It has been one month since our baby boy arrived (all 9 lbs. 4.5 oz.) and I already can't imagine life without him. I could do without the 2am feedings, but, I must admit, I'm getting used to this new sleep schedule! *[Oeuf animal hats and booties -- bear, dragon, and wolf available]
I just happened upon this striped, adjustable arm sofa by George Nelson for Herman Miller over at reform-modern. The upholstery is vintage Alexander Girard fabric and "the adjustable arm feature is good for reading or napping." *[Sounds so nice.]
I found this business card on top of our mailbox a month or so ago. It is so on brand for Park Slope, Brooklyn. A man who loves cats and the color pink, has reasonable rates, and can provide excellent references. Purrfect. *[Thanks Sal.]
In coordination with the Drawing Center, Tokion Magazine invited me to view the current Drawing Room exhibit "FAX" and then create my own body of work in response to what I saw. I created this series of graphically playful fax cover sheets for Tokion's most current issue. *[Thanks Justin!]
From age 10 on, I spent many summer days on the Honda Trail 90s that were kept at our family's Bucks Lake cabin. We were allowed to drive them as soon as we could set the kick-stand and had strength enough to place the bike upright from a lying position. It was great fun. *[Image from "My Freedamn Vol. 8" available at Colette.]
My good friends Mary & Matt rounded up their many "Thank You" shopping bags and documented the collection in a book published by Partners & Spade titled "You're Welcome." Very clever. *[Drop by the Partners & Spade gallery/store at 40 Great Jones Street, NYC for your own copy.]
I'm having a baby B-O-Y! (Due in October.) My husband and I are beyond happy. Now I need to wrap my head around all things "boy" (I grew up with mostly sisters). I can't wait. Fall really couldn't come sooner. *[Child t-shirt from Mike Mills' HUMANS project.]
The Ephemera Society of America lists JP Williams as a “collector of collections.” His collections include: stamps, staplers, old philatelic covers, and gloves that have been run over by trucks. Now he has a blog to document them all: AmassBlog. Take a look. *[Thank you, JP.]
In celebration of Mother's Day, the Op-Ed editors over at the New York Times asked six female artists (Ruth Gwily, Nathalie Lete, Collier Schorr, Shary Boyle, Paloma Varga Weisz, and Kara Walker) for portraits of their mothers. In addition, these artists described one thing their mothers can do -- that they themselves can't. *[Take a look.]
"Facestape" from children's store Our Childrens Gorilla is awesome. "Smacked full of face-features you get metres and metres of possibilities when creating portraits, make your own African masks, jazz up your toilet seat or use for fun and totally nonsense surprises around the house." *[I like it. Especially on cardboard boxes.]
My daughter passed away last July due to complications related to Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome. Since her birth last May, I was in close contact with Shwachman-Diamond America, a group founded by a mother of two sons with the syndrome. I have remained involved since. *[The new logo below is the first of what I hope to be several projects for SDA.]
Miffy was created in 1955 by Dick Bruna who had been telling his one-year-old son stories about a little rabbit they had seen while on holiday. Miffy became a girl because Bruna decided he wanted to draw a dress and not trousers for his rabbit. *[JP gave me some of his daughter's Miffy book collection for my future kids. They are wonderful books.]
Swiss publisher Nieves has collaborated with Printed Matter in an exhibit featuring a full retrospective of Nieves' zine program since 2004, and will include a selection of their books published since their founding. These guys are great. *[Opening: Sat, April 4, 5-7pm at Printed Matter, NYC.]
This past February, my friends (Mara Papa, Katie Hatch) and I started HARVEY FAIRCLOTH, a fashion line which debuted at NYC's D&A with great response. The Fall 2009 collection is inspired by Alexey Brodovitch, Native American beading, The Seven Year Itch, Claire McCardell, and everything we've always loved to wear. Available in August. *[More here.]
In the 1960s, a group called the Diggers opened numerous Free Stores in SF's Haight-Ashbury and NYC's East 10th Street in which all items were free for the taking or giving. Today, in NYC's Financial District we have the recently opened Free Store, started by two artists, where goods can be had by bartering. [*Check it out here.]
