blogs that make me drool

eat make read
tasty recipes... from a graphic designer in brooklyn. are all designers obsessed with food? i know i am...

la tartine gourmand
gorgeous food photos

print & pattern
not at all food related—just like the title says. pages and pages of prints and patterns!

decor8
and since we're getting away from the food theme...

good
i just really like this site. check out the infographics.

Brilliant

I picked up this book for a friend a while back and wish I would have gotten myself a copy... take a look!

Fancussingtastic.

The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox, designed by Pentagram.

Over the holidays, I had the opportunity to see Fantastic Mr. Fox—an absolutely wonderful movie! I was so incredibly impressed by everything—the characters, the story, the set, the art direction. It was truly fantastic. Of course, I am a fan of both Roald Dahl and of Wes Anderson, so I figured I couldn't go wrong shelling out the big bucks to see it in the theater. It's definitely worth seeing again!

Read+see more about it at:
NY Times
The making of... from Wired Magazine
Lots of videos from Apple (I especially like the one on the world of Roald Dahl)

gifting

Coming a little late... but there are a few days left, right? Here are a few things I find wonderful. Though I always try to make at least some of my gifts, I never seem to have as much time to devote to the projects as I would like. Luckily, there are many great ways to support artisans and small businesses directly without having to leave one's desk. Take a look!

Baggu
A great selection of reusable bags (that we gave away a few years back)... and now they have produce bags!

Foodzie
Tons of food gifts! The Maple Honey Caramel Spread above looks delicious!

papernstitch
Kind of like a mini-Etsy with a nice selection of handmade gifts. This calendar's from 1canoe2.

castcouture
Cat's a designer/seamstress from New Zealand and her clothes are fabulous—I have several pieces. Her work merits its own post (or several)... coming soon!

Powell's
I love this place. If you're ever in the Portland area, you really must visit! A few of my favorite books from this year (or so)—In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, The Outlander by Gil Adamson, and American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Songs for a rainy day.

Autumn is definitely upon us... quickly turning into winter. We've enjoyed the brightly colored leaves, crisp air and sunny skies. Now it's changing to wind and rain here in the Seattle-area, which means a lot more time inside... and perhaps upgrading that Netflix membership.

For me, this time of year always means new music—a change of soundtrack for my days in front of the computer. I tend to transition from the more upbeat pop tunes of summer into something darker and/or mellower for the stormy season. A lot of Sigur Ros :-)

Here are a few artists in heavy rotation:

Choir of Young Believers
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
The Avett Brothers
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down

Do you have any rainy day music? Please share!

wow.

Night Gathering by Ed Pien

I ran across this today and just had to share...

There's a new(ish) exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC called Slash: Paper Under the Knife and it looks spectacular. The site does a good job of showcasing some of the work, but I'm sure it's even better in person.

Take a look!

Tangerines and Tea

My Grandparents and Me

We actually had to take this one back to the library today... but I enjoyed it so much that I think we may have to add it to our permanent collection. It's a nice alphabet story that isn't overly obvious (no "a is for...") and the illustrations are lovely. Take a look!

Ways to waste some time... links for Friday

Print by Chad Hagen via 20x200

20x200
Get something unique for your wall and support an artist, all for twenty bucks.

An Illustrated Guide... from Chew on This—what a spectacular idea!

Chew on This
A nicely designed site with an even nicer message.

Yearbook Yourself
Self-indulgent silliness... but hey, if you've got the time. :-)

Wow.

I've been back in the office for a week, but it's taken some time to feel anything close to "normal". We were away on vacation in Kauai—my first time there. And am I ever glad that I decided not to do ANY work while were were there. It was amazing. The colors are so saturated that it seems unreal. I hope to go back again someday—adults only!

Christmas in August

It's been a long time since my last post, but I wanted to share my latest "book" purchase—Eric Carle's Dream Snow Pop-Up Advent Calendar (I love Eric Carle's illustrations!!!!). I know, it's not anywhere close to Christmas... but I decided to take advantage of Chronicle Books' Friends and Family Sale and buy a few gifts. My daughter is finally old enough to start playing with some really cool stuff, so bring on the tiny pieces!

