* inspirational illustration *

MT Japanese tape

2011-12-14T20:56:00.000-08:00

These crazy tapes from Japan are totally rad.

Citrus Cake

2011-12-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

This cake is gorgeous, so it counts as art, right?

Silly little videos

2011-12-02T17:22:00.000-08:00

and I mean little. (Here's another Marcel the Shell if you enjoyed).

:)

I love you, Pixar

2011-11-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

I know I overuse the word "love" on this blog...but that's because I only post things that I...love! Like the below letters from a Pixar animator, inspiring another hopeful animator. (Click to enlarge.) I always knew Pixar was fabulous, but this makes me love them even more. Love. I'm unashamed.

Found @ Lovely Indeed

Nov. 7, 2011 New Yorker

2011-11-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

Just received the current New Yorker (to add to the pile beside my desk that are currently unread) and love the cover illustration (click to zoom for detail). How true it is...Reminds me of this news story I saw a while back about a Chicago car that received 74 tickets, which seems beyond the limit of sanity. Perhaps this illustration isn't such an exaggeration after all.

Mary Blair

2011-10-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Mid-Century art, today Google is honoring my favorite—Mary Blair!

Darling Clementine

2011-10-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

Darling Clementine has adorable Mid-Century style illustration.

Party!

2011-10-18T11:26:00.001-07:00

Love this cartoon by Anne Emond. Found here.

It Rarely Stops

2011-09-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is pretty heavy and uncharacteristic for by blog, but this commercial just blows me away. I shutter every time I watch it. It's so powerfully simple and haunting. Created by Y&R Chicago.

Moss typography

2011-09-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hm, interesting! This moss was mixed about in a blender with some beer and buttermilk and then painted on a wall, where it continued to grow into these lovely moss letters.

Adrian Tomine

2011-09-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

I've always loved this New Yorker cover by illustrator Adrian Tomine. Such a romantic thought.

100 YEARS / STYLE / EAST LONDON

2011-09-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

LOVE this. From my lovely friend b! :)

Folded Invitations

2011-09-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

LOVE this. Found @ Have & Hold Design.

Beautiful folded replication of 19th century valentine, from the movie Bright Star.

Daily Inspiration: Saul Steinberg

2011-08-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

So simple. So lovely.

Party!

2011-08-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Love this Party book designed by Luci Everett. This would be such a lovely (albeit time consuming...) wedding album.

Claudia Pearson

2011-08-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

These are pretty.

Aled Lewis

2011-08-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

These crack me up.

Lotta Nieminen

2011-08-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

Beautiful geographic illustrations from Lotta Nieminen.

Sweetapolita

2011-08-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

If you've got a sweet tooth like me, you won't be able to pry your eyes away from Sweetapolita. Inventive, colorful and so scrumptious.

How adorable is this cake?! It's covered with white fondant, which the birthday girl got to color with AmeriColor Food Colour Markers. And it's rainbow on the inside!

Beautiful maps from 4ojos

2011-07-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Love custom maps.

Wm. J. Mills & Co.

2011-07-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

Certainly unrelated to illustration, but I just love these bags. They're so simple, colorful and graphic.

Miss Danae

2011-07-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

Miss Danae has beautiful calligraphy, but I especially like her lovely custom maps.

Simon Schubert

2011-07-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

I love these interesting paper artworks by Simon Shubert. I can't read German, so I'm not entirely clear on how they're made, but from what I gather (and the help of Google Translate) I think they're created just from folding the paper! Incredible.

Rene Guneriussen

2011-07-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Love these photos of evening lamp parades from Rene Guneriussen.

Holton Rower "Pour" series

2011-07-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Dan Gneiding

2011-07-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

Another portfolio from an Anthropologie + Urban Outfitters designer. Dan Gneiding has a fun, quirky portfolio of retail and fashion items, including the above clothing labels. It's amazing how much a silly little detail like a tag, label, or pretty interior liner make an item special.

