to share with you! I hope they make an actual vinyl toy? There’s something kind of Coarse meets punked out designer about him? The moose has great details like… fun designer tats, spiked ‘design’ black baseball bat, Draplin AK tee, jeans, sneakers, graphic hoodie, earring, chain wallet and more… See it all on the next page!

UPDATE: In the notes, just learned that the Moose is named BIGGIE! Also that he was designed by Jontue Hollingsworth with Headron Collider and Courtny Brooks, AIGA Alaska’s Communications Director has been instrumental in developing the social media campaign!

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As promised - there was so much living green inspiration at London Design Week that Justine found, it deserved its own post! Plants and nature have always been a huge source of inspiration, but they are really gaining presence in design more and more - both indoor and out! Is there anything more rejuvenating than a fresh, bright burst of greenery? Take a look at what we found on the next page…

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One of the more breathtaking pieces Justine found during London Design Week, the glowing green Nude Glass Memento Mori Faceted Skulls by Ali Bakova. See more pictures of it on the next page.

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London Design Week 2016 has come and gone already! And while Shawn and i were driving back across the US, Justine went and took lots of pictures to give us all a peek at what was going on! So here’s a first look at lots of pics that stood out to me - so many patterns! and textures! And a bit of randomness as well… see it all on the next page!

p.s. There was also so much greenery, i’ve broken those out into a separate LDW Greenery post.

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Coffee packaging just keeps escalating to more and more beautiful, fun designs! Look at these! How could we resist picking up one (and almost the whole collection) of the letterpressed boxes of coffee beans from Barista Parlor x Isle of Printing?!?!? It’s stunning! And even more amazing, there’s a beautiful secret sealed up inside! Each and every box really is a work of art that is “engineered from the ground up and letterpressed at our shop on the trusty automated Kluge (circa 1940’s)” says Isle of Printing’s Instagram. From the graphics, to the cap, to the sticker seal, to the bag within… the details are fantastic.

Check out all the details on the next page - and see what i found when i cut open the box so that you don’t have to.

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Columbia Survival Labels - a series of special informational hangtags printed on laser perforated/etched/cut steel! Each one can be popped out and turned into Sewing, Fishing, Sun Dial, Purifier, Sextant, and Handsaw Tools! Such a fun project from Olgilvy Istanbul. They also made a great video for it - and at the end it they tell you that they are currently available at 41.002 N, 28.9784 E - which takes you to the heart of Istanbul! And they tease “worldwide distribution coming soon” so don’t rush out to poke at these hang tags in person quite yet. Check out the video and details on the next page.

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Cinnamon Toast Crunch has been on a roll the last few months with absurd, ridiculous, real products. There’s the Selfie Spoon, Squadbowls, and Cruiser. Someone over at McCann has been having so much fun dreaming up and realizing all these playful attention grabbing products - and the infomercials to go with them! I love that they not only dreamed up the concepts but actually made them… and gave fans a chance to get them! Can’t wait to see what’s next…

… remember when cereal boxes were filled with sugar and there were real toys inside of them? Instant gratification FTW! Sure you could probably now 3D print equally mediocre plastic toys at home now - but what’s the fun in that? (Also SO slow) Nice work Cinnamon Toast Crunch on making me laugh and want to be part of the team to come up with more silliness to design and disperse into the world!

See the details and videos of them all on the next page!

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Oooh a surprise arrived from Saint James - and to be honest, i knew little about them until this fun (and very informative) hands on box of goodies arrived. The branding, illustrations, and playfulness of the kit let you play with the various stages of wool (from raw to washed to combed) while learning about how their sweaters are made and what goes on in the french atelier… since 1889. There’s even a canvas scroll of their historical timeline!

Fun facts from the timeline - “From the mid 17th century, fishermen from Brittany and Normandy would go to the Channel Islands and to England to sell vegetables during the fishing off-season. They traveled the England countryside to mostly sell garlic, and wore these long wool shirts, often dyed indigo (one of the only shades resistant to sea air). As soon as they reached a hamlet, they shouted out for auction, “Marchand d’ail! Marchand d’ail!” (Garlic seller) but the locals only held on to the word “chandail”. As time passed, this wool shirt took on the name “chandail”. Fascinating! It went on to become the iconic striped sailor shirt/sweater we imagine today.

Ready to take a peek inside the fun press kit? To the next page!

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On happy deep dives into the internet, i just fell into the surfing animal illustrated world of Jonas Claesson. It all started with the Surfing Animals A-Z Book and the fun interview in Surfer Magazine… i saw the book in a store and was confused how this adorable kids picture book was $39 (turns out it was a kickstarter and is printed in small batches) As i explored the story of the book, i ended up on Jonas’ website… and promptly got smitten with his Vanimals! So many creature/adventure mobile combos - often topped with every possible variation of roof top tents! I wonder what he’d dream up our NOTFZJ80 to merge with? A yeti? A polar bear? A wooly mammoth? Bucky?

Check out some of his amazing pieces and work on the next page and also check out @Jonas_Draws for more inspiration.

