If I’m honest here, my life is pretty sweet. I have zero complaints. But a new year is a new year and I should probably resolve to change a few things that I may have let slide over the past year (ahem…target & cleaning). I have already started the closet on January 1, so lets see if I can rock out the rest.
It seems crazy to me, but I was having the hardest time finding an all white color palette. As much as I love white, I thought the right thing to do would be to share. I found the photo on pinterest (of course) but linked it back to:
Artist
- Leigh Beisch
- 415.759.8832
- Heather Elder Represents
Really lovely portfolio, you should check it out if you are in need.
{IMAGE SOURCE: LAUGHING SQUID}
Like me, you might have taken one look at this packaging and thought… hmmm… Darth Vader has a line of bottled water now…just what the world needed. However, this is a clear water bottle filled with BLACK WATER.
That is so BAD ASS!!
The water is infused with fulvic acid (who doesn’t like a little acid in their water? whatever…), which turns it black. I can’t be responsible for saying this is good or bad for you. I did a quick cursory search on “fulvic acid” and nobody seemed to have anything bad to say about it. Make of that what you will.
So, lets talk packaging. This would definitely stand out on a shelf; but do you think you would realize that the water is black and not just the package if you saw it? And then at that point, would you buy black water? The design is clean and simple (right up my alley) and uses everybody’s favorite font: Helvetica Gotham Bold (thanks, Stu!). Good design, not 100% on the product. Would I buy it? yes. I want that water on my shelf, it’s cool. Would I be a repeat buyer? Probably not. Maybe it would be good for a halloween run? Something to consider. But, when I think of water, I want it to be clean and clear. Too old school?
You can buy your black water at: BLK BEVERAGES
IMAGE SOURCE/BUY IT HERE: OISELLE
I should be more concerned with my tempo or pace or best time or something… whatever… For me, part of the fun of running has been all the new clothes. And these are just so flippin’ cute! I saw a little piece that said Virgo’s (not that I believe in astrology at all) can’t handle chaos so we like to have an organized plan. That is true when it comes to getting up and exercising in the morning. I think if I had these chonies, I would get out of bed everyday with a good plan. These were my reward for running my first race and meeting our planned target time (5 miles in under an hour – yeah us!).
You can buy yourself a set at Oiselle. Your tooshie will love it when you fartlek!
IMAGE SOURCE: The Telegraph
Russian street artist P183 who is often compared with Banksy (some call him “Bankski”) recently made this gem. As a connoisseur of glasses, of course I love it.
IMAGE SOURCE: The Rock Poster Society
I love poster design. I think, quite honestly, it is because it is such a challenge. For a while I thought my heart belonged to direct mail and I still think of it fondly, but man, I love me a poster!
It all started back when I was taking History of Graphic Design at SCAD. The textbook was Meggs History of Graphic Design. Do you have it? WHY NOT?! Anyway, when studying “the conceptual image” I was exposed once again to Wes Wilson. I say “once again” because we are all familiar with the pioneer of the psychedelic poster. I was born a few years after his concert posters were at their peak of popularity and still… we all know them.
Wilson’s work is of importance again today because we seem to be having a groundswell movement of social activism. The posters that influenced Wilson’s were not of a commercial message, but instead made statements about social viewpoints. I have to ask myself if there is an emerging Wes Wilson about to take over? Often Wilson’s hand drawn type would become the artwork itself and the colors he selected often made the images vibrate off the paper. One of the most interesting facts about Wilson’s (and other psychedelic poster artists) work was that “according to newspaper reports, respectable and intelligent businessmen were unable to comprehend the lettering on these posters, yet they communicated well enough to fill auditoriums with a younger generation who deciphered, rather than read, the message.” (Meggs, 438).
This gem was created by Wilson for the opening of a J. Walter Thompson agency. His website also has a really great story told by Wilson himself about the day Andy Warhol came to visit. Check out his website and enjoy the visual feast.
Image Source: Wes Wilson
IMAGE SOURCE: Whole Blossoms
Random fact about me: the tulip has always been my favorite flower, without question. And I do question it all the time: there are prettier flowers, there are flowers that smell better, heck, there are even flowers that last longer. But still, I stand by the tulip.
I just couldn’t figure it out until today when I was trying to get all my Swedish holidays figured out to make sure my kiddies celebrate it the proper way. Turns out I missed Tulip Day (Tulpanens dag) in January. What a bummer. At least I understand my love of tulips.
A relatively new holiday in Sweden, Tulips have been celebrated for the past 20 or so years in Sweden as a welcome to Spring (with the lovely winter we are having here in Illinois, it seems like we should be celebrating Spring as well), buying almost 1 million tulips per day between January and Easter. There are 400 varieties of tulips grown in Sweden between in January and April (tulip season). So, you can still celebrate tulip season and if you see some over here in the States, go on ahead and brighten someone’s day!
This lovely image came from Angela Hardison’s blog. I couldn’t resist trying to pull a color palette out of it. I know it’s winter (we just got our first snow fall today!), but isn’t this a breath of fresh air?
image credit: judaistike
I realized recently that my family knows so much about my husband’s culture and very little about mine. So much so, that when presented with an opportunity to explore other parts of their heritage, they still choose to stay with what is familiar. I have decided this is the year we will change that. I call myself a sort of European mutt and am going to put my family through a social experiment where we explore my side of the family tree. Lucky them – I am always good for some shenanigans. I have always been interested in my Swedish side, so this is the year we make some rockin’ meatballs and other good stuff I will learn along the way.
I have learned that Swedish New Year is very similar to ours here in the U.S. We celebrate with family and then have a great time with friends, making resolutions, loud music, liquor (of course) and fireworks.
Every year at the Skansen Open-air museum in Stockholm, Ring Out, Wild Bells is performed. It sounds like a lovely message. So here is to a Gott Nytt Ar to all of you (Happy New Year) and Ring Out, Wild Bells:
Ring Out, Wild Bells by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
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