Former model Jessica Gomes has launched her skincare line Equal Beauty. Equal Beauty is a fragrance free skin care line that focuses on hydration and protection of the skin while it improves the skin's overall appearance and texture, a skincare for both male and female and for every skin type.
THINGS
Scandinavian shop Frama has just launched their exclusive online store introducing their brand and a tour to their store, including a peek on their latest projects.
The Bloke Chair is a charity project by Toko. The chair was designed for the single bloke in mind, designers came together to create a reinterpretation of Hans J. Wegner’s ‘CH 33’ chair, bringing a unique combination of 14 Australian and New Zealand icons and an awareness of 14 charities.
Blocd is a brand studio based in Barcelona, Spain. The company has been building brands for clients for twenty-five years. Their work ranges from editorial, brochures, books, magazines to apps, websites and packaging. Blocd is also known to its clients and staff to giveaway delightful treats like the Pantone Chocolate and the Many Movable Type, which is basically a Pantone swatch made of real chocolate and a movable type tributing Gutenberg, made of real candy. Ingenious really.
"I’m really inspired by those vernacular items we use everyday. Especially folk objects, which I’ll interpret to fit my lifestyle. Everything has to be light and strong and sit well in an environment. Combining simple function with beauty is a constant inspiration and a challenge.” - Brian Persico
The Edit
Cultivated Days
Cultivated Days is an online journal on Japanese cuisine produced by Prairie Stuart-Wolff. A writer and photographer, Stuart-Wolff was inspired to share her exploits on exotic culinary dishes, and stories that came with its old Japanese traditions.
Ceramist Christina Schou Christensen has reimagined the traditional ceramics and experimented with a medium that gave her variable results. Christensen uses glaze which has highly viscous properties and gives its form. The crucial process involves the right viscosity of the glaze, the firing tools, the stoneware that holds the fluid, and the right temperature of the kiln, setting certain parameters for the interaction of the materials.
SB Brands released this intuitive branding for a newly established fashion apparel Savin. The product presentation and photography complements the packaging and identity of the store.
BOOKSHELF
A collection of print magazines good for long travels or Sunday afternoons
CW&T has recently launched an offset poster print of Personal Body Unit Index. This brilliant concept allows you to measure objects and furnitures with your own body when no measuring tools are at hand.
Au Courant is a massive collectible volume on art, design, culture, and life/style, presented from the understated, pan-Caribbean perspective of its writer, photographer, and creator, Lisa-Marie Harris. Au Courant allows for an open, globalized discussion with established and emerging creatives across disciplines. Through longform interviews, candid discussions, exclusive commissions, photo essays, and intriguing stories, each volume represents a body of timeless, distinctive visuals and writings.
Everlane has introduced their new classic Modern Oxfords. Made from Italian leather with tapered toe and ¾” heels, these smart looking classics dresses up any casual wardrobe.
Around Us & Between Us
Geoff McFetridge
Overgrowth
Parker Fitzgerald's newly published book Overgrowth is a series of flowers and nude portraits collaborated between photographer Parker Fitzgerald and floral designer and stylist Riley Messina.
Aria
Lil Buck
Philippe Halsman is known for his photographs of celebrities. In the fifties he was commissioned by a television network to photograph actors which gave him an opportunity to create his jump series. The subjects in his photographs capture the jumper’s euphoric state in mid air which Halsman called jumpology. He published Philippe Halsman’s Jump Book in 1959, which contained a tongue-in-cheek discussion of jumpology and 178 photographs of celebrity jumpers.
ATEM came to fruition in 2012 in the studio of Nelson Abulencia in Hamburg, Germany. Atem or breath in german is indeed a refreshing view on how it perceives its merchandise, as contemporary timeless classic pieces made with durable materials crafted into functional design with a sense of tactile simplicity. Art direction was designed by HelloMe. Their merch is available in select stores.
A simple fluorescent desk lamp composed of two metal bent legs and an oak case that can also be hand held. Product design by Federico Floriani based in Italy.
Hyperkit is a design studio started by husband and wife team Kate Sclater and Tim Balaam in 2001. The studio holds an impressive collateral of work mainly in visual identity, and print and publication.
Simple and practical identity for New York’s surf shop Saturdays‘ coffee brand. A good cup of cappuccino whilst browsing the small shop for some surfing gear.
