Playing with Your iPhone

The apps for the iPhone just get better and better, now I have another reason to be distracted from work today with the app Type Drawing. You write some copy, pick a font and a background and start drawing. At 99 cents, all the creative pleasure you could want for a few pennies! (Thanks Omar).

Sunburnt

Summer solstice and Father’s Day, enjoy! Photo by Gary Owens.

You’re Glowing!

When I first saw some of these lamp fixtures at a friend’s house, I fell in love on sight. I had seen them online but in person they are more beautiful than one could imagine. Michele Tucker of Riding High Lighting has just opened a pop-up shop online offering a wide selection of these stunningly modern and organic fixtures from Angus Hutcheson’s Angoworld line. Designed and manufactured in Thailand with a keen balance between nature and form, these fixtures are made using natural, highly renewable materials including mulberry tree bark, silk cocoons, rattan and hand cast polymers. I am especially fond of the lamps made from silk cocoons and am battling a shopping urge as I type this. See more of these organic beauties at Riding High Lighting.

Surrounded by Critters

While I await anxiously the birth of my grand-niece/nephew I can’t help myself poring over all the great modern children's furnishings and accessories. I am quite charmed by this Beastie lamp shade from Habitat, an acid etched metal shade featuring critter silhouettes dancing all around. I'd hang this anywhere, not just in a child’s room!

Secrets De Design

I also swooned when I saw this beautiful typographic poster for Designer Days 2009 just wrapping up today in Paris. I have no idea who designed the poster, but I love it! The event sounded wonderful with many design salons opening their doors and sharing secrets of their product design from an insider’s point of view. Some of the participants were Baccarat, Christofle, Kartell, Lafayette Maison, La Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, Pleyel, Dyson, Stéphane Plassier and La Suite Elle Décoration par Maison Martin Margiela.

Orange Crush

If I ever need to go to to San Francisco my hotel of choice will be Hotel Vertigo. The landmark site of a famous scene at the Empire Hotel in Hitchcock's film Vertigo, this recently renovated boutique hotel is designed with flair and an amusing nod to the color palette of Saul Bass’ famous poster for the film. I LOVE those custom orange wingback chairs with VERTIGO screened on the seats! 

Surf City

I am still in a state of small beach town mentality from my time in Hanalei. To help me stay in this frame of mind, I plan to venture down to Venice beach this weekend and pay a visit to Surfing Cowboys, a most inviting vintage store — fully loaded with old surfboards, mid-century furniture and objects paying tribute to surf-culture. The owners, Wayne & Donna have recently released a Surfing Cowboys signature leather sling chair, the Santa Cruz Chair, a perfect example of the spirit of southern California beach style!

Arm Candy

Another beautiful example of nature-inspired body adornments is this bangle from Lazerian. Made from high quality polypropylene and brass fittings, this piece is beautiful, modern and visually stunning. Lazerian is a creative practice that began in 2006, set up by Liam Hopkins, a Manchester born designer. Based in an ex-hat factory in Manchester, the practice is focused on the creation of functional objects through playful investigation of materials and processes, and seeks to imbue objects with a bit of soul. The company works on a variety of projects, including furniture, interiors, and jewelry. 

Forces of Nature

After spending eight days surrounded by nothing but nature and water in Kauai, I’ll admit reentry into my life in the city has been greeted with not too much enthusiasm on my part. All I can think about is the exotic colors and shapes of tropical flowers and the beautiful designs of sea life I saw in tide pools. Which leads me to introduce Iris Saar Isaacs and Jane Barwick of InSync Design, two Australian designers taking contemporary jewelry to a new level. Fresh, modern and drawn from botanicals and graphic design, these beautiful powder-coated stainless steel pieces are a breath of fresh air! I am in love with their bangles and those poppy earrings. Check out more at InSync.

Nature’s Gift

It doesn't get much better than this.

Toasted

It's a good thing I'm coming home in a few days because if I get anymore relaxed I might just want to stay. So lush, so beautiful and so peaceful!

Island Style

Staying in the little town of Hanalei on the north shore of Kauai. I love the laid-back style and pace of life here. Like how the little house uhas dried moss to decorate it's porch, but the best part is that mountain behind it. Those plastic chairs look pretty amusing in front of hut in a taro field. Very beautiful here, getting used to the daily monsoon rains in between the sunshine.

