New Work

Mr. Crabby here is another piece for my upcoming February promo, the personification of the cranky and uncooperative boss. You can check him out on my ispot portfolio page, too.

Belkin SleeveTop

A great idea from Belkin: the SleeveTop for your laptop. The SleeveTop allows for more comfortable laptop use on a couch, bed or table––basically, whenever you aren't at a desk (which is the whole point of having a laptop). No more overheated legs! More info on the SleeveTop can be found here. Via Swiss Miss.

Modernity

Modernity is a Swedish online store specializing in mid century modern design. Beautiful stuff, and they ship overseas, too. Hey, I can dream, can't I? Shown here is a rosewood daybed by Helge Vestergaard Jensen for Peder Pedersen (Denmark 1955). Via Design*Sponge.

Laurie Shore

Melissa was telling me today about her friend Laurie Shore, a Canadian jewelry artist who works in silver and semi precious stones. Her pieces have an appealing delicacy, and are both pretty and modern. Shown on the left is her necklace of carnelian and silver links. You can see Laurie's work here. She also accepts commissions.

New Work

This is a new illustration, created for a promo I'll be sending out in February. Having friends who work in the government, I hear a lot about how things get bogged down in red tape and such, which is where I got the inspiration for this particular piece.

Zaishu

From the site: "Inspired by Japanese design, a Zaishu is a slot together, flat pack seat / table featuring unique artwork and prints. Launched with stenciled street artwork at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in 2004 Zaishu has grown to become an international art project." Lovely work, which can be viewed here. Via Bloesem.

Hergé Retrospective

Design Boom has an excellent review of the major Hergé retrospective now on at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The exhibition coincides with what would have been the Tintin creator's 100th birthday, with the first part covering Herge’s life and earliest sketches (including the creation of Tintin in the 1930s), and the second part featuring a collection of original artwork by the artist. Lots of cultural influences are also discussed. Design Boom mentions how Hergé "...was recognised by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein as an important influence on the pop-art movement." Read the review here.

DWR Champagne Chair Contest

Design Within Reach (DWR) is running their annual Champagne Chair contest––chairs made out of champagne bottle hardware (i.e. cork, wire, label). You can vote for your favourite (and be added to their mailing list) here. Shown here is one of the entries, the Kleeko Chair by Stacie Matrka. Cute, and my favourite champagne, too! Via Swiss Miss.

David Byrne's Latest

International Herald Tribune article by Will Hermes on what David Byrne is up to these days. Happily, Byrne is still curious about the world, and is still finding all kinds of new and interesting ways (and media) to talk to us about it.

OYO and LaCie Huby

Lately I've been researching USB hubs, trying to find one that not only works well but looks good, too. I'm quite taken with this, the OYO multiplug USB (left), which is small, elegantly simple in design and has three USB sockets––perfect for me. Sadly, though, it's only available in Europe (though Lexon, the French company that makes the OYO, will ship overseas––for more than the cost of the OYO, unfortunately). My other possibility is the LaCie Huby USB and Firewire Hub (right), which looks rather like a vase of robotic flowers. Very cool, though it would have a bigger footprint on my desk space than the OYO. Stay tuned...

Update: Craig of Lexon USA was kind enough to respond to my above post and let me know that the OYO is available in Canada and the Americas here.

Classics of Everyday Design 2

Number two in the Classics of Everyday Design series by Jonathan Glancey on the Guardian arts & architecture blog is the ubiquitous UPS brown van. Read about it here.

An Electrical Dinner

On New Year's eve of 1884, Mr. William J. Hammer of Newark, N.J., invited his old classmates, the "Society of Seventy-Seven," to "an electrical dinner" at his home. From the things magazine blog: "The dinner took place in Hammer's gadget-filled residence ('The whole house was fitted throughout with electric bells, burglar alarms, fire alarms, telephones, electric cigar lighters, medical coils, phonographs, electric fans, thermostats, heat regulating devices, some seven musical instruments, operated by electricity, etc.') and the menu included "Electric Toast," "Wizard Pie," "Sheol Pudding," "Magnetic Cake," "Telegraph Cake," "Telephone Pie," and, best of all, "Ohm-made Electric Current Pie." More on that unusual dinner here. Via things magazine.