I also love these invitations for an Anthropologie fall preview. Quite clever.

A Sweet Homecoming

2011-07-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Love these sweet and sincere photos of a couple reuniting by Josh Goleman. Found at OnceWed.

Children's books designers love

2011-06-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

I am essentially just re-posting this from the Chronicle Books Blog, and, as the title predicts, I love these beautiful and "practically wordless" children's books. As the author of the blog says, "Turns out that if you’re a visual person or into graphic design, you really don’t need to have or be a kid to like books created for them." (I'm taking that as a compliment).

The first book, A Long Piece of String by William Wondriska, is a Harold and the Purple Crayon style story, but with even less emphasis "plot" (said in air-quotes). The second story, Shadow by Suzy Lee, is just such a clever format for a story, no words are necessary. One of those, "wish I thought of that!" ideas. Also probably one of those books that the parents are more into than the kids, but my house is sure to be full of those...

Sweater Letters

2011-06-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

These sweater letters are awesome! Found @ Words & Eggs.

Wednesday Watercolor

2011-06-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

Pretty, high fashion watercolor by David Downtown.

Shrinky Dink Chic

2011-06-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

After a recent disagreement with my coworkers—in which they asserted that Shrinky Dinks are uncool in every imaginable circumstance—I took it upon myself to defend my childhood and peruse the internet until I found an example proving otherwise. (After all, I have already posted about Puffy Paint and Hama beads, might as well keep the 80's-childhood-art-projects-theme going.)

It proved to be quite a difficult search. Turns out, most Shrinky Dinks are pretty useless. But I think the above examples are pretty fun. Little cassette tapes are a perfect homage to the 80s! (Also check out these Spirograph Shinky Dinks nicknamed "Spirodinks." Another excellent 80's reference.) Second image from Just Something I Made.

Woop Studios

2011-06-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

These cute alphabetical animal posters were created by Woop Studios who are the graphic designers behind Harry Potter! I'm sad they don't have a Parade of Pygmy Puffs. Or a Hoard of Hippogriffs. Or a Box of Bowtruckles....Ok, ok. I'll stop.

(Forest of Flobberworms...Gaggle of Grindylows...)

Vivian Maier

2011-06-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the story of Vivian Maier at this point, since there was such a hullaballoo after her photographs' discovery, but I just love her work so much that I can't help but post her. For those who don't know, Vivian was a lifelong traveling photographer who amassed an incredibly large portfolio of work—entirely in secret. Her photographic collection was completely unknown—even by those closest to her—until her death in 2007 when a man named John Maloof discovered her negatives at a local thrift auction in Chicago. Even with an untrained eye, he knew he had stumbled upon something very special and set out to make her work available to the public. I had the pleasure of attending her tribute gallery show at a Chicago community center and have been excited to see the rest of her work ever since (most of which consisted of negatives that had never been developed). I highly encourage you to peruse the site and see the beautiful world she discovered through her camera lens.

Joel Penkman

2011-06-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Joël Penkman is a UK based graphic designer and fine artist who, in the vein of Wayne Thiebaud, creates paintings so scrumptious I want to lick the paint off the canvas. Too much?

The written word

2011-06-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

The above handwriting styles (and subsequent personalities) created by Iskra Johnson communicate different messages—before you even read them! As she explains on her site, "Exactly how much can you tell about Award-winning bartender from a few sentences in Arial Bold? Wouldn't you rather see his soul revealed in his own handwriting—on a napkin?"Absolutely! Amazing one person can produce so many different styles.

Danish graphic designer and illustrator Ulla Puggaard is painterly, graphic and unconventional. I love the intensity of her brushed handwriting.

Holly Dickens is a talented hand lettering and calligraphy artist from sweet home Chicago! Like Iskra, she has a variety of styles and quite an impressive client list.

