Balance, Design, Products, Technology
January 13, 2012
By Cerentha Harris
Where we were this week…
1. Eric Fischer’s amazing Flickr site. Fischer captures people’s photo-taking habits (locals and tourists) on maps and publishes them to Flickr. The images are really beautiful. Below is a snapshot of Chicago – the blue denotes locals taking photographs, the red is tourists.
2. Core 77′s store for their Hand-Eye Supply spiral bound notebooks that are wrapped shut with a strip of elastic that doubles as a pen holder. Clever.
3. PSFK for their piece on Mercedes mobile workplaces…more on this next week!
4. SFMoma’s artist’s series lets you buy prints from young contemporary artists. The latest contributor is Jason Munn and his clean-lined graphic work would make a great addition to your home office.
5. Danish architects MLRP for their amazing mirror house. Part fun house, part sleek contemporary design.
6. Designer Seung Yong Song’s wonderful Object-O. A paper lantern perches on top of a chair – it’s the ultimate tiny home office.
7. Wallpaper for their W* House. Check out the study for some incredible home office accessories (yes, they have included our Airia desk)
8. W magazine wonderfully over the top House Tours series. Love this dark-walled library. I imagine you’d cosy up and get a lot of work done here!
9. Apartment Therapy – which has undergone a major redesign – for their coverage of digital decals for the home office.
10. Designboom for their online store selling original designs. Have a look at the 24k pencil. Nice accompaniment to the gold typewriter I covered yesterday.
Design, Products
June 28, 2011
By Amy Feezor
1. Pino Get out your work aggressions (and keep your notes neat) with this small voodoo doll-shaped memoboard. Get info: danielcaramelo.com
2. Float Pendant Light This striking collaboration between designer Benjamin Hubert and Scandinavian lighting manufacturer & Tradition is handcrafted from a large block of recycled agglomerate cork. Get Info: benjaminhubert.co.uk
3. Haute Surface Set, $19.00 Use these houndstooth-inspired cork trivets as a coasters or mousepads, or interlock them to cover and protect the surface of your desk. Get it: Vivavi
4. Cork Peg, $50.00 Make space for extra supplies by hanging them on your office wall using these simple hooks. Get it: Molo
5. Cork Tray, $150.00 Letters and bills will look lovely in this handmade (and handy) piece by San Francisco-based Urbana Design. Get it: Branch
Images linked to their sources within the numbered text
Technology
November 30, 2010
By Cerentha Harris
While there have been quite a number of horrendous color remixes using ColorWare’s hardware painting service, we happen to believe in showcasing the good, rather than the bad. Here’s our picks from ColorWare’s gallery for tech that actually looks like it was worth the couple hundred dollars invested in it. From accented MacBook Pros to completely converted Playstation 3′s, there’s a couple of very simple rules to follow if you’re planning on getting your stuff redone using ColorWare’s service:
Keep it simple: That means don’t go accent crazy and stick with a simple palette so it seems like you have a purpose and direction with your coloring scheme.
Keep it classy: Although this is fairly subjective, we’re going to go ahead and say that there are a few color choices out there that actually work well with today’s modern industrial design aesthetic of electronics. Get inspired by something fancy and then use it as your color palette.
Keep it real: If you’re going to color something, don’t cover up essential features of the device or logos that may distinguish it from other brands.
What do you guys think? Does painting a device give a new sense of ownership and uniqueness to today’s modern electronics? Or is it a complete waste of money?
By Anthony Nguyen
This story appears in partnership with Unplggd, a site for people who embrace technology and design in their home.
Products
September 20, 2010
By Cerentha Harris
Over at Lifework contributor Amy Feezor’s blog M-Dashing there’s often an item or two…or five, that I covet. Today I wandered back through her archives and found these retro pens from Kikkerland. 5 for $8 seems like a bargain.