Scotch & Soda's Home Alone campaign came out a couple of years ago, but their comfy hoodie is now available in color and lightweight cotton for spring.
A bi-annual print journal for The Design Society in Singapore. The unique editorial layout utilized its columns without occupying the whole page, and made use of bold condensed typeface. Also was drawn to the fluoro green overprint on the cover giving the reader a preview of the content just beneath the transparent green title. Project by Eunice Yip based in Australia with H55 Studio.
Came across Ana Kraš some years ago on Apartamento and found some of her illustrations, candid portraits, and some handmade products including her signature color thread bonbon lamps available per request on her site. Interview video by Avant Garde.
Mariana Garcia is a graphic designer whose got a discerning eye for photographing her subjects. Her portraits have a picturesque quality in them, captured in diaphanous light. Garcia also produces fashion and editorial photographs for her clients.
BERG Studio has recently joined affiliation with Effektive and now known as Freytag Anderson, an independent design studio for print, screen and environment. Some of their new work is now available on their site.
Since the success of Monocle’s little shop in Tokyo, there’s been talk of other shops to be installed. There’s been a few pop-up Monocle stores, but not as charming as its brick and mortar counterpart. A new Monocle Café will be open this April, only a block from Monocle HQ with free wi-fi to subscribers, scrumptious coffee and cake, and a few goods.
A beautifully rendered cookbook by culinary advisor and chef Mikkel Karstad. The Danish gourmet featured in this book uses simple ingredients and is one of his many series of Nordic cooking endeavours.
Extraordinary in Ordinary was written by Albert Cheng-Syun Tang and his student thesis was publicized by Bergen Academy of Art and Design in 2011. This project scrutinize the interconnection of design in our daily living. Tang received a couple of awards and recognition for his work.
New Fall/Winter editorial from Anaise photographed by Brian Ferry with artist Claire Cottrell.
Everyday Dose is an espresso bar located in Christchurch, New Zealand. A modern and minimal yet by no means inhibited brand that coalesce with the identity and product of the shop. Design is by Elliot Stansfield of Stansfield Design Studio based in New Zealand.
Kristiina Haataja
Kristiina Haataja creates these unique head pieces that can be on any shelf or table top and adds an earthy tone to a clean modern space. This contemporary and cubist style however you display them, each piece gives a different perspective whichever way the light is reflecting on the sculpture.
Made Quarterly published its second issue featuring todays modern makers in design, architecture, interior, culinary, and product design and let us glimpse into the process and what transpires in their current projects.
A series of 47 x 60 black and white portraits called Meditations by French photographer Laurence Demaison. A series from Demaison involving a model obscured in thick white smoke against a black ground, hardly making out the face makes for a surreal and haunting albeit beautiful portraits.
BoConcept is a global retail furniture store from Denmark. Their affordable minimal furnishings are suitable for any urban dweller, even for small spaced apartments.
This Brutalist inspired architecture by Joris Brouwers and Nicky Zwaan is a massive asymmetrical facade with a curious structure made of wood, glass, and concrete and has an impressive interior that is a refuge for a modest living. Each room is well utilized for their own use and kept for a sustainable living.
Photographer Jaka Bulc has a staggering collection of breathtaking landscapes. A mountaineer himself, allows him to capture these isolated peaks and majestic rock formations not many are fortunate to gaze upon. Bulc has worked with Monocle, Dwell, and Herschel among his clientele. He's had solo and group exhibits of his work in Ljubljana and garnered an award for contemporary photography. He currently resides in Slovenia.
It Looks Like it Says
Geoff McFetridge
This project is a play on Nordic folklore which seeks to revive or restore its old stories through installation and photography.
Annual digital subscription to Kinfolk magazine.
Designer David Ehrenstråhle has reprints and a few addition to his collection of My Guide To city posters.
Elegant branding by I am the Lab based in Hawaii. Haute Handmade is a modern store with high-end goods promoting artists from around the world proud of their handmade products.
Ikawa
A nifty contemporary coffee roaster Ikawa, which means coffee in Kirundi, and first digital micro-roaster is now available. With the success of founders Andrew Stordy and Rombout Frieling’s kickstarter campaign, roasting your own coffee beans is made possible, enabling you to adjust the temperature, air flow, and roast duration to experiment and bring out the best flavor of the beans through your tablet or phone.