Alana McCann

2011-05-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

SWOON. Alana McCann is a Senior Graphic Designinger with Anthropologie's in-house design team and her portfolio is an absolute dream. Her invitation design is beautiful, edgy and tactile—the way invitations should be. Feathers, felt, die-cuts, tape! Love it all.

Bird's the word

2011-05-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

This adorable daily illustration blog includes two of my favorite things: simple doodles and silly puns. The Ornithoblogical (whew! had to check the spelling on that a few times) is a "showcase of ~~365 days of~~ birdies on my brain" by illustrator Anna Raff. The first image is titled Water Fowl followed by Spoonbill Forked Tail. I also love the last two Chick Flick and Chick Lit. Too cute.

Snappy gift wrap

2011-05-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

1. Valentines Day by Sunday Suppers

2. DIY Gift Wrap by Grey Likes Weddings from Style Me Pretty

3. Man Gift Wrap for Dad by Tip Junkie

4. Scarf or fabric by Chewing the Cud

I especially love the first and third photos since they repurpose old household items—one man's junk, another man's snappy gift wrap! The middle photo is splendiferous if you're in the mood to Martha Stewart proud. Also be sure to check out these lovely vintage handkerchiefs by Bird & Banner.

Paint Chip Quilts

2011-05-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Lovely paint swatch quilts, found on Etsy.

An Age to Remember

2011-05-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

These illustrations were created by Brian Cronin for Real Simple magazine for a series of articles titled An Age to Remember, in which "six acclaimed writers reflect on their most memorable years, from 4 to 64." These illustrations have completely charmed me and remind me of books of my childhood. The first one especially reminds me of the out-of-print, hard-to-find magical and memorable book Loretta Mason Potts. (Which I have been sadly unable to find for less than $200. Any insider information on this, feel free to pass it my way!)

Ace Hotel wall mural

2011-05-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

Love this wall mural for the Ace hotel, illustrated by Timothy Goodman. According to Goodman, "I hand drew 99 picture frames to create a dense wall of “discovery” about NYC that could be passed to the common tourist staying in the room. Each frame contains a different fact / love / tidbit / thing of interest / or shout-out to a place I dig in the city."

Reminds me of this that I saw a few years ago, where a man went wild in his basement with a Sharpie.

Lumberjack

2011-05-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

By the amazing Geoff McFetridge. Found @ the amazing Eye magazine.

Cool artwork pertaining to feathers

2011-05-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

1. Fallen Feathers by The Quiet Revolution

2. Fanciful Feather Collection No. 10 by GollyBard
3. Turkey Feathers by Amber Alexander

Cool art posters pertaining to old cameras

2011-05-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

1. 28 Camera Drawings by Christine Berrie
2. Old Camera by Todd McLellan
3. Camera Poster by Rod Hunting (of the amazing and talented Illustration Corporation)

BiblioOdyssey

2011-05-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

BiblioOdyssey Books is an amazing collection of Science, History, eclectic book art and ephemera. The high resolution map collection is especially amazing. This is an awesome post of "Title pages, headings and letterforms clipped, cropped and isolated from maps and map publications issued between about 1880 and 1920." Found via The Post Family.

Louise Bourgeois

2011-05-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

To continue with my current fine art textiles theme, today's post features artist Louise Bourgeois and her beautiful fabric artworks. To quote her press release, "Fabric has played an important role in Bourgeois's life. She grew up surrounded by the textiles of her parents' tapestry restoration workshop, and from the age of twelve helped the business by drawing in the sections of the missing parts that were to be repaired. A life- long hoarder of clothes and household items such as tablecloths, napkins and bed linen, since the mid- nineties, Bourgeois has cut up and re-stitched these, transforming her lived materials into art."

Fred Shand

2011-05-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Textile artist Fred Shand, along with a group of artisans from Delhi, London and New York City, specially designed these custom (and expensive) quilts for Anthropologie. Each quilt is a labor of love of cottons, linens, silks and silk screens—think more work of art, less a cozy, tea-drinking, book-reading quilt. On each quilt is sewn the above label, hand-signed by all of the quilt's contributors, which makes each quilt feel so special. (And they are.)

