bio-diversity.

while wondering the internet i found these really clever sculptures? haha i don't really know what to call them - but they were fun to look through! i thought that these were the best of the set...

but there are quite a few more that you can see on christoph niemann's blog, abstract city.

christmas cards. part two.

so...now that it is after the holidays (barely, i know...hahaha...but still) and i have been able to distribute all of my cards, i thought i would post all of my designs for christmas 2009!

merry christmas.

1. it's beginning to look a lot like christmas, 2. a little too much christmas cheer, 3. santa's little helper, 4. happy holidays!

optimism. pessimism.

i saw these posters on another blog recently and found them delightful! they are so simple, but completely display the point they are trying to make. and i love them! i think they would look great as a set!

here is the link to the studio page where you can buy these posters (except that currently they happen to be all sold out - but you can at least get more info about the posters)!

vacuum.

i thought this ad was pretty clever.

this is where i found it!

united plates of america.

i found these illustrations while once again looking through magazines at barnes and noble - i don't care if you are judging. these illustrations by john holcomb were featured in the food network magazine. i just thought that they were really fun to look through. he created an illustration of each state using foods that looked like each state.

some of the illustrations i find to be a little bit of a stretch, but for the most part i think they are really clever. there are 50 (well 51 including a title poster) but i have selected a few of my favorite below:

you can see the whole collection of state plates here.

sweet inspirations.

1. sweet dreams, 2. candy canes, 3. morning treat, 4. holiday cake bites, 5. polar bear cookie, 6. candy cookies, 7. ribbon candy, 8. sweet temptation, 9. peppermint lounge, 10. mini ice cream christmas pudding, 11. christmas light bulb cookies, 12. gingerbread men, 13. christmas cupcakes, 14. christmas sweets - particular, 15. "the gingerbread house", 16. strawberry & champagne

rugs.

i think most people who know me would say that i am not a fan of area rugs...especially ones with flowers all over them. but when i saw these rugs i fell in love.

these rugs are designed by amy butler and completely handmade. i think what i enjoy about these - besides the beautiful color combinations - is how modern and abstract they are. from the photos on her website, it looks as though the designs are slightly raised from the background - which is a great detail.

how great would these look in a modern room??

i only wish i could afford them (they are rather pricy) - but maybe someday! oh and one thing i like about the website is that she has a small description about each rug...like what kind of flower or where the inspiration came from...plus you can see her other rugs (my favorite is the bright buds) and more images - check out more of the rugs here!

flags o' food.

i have found a new website that features a lot of great advertisements from around the world. so you will probably be seeing more ads from me for a little while :)

while browsing the website, i found this campaign for the sydney international food festival - done by the whybin/tbwa advertising agency in australia. while i feel like the concept is somewhat predictable - using flags to communicate the festival's worldly-ness - it is executed beautifully. you can tell that there was a lot of research done to find the foods that best fit with each country's "flavor" and then made it work as the flag! i really like the simplicity of the campaign - very memorable.

these are my three favorite (an just in case you weren't sure - these countries are lebanon, vietnam, and greece) and also just a few of the ones that they have. you can see the rest of the campaign here.

paint.

because of my recent addiction to magazines, i have found a lot of great ads (and believe me i have also found a bunch of horrible ads as well - but never-mind that).

i actually saw this ad back at the beginning of september and thought it was a wonderful idea - especially the first one i have below because it fit perfectly with the season. the ad is for valspar paint and i find it very refreshing to see a different approach to advertising for paint that just showing a room full of colors. that can be rather bland!

the only one in this series that i hadn't seen before tonight was the starfish and it is actually the only one i have a problem with. i think what makes the other ones and the tagline work so well is that these are colors of things you see everyday around you. i don't know about you, but when i think of starfish i do not think of purple - at least not that purple.

but other than that - i love the concept! and just in case you can't read the tagline - it says; "now the colors of life can last a lifetime".

These ads were done by Euro RSCG ad agency and you can see larger versions of the ads here.

christmas cards.

its that time of year again - - for christmas cards!

i was asked to make cards for a few different people, plus i made a bunch for myself this year - probably a total of between 60 and 70 cards. making christmas cards are my favorite mainly because i like having a specific purpose for making a card - plus i always find tons of really great christmas supplies!

i will post the rest of them after the holidays...but for now this is a sneak peak!