Savvy Studio delivers yet again a handsome brand identity for a gourmet bakery and coffee shop Abarrotes Delirio in Mexico. The corner shop wanted to convey the local street food but packaged in simple and practical design that attracts consumer with diversified taste.
Warby Parker just launched their new Auteur Collection on their site with a short film called “Le Chat Cambrioleur” (The Cat Burglar). This film is very reminiscent of Nouvelle Vague or French New Wave cinema, the characters are also sporting glasses from their new très chic collection. Typography from the film and posters were produced by designer and illustrator Lisa Hedge, I believe she used a typeface similar to that of the one used in the opening credits from Jean-Luc Godard’s films which he tweaked himself.
New York based design studio Project Projects focuses but not exclusive to identity and prints. The studio was founded by Prem Krishnamurthy and Adam Michaels, and Rob Giampietro later joined the group.
Wonderful sculpted chairs from Inoda + Sveje a collaboration between Danish and Japanese aesthetics.
Rowster Coffee is launching their new artisanal brew to us regular folks in an awesome brown tube called Regular Coffee, designed by Neil Hubert. The coffee is only available through a monthly subscription, learn more from their Kickstarter page.
New series of cinematic photographs by Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg from the fashion week called Cinemagraphs.
Browns and pastels from the Autumn/Winter Collection of Dress Up by Stephanie Downey.
There has been a handful of cities around the globe that were blocked off from maps until this last century. Private residential areas, quarries, and plantations from Qatar, Algeria, Chile, Siberia, and Argentina all cast traces of occupied settlements or a once progressing community but are now in decline due to limited resources or political conflicts. Closed Cities is a series of photographs from these abandoned cities collected by Gregor Sailer.
Magnificent Cloche desk lamp and Drifted chairs from Norwegian Lars Beller Fjetland, founder of Beller.
Marielle Kerber, a well acclaimed Swedish fashion designer, is known for her well tailored and loose fitting silhouettes in flattering fabrics that compliments any woman who wears them.
Hungarian photographer, Ákos Major, has a predisposition to take subjects of stark, arid or cold and foggy landscapes, away from crowds. In his new series, he chose to photograph urban landscapes where high rise buildings are juxtaposed next to patches of green and dilapidated structures, and some areas with ongoing construction sites.
Chris Burkard is a photographer and a professional photographer for Surfer magazine.
Patrick Janelle is a designer based in New York, and his instagram feeds are filled with scrumptious breakfast with countless cups of cortado.
Land, a collaborative effort by designers Caleb Everitt and Ryan Rhodes whose impressive work includes hand drawn typography and a strong inclination towards the classic old American rustic style evident in most of their pieces.
Bibliotheca
Adam Lewis Greene, the creator behind Bibliotheca, took on a project that none has ventured to take which is to redesign the bible and publish it as a novel in four volumes. It caused some conflicting criticism on the most read book in history, but amassed a large support from its audience.
The White Review is an arts and literature quarterly magazine, with triannual print and monthly online editions. The magazine launched provides ‘a space for a new generation to express itself unconstrained by form, subject or genre’, and publishes fiction, essays, interviews with writers and artists, poetry, and series of artworks.
Wiktoria Szawiel’s deliberate use of broken rattan encased in resin encourages us to see beyond its delicate appearance and see the ‘landscape within’. It’s opaque material enables us to see the contrast of the dark skin and its lighter layers exposed contrasting with the smooth texture of the resin, as if the organic matter is growing within.
A beautiful spread of food and lifestyle editorial from designer Emma Brooks of Emmadime and California based photographer Eva Kolenko.
Bang & Olufsen just launched their latest headphones and audio accessories ready for the spring and summer season. The recent models from the scandinavian company came with wireless and bluetooth technology designed for the active contemporary lifestyle. Their designs are reflective of the company's character, intuitive high quality products seamlessly integrate with the creative and mobile lifestyle.
Designer Erola Boix produced this brochure for private international bank, Andbanc. The striking and playful juxtaposition of the graphs with the images is a clever way to engage the reader to read the infographics.
Freunde von Freunden
Valerie Traan
Geological Frame
Huy Bui's Geological Frame, is a series of wood encased in rectangular brass frames, exploring the relationship between nature and design.