Seize the Day

I don’t know about everyone else, but there are places I've been fortunate enough to visit in my lifetime hat give me tummy butterflies without exception when landing at said destination. So far, those have been Paris, anywhere in Italy and Hawaii. There are places that just seize me in a way I cannot explain and Kauai is one of those. For the next eight days I will be in a remote location with nothing but sun, sand, crystal clear water, the scent of tropical flowers and green mountains. If I post nothing but photos from there for the next week, be assured that my blog will be full of new inspiration when I return. Aloha!

Dreaming of Sand

I’ve got the beach, sand, sun and the luxury of reading a stack of books with no interruptions on my mind. In 48 hours I will be on my way to a remote, tropical beach to seriously unwind and if it would fit in my luggage, this Penguin deck chair would accompany me. The Penguin classics collection of beach chairs, bags & towels certainly conjure up the lazy days of summer and reading great books like The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.

Portraits in Wood

I am quite drawn to these woodcut portraits by Lisa Brawn who doesn't make prints from the woodcuts but paints them after carving. See many, many more portraits at her site Expeditionism and also on Flickr. In my imaginary gallery, I'd hang that Jack Kerouac woodcut in a heartbeat.

Miniature World

Wonderful photos from Vincent Bousserez. Have a sunny weekend.

Wrapped in Style

Another splendid example of colliding worlds; of architecture and shoe design. This July, Lacoste will release its new collaboration with London-based Zaha Hadid Architects and the pairing has produced some out-of-the-world footwear! They look light as air and so very modern.

Featuring a digitized version of Lacoste’s famous croc logo and a pliable, coiled strap system, the styles bring Hadid’s signature look to footwear for men (an ankle boot) and women (a calf boot). Only 850 pairs of the $525 styles will be available. Look for them at Colette in Paris, Dover Street Market in London and 10 Corso Como in Milan. Luckily, a lower-price diffusion line will hit stores in September.

Charting Typography

A handy infographic, The Periodic Table of Typefaces. Thanks to Kellner Book Design for this one! (Click on photo to view at a larger size)

Edible Cards

This is somewhat revolting but too strange not to take notice of these beef jerky business cards. The folks over at Meat Cards say screw die-cutting, foil, popups or spot lamination, they just use meat and lasers. Bizarre in dark kind of way. This card was designed after the card from American Psycho by Jason Kincaid. Photo: Jason Kincaid

Green Ride

All I saw was a flash of green from the passenger seat last weekend on the 5 freeway in Los Angeles as I rushed to get my iPhone out and get a shot of this modified vintage car. This was one bad ass vintage ride in pristine condition and the tattooed arm holding the cell phone was an added bonus. Have a great weekend.

Cascading Type

I really love whole the idea of a chandelier made out of type. This Missoni Home chandelier made out of Corian showcased at Milan Design Week 2009. For more splendid Corian/Missoni Home collaborations click here. Photo: Design Boom

Summer Collection

Coca-Cola just unveiled a limited edition of their hot new summer look for their cans. My favorite is the logos as heat on the grill. Refreshing packaging design. 

Cuckoo Redux

Not your grandmother's cuckoo clocks, these over-size timepieces by artist Stefan Strumbler are a nod to pop culture painted in bright colors and adorned in bones, guns, and everyday objects such as air fresheners. Check out more on his blog which is only in German but has some good images of the clocks installed in galleries.

Garden Canopy

Just came across these stunning images of Falling Garden, a 2003 installation by Gerda Steiner & Jorg Lenzlinger in Venice, Italy. Explore much more of their inspired and wonderful work here.

Midnight Seeding

Tonight here in the Los Angeles area there will be nocturnal guerilla sunflower plantings happening all over the city. Today is International Sunflower Guerilla Gardening Day and that means the folks at Los Angeles Guerilla Gardening are going to be busy tonight. Anyone can participate in helping beautify neglected public spaces, check out their web site for guidelines. Tonight let the plant fairies do their magic!

Photo: Daisytrench at Flickr