Work/Life 2

I just got my copy of Uppercase’s Work/Life 2 today and couldn’t put it down for what seemed an eternity. The Uppercase Directory of Illustration features 100 illustrators from around the world, compiled in a beautiful design.

Here’s a flip through the entire book:

Lampshade = Planter

I discovered this lovely IKEA Hack over on re-nest: IKEA Lampshade gone Planter.

Use Candy For Buffet Table Labeling

I think I might build on this idea and make place cards for our daughter’s upcoming 5th birthday party. She would love it!

Flux Chair

I just gasped at the sight of this ‘foldable’ chair called Flux. I would love to keep two of these in my trunk and unfold whenever a lounging opportunity presents itself. They would also look great in our studio! Oh, the possibilities!

Check out Jaime’s thorough post over on Design Milk.

Flux Chair on Dwell.com from flux on Vimeo.

Waitrose Food Packaging

I would buy up an entire shelf of these cans just because of the marvelous packaging. It’s by a UK-based chain supermarket called Waitrose.

(via melissaeastondesign)

Paper Trees

Lovely paper tree creations by Sandra Juto.

Cara Mug

A mug made out of wood? Oh my! I would love to see what it feels like to drink out of this.

Planche à découper

A beauty of a cutting board. Available over at neest.

(thank you robert)

J.A. Christensen Maker Ties

These ties were made on a single needle sewing machine, by a single operator: J.A. Christensen Maker Ties

(via geniusvomit)

Hacker Takes Over Times Square

This “Hacker Takes Over Times Square Using Homemade Transmitter And iP” video made me chuckle. I hope the guys of Improv Everywhere saw this. Just saying:

(via Ideas Are Awesome)

Question for my readers: White Wooden Floors

G and I bought a new apartment (yay!) that we now have to renovate. We are in total researching mode and I am obsessed with the idea of white-ish wooden floors. And this is where I am reaching out to you, my readers: Would you be able to direct us to pre-finished white-ish looking wooden floors similar to the ones pictured above? I am sure lots of my Scandinavian readers will have tips. I hope to find a wooden floor manufacturer that carries a similar type of flooring here in the US.

By the way, the image above is from Unplggd. It is Lotta Agaton’s home and it’s making me swoon. Click here for more images.

The Sum Total of Our Choices

“We’re all faced throughout our lives with agonizing decisions, moral choices. Some are on a grand scale, most of these choices are on lesser points. But we define ourselves by the choices we have made. We are, in fact, the sum total of our choices. Events unfold so unpredictably, so unfairly, Human happiness does not seem to be included in the design of creation. it is only we, with our capacity to love that give meaning to the indifferent universe. And yet, most human beings seem to have the ability to keep trying and even try to find joy from simple things, like their family, their work, and from the hope that future generations might understand more.”

— Professor Levy played by Martin S. Bergmann, a New York University clinical professor in psychology, in the movie Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) by Woody Allen.

(Via QuoteVadis)

Cammeo Porcelain

The purpose of these fine porcelain containers is as elastic as the six colored rubber bands that accompany each one and make a striking contrast against the bright white. Created by Louise Campbell for Kähler. Beautiful!

The Sartorialist

Blogger Scott Schuman aka “The Sartorialist“, shares photos from his Visual Life with 70,000 readers a day.

UPDATE: For some reason the video doesn’t seem to load, just click here and then click on the Sartorialist video.

(via intel.com/visuallife)

April 2011 CreativeMornings

Here’s an overview of the upcoming April CreativeMornings in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Zurich.


N E W Y O R K
Date: April 15th, 2011
Speaker: Christoph Niemann (flying in from Berlin)
Host: Galapagos Art Space
Sponsors: Mailchimp and Freshbooks
Organizer: swissmiss

More info and rsvp at creativemornings.eventbrite.com


L O S A N G E L E S
Date: April 8, 2011
Speaker: Michelle Mcilroy, Lomography USA
Host: Lomography Gallery Store
Sponsor: The Fox is Black
Organizer: Jon Setzen

More info and rsvp at losangelescreativemornings.eventbrite.com


S A N F R A N C I S C O
Date: April22, 2011
Speaker: Craig Mod
Host: The glorious Typekit headquarters
Sponsors: Happy Cog and Typekit
Organizer: Greg Storey

More info and rsvp at sfcreativemornings.eventbrite.com


Z U R I C H
Date: April 8, 2011
Speaker: Memonic Co-Founder Dr. Dorian Delz
Host: The Hub Zurich
Sponsor: rtp Agency
Organizer: Daniel Frei

More info and rsvp at zurichcreativemornings.eventbrite.com


Check out our site creativemornings.com for more info and for links taped talks.

