How designy is this Yumaki Trinidad Toothbrush? Totally fits the swissmiss color scheme! Ha!
Cockerel Clock
My chicken obsession is being fueled by this Cockerel Clock.
Get To Work
“Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.” — Chuck Close
(via quote vadis)
100/10/1
There is a 100/10/1 “rule of thumb” with social services. 1% will create content, 10% will engage with it, and 100% will consume it. If only 10% of your users need to log in because 90% just want to consume, then you’ll end up with the vast majority of your users in the logged out camp. Don’t ignore them, build services for them, and you can slowly but surely lead them to more engagement and potentially some day into the logged in camp.
– Fred Wilson
read the full post: Don’t Forget Your Logged Out Users
The Printer’s Terms
The Printer’s Terms contains explanations of virtually all printer’s terms of the pre-digital “lead age of typography” in English, German and French. Designed by legendary Swiss Rudolf Hostettler.
Nightstand
PIN-UP Magazine and Phillips de Pury & Company recently embarked on an interesting quest – to reinvent the nightstand. Eleven designers submitted ideas and the one above, by Leon Ransmeier, is by far my favorite. See them all over on Shoeboxdwelling.
2011 Jell-O Mold Design Competition
It’s that time of the year again where New Yorkers get crafty with Jell-O! It’s time for the 2011 Jell-O Mold Dedsign Competition here in Brooklyn. Designers must register by Wednesday June 15, 2011 to participate in the competition. The event is open to the public so even if you don’t compete you can come check out the action and vote for your favorite mold for People’s Choice!
Designers must make their own molds for the contest–either by creating a new mold or recontexualizing pre-existing forms–and they welcome submission of process images of mold construction.
More info here.
Time for an Email Charter
Chris Anderson (of TED) is declaring war on in-boxes with this recent blog post. He is asking use to help start an Email Charter. I am nodding in agreement.
As I have expressed before, I am quite frustrated with how we use email. I know, I am not alone. I have declared email bankruptcy and explained in another post how email has become my primary source of guilt. I currently have an auto-responder set up that has the sole purpose of setting expectations low. Here’s what it says:
Hi there,
This autoresponder is an attempt in setting expectations right. Fact is: I get too much email and can’t keep up. My inbox has become my primary source of guilt.
I promise I will try my best to get back to you as soon as I can. If your email is super-crazy important, meaning the internet might implode if I don’t write back, then please resend your email in a day or so, if you don’t hear back.
Waving from Brooklyn!
Tina – ready to change the way we use email
The overall response to the auto-responder has been positive. Of course, I get an annoyed comment here and there, but it has helped me feel less guilty. Also, people have proven to be more understanding, less annoyed with my late or lack of reply. It’s obviously not an ideal solution, but better than nothing.
What do you think of Chris’ idea? And his proposed rules?
Cloud Lamp
I don’t think I have ever been as excited about a lamp. Ever. Zhao Liping’s Cloud Lamp won my heart.
(thank you Maria and Kirstin)
MoMA Design Studio
The MoMA Department of Advertising and Graphic Design just launched their team website: www.momadesignstudio.org #twothumbsup
(thank you Jesse)
Bosch Fridge Manual 1963
I just stumbled upon an amazing collection of Book and Design related Flickr Sets by German based Design Professor Michael Stoll. This Bosch Fridge Manual Set from 1963 made me chuckle. Or check out this Flight Thru Instruments book from 1945, describing different (military) techniques of flight in a profusely illustrated manner. Or this Corporate Identity Brochure from 1972 about the City of Munich.
Vintage Eberhard Faber Ruby Erasers
A vintage beauty: 1940s Vintage Eberhard Faber Ruby Eraser Box, by Christian Montone.
(via Luc Latulippe)
CreativeMornings Video: Craig Mod
Our speaker at the April 2011 San Francisco/CreativeMornings was Craig Mod, a writer, designer, publisher and developer concerned with the future of publishing and storytelling in the iPad and Kindle era.
A big giant thank you to Chris Whitmore for offering to shoot and edit the video. Photos were graciously provided by Richard Something.
June 2011 CreativeMornings
Here’s an overview of the upcoming June CreativeMornings in New York, Zurich, Los Angeles, San Francisco and now Chicago.