Justine Smith

English artist Justine Smith works with found paper, using it either directly as a collage applied to her sculptures, or as cut paper pieces. Her most recent work uses money, as can be seen in the flower here. High concept and beautifully made. Via Oh Joy!

Hitchcock's Music

International Herald Tribune review by Edward Rothstein of a new book by Jack Sullivan, Hitchcock's Music, about Alfred Hitchcock's use of music in his films. Quote: "...it isn't just that Hitchcock believed that sound should serve image; he believed that image should serve sound."

Book Cover: Charity Girl

Lovely cover design by Martha Kennedy for Michael Lowenthal's book Charity Girl, published this year by Houghton Mifflin. Via the Book Covers blog.

Robin and Lucienne Day

The Design Museum site has a nice profile of the husband and wife design team of Robin and Lucienne Day, still going strong after making a splash at the 1951 Festival of Britain, with Lucienne's show of her abstract-patterned textiles and wallpapers alongside Robin’s steel and plywood furniture in the Homes and Gardens Pavilion. Inspiring stuff. Via Bloesem.

Bloesem Blog

Just discovered the Bloesem blog by Irene Hoof, a Dutch illustrator/web designer/graphic designer. Besides doing lovely work of her own, she has a great eye for the work of others, too. One of her many good ideas is her Weekend Read series, a forum where she actively shares her interests with others. The theme of the first one is Knitting, featuring some truly gorgeous work. The photo above (by Damian Russell) is from the book Hand Knits for the Home by Caroline Bickett, which is now on my book list. Via Design*Sponge.

Update: Just ordered my own copy of Hand Knits for the Home at Amazon.ca. A used copy (via Powell's), that is, as it's sold out.

Swallow Patterns

The EPOD (part of the Universities Space Research Association, in turn connected with NASA) website has a fascinating series of photos of swallows flying in bizarre formations. A few look like floating Henry Moore sculptures. See more here. Note: the site takes a while to load, so you'll need to be patient. Via Andrew.

Happiness 101

New York Times article by D. T. Max about the latest research on happiness, which is now being studied with the same seriousness that has traditionally been applied to more negative emotions, such as depression. Highly recommended reading.

Pynchon Illustrated

Zak Smith has been very busy. He's just published a book called "Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow." And that's exactly what it does, too. Really interesting idea, which has turned into a great looking book.

The Evolution of Speech Balloons

A short history of the evolution of the speech balloon, from 1404 to 1770. On the left is a 1770 caricature of the Duke of Cumberland, who seems to have been rather naughty. Via Design Observer.

Japanese Picture Books

Slate has an interesting slide show essay on their website called A Thousand Years of Japanese Picture Books. The painting on the left is "Prince Genji visits Lady Rokujô," attributed to Chôjirô (c. early 17th century), from "The Green Branch," Chapter 10 of The Tale of Genji, c. early 17th century.

Speaking of which, perhaps this is the time to add the resolve to finally read my (huge!) copy of The Tale of Genji to my New Year's resolutions...

Leonora Carrington

"Leonora Carrington ran off with Max Ernst, hung out with Picasso, fled the Nazis and escaped from a psychiatric hospital. Joanna Moorhead travels to Mexico to track down her long-lost cousin, one of Britain's finest - and neglected - surrealists." Read the Guardian article by Moorhead here.

iPod: Corinne Bailey Rae

Corinne Bailey Rae is a young English singer/songwriter with a lovely, soulful sound. She's also only the fourth female British act in history to have her first album debut at number one. Highly recommended. Check out the interview with her on the Guardian website (Burt Bacharach is a huge fan), as well as her own beautifully designed website, where you can listen to tracks from her album.

What Not to Wear This Winter

It's a new year, and another (so far, mild) winter in Canada. With the chill comes the usual odd assortment of winter accessories––knit jumbles of hats, scarves, and mittens, all worn haphazardly in the quest for warmth. These days knits tend toward the muted and tasteful, so we're pretty much spared the kind of "whimsical" headgear that used to be made by fondly misguided relatives and friends, such as the one pictured at left, which (to quote one astute commentator) "...really looks like knitting and Mexican wrestling have collided." Via cameron moll.