Greycork
Furniture brand Greycork has been rapidly growing, developing good quality and affordable furnishings that are easily assembled. Their furniture fits well in any modern or minimal home with its no fuss assembly.
Martin Auer Magazin is small but beautiful editorial design magazine that displays his traditional handicraft loaves with beautiful photographs of artisanal breads and stories behind the process in baking bread.
Fourth issue of Thisispaper magazine is now available in three covers.
In Residence
Rose Uniacke
New Zealand based studio Sorbet made Adé's minimal and stylish book, stationery and invites complimenting the modern apartment living sentiment of the shop.
THINGS
The Pressery has become immensely popular among the brits because of its unsweetened flavor and for its nutritional value. The Pressery is founded by Natali Stajcic and Chi-San Wan based in their East London office. Designer Tim Jarvis conceptualize the minimal identity and packaging, reflecting the company’s fresh and hand-made product.
Antwerp based photographer Frederik Vercruysse has a keen eye for texture and light, subtle light that we often aspire in our own space. Vercruysse photographs mainly still life shots but has an extensive portfolio from studio spaces, landscapes, fashion, interior and architecture for lifestyle editorials.
Montréal based graphic design studio Nouvelle Administration crafted a brand for Objets Mécaniques that contemplates its carefully handmade lifestyle products. Their simple and contemporary identity and collaterals reflect the company’s slow design laboratory approach produced with reclaimed materials in modern design.
New limited edition Hayworth Collection from Warby Parker is reminiscent of old hollywood circa forties and fifties cinema icons with the likes of Holden, Stanwyck, and Cagney.
Creative and Art Director PoL Úbeda Hervàs plays with this series called “I’m Not There”, reflecting on one’s existence in an almost empty portrait and becomes more self-aware.
Cow & Co. is located in Liverpool this shop carries some unique home goods and accessories. They claim their shop is not just a place to go and buy stuff, it’s a place to mooch and browse and peruse and ponder, which I think deserves to be on my list to visit.
Montreal based shop Objets Mécaniques produce handmade everyday items made from local and reclaimed materials.
Winter Essentials
Spring may be around the corner but its still thirty degrees and hailing snow in most parts of the continent so here are a few things to keep ourselves warm with comfy oversized knitted sweater, fragrant candles and soapsuds, and lots of hot beverage.
A new collection and a new TV Spot from Warby Parker featuring a young couple in mischief to the tune of The Kinks.
The Literary Life Well Lived
Freunde von Freunden is an archive of creative individuals and their homes. You get to know the artists and a sense of what its like living in today's multifaceted and contemporary lifestyle.
Nourished Journal is a bi-annual lifestyle publication that inspires its readers to learn and connect to a healthier lifestyle. Each issue is supplied with editorials, recipes, interviews, and a city guide that has an abundant list of healthy take-outs, where to catch the food trucks, seasonal markets, and little nooks hidden from most Angelenos. Nourished was published by Made Publishers and is available on their online store and a digital edition in the App Store.
This wonderfully redesigned Revo Monocle 24 Radio includes wireless connectivity that seamlessly streams wirelessly to your mobile and tablet computers. It can be programmed to stream Monocle Radio and connects to the Spotify archive.
La Distributrice is a small takeout coffee and possibly the smallest coffee shop there is in North America. Branding made by Gabriel Lefebvre and Rachel Lecompte.
Albam, a British clothing line for men, has published a series of portraits with photographer John Spinks. A project that was meant to be a lookbook for this fall season naturally turned into a portrait series.
One of my favourite publications Nourished Journal, a bi-annual lifestyle magazine, released their fourth edition. This publication is a lifestyle journal that inspires and connect with readers through a healthy and wholesome living. Nourished Journal has free shipping worldwide from Berlin, Germany.
Thisispaper
ThisisPaper is a site filled with wonderfully curated stories and now they are publishing their first printed Inaugural Issue magazine, a more tactile creation containing stories.
I have followed some of CW&T's wonderful projects and I myself already acquired their Pen Type-B with polished brass. They recently announced the limited black model which will probably go soon since they only made a small run. This limited edition is made of solid stainless steel with a matte black ceramic polymer coating. Also check out their Architect Scale pens and other projects.
