Design Sunday : Blogapalooza!

Today for Design Sunday, I am going to share a little bit about my very favorite art and design blogs. Each of these blogs are regularly updated and always has the freshest, most beautiful design featured.


1. Design for Mankind - Erin Loechner

Design for Mankind is my favorite blog out there right now. I think it is probably because the author's taste is very similar to mine. It is a great mix of art, products, interior design, graphic design and fashion. Her heading a blog layout just slays me with it's gorgeousness. Yellow and grey and geometric!

 2. A Beautiful Mess - Elsie Flannigan

A Beautiful Mess is a fun mix of vintage, crafts, art and personal blog. The author is a painter and store owner. The feel of this blog is very vintage and/or handmade. I am not normally the biggest vintage fan, but Ms. Flannigan has excellent taste and really fun, inspiring ideas for someone who wants to make a living as an artist.

3. SwissMiss - Tina Roth Eisenberg 

SwissMiss is a blog for design nerds and product geeks. Eisenberg is a swiss designer living and working in NYC. She is always on the cutting edge of what's new and exciting and beautiful in the world of design. Throw in lots of links to talks and lectures from other designers and small dose of humor, and you have a good idea of this blog. 

4. Mint - Ellie Snow

Mint is a fun design blog that features design inspiration, interviews with free-lance creatives and recipes. Ellie Snow is a graphic designer living in my home state of North Carolina. She has a great eye for simple and beautiful design and is one talented designer herself.

5. Public School 

Public School is one of my favorite blogs because of it's mix of humor, pop culture, and really great art and design. I would love to work in Austin with this fun collective. Lots of links and videos and great new design work from great artists. The blog is written by all of the guys who work at Public School , so the content never gets boring or stale. 

Do you have to be getting married to buy a wedding cake?

I have absolutely no need of a wedding cake, and won't for a long time to come. However, this art deco themed cake is by far the most beautiful I have ever seen, and certainly what I would want for my own future, hypothetical wedding. 

Thanks to CakeWrecks for exposing me to this amazing confectionery artpiece.

Artist Envy - Frank Chimero

As I mentioned earlier, Frank Chimero is my number one design hero. I don't emulate his work in my own projects, but I do strive towards his attention grabbingly simple aesthetic qualities. He has a wonderful mix of quirkiness and mid-century polish. He works as a designer, illustrator and instructor in Portland, OR, although his roots are in Missouri.  I would love to be one of his students, but alas, I am on the wrong coast. His blog is not only full of wonderful design, but also wonderful advice on design, the creative process and life. 

Work  is Play...

 

I Over Complicate Things

 Elvis Costello  

Thanksgiving!

 Like any good USAmerican, I absolutely love Thanksgiving. Great food, (and lots of it) sweater weather and family! However, I do not love the traditional decor of the holiday. Those weird paper turkeys, puritan fashion sense and offensive native american knick-knacks don't really do it for me. Thanksgiving could be so beautiful! It's got great colors and beautiful foodstuffs to work with. I think we need to simplify our thanksgiving decor. In that spirit, here are some simple table settings that I think are beautiful, inexpensive and easy to incorporate into your family's traditions. 

I love the idea of mixing fresh vegetables and fruits in with your centerpiece. Those artichokes are absolutely perfect! 

This is much more modern, but easily customizable. If you don't love the earth tones of the season, you could easily match the paint to your interior decor, keeping the festive vibe with the iconic pumpkin shape. This project is so simple and affordable.

This is very simple, but oh, so elegant. The cranberry idea could work for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I can also see small citrus and acorns for a more autumnal look.

Here are the artichokes again! I love the simple touch of place settings, and how quickly they make an occasion extra special. I am not sure if this pear is natural or painted, however, painting it would certainly give you more options with your table-scape.

Open Shutter

Isn' this image just lovely!

It is a photograph of New York, NY by German Photographer Michael Welesy. What is so amazing about this image, is that there is no digital effect added. Welesy has developed a technique that allows him to take photographs with exceptionally long exposure times. This image was exposed for 24 months, while the new building for the Museum of Modern Art was being built. He says that he would be capable of exposing film for as long as 40 years. What an incredible way to document the actual passing of time.

                                                                                                   

Artist Envy - Pope Saint Victor

Pope Saint Victor is a designer and illustrator based in Nashville, TN. He is currently the "brand design architect" for Blood:Water Mission, a charity focusing on the HIV epidemic and potable water shortage in Africa. (to this end, he has produced some amazing awareness posters) He has a signature style with all his work, especially his illustrations. He is also producing some fantastic digital art.

This Old World

         

Basil Marceaux.Com

This Island Earth

This is just a small example of this great artist's work. Check out some more of his stuff, I promise it will make your week brighter 

Holy Sputnik, Batman!

So, my final project in Digital Media I is an animated poem, produced with Adobe After Effects. This is an ambitious project, but so far it has been fun. To spare you a bunch of boring details, lets just say that my idea involves me researching some space - travel type things, especially satellites. As I was looking through images on Wikimedia Commons, I quickly realized that contemporary satellites were not what I had in mind. They all look a little too 1990's. (if that makes any sense) Anyway, I typed in Sputnik, mainly because it is the only satellite I actually know the name of. Here's what I found.

 Who knew Sputnik was so beautiful? It kind of makes me sad that technology doesn't look like this anymore. I mean, sure Macbooks are always getting smaller and shinier, but the average gadget is pretty, meh. Mid-Century technology  often inspired the imagination, not only because of what it did, but also how it looked. I feel that aesthetics has drifted pretty low on the priorities list of many product designers out there. I don't think many people would give up their iPhones or wall mounted Flat Screens, but can anyone deny that most turn dial telephones and I Love Lucy style televisions were easier on the eyes? Sometimes, I just want my gadget to be pretty. If the U.S.S.R was able to make a space traveling hunk of metal beautiful in the 50's, why can't we put a little flair into our high-tech tools and trinkets?  Do you think that your cell phone is beautiful just the way it is, or would you like a little more oomph in the appearance of your gadgets?

Yellow Office

This office, with it's little yellow molded chair, is beautiful. Thanks to paper n stitch for such lovely eye candy! 

Artist Envy - Gemma Correll

Gemma Correll is one of my favorite contemporary illustrators. She lives in England with her artist boyfriend, and her muse: a pug named Pickle. 

Gemma also posts illustrated diary entries, which delight me to no end. It is so fun to see all the shenanigans she and Pickle get into.