Typography of Harry Potter

2011-05-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping to do a better post about this at some point, but I was excited to find this Flickr group of the gorgeous Harry Potter typography found especially in the later films.

I would just love to create an album of all the beautifully addressed envelopes that fly around in each film (via Owl Post, of course). According to Designworklife, two of the credited lettering artists are Julian Walker and Bob Walker. Although I can't find a portfolio site for Bob, I'm currently drooling over Julian's and will most certainly follow up this post with one dedicated to his absolutely amazing dream job. I also discovered Miraphora Mina (which is an awesome name and sounds like something from Harry Potter) and Eduardo Lima of Minalima through their new endeavor called Woop Studios that features some pretty cute alphabetical animal posters.

Harry Potter as Penguin Classics

2011-05-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

Illustrator M.S. Corley has redesigned the Harry Potter book covers to look like classic Penguin Books. Awesome.

I should just create a "Rifle Paper Co." tag

2011-05-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

Oh Rifle Paper Co., why are you so awesome? I love the opacity of black ink paired with gold foil. So very Kate Spade.

The Typography of Sunday Suppers

2011-05-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday Suppers is delightful blog of delicious and well designed meals (read: food porn). But I especially love the handwritten menus, place cards and other details they consider, often created through a partnership with the talented Paper Finger, Betsey Dunlap, Linda & Harriett and Eva Juliet. Or, sometimes they design the menus themselves! The beautiful example below was created with a giant rubber stamp, such an excellent idea.

Way to go Staples!

2011-05-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

This Design Sponge article about designing custom business cards features the coolest stamp I've ever seen from—who'da thunk—Staples! It's basically a little mini letterpress. Love.

Wednesday Watercolor

2011-05-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

I was just looking through my May Anthropologie catalog (pretty much the only snail mail I look forward to getting anymore) and was excited to see a full spread dedicated to watercolor artist Rebekah Mayseles. Her beautiful work has the feel of faraway jungles and exotic gardens. I don't know this for sure, but I can't help but wonder if the women painted on the dinner plates above, as well as the chandeliers and luxurious animals, are a remembrance of the Ediths from Grey Gardens, the 1975 film directed by Mayseles' father. I suppose that's pretty heady for Anthropologie...but pretty either way! I also wish I knew more of the story behind the exquisite quilt below, which is simply described as "inspired by her trip to the South of India." I love the map-like quality. (And we all know I love map quilts.)

Geneva Typewriters

2011-05-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

A blog about old typewriters? Amazing.

The two above are in Arabic and Hebrew! I also love her typewritten samples. The poem below is by William Carlos Williams, which is an excellent typesetting choice.

Natalie Lété

2011-05-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

I discovered Nathalie Lété through her work for Anthropologie, which includes a number of beautiful one-of-a-kind ceramics and prints. To give you her quick bio, Nathalie was born in 1964 and studied at Beaux Arts de Paris. Her work includes "paintings, ceramics, textiles, jewelry books and toys centered on themes of fantasy, humor and childhood memories." I especially love the above Red Riding hood illustrations (and, of course, this collection of owls below).

Be sure to check out her "unique pieces", which include a number of interesting ceramics and textiles.

Ideal bookshelf

2011-05-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

As an avid reader and lover of books, I absolutely adore these "ideal bookshelf" illustrations by Jane Mount. She'll even create a custom bookshelf illustration of your beloved books, which is a lovely idea for a gift. (I'm already mentally composing my own.) In a very High Fidelity way, I have to admit, I do slightly define myself by and/or judge others by the books that they read. If your book collection and my book collection met at a bar, would they get along? It's a funny thought. (Contrariwise, I know a number of people with whom I've maintained good friendships that I'm pretty certain have read Going Rogue and/or Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea.)

p.s. This one is hilarious.