Jason Polan will be drawing pictures of things Saturday, March 14 from 11am to 6pm in the window of Partners & Spade. You can come get a drawing of almost anything you want or request a surprise and the artist will try as hard as he can to draw the thing you will like the most. *[Guaranteed fun! Drawings $20.]
Last night was the opening of the new Partners & Spade space/gallery/store at 40 Great Jones Street. They invited gallery owners, designers, artists, and creatives to share their work and collections. These include Mike Mills, Maira Kalman, JP Williams, Jason Polan, Mary&Matt, Mister Mort, and me. *[Go and take a look.] Photos via The Scout.
I bought a pack of these 1" high, gold, Helvetica Font, Peel & Stick Vinyl Uppercase Letters from Staples a few years back. They can be used for almost anything. And they stick to any surface, too. *[Use on paper, glass, metal, plastic].
The Dress For Dinner Napkin, designed by Héctor Serrano, sure is clever. Tuck one of these napkins into your collar and instantly transform yourself from scruffy so-and-so to a prim and proper gentleman. *[Comes in 2 different stripes, solid, and polka dot; pack of 20.]
Some of these 1-color business cards have been sitting in a jar on a shelf for many years. A few of these businesses are no longer in NYC (AD HOC + Ordning & Reda). My favorite card, St. Luke's Thrift Shop, was passed along to me by my friend Erik. *[Thanks!]
Winter is HERE. To lighten the mood and keep warm, pick-up a pair of these JACK SPADE, limited edition, moustache gloves featuring an American-style moustache on one hand and a French-style on the other hand. More colors available. *[Hold finger under your nose and ENJOY.]
Songs I've had on heavy rotation in 2008: [1] New Schools: The Sea and Cake, [2] Official: Q-Tip, [3] Athene: Hercules and Love Affair, [4] I'm Still Waiting: Bob Marley, [5] Wait for the Summer: Yeasayer, [6] Baltimore: Nina Simone, [7] Onde Eu Nasci Passa Um Rio: Caetano Veloso, [8] Shake It Off: Kelly Makeda, [9] Move: CSS, [10] Tropical Island: Melpo Mene, [11] Do For The Others: Crosby, Stills & Nash, [12] Into Brooklyn, Early in the Morning: The Innocence Mission. *ENJOY!
From 1946 to 1966, Herbert Matter was a design consultant for Knoll where he designed the Knoll logo, numerous advertisements, posters, and catalogs. *[For Knoll's 60th birthday, NB:Studio came up with this version of the original logo for the 1998 Knoll Christmas card.]
Neon signs were developed by Georges Claude. The first public display of a neon sign was in December 1910 at the Paris Expo. In 1912, the first commercial sign was sold by Claude’s associate to a Paris barber. *Pick up a copy of the book "Let There Be Neon" [1980] or these holiday cards.
With days as cold as today, man, I wish I had one of these. This "MISS NEW YORK" scarf (and for the west coast gals, a "MISS CALIFORNIA" one in green) is available in kate spade stores. *This was a project I worked on in my last days as a member of the kate spade creative team.
The paper chain's history began in England during the reign Queen Victoria from 1837-1901. Victorian children made ornaments, such as stars and doves, from paper or foil and festive colored chains from strips of paper as their contribution to the family's Christmas decorating. *[More paper art ideas here.]
This Marimekko striped textile was designed by Maija & Kristina Isola from the Winter 2008/2009 fabric collection. Pattern: Aino (1979). Material: 100% cotton velvet [Stripes do not repeat]. Priced and sold by the yard @ $68/yd.
Salvor is a graphic project which first began about 3 years ago in a basement studio below the sidewalk on Prince Street right off the Bowery. They printed all kinds of things from wall treatments to t-shirts to yukata to doll-like sculptures. *[Sample Sale Dec. 6th | 13 Essex Street, NYC!]
Jason Polan is nice and he loves to draw. His most recent project is Thrilla in Manila: Jane Mount vs. Jason Polan -- a no holds barred draw-a-thon at Jen Bekman Gallery. Drawing Hours: 12/03/08 - 12/06/08, Noon - 6pm. *Swing by.