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Opening tonight at Thinkspace Gallery, Matthew Grabelsky’s UNDERGROUND solo show can be found in the project room… and it looks fantastic! His surreal/realistic oil paintings of NYC subway riders reading magazines (and kid’s books) are stunning with a twist… all males are animals! If only they had prints of some of these paintings, the whole show is too stunning to pick from, though Canal Street (tiger reading Car and Driver) is my current favorite…

Check out this interview with Grabelsky on Sour Harvest about the new show. His background is fascinating, and about those creatures, “These creatures in my paintings serve to inject an element of surrealism into one of the most commonplace experiences of life and of New York (e.g., public transportation). The characters are symbolic of the kinds of thoughts that lie under the surface of people’s minds, and they reveal that the most extraordinary can exist in the most ordinary of everyday settings.”

If you’re in LA - get over there! And either way… check out the beautiful paintings on the next page!

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So, it seems Kleenex is branching out… to new Kleenex Facial Cleansing, which is currently only available on their own online store. Firstly - this post is about PACKAGING. (Because i’m not feeling the cleansing products so much. I even made Shawn try the wipe - and I tried the rest… and well, anything that isn’t cleanser free has a bit of a chemical scent/feel. So now that that’s out of the way… back to the packaging!) When i first saw pictures of this new line, i thought it was a student branding/packaging concept. It was so pretty - and it just didn’t seem like what i’d expect from Kleenex. So when i realized it was REAL, i had to poke at it all in person.

The Kleenex Facial Cleansing line has 5 products: exfoliating cushions (just add water and scrub), moist facial wipes, cotton soft pads (huge!), moist eye makeup removers, and shine away sheets. The branding is lovely and clean/fresh, and the products and packaging show that quite a bit of design and thoughtfulness went into each one. It’s cute that the exfoliating cushions, wipes, and eye makeup removers come in solid clear/white plastic containers (complete with o-rings to keep moist things from drying out!) - each is refillable by popping in a fresh pack. In reality - the refillable boxes are of much higher quality than i expected. Biggest surprise of all - the bottoms all have holes! If you expected to use these containers later for anything else, think again! (Though you could keep an empty plastic refill pack inside.)

Take a look at the unboxing and product details on the next page!

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It’s so much easier to cover design fairs from your couch these days… instagram hashtags, snapchat, tweets, etc. give you so many first hand views of… everything?!?!?! Though of course we’d all notice and discover different things in person, it’s fascinating to step back and realize how much more (and how quickly!) we can see things these days.

That being said, i’ve been happily binging on Milan Design Week Instagrams to satisfy my curiosity and slight twinge of wonder about whether i should be there - but then i remember the insanity and appreciate how magical technology is to let us sit back and take it all in without the chaos!

… and one thing that has been taking over the feeds this Milan Design Week is definitely Giovannoni’s qeeboo… and particularly his new RABBIT! There is the Rabbit Chair, the Rabbit Lamp, and the Rabbit Chair Baby. They seem to be all over Milan, and they are pure instagram bait. Apparently people (big and small!) haven’t been able to resist hopping on them, and of course snapping pics!

Will the rabbit be the new Aarnio Puppy or Eames Elephant? See more pics on the next page.

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If there was any question that air-cooled Porsches are having a moment, today’s Luftgekuhlt (german for air-cooled) proved it without a doubt. Pulling into Vernon (the city’s crest says “Exclusively Industrial”) amongst the quiet empty warehouses on a Sunday morning, the streets are filled with Porsche coupes… parked all around the Modernica warehouse for blocks, and driving around hunting for parking. It seemed like a lot of Porsches outside the event… as soon as you step INSIDE, there are literally hundreds of them - gorgeous shiny curves in a rainbow of colors. And for every car there are about a dozen people and probably a dog and a toddler too. The crowd was HUGE! And beyond gawking at all the cars, getting to know the vintage porsche community (cars and porsche specialists came from around the country - and beyond!)… Modernica gave everyone free reign to wander the workshops and warehouses!

When Shawn first told me about the event - as soon as i heard Porsche and Modernica and Deus Ex Machina, and every Porsche fanatic we knew were coming together… AND limited edition products specially for the event… i was in. In the Dabs Myla building at the Modernica factory, there was a pop up shop filled with Porsche parts, limited edition Porsche/Modernica Eames Chairs, Deus Ex Machina t-shirts, posters being screen printed live, stunning products from Discommon Goods and more… This Luftgekuhlt is the third and largest event yet. All three have been in LA - can’t wait to see where they decide to hold it in 2017!

Take a peek at the experience and details on the next page!

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There’s something magical about the way Cinta Vidal sees and paints the world - it’s a world that pulls you in to all the details and the potential and endlessness of her tiny planets filled with life, houses, campsites, people, and lovely trees! Staring into them, i can’t help but wish i could spin the planets around to see what’s happening on the other sides! Above is Roca. See some of my other favorites on the next page (which i try to figure out which print i need!)

p.s. i’ve been spinning my laptop to see the paintings with different sides on top… they almost need rotating frames for viewing!

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This weekend i’ve been enamored by the Plant Embroidery of Sarah K Benning - when debating whether to share it with you, i kept finding myself mesmerized with her instagram, so i had to share! There’s something beautiful about the way she uses embroidery to share her love of plants (and funky modern plant stands, pots, desks, rugs and more) - and they will have you noticing leaves of house plants and cacti in a whole new way. Take a look at some of my favorites on the next page!

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