Charlotte Farmer

2011-05-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

I found Charlotte Farmer (love her name!) while perusing Svpply. I love the textured, sketchy quality of her drawings and the intricate detail.

Pretty things

2011-05-02T17:03:00.000-07:00

Lovely glass bottles I found today on Svpply from John Lewis. The top one functions as a lantern! Pretty, pretty.

Clothbound books

2011-05-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

Take that, ipad! Clothbound books are more popular than ever! (Ok, not ever...And, I still love you ipad.) But seriously. There are many more clothbound books on the market right now than in years past and they are exquisite. I've blogged about Coralie Bickford Smith before, who designed the gorgeous Penguin Clothbound Classics series in addition to the Scott F. Fitzgerald series. Following soon after was the clothbound Children's series. (I am not sure if these were designed by Bickford Smith, but they are equally lovely.)

Not to be outdone, Barnes & Noble cleverly hired designer extraordinaire Jessica Hische to design their own hardbound series, which Hische aptly titled "the best project ever." Now I want both of these series! But how many copies of Jane Eyre does a person need, I suppose. Decisions, decisions.

A Very Modest Cottage

2011-04-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

My multi-talted and ever creating coworker, Tereasa Surratt of A Very Modest Cottage and Camp Wandawega, has just built the most wonderful treehouse I've ever seen. I want to live in this house! Some of my other favorite projects of hers include her invitation designs. Below are past Christmas cards and birth announcements, all hand assembled and each one unique.

And finally, her custom paint-by-number wall mural. What a clever idea!

Pretty Pen Jen

2011-04-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

More calligraphy! Horray! The above images are from Pretty Pen Jen. Below from Ginny Rogan.

Found @ The Merriment Blog.

Wayne Thiebaud Cakes

2011-04-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

Beautiful wedding cakes inspired by the paintings of Wayne Thiebaud! How clever. "Art imitating life, imitating art", as they say! Here are a few more of Thiebaud's luscious paintings just for fun. The paint truly does feel like frosting.

Jenny Bowers for Kate Spade

2011-04-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Kate Spade, here is more inspired Kate Spade artwork from one of my all time favorite illustrators, Jenny Bowers. I want to re-post her entire portfolio right here, but I'll restrain myself and simply encourage you to check out her beautiful work.

Wednesday Watercolor

2011-04-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

Beautiful paintings from Bella Foster, who I discovered from her work on Kate Spade.

Amy Borrell

2011-04-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

These lovely illustrations from Amy Borrell are pretty and informative. I especially love her How to set a Table illustration. I still have to hold up my hands and form the "b" for bread and "d" for drink—so this is handy.

Found @ Kris Atomic

Liza Corsillo

2011-04-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Love these pencil drawings by Liza Corsillo. Discovered when my deskmate ordered a jacket from Hickoree's Hard Goods and received her lovely newsprint poster.

Tuesday Typography

2011-04-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Bygg Studio

Teagan White

A Visual History of Typefaces & Graphic Styles

Nabokovian book covers

2011-04-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

I have always loved these Nabokov book covers (hey, I finally know who he is now, aren't you proud?) designed by John Gall. In other Nabokov book cover news, here's a fun site dedicated to the myriad of Lolita covers.

Baby Wit

2011-04-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

I love these little site illustrations from Also Design.

Redstart

2011-04-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Redstart is a team of artist and designers who custom design and hand-paint absolutely beautiful large scale murals and paintings. Amazed by this modern medieval design.

Found on DesignSponge.

Dana Tanamachi

2011-04-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

I love Dana Tanamachi's illustrated chalk murals. So beautiful! She currently works for Louise Fili, whom I also adore. Here's a fun video of her making her art:

The By & By from Dana Tanamachi on Vimeo.

I'm Hungry.

2011-04-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Mmmm. Sixteen different carrot cake recipes, including Carrot Ginger Layer Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting and Citrus-Glazed Pumpkin-Carrot Cake.

