HI + LOW

A.P.C. XS

A.P.C. Children is now available in "unisex clothes, from 2 to 12 years, 100% cotton, featuring stripes and a parrot." You can outfit your petit enfant in a "blouse, t-shirt, jeans, bermuda shorts and a bag inspired by the A.P.C. summer '12 collection fabrics." The parrot denim bag is sweet. *[FYI: "Jean Touitou (owner and designer of A.P.C.) didn't like the options for his daughter's preschool — so he started his own." Nice.]

IN SUPPLY

The Uline catalog is bananas. And, it's HUGE. There are hundreds of pages of office supplies: Custom tape, kraft stay flats, colored plastic bags, tape dispensers. I've been ordering from them since 1998 (starting at my first studio job). It is a family-owned business and the leading distributor of shipping, industrial and packaging materials to businesses throughout North America. *[I ordered this tape dispenser there when I started my own design studio, back in 2007.]

IN PIECES

On Saturday, I picked up these four New York Times Historic Puzzles (Parker Brothers, 1968) at an estate sale in NJ. The whole lot was only $2! The puzzles were down in the home's basement stacked and one was labelled in wobbly script, "All pieces 10/18/00." Each box contains 500 diecut cardboard, interlocking pieces. I think puzzles are therapeutic. *[Get one here and here. *[Having a slow day? Peruse some of my work in the NY Times Magazine.]

ART STRINGS

String art has its origins in the 'curve stitch' activities invented by Mary Everest Boole at the end of the 19th Century to make mathematical ideas more accessible to children. It was popularised as a decorative craft in the late 1960s through kits and books. Here's a great tutorial on how to make typographic string art. *[Star Trek scene circa 1976. More interplanetary eye candy here and here.]

TACTILE TYPOGRAPHY

Amazing. These two sisters, for a fee, will custom embroider your own initials. They call themselves "makers of things assorted" and have "an unusual obsession with paper and patterns, like geeking out with gashapon toys and enjoy getting crafty with embroidery and fimo. *[Check them out here and commission your own embroidered initials here.]

CUT-UP

Bradford Shellhammer, the cofounder of FAB, made these collages when his "obsession and collection of design objects deepened and expanded, into the world of art." So he took the logical next step and began painting. "And paint (and cut and tape) he did—for hours at a time, for several weeks... playing with various media and finding his niche in collage." *[These remind me of the importance of creating with your hands, taking a break from technological tools, and not taking oneself too seriously. All good things.]

WE DO

This was a fun wedding project. I was fortunate to work with Alix, who is so lovely and nice. She was familiar with my handwriting/doodling (from our days working together on Madewell Musings) which turned out to be a perfect fit for her wedding invitations. Silkscreened in white on duplexed kraft cardstock and tied with string. Click on image for detail. *[From the pictures (here, here, and here), it looks like it was a very memorable day. Thanks Alix!]

BACK & FORTH

These came in a lot of Creative Playthings toys I won on Ebay. Included were two sets of the rocking horse and see-saw, as well as a swing set similar to this one. We sent the duplicate set out west to our friends' newborn son in Oakland, CA. And, the set pictured here stayed east with us for our newest addition. The pieces are made of 1.5" thick unfinished wood -- ideal for pushing, grabbing, and playing. *[More eBay listings for Creative Playthings. I love these!]

DOT DOT DOT

This partial sheet of dog stickers was tucked between the pages of my 2-year-old's sketch book. He had stuck some transparent, color-coding, circle labels over the heads of the dogs. Not unlike John Baldessari whose artwork involved "placing colorful dots over faces, obscuring portions of scenes, or juxtaposing stock photographs with quixotic phrases, injecting humor and dissonance into vernacular imagery." *[I've found Avery stickers/labels quite useful for kids -- they love the various shapes and colors, and they leave so much to the imagination.]

 

MAPS!

These maps are from Graphis Diagrams a wonderful book on the "graphic visualization of abstract data." The first map was taken from Plan for New York City, designed by Don Page and Frank Williams. The second map is from Etude d'amenagement, an urban renewal project based in Geneva, designed by Joel Katz. I love the liberal use of color in both examples. *[The bottom map reminds me of this book.]

SHAPE OF THINGS

While perusing the READ section at Present & Correct, I came across this book: SHAPES by John J. Reiss: "a riot of geometric illustrations and bright acid colours. Follow Mr Fox as he explores each shape and where we find them in the world. He is aided by a mole, some birds & various beautifully depicted objects. A collectible hardback in good condition (ex library)." Thanks Neal! *[Here are two other books he has authored: Numbers and Colors]

 

FOOD STUFF

Recently, while visiting my parents in Northern California, I spotted dozens of these large cans on a shelf tucked behind their basement stairs. These are food storage cans circa 1970 (definitely expired) with corresponding recipes (typeset in black Courier, no less) printed on the back of each can. *[I'm quite curious about the Fruit Galaxy. Here's a modern version you can try for yourself.]

COTTON / POLYCHROME

This striped quilt was inspired by Mary & Matt's post on John Nixon's stripe paintings. I based the design on one of his Polychrome Paintings from a series he did in 2007. Machine pieced and quilted stripes, I chose yellow thread for the stitching. The back is a solid cotton in chocolate brown. *[Hey: I'm in the market for a new sewing machine. Any recommendations for a brand with a great backstitch?]

PAPER ZOO

"Paper Zoo: The delightful paper-folding kit comprising a 12-page booklet and 36 pre-scored sheets of colourful paper to fold a variety of beautiful exotic and domestic animals. A highly entertaining and educational device to develop manual skills and to stimulate the imagination." Published by the MoMA; Design: Ernst Roch, 1985. *[This copy was given to me by my amazing friends, Erik & Jess. Thank you -- you always find the best books.]

GINGHAM

Following tradition, I made a quilt in anticipation of the birth of my second son (now 6 months old). As the tradition goes, my kind mother finished the binding while I was in Manhattan recovering in the hospital. Each square is a JACK SPADE Days of the Week Handkerchief (Thanks Mary!) plus extra gingham yardage. The first 7 squares have song titles containing a day of the week embroidered in their lower right hand corner. *[It's similar to the map quilt I made for my first son. Check out this *copy* I found for sale.]

EYE CANDY

Last week, I visited the Japanese superstore Mitsuwa in Edgewater, NJ (a graphic designer's heaven with Japanese candy, books, and sundries). Most of my time there was spent scanning the interesting and graphic packaging in the candy aisle. *[Example: below are some boxes of caramels I picked up which come in multiple colorways. Good stuff!]