Alice will be blogging throughout her trip to Peru.

Seriously contemplating getting a subscription. Of course we're big fans of Marlow & Sons.

Scientific diagram illustrations from The Evolution Store in SoHo. Above are some favorites.

Top to bottom:
Desktop wallpaper download from Kate Spade's behind the curtain, Summer 2007
Opening image on Coralie Bickford-Smith's interim website of books she's designed for Penguin
A few covers from The Pelican Project by things magazine

John McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal is so amazing and good. It'll change any reservations you ever had about oatmeal...

Wallpaper by Julia Rothman, commissioned for Hygge & West. (via poppytalk, Apartment Therapy and Design*Sponge)

Missing Copenhagen.

First photo from Copenhagen Cycle Chic (via Melissa). Last two photos from last summer's visit..

The result:


"Street With A View introduces fiction, both subtle and spectacular, into the doppelganger world of Google Street View."

See for yourself on Google Maps. Project by artists Robin Hewlett & Ben Kinsley. (via swissmiss)

Simple line drawings by Japanese artist, Himaa. (via hoping for happy accidents)

A couple weekends ago in Beacon, NY.

Lace-up ankle boot from A.P.C.. If you don't want to pay $480 (and who does, honestly?) Zappos carries a the same thing for $69 by a brand called Fitzwell.

Go-to remedy for an imminent cold:

LEMON & HONEY
1 mug hot water
Juice from half a lemon
1 overflowing tablespoon of honey

Combine. Mix well. Sip slowly. Repeat every few hours.

Our Glorious Years Have Passed Like Flowers

This is the Japanese poster - the best one. The color saturation in this movie will make your heart ache and weep. Why is it so hard to locate the soundtrack?

Election fever

THE craft activity for your next debate party. Just when you started thinking politics were boring. HA!

fold US Candidate

Nicholas Nyland

All watercolor on paper. Some more info here http://www.nicholasnyland.net/, but would love to see higher-res images of his work.

Oh, The Bliss

By Allan, The Gallant

Sandwich & salad

Bought the below on separate occasions for approx. $8 each but won't be making the same mistake twice. Luscious combinations with very simple and affordable ingredients...

Sandwich (from a deli in Greenpoint)
On whole grain ciabatta
Roast beef - quality is everything
Avocado
Alfalfa
Apples
Brie
Dijon mustard

Salad (from Le Pain Quotidien)
On a bed of mesclun greens
Red quinoa
Cherry tomatoes
Enoki mushrooms (have never eaten those raw until now - yum!)
Alfalfa
Radishes
Fat wedge of lemon
Pesto dressing

Pythagorean jewelry

Since the last post on jewelry in October, our attention has really turned to delicate metalwork with a focus on geometry. Really admire the craftsmanship of these creations by independent designers.




[Clockwise from top left: Triple Small Wing Oxidized Multiply Ring $70 (multiple styles for stacking) by Deka Ray (Eugenie Huang), Gold Honeycomb Necklace $65 from Small Things Studio's Stone & Honey line, Dodecahedron Pendant $58 from Jalea Jalea's (Tatiana Sánchez) Minerals & Polyhedra Collection]

Also sweet from the Stone & Honey line from Small Things Studio - this pinwheel necklace.

Disclaimer: we're not sure if these are actually examples of the Pythagorean Theorem... it's been a decade since our last math class.

Tsutsumi

We hear the word "sustainable" so much now... here's something that truly is sustainable and conscientious without compromising aesthetics or quality. While browsing Japanese mega-bookstore Kinokuniya in Bryant Park (highly recommended if you're into Japanese-published picture books), we came across a book on tsusumi, which demonstrated that anything from a wine bottle to a lunch box could and should be wrapped with one piece of cloth.

Love the philosophy, and we think many others would too. So why is there very little information on the web about it? We bought the book found at Kinokuniya for our friend Kat's birthday (wrapped tsutsumi style, of course) but a quick search revealed only one US book on this topic: Gift Wrapping: Creative Ideas from Japan, published in 1987.

Introduction to Gift Wrapping: Creative Ideas from Japan by Kunio Ekiguchi:

In Japan, the concept of wrapping, tsutsumi, is not limited to the function of packaging. It plays a central role in a wide variety of spiritual and cultural aspects of Japanese life. Tsutsumi encompasses many areas not included in the Western concept of wrapping. For example, gods or Buddhas are "wrapped" in a household altar containing a hidden image of the god or a portable shrine carried during festivals; gardens are enclosed by a variety of fences; architectural space is defined by translucent shoji doors, opaque fusuma doors, and bamboo blinds; pictures are rolled up in hanging scrolls and picture scrolls; and food is placed in lacquer containers. The wrapping style illustrated by these examples is not a tight, hermetic seal, but a loose, flexible covering or shading. The style embodies the concept of "gentle concealment," a central part of the traditional Japanese sense of beauty.

Petra Börner's Mister Pip

http://www.borner.se/

Shinzi Katoh

$38 @ Penelope's

Conjoined

Painting and pillow by k studio.