ProSite

A few weeks back Scott Belsky visited Studiomates and gave me a sneak peak at his soon to be launched portfolio service called ProSite. I must admit, I was completely (!) blown away by what he has built. ProSite is going to make it supereasy for anyone to have a personal portfolio site that syncs with your Behance Network. You won’t need to know any coding whatsoever but will be able to customize it as much as you like. I saw the user interface that Scott, Matias and his team have created and it made me jump off my seat! These guys are brilliant!

The potential of ProSite becomes clear when you consider how everything is connected… The magic of ProSite is the ability to seamlessly add multi-media projects in one central place (the Behance Network) and then have them show up with different styles on your own personal and fully customized website. Your projects can be automatically pushed to other portfolios you maintain online like LinkedIn, AIGA, MTV, etc… Which means that your “following” of peers, fans, recruiters, and press can easily follow and stay updated whenever you complete a project.

When published, your projects are eligible to be featured on Behance’s 10+ Curated Gallery sites like TypographyServed.com, industrialdesignserved.com, toydesignserved.com as well as other galleries around the web.

Your projects can also be searched and sorted by journalists, recruiters, fans using the Behance Network’s search capabilities (The Network now gets over 7 million visitors every month). For example:

Work done for Nike by people/teams based in Australia http://bit.ly/hH50W6
“Most Appreciated” Typography Projects in Romania
“Most Viewed” Graphic Designers in San Francisco

Scott put it right when he said: “We’re entering a new era where a “static, outdated, isolated portfolio site of images” no longer cuts it.”

ProSite hasn’t publicly launched yet but people can sign up for beta now: prosite.com

Believe me, you will be blown away by the customization capabilities that ProSite will offer to its users. Not to mention how easy it will be to push the new work to all the different channels.

I am seriously excited for the entire Behance team. These guys are going to rock the portfolio site world. Here are a few examples of first ProSite portfolios:


M ss ng P eces (NY, NY)


Marius Roosendaal (Amersfoort, Netherlands)


Mac Funamizu (Tokyo, Japan)

And this one takes the cake:

Felix NG (Singapore)

Insulated Stainless Steel Bottle

This insulated stainless steel bottle made me look. Every S’well purchase supports WaterAid programs improving access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation.

Vidque

With all the YouTubes and Vimeos of the world, a lot of people find it difficult to discover quality video content. Unlike television, where shows are curated by broadcasters competing to produce a better lineup every year, online videos live in an endless, unfiltered pile. The creators of Vidque wanted a single platform that celebrates quality over quantity, with an emphasis on discovery and durability.

Want to see all swissmiss videos I posted on my blog? Go to Vidque.com/swissmiss

Gmail Motion

Gmail Motion uses your computer’s built-in webcam and Google’s patented spatial tracking technology to detect your movements and translate them into meaningful characters and commands. Gmail Motion let’s you control Gmail with your body. Awesome!!

(ha!)

Crinkled Glass



Finally! A glass version of the massively successful Crinkled Cup by Dutch artist Rob Brandt.

swissmiss on Aeschbacher

A few hours ago today’s Kurt Aeschbacher show aired on Swiss TV. I had the incredible honor to be one of his four guests.

If you don’t speak Swiss-German, I am afraid you won’t understand all that much, but hey, I am saying an English word here an there! I admit, I am all giddy. I watched the Aeschbacher show growing up and I am incredibly flattered that my story qualified me as one of his guests.

Aeschbacher vom 31.03.2011

On Your Way Here

“The people that I respect the most, the people who are doing great things, are people who care so much about what they do that they can’t stop.” – Liz Danzico

(A quotation from the sparkling, new On Your Way Here, an interview magazine from Dave Dawson.)

minigroup

Is private the new thing? Minigroup let’s you create small private networks. Use it for work or personal life. Interesting.

(via chrisglass)

Day Bed One



Day Bed One is a chic *and* practical piece of furniture: In the daytime use for lounging and additional seating and at night as a put-me-up for guests who just don’t want to go. What I really love about this Day Bed is that it can also easily be used as a coffee table. Nifty!