A refined wardrobe from La Garçonne's new collection of Moderne No. 10. The neutral garments showcase fine textured fabrics with loose fitting comfort that one wears with confidence and ease for an everyday wear.
Dutch designer Zelf Koelman mechanized Ferrolic clock that is a self-contained clock made of electromagnetic black fluid that forms into time or any shape of form the ferrofluid is designed into suspended particles.
L'ArcoBaleno or The Rainbow is an Italian emporium for collectible design by Creative Director Ambra Medda. London based studio Commission designed the branding for this online shop with very minimal logo and an arch that also cleverly functions as a tab for the labels, stationery, and note cards. Commission is founded by David McFarline and Christopher Moorby, that specializes in print, packaging, editorial, and advertising design.
Illustrated Summaries of Biblical Books is a large format book filled with a collection of illustrated posters produced by Timothy Mackie and The Bible Project team. This wonderfully illustrated summary of the scriptures is bound in a grey cloth hardcover binding perfect on any coffee table and a fun read for the whole family.
Nicholas Feltron has been collecting and analyzing data from his everyday life since 2005. It never cease to amuse me how meticulous some of these charts and graphs are, not to mention personal. His prints are also available on his site.
This newly released Copenhagen Guidebook is filled with maps, essays, and beautiful photographs of the local shops and architecture.
Intelligence is a biannual publication that provides a vivid insight into the people, brands, artists, and designers that shape our cultural landscape.
Fine Soap Ministry has a clean and simple identity and packaging by Paris & Hendzel for this company was all it required to capture its fundamental essence.
Lulu Ash has this lovely way of capturing her subjects. Her ability to tell stories through her lens connect and capitulate her audience to join in on her adventures.
MINNA is a Brooklyn based textile studio created by artist Sara Berks. Also a graphic designer prior to starting her craft, Berks shows a distinct ability in fusing texture with geometric symmetry and serene palette that resonates distant landscapes. Her handcrafted pieces are available on her online website.
Black Optical launched their fall campaign harking to Cecil Beaton’s work. Black Optical is an eyewear retailer hailing from Tulsa, Oklahoma that carries a fine collection of optical and sunglasses.
Hearts & Arrows
L.A. Dance Project
Directed and Choreographed
by Benjamin Millepied
Temple produced this exquisite brand identity for the London based gallery Flat 33 Gallery exhibiting work from contemporary artists.
A rather beautiful design of acoustic speaker unlike its hi-fi contemporaries that is predominantly
made of plastic or high polished steel. The design is simplified in two mediums: a stack of wood
twigs and perforated porcelain ceramic bound in brown leather strap. Each speaker is handcrafted
by Joon & Jung, an industrial design studio based in Korea.
Qubik is a design studio founded by Joe Gilmore in Leeds, United Kingdom. Qubik specializes in typographic-led design for branding, print and digital media. Their work includes design for branding, content managed websites, books, catalogues, brochures, posters, leaflets, signage and packaging. In addition to client-based work, the studio initiates and produces independent curatorial and publishing projects which focus on typography and graphic design.
Kim Høltermand has been busy with a few projects including a collaboration with other artists and musicians called Outliers, which I’ve mentioned on my blog a few years ago. Meanwhile here are a few of his ephemeral shots from his series called Norden and the other from Iceland.
Times (Wall Street), a series of photographs by Ang Choon Leng or Clang ruminates on our time and existence within a space or environment.
Grandfather and Grandmother is a series by Kamila Musilova who attempts to explore memories and visual records of her family encapsulated through portraiture of the objects they have left behind.
I came across Deborah Gordon on Instagram and instantly fell agog for her photographs. Deborah is an interior designer/visual stylist living in Glasgow with her husband and two kids Oliver and Sebastian, whom she named her blog Ollie & Seb's Hause after.
Closed was founded in Italy in 1978, and now based in Germany. This year's Spring/Summer Collection is filled with soft white with hints of solid color, and a playful upgrade of patched and zipped denims from their fall collection.
THE EDIT
Meat & Bread is a small deli shop in Vancouver for carnivores who are usually seen queing along the street in the wee hours of the morning. You can even
order online from their menu, ready for pick up. And who can resist the rustic vintage decor and that condensed sans serif?