Design, Products, Technology
June 20, 2010
By Brian Greene
For all the time and effort that people put into finding that perfect pen, it’s amazing that they will write on just any old paper. Maybe this was OK when you were in 1st grade learning how to spell your name without backwards letters, but if you are looking to upgrade your overall writing experience, take a look at some of the outstanding notebooks below.
Some of my favorite notebooks for everyday use are from the Black n’ Red brand. Nothing fancy here, however you can’t beat the combination of their simple visual appeal, impeccable quality, and great value. Sturdy covers, with good quality binding, and most importantly high quality paper that won’t have your writing bleed through. There are many options to choose from, but I like the coil bound version with polypropylene cover. $7 via Amazon
If making the decision between traditional ruled paper, and graph paper is just too hard for you, the notebooks from Doane Paper will make your day. The unique design of their notebooks give you graph paper and ruled paper all on one page by using a heavier horizontal line to make up the squares of the graph paper. Doane Paper notebooks are available as standard legal pads, pocket size journals, and hard-cover coil-bound versions. $4.50 to $11 via DoanePaper
Whitelines notebooks come in multiple formats including coil bound and book style binding, with your choice of ruled or graph paper style. The paper itself is a very light gray, while the lines are actually white. The logic behind this design is that the white lines will not distract or interfere with your writing or drawing. Also, when you scan or photocopy the paper, the lines become invisible. My personal favorite is the lined A5 with hard black cover and coil binding. $12 via Amazon
If you are a fountain pen user, or someone who hates when your writing shows through to the other side of the page, the Rhodia Web Notebook is the perfect option for you. These notebooks use a heavy 90 gauge paper that deals well with just about any ink and is also the smoothest paper you will ever write on. $20 via Amazon
For the most professional looking notebooks, you can’t go wrong with the Levenger’s Circa system. These notebooks are not cheap; however their unique disc binding system and high quality cloth or leather covers will make you stand out from the crowd in a meeting. The disc binding system allows you great flexibility in moving and organizing your notes. $49-$129 via Levenger
Illustrations by Jordan Awan
Design, Products, Technology
May 11, 2010
By Cerentha Harris
“We’ve said before that we’re not the biggest fans of laptop decals, but we have shared a few designs that were close to converting us. Well, we thought we were close until we saw these and then realized the others were a world away from the creativity and all around great design of these decals. These decals are from Etsy seller Beep Art who is located in Canada. They draw inspiration from tattoos, retro art and iconic cultural imagery to create vibrant, unique pieces. They offer products beyond laptop decals, but these are our favorite.
Each decal is made from high quality self-adhesive vinyl that will not leave any glue residue when removed. Each decal is shipped with easy to understand application instructions, for those that wouldn’t know how to apply a decal!
Our favorite is the WoodGrain decal, it reminds us of Gregory’s Refreshed & Refreshing Home Office. The great thing about these decals is that they aren’t just for Macbooks — they’re available for Mac and PC in a variety of sizes.
Each decal sells for $12 and is sent regular post to avoid high shipping costs.
By Kristen Lubbe”
This story appears in partnership with Unplggd, a site for people who embrace technology and design in their home.
Design, Products
May 10, 2010
By Amy Feezor
1. Blu Dot 2D:3D Letter Holder, $25 A smart blend of origami and metal: This powder-coated steel holder arrives flat; simply bend along the dotted lines and put it to work. Get it: Hive Modern
2. Desk Letter Holder, $151 Designed in 1919 by Giorgio Fedon, this holder’s rounded compartments and saffiano-embossed leather-imitation details stand the test of time. Get it: Forzieri
3. Letter Holder, €24 Koray Ozgen’s cheery design intends to make you happy that you’ve got mail. Get it: ODC Paris
4. Note Holder, $28 Designer Tomoko Otaka used tightly wound steel coil as a nod to the shape of an unfolded fan—a traditional Japanese symbol of prosperity. Get it: MoMA
5. Linea Letter Holder, $151 Blocks of color and simple, straightforward design keep your desktop organized (and looking good). Get it: Stitch Chicago
Images linked to their sources within the numbered text