Amusing advice

Ha ha. Seen on design is mine. by French graphic designer and art director Damien Poulain.

Ice Ice Baby

T shirt by younglovers. 

Two things I love.

I want these. Badly. 

Handmadefont

Check out handmadefont for type made from twigs, tape, tomato sauce...

Calenders 2009

Image from the Lavazza calender.

There have been some great posts around recently with links to calenders for 2009. I particularly love the typographic design by Orange Beautiful.

Here are two where the photography is usually outstanding. The Lavazza calander for 2009 was shot by Annie Leibovitz and you can also check out some behind the scence images of the new Pirelli calander shot by Peter Beard. Pirelli is famously secretive about their images before the release of their calender hence the images are all behind the scenes. It was shot in Botswana apparently - brave models to be so close to those Elephants!

Shoes glorious shoes!

High heel typeface.

I own a lot of lovely heels. But I've become lazy. Lately all I seem to wear are Converse or slip slops.  I still love shoes - and one of my favourite shoe designers is the architect Rem Koolhaas. Yes, architect. Collaborating with Galahad Clark under the brand United Nude. I think the best part is that some of their shoes take inspiration from iconic furniture pieces like the Barcelona chair. A few of their designs are on my wish list. 

Shoe fan? A must visit is the virtualshoemuseum.

Above images from United Nude.

I can blame my recent resurgence of interest in footwear on these two lovely bloggers who have become favourites of mine. They've started a shoe blog: ShoeLove. Do check it out for many beautiful pairs!

Peony in Love by Lisa See is a book that I read recently where the process of foot binding was explained in detail. Although I understand that it was a sign of wealth and prestige and understood to be erotic it's quite horrifying to see such misshapen feet in reality. I'm fascinated by the beauty and pain connection and of course women still suffer for beauty today when it comes to shoes - statistics say we have four times as many foot problems as men. 

Hmm... doesn't seem to curb that shoe lust though!

Am I qualified to do anything else?

It's just been a hard few days. 

Perfectly summed up by wetherobots.

Rejection Letter

Enlarge and read.

 

Thank heavens things have changed in the creative industries. Or have they? To what extent Advertising remains a 'boys club' is still debatable. Disney Rejection Letter, 1938. Seen here. 

Malignant bikini

This bikini appears normal when not in direct sunlight. When exposed to UV light, however, dark moles begin to appear in various places on the bikini.

How about this idea for getting you out of the sun? By Fiona Carswell. Seen on trendhunter.

Shopping bags

SAY NO to plastic by reusing a sturdy shopper bag. A simple idea that was revived a few years back (just as being 'green' became trendy). 

How good are you are at remembering to take along your reusable bag to the grocery store? I'm not great. I've resolved to change that while I've been doing some research on these bags (we are about to do a design of a shopping bag for the agency where I work). 

While trawling the net I came across the above humorous take on the classic that I wanted to share. Perhaps you know it already but I had a good laugh as I'm sure there are plenty of 'greenwashed' smug twats who drive Hummers but absolutely had to have this bag as it is so trendy and was seen on the arm of many a celebrity...

I designed my own version ages ago but although the design was bought by a company it was never produced. The idea was you needn't take along a shopping list when shopping with this bag. 

Is it enough to only adopt green practices if they are trendy and don't make too much of an impact on your lifestyle? Of course not. But I guess even if someone only buys less plastic or uses less electricity it is better than nothing. Cumulatively this will go someway to making a difference. 

Hairdryer

Not recommended for use on days of serious depression. Seen on ffffound.

Bake bread - give dough - feed Africa

Join the world wide blogger bake off to alleviate poverty.

Tony Davidson

I heard this ad man speak at the Eagles breakfast on monday morning. 

He has an amusing book out: One-Track Mind. ...blogging from work...shh

My laptop is sick -

 - so I won't be sharing anything cool with you until diagnostics have been run and medicine has been prescribed. Just desperately hoping the prescription isn't for a brand new mac....

Air miles and road miles

Off here for the weekend. Was almost here and here again but my trip was cancelled. I'm actually relieved as it meant travelling alone. Do enjoy whatever you are up to this week end.

View of Arniston Western Cape (or Waenhuiskrans), including fisherman houses on the coastline.

Nice Idea

I like this functional wallpaper by Haidee Drew. Seen at designspotter.

Lovely sentiment

Especially lovely when it arrives in your inbox via your husband.

By Ray Fenwick.

The Earth from above.

Sometimes we desperately need perspective. Amazing images here. By photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

Worker resting on bales of cotton, Thonakaha, Korhogo, Ivory Coast. Cotton crops occupy approximately 335,000 square klilometers worldwide, and use nearly one quarter of all pesticides sold.

Village on stilts in Tongkil, Samales Islands, Philippines. The southern Philippines, and in particular the Sulu Archipelago that includes the Samales Islands, is home to the Badjaos. The Badjaos belong to a Muslim minority who make up 5 percent of the Philippine population and are concentrated mostly in the south of the country. Known as "sea gypsies", they fish and harvest shellfish and pearl oysters, and they live in villages on stilts. A channel carved out of the coral reef allows them to reach the open sea. 

Wisdom

Wisdom.

I watched the dvd from this book this morning. Get it. Brilliant.

Shiny and bright

Another great group show brought to us by Curious Whetsone and Frankley. Put this in your diary Capetonians!

Launched - Not as sweet as you think

Some of our latest ads are in magazines at the moment. An Archers Aqua job shot by Jillian Lochner. I think the work turned out nicely and the prizes for the competition are fabulous - how about a trip to Paris...? Check out the web component for the competition and more images here.