We love the split-personality appeal of this ultra modern dining table by Kisskalt. Two tables in one, half of the design is a modern, glossy, minimalist design while the other half is traditional German oak with carved legs and a natural finish. But there’s another cool twist to this dining table – it’s extendable. When you’re expecting a large group for a feast, or if you have a huge dining room to fill, pull the two tables apart to create an elongated piece. Slide it out to the desired length, and when not in use, one piece overlaps the other, transforming into a more-compact version of itself. The table measures 220 / 420 x 100 cm x height 73 cm (custom sizes available) and comes in a variety of wood types. For more info, visit Kisskalt.
Bringing bold patterns design and bright palettes into the spotlight, these Gan Spaces collection by Gandia Blasco are hot! These bold pieces by designer Sandra Figuerola are done in 100% virgin wool, so they’re as great to the touch as they are to the eye. The modular seating features simple shapes splashed up with standout color and graphics in a variety of scales, which can be arranged in any composition to suit any-sized space and accessorized with pillows. The seating and cushions are reversible, so you can switch up the look as desired. Complete the look with the candle boxes – a great floor or tabletop accessory illuminated from within to highlight that same pattern that sets this collection apart. Forget subtle or matchy-matchy – these vibrant geometric motifs come together is a clash of color and pattern that transforms your interiors into a stylish wonderland. More information is available by visiting Gan Rugs.
Today a leaked internal email from Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed outrage over the New York Times‘ scathing exposé revealing the harsh working conditions of Apple’s many Chinese suppliers. Cook insisted that Apple has done and will continue to do everything they can to improve worker conditions, and he even questioned the validity of the New York Times article, saying “Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.”
Read the rest of Tim Cook Outraged Over New York Times Accusations That Apple Abuses Worker’s Rights in Chinese Factories
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We first picked up on graphic designer Malika Favre's remarkably expressive vector artwork last year and she's pleased to present her latest project, the cover illustration for the forthcoming Penguin Deluxe edition of the Kama Sutra.
Favre gladly shared some insight into the brief and process:
I was approached last summer by Paul Buckley at Penguin US about designing the cover of a new Deluxe edition of the Kama Sutra for Penguin.
This book is part of the Graphic Classics series: Basically every classic they re-edit is paired up with an artist that pretty much has free range to design the cover. The whole concept of this specific range is to make each classic a collectable item and to push the boundaries of book cover design.
The book itself is the original text written by Vatsyayana (no pictures inside the book) so the challenge was to make the cover sexy, modern and daring without being vulgar or over the top. I decided to create a very bold and playful alphabet that would run across both flaps and front and back cover spelling KAMA SUTRA.
Once folded, the words become hidden and the big letters themselves turn into acrobatic positions.
As with our previous post on Favre, it gets semi-NSFW after the jump... in extremely good taste, of course.
(more...)
This week’s 2M Collective Modern Décor Sale includes the gorgeous modern hanging light fixtures of sleek design brand Stig Hansen. You’ll love the kind of geometry these fixtures will bring to your home, and we could see them being placed in a number of different rooms! Believe us when we say you’re going to want to click on this week’s sale to see how much off these lights are — it’s quite a deal!
2M Collective is a weekly sale by 2Modern offering deeply discounted modern furniture & lighting in limited quantities. Sale starts at 9:00 AM PST every Thursday. Each item listed on 2M Collective is exclusively offered for a short period of time at a significantly reduced price. You will see discounts of up to 80% off regular retail prices. All products shown on 2M Collective are sold for a limited time and have a limited quantity.
Wit & Whistle is run by Amanda Wright, a design nerd and designer who started the company to “offer witty greeting cards and whistle worthy paper goods. All products are designed and illustrated by me and printed locally on recycled paper. Wit & Whistle is based in Cary, North Carolina.” We love a lot of the stuff she does and sells, but we also like a lot of her DIY projects, especially two recent ones that feature the dramatic contrast of black and white colors as well as the ability to do them in a weekend!
A DIY Hand Painted mug and a DIY Stencil Pillow are adorable, have a modern aesthetic, could breathe a bit of drama in your space with their color palette and could easily be personalized to fit your specific personality. Wouldn’t that be lovely!
Are you going to attempt either of these DIY projects this weekend? What about some other DIY project? Let us know!
Applications are now open for the Summer Workshop of the new MFA Products of Design program. Held at the beautiful Domaine de Boisbuchet in Southwestern France, this year's workshop will run for 10 days, inviting participants to immerse themselves in the evolving field of product design.