I hope she likes it as much as I will.

Monday = Bookday

On a recent trip to the library, I checked out You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination. I first took a look at this book right after it was published in 2004, but wasn't able to give it the time it deserved. You don't have to be a designer or cartographer to to appreciate this collection of innovative maps. It was definitely worth a second look.

I'll be putting Katharine Harmon's new book, Maps as Art in my queue soon.

nice type.

Girl of All Work
Office supplies that don't suck.

Sudtipos
Type foundry from Argentina.

Packaging by enormouschampion via the dieline

the dieline
packaging, packaging, packaging.

RipeType
FREE font—get it!

Library!!!!!

Another fruitful adventure to the library—we brought back at least a dozen books... but my favorites from this week are Sunny and Windy by Robin Mitchell and Judith Steedman. The paper dioramas/landscapes are so fantastic. And the stories are just perfect to keep my nearly three-year-old interested. I absolutely must take some time away from the computer and get back to making things—perhaps creating silly dioramas with my favorite little girl would be a great place to start!

Fabulously French

Happy Bastille Day! I was inspired to share some links in honor of the holiday after listening to KEXP's tribute to French musicians this morning.

Paper Cut Map of Paris from Famille Summerbelle

Famille Summerbelle
Really cool stuff for kids' rooms.

Jean Pierre Jeunet
One of my favorite filmmakers. The visual worlds he creates are absolutely amazing. If you haven't seen Amelie, it's a great introduction to his work (and it has a lovely soundtrack).

Michel Gondry
Another amazing filmmaker. Seen The Science of Sleep? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Watch them!

L'Aromarine
French perfume with beautiful art deco packaging.

Toulouse-Lautrec
Where would graphic designers be without him? I was fortunate enough to see this exhibit... four long years ago.

ABCs

Our weekly trip to the library was quite fruitful, but it was the book I purchased (from a newly-discovered local independent book store) for one of my daughter's playmates that inspired this post. The book is Charlie Harper's ABCs, and it is so beautifully illustrated that I wanted to keep it for myself. A more complete gallery of his work can be seen here.

The Red Shoes

I ran across this book at the library today and had to share. The illustrations (by Sun Young Yoo) are amazing!
More images here >

Long Overdue Links

What can I say? The projects keep rolling in—and the blog continues to be neglected... ;-)

Jessica Riehl Photography
A good friend, a great photographer, and an all-around wonderful person. I had the pleasure of assisting her at our friend Megan's wedding last weekend :-)

Image from Inside My Sewing Box

John Met Betty
Cute bags made of vintage materials... and located just up the road from yours truly.

Design Ignites Change
A great site that gives students a chance to utilize their design skills to address social concerns. Boy, I wish this would have been around when I was in school... but it's never too late to participate!

FontStruct
A subsite of fontshop.com that allows you to create and share your own fonts.

whatEVER.

On our weekly trip to the library, my daughter and I found this book. It's called Whatever by William Bee. The illustrations are great, the story is simple and catchy—an easy favorite. I can't wait to check out the rest of his books!

Linky Links

Better late than never, right?

Jessica Hische
Amazingly talented designer/typographer. Her blog is great, too...

From Sthlm
Features a different Swedish designer every month.

Nantaka Joy
Have I shared this already? I LOVE her patterns.

Soapbox

I ran across the promo site for the movie Food, Inc. today and decided it was something I needed to share. The site provides a visually-rich home for an upcoming movie that tackles many important issues surrounding America's industrial food system. It's a subject that I am incredibly passionate about. We all need to eat—why not do ourselves a favor and demand something that's good for our bodies and the environment? Take a look at the trailer below and if you get the chance, check out their site. It's a great example of how strong design can help bring critical issues to the forefront (e.g. An Inconvenient Truth).