Also intrigued by these strawberry shortcake cookies, made with fresh strawberries!

Claire Nereim

2011-04-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

Love these posters by Claire Nereim. They're like a highly stylized interpretation of these natural Botanical posters.

Found @ Rifle Paper (+) (+)

Wayne Pate

2011-04-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

I just love these. They're so simple and fun. They remind me of my good friend Eric Ellis!

Hand-painted bottles

2011-04-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Fun! Found @ The Dieline.

Vintage Wizard of Oz chapter heads

2011-04-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Published in 1958 by W.H.Allen London, illustrations by Maraja. Found on Illustrated in Full Color Throughout.

via (of course) Rifle Paper, my new favorite blog.

Utilitarian Art

2011-04-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

Motivated by this post on the Rifle Paper Co. blog, I checked out this School Outfitters website—which I never would have thought to do otherwise—and was actually quite inspired by what I saw. For objects intended to be so utilitarian, they're quite artful! I particularly love the type choices for the letter boards.

Other utilitarian-turned-artful pieces include this Restoration Hardware Military Chalkboard Map (ok, this was probably artful all along) and this glowing seeing-eye chart (love).

Map also found @ Rifle Paper. Such a great blog!

An 11-Year-Old's Map of Jewish Emigration

2011-04-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

1938: The chronicle of an 11-year-old's escape from Berlin to Montevideo. Incredible.

Adam Simpson

2011-04-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Another fantastic artist from Heart Agency, Adam Simpson. Love, love these. I particularly love the last two, which are from a series of Academy Award winning movies, depicting True Grit and The King's Speech.

Laura Carlin

2011-04-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

After much delay and other distraction, finally a post about an illustrator! I love Laura Carlin's brush strokes and muted palette. It all feels very haunted, magical. Little people hidden in a vast expanse. I especially love the first illustration, the elevated angle of an abandoned boulevard, dramatic shadows, inhabited only by pigeons.

Ribbons

2011-04-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Custom printed ribbons.

Soft Italian cotton ribbons.

Beautiful, hand-dyed silk ribbons.

Divine twine.

Ok, this is tape not ribbon, but so pretty.

Hidden objects/Useful art

2011-04-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

I saw these in Readymade magazine a few years ago and have always thought they'd be fun to make (if I had a wood shop and more patience). A tiled wall mosaic that turns into extra seating for party guests! Such a great idea for small living spaces. Maybe I'll just mount a bunch of Anthropologie ottomans to my wall.

Or maybe I'll get a ceiling Murphy bed and a Pontiac Aztek and everything I own will turn into something else!

Catherine's Animals

2011-04-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Reminiscent of the Animal Print Shop, the Catherine's Animals series celebrates a variety of quirky animals in a studio setting. I love the little armadillo butt.

More lovelies from Martha Stewart & Rifle Paper Co.

2011-04-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

I don't generally have baby fever, or goo and ga over little baby things, but my literary side (and my wonderful memories of Goodnight Moon and Pat the Bunny) just loves this book themed baby shower design by Martha Stewart and Rifle Paper Company. You can even download this lovely little book plate as a keepsake to place in the gifted books. Who needs diapers? (I clearly don't have children.)

Letterheady

2011-04-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

A blog about famous letterhead. How fun!

Found @ Rifle Paper.

The Street Dog

2011-04-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

A very cute blog about, you guessed it, dogs on the street.

It's like The Sartorialist. But cuter.

Might as well keep up this bird kick...

2011-04-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

More fun birds by Inaluxe. Love the swans.

Ping Zhu

2011-04-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

Love, love, love these animal illustrations by London-based illustrator Ping Zhu, whose url is adorably and aptly named Ping's Zoo.

Birds!

2011-04-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

After doing a bit of internet detective work, I still can't figure out this artist's last name! So I will call her just Geninne, à la Madonna and Cher. I found her when I stumbled upon her Flickr album titled Birds! Which is obviously an album of cat drawings. (Ha ha.) She also has an Etsy shop where you can buy drawings of said birds, among other things.