The Products of Design Summer Program in France offers hands-on, collaborative experience and instruction in rapid sketching, materials investigation, prototyping, iteration, narrative creation and environmental stewardship. In addition to work completed during the days, participants will enjoy opportunities to sight see, socialize with designers from around the world, and attend lectures in the evenings.
The program invites applicants from various backgrounds: design professionals, students (in at least senior standing at an art & design college), or graduate students in any field. Faculty will be MFA Products of Design chair Allan Chochinov and faculty Emilie Baltz.
All info is at the site: http://productsofdesign.sva.edu/curriculum/summer/
Products of Design Summer Program in France
June 17-27, 2012
Domaine de Boisbuchet, Southwestern France
Tuition: $2,500 (includes room & board)
Applications due: February 10, 2012
What is it about Japanese Kit Kats that are just THAT much more delicious ~ and beautifully packaged ~ and the dark chocolatiness is amazing too… Gave in to this at the Mitsuwa last night and it was too delicious and cute not to share. It looks like you can even add your own messages on the pack of the individually wrapped pairs that are nestled within the matte/gloss mixed outer box. One if particularly twitter looking… take a peek on the next page!
The latest from our resident zoologist and London-based editor, Justine.
A zoo and aquarium regular, I love discovering new creatures and one of my favorite aquarium specimens in the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences was the Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi), a colorful species native to the tropical Indo-Pacific. True to their common name, these cuttlefish are incredibly beautiful and mesmerizing to see in action. See more photos and videos on the next page!
TO PAGE 2 of "Flamboyant Cuttlefish at the Cal Academy"! ----->Happy Friday friends! Last week, we celebrated Ruby's 100 Days—a Korean tradition called "baek-il" on Bob's side of the family. We had a small gathering with some family in LA, and Bob's mom flew in from Philly for the occasion. We ate a ton of delicious homemade Korean food, and Ruby got dressed up in a little hanbok {Korean dress}. She wasn't too thrilled about having to wear so many outfits that day and had a bit of grumpy face {said face above}, but it was a fun day nonetheless to celebrate our little lady. It made me realize how fast time really does fly. I've been limiting my work schedule and taking on less projects then usual to be able to spend time with her while she's so young and growing so fast. As guilty as I sometimes feel for not working as much as I did last year, I also feel so lucky that I have the flexibility in my business to cater my work around my personal life and make my baby a priority in this stage her life. All of those years I've spent building up my business was to be able to have this flexibility that I have now. So, here I am...doing my best to soak up every day {this is what a typical day is like now}. Here's to a great weekend to all of you and all those moments you get to enjoy with your loved ones! — Joy
{photos by Itoko}
Chicago-based Sprout Home has been one of our favorite garden sites and stores for ages. They make gardening seem accessible and possible in even small urban spaces. They recently relaunched their site and we have to say the new and improved sprouthome.com has us counting the days until winter’s thaw hits. Now blogging from their outposts in both Brooklyn and Chicago, they offer fun, informative posts on everything from Venus Fly Traps to tips on how to choose the perfect house plant . If you’re looking for inspiration, click around their garden area for some of the gorgeous projects they have designed. And, if you’re thinking of planting something, check out their collection of mod containers, which will make even the brownest thumb seem mildly chic.
Hello friends, it is Leslie here with January’s edition of Color Me Pretty. How are you? I hope that you are doing good and I’m happy to be with you for another year on decor8 with my column. I hope you enjoy and look forward to my color stories and craft ideas each month. For January, I find myself thinking about bright fluorescent pink during these long rainy days in the Pacific Northwest. It’s definitely a trend, I see it everywhere at the moment – especially in fashion, on blogs and over at Pinterest!
Instead of mixing bright pink with the typical winter grey I thought it would be fun to use Kraft paper brown along with some softer shades of pink and a light blue. It’s fun to try something new.
Color cravings can be very fleeting in creative projects and I have a hard time playing in the typical colors of the season. Do you know what I mean? I am like many who tend to want what we can’t have! In the winter I long for summer colors to contrast the dark days and in the summer I daydream about snowy white, pale grey and chocolate browns. I guess it comes back to texture, as any color can look great applied to the right material. Warm cream cable knits in winter and then the same creamy color on linens and leather in summer. These days anything goes if you love it and it helps you feel creative.
I pulled out my watercolors one evening last week and had fun creating triangle and striped patterns in the shape of hearts. I thought they would make a nice card to top off some simply wrapped presents. You can do this with any bright paper. Just make yourself a little template to make things go faster.
