A beautifully designed and helpful booklet on Typography: Meet your Type by Fontshop
(via subtraction)
I Tweet, Therefore I Am
On a recent lazy Saturday morning, my daughter and I lolled on a blanket in our front yard, snacking on apricots, listening to a download of E. B. White reading “The Trumpet of the Swan.” Her legs sprawled across mine; the grass tickled our ankles. It was the quintessential summer moment, and a year ago, I would have been fully present for it. But instead, a part of my consciousness had split off and was observing the scene from the outside: this was, I realized excitedly, the perfect opportunity for a tweet. …
I Tweet, Therefore I Am, by Peggy Orenstein
(thank you Keren)
Baby Porcupine
Baby Porcupine. Today’s dose of cute overload by Sharon Montrose.
Black Out Shades with Clouds
Black Out Shades can be quite ugly. This idea by Jenny Komenda made me look. When decorating Joanna Goddard’s son’s nursery she had the idea to paint white clouds on them. Brilliant! (And yes, I have a thing for clouds!)
impromptu rainbow
Impromptu rainbow, made from acrylic paint attached to a windshield wiper. This is genius and makes me happy.
(thank you Summer)
Placehold.it
Designing a website? Need a placeholder graphic? There’s a website for that: placehold.it.
(via Laura)
PlayShapes
PlayShapes is a modular set of 74 geometric wooden shapes which can be endlessly arranged or stacked to produce hundreds of 3D creations.
The set of shapes come in a box along with a printed, unbleached cotton drawstring bag and a set of illustrations.
Amazing? Amazing!
BBQ Bruce
I just had to learn that no outdoor space is too small to have a grill. Only have a balcony but crave some grilled burgers or sausages? Don’t you worry, BBQ Bruce to the rescue.
Moshi Moshi
You’re all for minimal, sleek design and don’t like to hold up your cellphone up to your ear when on a call? This ergonomic Bluetooth handset by French designer David Turpin will make you look. When plugged into a mobile phone, user can keep talking while checking out a PDA’s email, the internet or calendars. Mac computers can also use it out-of-the box for Skype or other VIOP applications.
Oh, so pretty! Moshi Moshi MM03 Bluetooth Cellphone + VOIP Headset
Cheat Sheet Placemat
This Cheat Sheet Placemat made me smile.
Suitcase Picnic Table
I think our studio should invest into a few of these Suitcase Picnic Tables so we can sit out in DUMBO Park on the water and enjoy our lunch in style. No?
(Thank you Jenn)
Beautiful Thinking
“Eunoia is the shortest word in English containing all five vowels – and it means “beautiful thinking”. It is also the title of Canadian poet Christian Bok’s book of fiction in which each chapter uses only one vowel.”
(thank you Arezu)
*Threads
How cool is this Beast Jersey TShirt? It’s designed by a young Brooklyn based designer called Jeremiah Boncha. Jeremiah answered my plea for IKEA assembly help over twitter yesterday. So, here he is today, efficiently assembling like a total IKEA Ninja. A nice guy all around, it turns out he’s also talented designer. Check out his portfolio. He is looking for freelance gig or potentially even a fulltime position!
lo-fi sofa
Lo-Fi Sofa by Christiane Högner. Made me smile and want to take a nap.
Crib House
Dave Keune designed this crib/changing station/dresser combo called Nina’s House to solve the problem of making room for baby without having to renovate or move into a bigger place. I am not a fan of cribs and changing tables, but this refreshing new approach made me smile.
(via minordetails)
SimFingers
I was googling away trying to find the best solution on how to create a demo video of an iPhone App. Until it occured to me, that my new desk neighbor, iPhone Ninja Larry Legend might know the answer. I asked and BOOM, there it was:
Use SimFinger. SimFinger itself is composed of two parts. One is a fake “frame” that sits ontop of the simulator. It adds some shine and gives it an iPhone 3G-look. Clicking anywhere on it will just click-through to whatever is below. The other part is a little nub that follows around your cursor. It “indents” when you press down with your mouse, indicating what would be a “touch” on the phone.
The idea is to position iPhone Simulator below this facade and do a screencapture of just this area. You’ll need a good screencapture tool. (iShowYou?) It has to have the option to capture just some sub-region of your screen, and also the option to not capture the mouse pointer (which you should use, unless you want to ruin the illusion).
With SimFinger running, go to the Control menu and select “Set Fake Carrier Text…”. Enter the text “ATT” then, relaunch the iPhone Simulator. You’ll notice the (dead-givaway) “Carrier” is replaced by “ATT”. Do the same for the “Fake Time Text”. Apple typically uses “9:42 AM”, I do the same for my screencasts.
The last step to the puzzle is to give your app some friends. SimFinger comes bundled with “Fake Apps” that mimic Apple’s built-in apps. In SimFinger, goto Control – Install Fake Apps…, then restart the iPhone Simulator one more time. You’ll see a ton of stuff was installed, but it’s probably in the wrong order. Go ahead and re-order the icons to match the screenshot below (the “official” order).
See a sample video done with SimFingers.
Download a copy of SimFingers.
Please make sure to make a donation for the creator of SimFingers.
10
Marion Bataille is coming out with a new book. YAY! (I am sure you are all famililar with the ABC3D book, right?) Acording to my reader Romain it should be available later this fall in France. Can’t wait!
(thank you Romain)
When ideas have sex
At TEDGlobal 2010, author Matt Ridley shows how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. It’s not important how clever individuals are, he says; what really matters is how smart the collective brain is.
719 candles
Happy 719th Birthday Switzerland! I’ll be raising my Bratwurst to you all the way from Brooklyn! Yay Swiss National Day!
PENStory
Given the high number of views, I am obviously not the first one to talk about this stunning stop motion video.
They shot 60,000 pictures, developed 9,600 prints and then again shot over 1,800 pictures. And apparently without any post production! Stunning, right?
(thank you Markus)
Designing for iPad
Here’s a fantastic post by Derek Powazek about designing for the iPad.
I am convinced that the iPad is changing how we design for the web in general.
I can’t wait to get started on the TeuxDeux iPad app in the coming weeks.
Bike Rack, the swiss way
Last week, in Switzerland, I noticed this ingenious bike rack outside the Hoher Hirschberg, the place G and I got married 5 years ago. (I first thought it was for people to tie up their horses.) How simple, efficient and awesome looking is this bike stand?