N E W Y O R K
Date: June 24th, 2011
Speaker: Yancey Strickler, Kickstarter Co-Founder
Host: Galapagos Art Space
Sponsors: Mailchimp and Freshbooks
Organizer: swissmiss
More info and rsvp at creativemornings.eventbrite.com
Z U R I C H
Date: June 24, 2011
Speaker: Markus Mettler
Host: Cafe Casablanca
Sponsor: Cafe Casablanca
Organizer: Daniel Frei
More info and rsvp at zurichcreativemornings.eventbrite.com
L O S A N G E L E S
Date: June 10, 2011
Speaker: Josh Nimoy
Host: mediatemple
Sponsor: Blik
Organizer: Jon Setzen
More info and rsvp at losangelescreativemornings.eventbrite.com
S A N F R A N C I S C O
Date: June 24, 2011
Speaker: Adam Tobin
Host: The glorious Typekit headquarters
Sponsors: Happy Cog and Typekit
Organizer: Erika Hall
More info and rsvp at sfcreativemornings.eventbrite.com
C H I C A G O (first one, hoooray!)
Date: June 24, 2011
Speaker: Jim Coudal
Host: Gravity Tank
Sponsor: Neenah Paper
Organizer: Mig Reyes
More info and rsvp at chicagocreativemornings.eventbrite.com
In July we will be kicking off CreativeMornings/London with Michael Johnson as our speaker and Drew Smith as our Host!
Check out our site creativemornings.com for more info and for links taped talks.
enormously insignificant
“You are 1 person out of 7 billion people
On 1 planet out of 8 planets
In 1 star system out of 100 billion star systems
In 1 galaxy out of 100 billion galaxies
And you are enormously insignificant.”– unknown
(via quote vadis)
Rare Book Feast #1
Now here’s a gem of a discovery that stopped me in my tracks this morning: Rare Book Feast is new short movie series about the timeless character of books. Their message and what they look like are what is celebrated here. Nate Burgos believes that as our culture becomes digital in a lot of ways, it is all the more important (not to mention inviting) to revisit and learn from the early design challenges, creative solutions and general lessons that the “old” print world keeps relevant.
Kicking off this series is the “World Geo-Graphic Atlas” (1953) designed by Herbert Bayer with Martin Rosenzweig, Henry Gardiner and Masato Nakagawa: 2,200 diagrams, graphs, charts, symbols spanning 368 pages about our planet earth. All done before computers.
Video concept, script and narration by Nate Burgos of DesignFeast.com. Video creation, direction and production by Joe Giovenco of BRNeyes.com.
#fantastic
♥ / Herman Miller
A big thank you to Herman Miller for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed.
You know their furniture designs; they set the tone for mid-century modern and next-century cool. That makes them right for nearly any space. Most recently, Herman Miller has turned its savvy to creating great offices for small businesses. The focus is called the Herman Miller S3 program. Think hybrid sports car. Easy on the wallet because it’s a select group of easy-to-own products. Fun because it’s fast (“from idea to installation in about 20 days”). Worth a test drive. hermanmiller.com/s3
(Interested in sponsoring a week of my RSS feed, learn more here.)
Pandagram
My studiomates Jason Hawkins and Larry Legend released a simple (and free) iPad app called Pandagram last week. It’s a bare-bones but elegant Instagram photo viewer for your iPad. Check it out. (This is the app with the cutest icon ever, designed by yet another studiomate, the lovely Meagan Fisher)
Natural Rubber Flip Flops
Here’s the latest product curated by the lovely Holstee folks: Feelgoodz Flip Flops, made of natural rubber which means they are biodegradable. When the life of your Feelgoodz come to an end, chop them up and bury them in your backyard – and in a few years they will completely biodegrade. In addition to the 10% for Kiva that Holstee lends out for every purchase, every purchase of Feelgoodz benefits Pencils of Promise, an organization which builds schools in the developing world and trains young leaders to take action at home and abroad! “Feel good” on so many levels!
Twig Pod
The Twig Pod is a collapsible outdoor tripod. Actually, it’s more of a monopod that stakes into the ground. When you’re done with it, you can fold it up neatly into a tiny canvas pouch — it’s like a tent rod tripod!
Cardboard Sheep
A cardboard sheep shelf? Yes, please!
Printing at Home
This Printing At Home Piece by Xavier Antin made me chuckle. Combine art with some humor and you got me.
Letter Holder Bookend
I just tried to convince my desk neighbor Rob that this bookend would look lovely with his rainbow of A Book Apart books on his desk.