schadenfreude

I think of this blog as a place for me to gather inspiring and beautiful things. I intend to be upbeat and positive but I do occasionally enjoy chuckling at other people's misfortune... especially when it comes to photoshop. A blog I follow is appropriately called Photoshop Disasters and I find it highly entertaining. I grabbed some of my favorites from the last few months for your amusement:

There's the typical missing element:

A front wheel perhaps?



Or a reflection?



Or even a leg.

And then there are ones that mess with your brain:

yikes!

Lastly, you know someone got fired for this mistake:

big oops.

[For those of you who aren't designers, lorem ipsum is latin. We use latin as a placeholder for text because it has a similar look to english without distracting anyone from trying to read what it's saying]

letterhead

Having designed letterhead for clients, as part of school projects, and for my own business I have some experience in how difficult it can be. Really. It's not easy. I recently found a great blog called Letterheady that showcases a wide arrange of historic (and some recent) examples of letterhead. It's great for inspiration and historic perspective. Here are a few of my favorites: (all found on Letterheady)



This one blows my mind. It's from 1920. Look at the use of type and negative space. It seems like European designers are willing to take risks in a way that American designers aren't. Or maybe I'm just talking about me. Either way, I admire their freedom. (and their TV commercials - so funny!)



As a point of comparison here is letterhead from Anheuser-Busch in 1934.



This one is from NASA in 1961. I like the crazy all-caps and letterspacing. Hard to read but definitely new and space-agey.



Playstreet Inc, 1969. God love the 60's.



This is for a Visitors Center in Columbus, Indiana. 1973. I think it's so cute and playful. Fun! Almost fun enough to make me want to visit Indiana.



If I did my job correctly you will see that this 2009 letterhead from Pixel Flix has influences that go back to 80 years or more. Pretty cool, right?

my view

It's good to have a peaceful place to rest my eyes on a crazy day like today. It's a juggling act and I'm not sure I can catch everything. How is it that after a peaceful 3-day weekend I seem to need another 3-day weekend to recuperate? Vacations are addictive.

cake

I have lately become obsessed with cake decorating competitions on the food network. I love watching the cake artists balance the need to please the client with the need to express their own ideas/artistry. It also reminds me of art school when they get judged at the end and hear things like "I don't understand the concept." Good times.

My current favorite cake artist (and recent winner of the last cake standing competition) is Mary from Cake Girls. (all photos copyright Cake Girls)



I love the colors and the abstract design on this one.




I adore the elegance of this one. The way the flowers pop out of the painted branches... awesome.




And really? I don't even like purses and look how cute these are. I'm having a girly moment. It's ok. I'm sure it will pass.

fun with color

If you need some color inspiration (and who doesn't?!) you can upload a picture to this website and it pops out a beautiful color palette for you. How fun and useful.

Check this out:

(can you tell I need a drink and some warm weather?)


And here's the beautiful result:


It makes me want to eat an orange and watch the sunset on the beach.

numbers, numbers, and more numbers

I would like to take a minute to sing the praises of old style figures. Thank you type designers for finding a way to make numbers look and feel vibrant and engaging.



When you're working on a piece that is dense with tables and numbers it makes a huge difference. Just look at the way the 6 reaches up and the 7 points down below the baseline. Such elegance!

a blog? really?!

I'm here to provide the world with my design observations and have a place to accumulate things that inspire me. Everything from fabulous cake design to ridiculous photoshop disasters.

Enjoy.