Andy Beach of REFERENCE LIBRARY will bring his blog into the 3rd dimension with a 10-day-long shop at KIOSK that opens on Friday. *[A few booklets of patriotic, vintage stamps I put together will be available in the shop.]
Finally, a way to really fudge the numbers. The Chocolate Pie Chart is a candy chart made of 70% milk, 20% dark and 10% white chocolate. It's a completely new way to digest the numbers. Unless you eat it in one sitting. *Now for sale in Mary & Matt's General Store.
My friends over at kate spade have been busy designing clever, new, soft goods -- all handcrafted by women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Buy a pair and "directly support a woman as she rebuilds her life, family, and
community." Wonderful.
Below are a few illustrations I have done for Madewell over the past months. It has been nice to be able to work, every now and then, with just pen and paper. You should try it.
These stamps are from this online collection featuring the work of 19 designers. They depict the Dutch Queen Beatrix [1981]. Design by Peter Struycken. Letters and numbers by Gerard Unger.
Every month I design a new issue of Madewell Musings, a monthly newspaper and calendar put out by the J.Crew owned store, Madewell. There're always fun events going on in their NYC store. [Take a look.]
This beautiful, dimensional typography was created by Filip Tydén as a catalogue cover for the Animation Dept. at the Royal College of Art, 2007. Filip is also looking for a job.
Exhibition designer Robert Guest has been getting up at dawn every school day for the past 15 years to write a note to each of his two children, Joanna and Theo. Here are some of the thousands of letters he wrote. [Esopus, Spring 2008]
These 1- and 2-color business cards were at one point left tucked into the front door of our apartment building here in Brooklyn. This kind of everyday design makes me smile :) [And I L-O-V-E the hearts.]
My friend Gillian designed this poster when we were both working at Kate and Jack Spade. A great collection of objects -- some of which were Gillian's own -- all of which collectively capture the brand's aesthetic. [Nice stuff.]
This is the packaging for the brand new figure set designed by French artist Genevieve Gauckler. It was created to celebrate her last exhibition in Japan called "Tokyo 41% Paris 59%". [Limited Edition]
I remember when I paid 10 cents at school for a small carton of milk. Those were the days. [“Hamburger, Popsicle, Price” by Claes Oldenburg, 1962. Materials: Enamel paint on canvas stuffed with kapok.]
Speaking of school, a new 'university' was launched in London, led by a group of artists, writers and intellectuals in a small shop in Bloomsbury. "The School of Life" was designed to help busy people appreciate the finer things in life, like art, books and travel. Take a look.
For lovers of Clarendon, a slab-serif typeface created by Robert Besley in 1845, is this new Clock by Lemnos, design by Riki Watanabe (designed when he was 92 years old). 12.2 cm x 7.2 cm. 85 Euros.
This is a detail from a double-page illustration I did for the New York Times Magazine's April 6th real estate issue. The feature was titled, "The Tightwad's Legacy." As always, it was great fun to do [Thanks Jeff].
"Let spring blossom on the tip of your toes with this pair of Nike Dunk liberty printed." Dunk Hi Liberty Wiltshire and Pepper. Only 40 women's pairs available at colette. Limited edition: 185 pairs. Available May 3rd.
This t-shirt (inspired by Milton Glaser's NY version) is for sale at the Paris based store colette. The t-shirt was imagined by La Clique from Le Paris Paris, Le Baron and La Johnson. I LOVE it. 35 Euros.
The Sterling Ruby: CHRON exhibition ended a few weeks ago at The Drawing Center in NYC -- collage from show (below). Prison (detail), 2004. Collage and pencil on paper, size: 31.5" x 23.75".
Last August, I snapped these photos at the Saanich Fair in British Columbia. Along the same lines the typeface "Safe," is also made from Styrofoam -- take a look. And in honor of Easter eggs and such, check out my friend's tutorial on natural egg dyeing.
My friend, Mordechai Rubinstein, was recently featured in Time Out New York for his sartorial sense...read more about him here. (A fashionable lady I know from Madewell, Gigi Guerra, is also featured in the issue.)
