I have the summer-time craft bug.

Inspired by all the summer-time festivities, I am just itching to bust out the craft paper and glitter and get my craft on. Too bad there isn't a Micheal's Craft store in the East Village. Bummer. So, instead I've been living vicariously through others. Here are my new favorite craft-a-licious blogs.

[Disclaimer: Not listed in any rank/order. Excited?]

1. MaeMae Paperie

  

2. My Vibe My Life by Kelly Wearstler

    

3. Spine Out by John Gall [book covers]

     

4. Grey Likes Weddings

     

5. Martha Stewart Crafts [A classic of course. I recommend signing up for the Martha Stewart Craft of the Day email.]

     

 

 

 

Some fantastic ads I've stumbled upon...

If you like Risky Business, socks, and smooth wooden floors this is for you: Tabio Slide Show Continuing with the Japanese, if you like wood I highly recommend this [helpful hint, stick it out until the end]: Docomo

For my cat friends, you deserve this: Skittles Touch The Rainbow

For my other, more reasonable friends, who enjoy markers and highlighters as much as I do: Edding Highlighter and Edding Wall of Fame

This is for all of you who are into narcotics (specifically pill taking) and music (double whammy): The Human Jukebox

 

Enjoy!

Resumes: Software Engineer

Just finished working on some resumes for a software engineer. Never met him so it was a bit of a challenge to whip something out of thin air. But, I went for a classic corporate resume with a touch of cyan blue and an internet-cursor inspired logo. I chose the typeface because it was masculine and minimalistic, and I thought it would be a great match for a smart young software engineer.

Icons overcoming language barriers.

 

In general, I believe there is hope for a universal language. The general mission of Esperanto is inspiring, to have an easy to learn and speak language both politically neutral and uniting. But, I have observed over the last year an outstanding revival of  emoticons working hard in places where several languages converge in one informal place: the online comment space.

Instagram and Twitter have provided users the ability to gather data across country borders, forming communities that are multi-lingual and diverse. Check out this cute little guy who excited an array of dog lovers on Instagram. His Japanese keeper, who posted the picture, simply used three icons to convey eating (fork and knife), dog, and lick/spit (little drops). No language even required. Brilliant.

In response, her fans (or the dogs fans) comment back using icons too. Whether they speak Italian, Japanese, or English is completely irrelevant. A smiley-face with bulging hearts as eyes is universal.

 

New Art by Rob Hann

I'm so excited for my two new prints. I bought them from Rob Hann himself, who is my East Village neighbor and lives a couple blocks away. It was a tough choice to pick just two (check out his site) but here is what I settled on:

They both shared a few dichotomies like isolation vs. sprawl, nature vs. man, desert vs. oasis, luxury vs. simplicity. I think they make a good pair. Can't wait to get them framed!

The Personal Stationary of Famous People

I have always been extremely fascinated by the personal stationary of powerful people. While I may be presumptuous to think that they choose selectively with intention and with great attention to detail... It simply provokes me to question why they chose what they chose. What were they thinking when they picked the maroon damask envelope lining? That being said, I stumbled upon Mark Zuckerberg's personal stationary online and it stayed with me all day. Take a look. Apply some of that Psychology you learned in PSYCHE 101 and it becomes pretty interesting. In one form or other, personal stationary is a projected manifestation of how one wishes to be perceived and presented.

Here's a quote from the designer: "Mark gets a lot of mail thanking him from people with amazing personal stories made possible because of Facebook. We wanted to make something a little more personal and special for him to respond."

By Ben Berry

Hilarious: Don't Fear the Internet!

"Are you a print designer, photographer, fine-artist, or general creative person? Do you have a shitty website that you slapped together yourself in Dreamweaver in that ONE web design class that you took in college? Do you not have a site at all because you’ve been waiting two years for your cousin to put it together for you? Well, We’re here to help. We know that you have little to no desire to do web design professionally, but that doesn’t mean that you want an ugly cookie-cutter site or to settle for one that hasn't been updated since Hackers was in theaters. Through short tutorial videos, you’ll learn how to take a basic wordpress blog and manipulate the css, html (and even some php!) to match your aesthetic. You’ll feel empowered rather than crippled by the internet and worst case scenario you’ll at least end up having a better idea of how professional web designers turn your design dreams into a reality on screen." - the basics

[vimeo 22870763]