Another home craft project I have been thinking about and finally got around to making is this little dreamcatcher. I liked the notion of something catching your good dreams. With a new year upon us it is nice to do something to remind us of what we are dreaming about for ourselves and for others. I wrapped a metal hoop from Michael’s with some cream washi tape. I then tied a crochet doily with some string to the hoop. Finally, instead of feathers I decided to use beads, which I threaded on string and then tied to the hoop. After making one, I now have ideas on how I want to make dozens more! So watch out I may have more featured in the column next month!
I hope you have had a wonderful start to 2012. I look forward to seeing you back here next month. Take good care! – xo, Leslie.
(styling/images: leslie shewring
Related posts:
{1. porcelain animal bowls from Poketo, 2. lunchtime fork set from Romp, 3. delancy doggy lunch bag from Built, 4. yummy donut plush from Kidrobot, 5. stainless bus platter from My Sweet Muffin, 6. Weego Baby owl plate and bowl. — Joanna}
These days, during the height of winter, I feel like I could roast a chicken a week and be happy. It’s just the easiest, loveliest, most satisfying meal — not to mention it warms up your house and provides plenty of leftovers. This past Sunday I decided to give a recipe from the new Martha Stewart Living a try, roast chicken with parsley, lemon and parmesan. Blessfully simple, the only prep work is to rub the bird with some oil, salt and pepper, and stuff the cavity with some parsley and a half a lemon. Toss some fingerling potatoes with oil and salt and add them to the pan. First you bake it at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 375 for 25 minutes, rotate pan, and then roast another 25 minutes. Meanwhile chop up some parsley (I used a small food processor), add oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and parmesan. Dollop some over the chicken and potatoes and serve the rest on the table. Heavenly. Click here for the recipe at MSL.com. — Angela M.
What’s your favorite way to roast a chicken? Here are some of our favorites, and leftover recipes, too.
Roast Chicken with Chick Peas and Lemon
Jamie Oliver’s Lemon Chicken
Lemon Rigatoni with Chicken and Broccoli
What an unbelievably colorful and fun wedding by Merriment Events...you can't help but smile at this adorable couple and all the fun details of their day... — Joy
{photos by Jodi Miller}
Egger's Lunch Ride "Cheater" bike...a road version of the Shiv
I have mentioned Robert Egger, Specialized’s Creative Director, a few times in the past. He has worked at Specialized since 1987, and in that time has created some pretty interesting concept bikes (like the one at the bottom of this post from a 1992 issue of Bicycling Magazine).
In their Google + stream, Byron from Bike Hugger just posted a few pictures of Egger’s personal “lunch ride” bike, which looks a lot like a road version of the Shiv. I wonder if this is version of the Shiv road prototype that eventually became the Venge, or just a bike that Egger built to help him keep up with the young, fast guys on the famed Specialized lunch ride. Either way, it looks fast. As Byron commented though, it is not a bike you would “want to be next to in the peloton when the wind changes.” True, but with a bike like this, he should be riding off the front anyway.
Update: See more pictures on the Specialized Facebook page.
Update to the update: Neil Browne shared his thoughts about this bike in an interesting post yesterday.
Another Egger creation, as seen in a 1992 issue of Bicycling Magazine
With Valentine's Day not too far away, I can't help but love these simple little guys sprinkled with love from Mignon Kitchen Co. The styling of the site is also so lovely... — Joy
The other day, my friend Mari sent me these amazing dark chocolate cookies that she had made for a friend's baby shower. She knew I'd love them because they're almost like a chewier version of an Oreo cookie..and I'm always taking the cream part of an Oreo. I immediately ate a handful, and then used the rest to make these peanut butter, salted caramel, and white chocolate s'mores using Mari's cookies, regular peanut butter, 240 Sweet marshmallows, and white chocolate from Bottega Louie {because I'm kind of a s'mores junkie}. The cookies would make the perfect canvas for ice cream sandwiches as well {which you know I love!}. So, Mari was kind enough to share the recipe with us today...
Grammy's Chocolate Cookies adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies
(Makes approximately 2-1/2 dozen.)
You'll need:
1 cup plus 1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/8 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 sticks (5/8 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 extra large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sanding sugar
Here's how:
• Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt a bowl.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine.
• Reduce speed to low (very important!) and gradually add flour mixture. Beat just until combined.