*Update: full name, Geninne D. Zlatkis.

Becca Stadtlander

2011-04-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

Becca Stadtlander is an illustrator I bookmarked a while back and have since forgot how I discovered her. Her work is folksy, feminine and lovely.

The Doughnut Vault

2011-04-07T14:42:00.000-07:00

The cutest little (and I mean little) doughnut shop just opened around the corner from my office! This is trouble...[tummy rumbling]

Robot Quilt for Wired Magazine

2011-04-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

I found this extremely unique quilt while reading Wired magazine yesterday and was struck by it's perfection and geometry. Turns out, it was designed by robots! Ok, not really. They had hoped it would be designed by robots. "We wanted to have one custom-created by a robot quilter," says senior art director Margaret Swart. "But for that, we were told, the lead time was a matter of months, not days." Since robot quilting actually takes quite a bit longer than regular ol' human quilting, they asked artist Matt W. Moore (a frequent illustrator for Wired, who has quite an extensive portfolio) to do a digital illustration for the quilt, which they then printed it on a 40-inch-wide roll of broadcloth. When this was finished, they handed it over to a professional non-robot seamstress who hand-stitched lines in between the color blocks to give it the look of a "real" quilt. A pretty inventive technology-enhanced technique!

Weekend at the Art Institute

2011-03-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the pleasure of perusing the Chicago Art Institute and discovered a few new artists that took my breath away. My favorite piece is a new window called Shade by Simon Heijdens, commissioned by the Art Institute and installed the new Modern Wing. From what I understand, Shade is created with a film-like material applied to glass in a series of triangles that are connected to a sensor outside the museum. The triangles then block or pass through sunlight (by becoming transparent or opaque) depending on continuously changing wind patterns. Essentially, when the wind blows the triangles flutter and sparkle across the pane like the wind. It's just magical!

Definitely check out this video of the window in motion or if you can, visit the museum!

My other new discovery from the weekend is modern artist Blaise Drummond, whose book I picked up in the gift shop and couldn't put down. I just love the sparse color contrasted against the stark white backgrounds and his juxtaposition (or, sometimes, marriage) of architecture and landscape.

Having fun on Anthropologie's new toy

2011-03-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

Design your own tabletop.

Cookie Boy

2011-03-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

This guy makes art. Out of cookies.

Leanne Shapton "A Month of..."

2011-03-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

I just discovered the "A Month of..." series created by Leanne Shapton, illustrator, author and former art director for the Times Op-Ed page. The lovely series of color and shape illustrates "life’s minor notes and quotidian details" and appears on the New York Times the last week of every month.

After perusing her website a bit, I'm also in love with her series of "wooden block books."

Originally found on High + Low.

Crazy shoes that I'm into this week

2011-03-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

The top ballet flats, by ModCloth, look like pencils! I mean, come on. So fun! The two center shoes were designed by Finsk of Julia Lundsten who has been dubbed the "Eames" of footwear. They do not seem to be sold in stores (none that I could afford anyway) so I'll just admire them from afar. And the final glittery Twirl Karolina party shoe was designed by the illustrious Kate Spade. Sparkly!

Yes, this post has no connection to illustration whatsoever and there is no continuity between these items other than the fact that they are all shoes. So what. It's Friday.

Another cool Google masthead

2011-03-24T08:39:00.001-07:00

Apparently it's Houdini's birthday.

CMYK Embroidery

2011-03-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

by Evelin Kasikov. Found @ Kate Spade Things We Love.

Remember these?

2011-03-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

Oh boy did I used to love these little beads. Apparently they're Danish and called Hama Beads, which I never knew! Maybe they'll become cool again like puffy paint or shrinky dinks. (Apparently puffy paint is already cool again, it's for sale at Urban Outfitters.)

Images found on SAH-RAH.