I saw this burger joint at 61st Street and Third Avenue and fell in love with the sign. It’s both simple and eye-catching, and it almost made me want to break my brief bout of vegetarianism and grab a giant burger. Almost.
My friend Elysia Smith was commissioned to do a poster for my co-worker Doug’s band, the Russians, and I think the results are really cool. She used real string to make their name, then hand-drew the cans, which produces a really interesting effect. Check out her portfolio for more great stuff she’s done.
While I’m not a Tumblr user myself (I’m a WordPress girl), I have just become a devoted fan after happening upon their error screen, which features a darling illustration by The Oatmeal and the message, “We’ll be back shortly: We may have forgotten to feed the wild Tumbeasts that roam our datacenter, resulting in gnawing and/or mutiny. Animal control has been alerted.”
Seriously, where can I adopt one of these little creatures? Look at the one on the right, all drooling and fiercely adorable.
Last week, I went to a grocery store in Chinatown, where I noticed that almost every item of food was graced with cartoon mascots.
Above, we have a Zorro-style bandit with giant ears (or wings?) representing cheese-and-shrimp-flavored puffs, which sound utterly unappetizing. To the left is a chicken on a can of chicken stock that my friend pointed out looks eerily like Peter Griffin. (See its mushroom companion here.) And below, we have a strange flower person with a mysteriously giant thumb that appeared on a package of frozen steamed buns. There were also two cute chocolate lollipops that caught our attention. Compared with this, American food just isn’t as much fun.
You should check out this great Slate article about the absolutely incorrect use of two spaces after a period in computer typography. I can’t agree more!
These airy decorations were hanging in the same Anthropologie store where I spotted the cool admit-one-ticket canopy bed. They appear to just be a series of colored doilies glued together and hanging by a string. It’s so simple that it could be a kindergarten craft, but the effect is very snowstorm under the sea — in a good way.
This was one of the Anthropologie window decorations in Rockefeller Center that caught my eye a few weeks ago. I love the way they used the fabric to create a little holly leaf on the side of the tablecloth.
Click here and here for a few more pictures of the same holiday window display.
I love going to Anthropologie for a lot of reasons (its clothes, books, home goods, sales racks, purses, jewelry…I could keep going), but my favorite thing about the store is its consistently amazing in-store decorations. They use mainly recycled materials — from coffee filters to used books to broken furniture — to create seasonal displays that are gorgeous and mind-blowing.
This display is a canopy bed, but instead of mosquito netting, the designers sewed together hundreds of “Admit One” tickets. The colors were gorgeous, and the effect was both dreamy and funky, kind of like the store itself.
I have a few more photos of amazing Anthro window designs that I’ll post in the next few days, just for a little burst of midweek inspiration.
I’d like to wish a quick happy birthday to my friend Dan Kupsco, a generally great guy and the incredibly talented designer of my website. (I’d highly recommend working with him.)
In the past few months, I’ve been trying to make some big changes in my life to become healthier, both inside and out. Forming new habits and making life changes — no matter how small — can be incredibly daunting, and I thought this poster was a great dose of inspiration on a day when I felt a little overwhelmed. (Image from Gala Darling.)
I’ve noticed a few bookstores that have adopted this amazing design element: books hanging from the ceiling. My favorite store, McNally Jackson Books in SoHo (left), has an adorable café with suspended paperbacks and wallpaper made of book pages. It’s so much fun to go there, grab a cup of coffee and read for a bit. (In addition to the great design, McNally Jackson has incredibly nice staff members and a well-organized and thorough book selection. The store also has great events and readings.)
While I love McNally Jackson, I was especially blown away by the look of Brussels bookstore Cook & Book, which is a design experience in itself. It’s divided into themed sections, and it appears that the hanging books are in the main area. That alone makes me want to visit Brussels and spend hours in this store.
If I owned my own place instead of renting — and didn’t feel guilty about boring holes in my books — I would totally try this at home.