• Pour onto large piece of plastic wrap, flatten and wrap. Place in fridge to chill until firm, about one hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls {see note below}*
• Roll each ball in sanding sugar
• Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpat mat, about 1-1/2" apart
• Very lightly press the cookie balls down (this way they won't roll out of place when you're moving the baking sheet to the oven)
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating tray halfway through {cookies should look crackled}
• Cool baking sheets on rack for 5 minutes**
• Transfer cookies from baking sheet to wire rack
• Store in airtight container at room temperature for up to one week and enjoy!
— Joy
*note: Use a 1 tablespoon (35 mm) dough scoop. Cookies are even in size, bake uniformly and look very professional.
**If you don't have an extra wire rack, use two empty cardboard egg cartons under each end to raise up the baking sheet.
{recipe by Mari, photos by Oh Joy}
who: Catherine Sheppard, Fashion stylist and owner of The Life Styled
why catherine rocks: She taught me how to detox my closet & how to wear the most appropriate clothes for my body type/personality!
in her closet: I stumbled upon this white and gold beaded frock at a vintage store in LA when I was frantically looking for a dress to wear to a black tie event in Vegas—quite a daunting task! I instantly fell in love with the white and gold sequins and intense shoulder pads, and I scored it for about $40! I can't top that.
in her casa: Our living room was in need of a mini-makeover so I brought in a fuzzy faux fur blanket {we all fight over its coziness on a daily basis} and a few glamorous accents. I brought home every sparkly pillow I could find and played mix and match until I decided on my favorites. It's a fun game...everyone should try it!
Thanks Catherine!
— Bri
{photos by Catherine}
I am WAY overloaded with projects at the moment, so the links and topics that I have been meaning to post lately have been backing up. I won’t get to them all today, but I want to take a quick break from the madness and quickly pass along a few of them.
Core77 posted an interesting video of RTM carbon fiber manufacturing at TIME’s factory near Lyon, France. I thought the entire video was interesting, but particularly enjoyed seeing the individual strands of carbon woven into loose sleeves at the beginning.
The Left-handed Cyclist is the name of a new blog that I encourage you all to check out. “Reflections on the potential of human power for transportation” is the blog’s tagline, and it looks like a great place for thoughts and news about all types of human powered vehicles.
You have seen many different designs for hanging bikes on a wall, but The Bike Valet, by artisan furniture maker and product designer Steven Tiller, is a bit different. It is designed to be mounted to a single stud, and features two integrated hooks for a helmet, bags, etc. See the video, and learn more on The Bike Valet Kickstarter site.
I mentioned my affinity for vintage bike posters in a recent post. As part of Bikefest 2012, the city of Melbourne, Australia is hosting the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and is looking for a “vintage-style” poster design to promote the event. The top prize is $1,000 and four finalists will receive $500 each, so you might want to out your graphic design skills to work. Read more at Desktop magazine.
Speaking of Australia, Gus Duncan has been building wooden bikes on the Gold Coast for years. He is currently on a ‘sabbatical’ in Tokyo, and is riding his latest creation all around the city. He hopes to have a production bike available later this year, so stay tuned for more from Gus.
This Swedish plan for a superhighway for cyclists is definitely interesting, but the last paragraph of the article is what really grabbed my attention. Perhaps if Sweden goes ahead with this project, America will revive its superhighway system for cyclists. I won’t hold my breath…but I would love to see it happen in my lifetime.
The Londonist reports about a graphic designer who has created a new take on cycle route signage for the city.
Finally, I’ll mention this MTB-styled quadricycle that was posted at the recumbent blog. They point out that the project was “a collaboration between Mexican students of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design at UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and German students at TUM (Technische Universität München).”
I really like the work of stylist Jenni Juurinen in Finland and find these two photos from her portfolio quite lovely, particularly the spoons dipped in neutral color paints and the gorgeous wallpaper…
I found Jenni via Emmas inspirational pinboard… Don’t you just love Emma’s eye? I do. She really curates such lovely pins and her love of white, clean spaces makes her a kindred spirit of mine for sure! Here are a few more from Jenni’s portfolio – I think the pendant lights with the wooden beads are amazing and wonder who makes them. Such a clever idea! I’m also crazy about charcoal gray walls at the moment so these rooms make me happy…
And speaking of Finland, did you know that my book is now available in Finnish?! I know, right? Serious! I’m so excited to think of it being in Finnish book shops. Quite cool! It is called, “”Sisusta tyylillä – 1000 inspiroivaa sisustusideaa kodin jokaiseen huoneeseen” and is available for purchase here.
Does anyone know the name/manufacturer of the wallpaper shown above in the second image?
(images: jenni juurinen)
Related posts:
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