Jeana Sohn

These photos are pulled from her website but she has a ton of other stuff floating around in small gallery sites. Check it out. We also enjoy her blog - inspiration for sharing more photos from our own lives and for living in LA (if we ever have to move there).

1, 2, 3, 4

The humid muggy NYC summer embraces us. We have been so busy as of late but have a lot to share as you will see in the posts that follow.

Is everyone sick of this song already? We were, until we saw this video...



[via swissmiss]

Vicente Villarin

Joanne Cordero Reyes of Vicente Villarin is the first fashion designer in awhile that has made us stop in our tracks and think. We love how the designs evoke sculpture and art, and how the forms and shapes hint at being constructed from materials other than textile, all while retaining a practical, back-to-basics sophistication that is totally wearable.




Above: many of our favorites from the Spring 2008 collection, "Distorted Sweetness"


Above: a couple of our favorites from the Fall 2008 collection, "Sculptural Essence of Romanticism"

The label is young, and very formal and couture-ish, though we'd be interested in seeing a causal side to Reyes' vision.

[via Refinery29]

Valero Doval

Whimsical and delicate illustrations and collages by Spanish artist Valero Doval. This Japanese Poster series is our favorite.




[via poppytalk]

Ethno-geometric

think/feel is under renovation/transformation/progression. We are planning upcoming projects, gathering equipment, figuring out the books, planning for the future. Being responsible and contemplative, mostly. We'll be back in under a month to announce summer plans. We have embodied a stern and intense work ethic, which is hard these days with the weather so gorgeous it makes us want to stop everything we're doing, sit on our stoop until dark, drinking cold beer from the bodega.

Here's a little something we wanted to share. We are pretty obsessed with geometric ethnic patterns. This is a modern rendition of a Navajo blanket encountered last week, which we are particularly drawn to because of its colors (and patterns, of course). The motifs on this blanket incorporates, amongst others, stars, diamonds and squash blossoms.

[via yellow owl workshop]

KESSELSKRAMER

Found photography! The practice of photo-collecting is just as interesting as photo-taking; it is like the gathering of moments with no continuum of time or money, which is amazing if you think about it because time and money are the banes of our existence.

I am particularly fond of the Useful Photography series by Erik Kessel's Amsterdam-based publishing entity KESSELSKRAMER. Below is an excerpt from Useful Photography 6.



About this collection: "It's the most tried and tested technique in advertising. Useful Photography #006 explores the wider implications of 'before and after' as used in political disruptions, environmental disasters and more personal adjustments and improvements."

Reading as of late...

Advertising Got Better by Paula Scher
I am generally interested in advertising-design fusion these days. Advertising-design fusion... sounds like a new restaurant theme. Anyway, see second article to fully understand why there may be this void she is describing.

Fuck style by Eric Karjaluoto
This article annoyed me a bit because it could easily have been misconstrued. It's on the verge of sounding stuffy and stuck in its own bubble. It makes it seem like designers who adhere to these principals would not be able to get along or collaborate with those whose job is to make aesthetic choices. But this article points to noble aspirations, and is a peek at how nerdy designers can be.

Personas and the Role of Design Documentation by Andrew Hinton
Very much related to my work these days, so it was an interesting read. You may have a big question mark over your head if you aren't familiar with user experience culture though.

Letter From Poland: True Crime by David Grann
The full article is not online, but if you can get your hands on the 2/11/08 edition of The New Yorker, this is a fun must-read. I almost missed my stop on three separate occasions because I was so engrossed.

Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business by Chris Anderson
Practical. I would say forward-thinking too but if you did some critical thinking about the Internets, you would've come to the same conclusion. Anderson just does an amazing job of illuminating it.

think/feel hosts a screening

In honor of my friends over at Remedee, think/feel is hosting our very first event. We want to share with you a special advanced screening of Remedee's pilot program, Reel Lives, which consists of five powerful documentary films made by teenagers from a gang-infested neighborhood in Los Angeles. Here's the trailer:



If you're interested in any aspect of youth empowerment through storytelling and film, you'll want to see this. It has been amazing what Remedee has been able to accomplish from the ground-up in just a year. Please feel free to pass this wide and far to those who are in the area and may be interested, but note that space is limited and a seat at the screening will require a RSVP. We hope to see you there! Here's the info:

Remedee, in partnership with think/feel, presents

The Reel Lives Project
Short Films by Extraordinary Youth

Saturday, March 8
8:00 reception
8:30 screening
merriment to follow

Special guest Remedee co-founder and Executive Director, Mara Abrams
Special guest DJ, Luiseño

Bedford-Stuyveant, Brooklyn
Contact us for the exact location

Space is limited! Please RSVP
info@thinkfeelstudio.com

ITP goes to MoMA

Starting tomorrow, a new exhibition at MoMA entitled Design and the Elastic Mind will feature a bunch of works that explore the intersection of science and design. Five of these projects belong to ITP alumni, two of which belong to my class of 2007. I'm so proud!

My (slightly biased) favorite is Demetrie's Hypothetical Drawings About the End of the World, which I have witnessed him develop since 2005. The results are 72" x 22" giclee social landscape prints, the content generated by the very particular parsing of Internet searches. Really, these images do not do the drawings justice; you have until May 12 to see them in person.