I feel like I’m always moving. That could be because I’ve changed residences every year for the past 8 years. Things would probably be easier for me if I just decided to live out of boxes and make furniture out of cardboard. With more people than ever moving frequently due to changing jobs, lifestyles or significant others, the best way to keep track of people you know is through e-mail. Even with everything being electronic these days, it’s nice to have a record of friends’ home addresses  Continue ...

It’s common for advertising, packaging and posters from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s to be copied, quoted and commented on in contemporary design work. Stores like Old Navy just love to go retro with their fashions and promotions.

The always luxurious, elegantly geometric and often gaudy work of the 1920’s has, in my opinion, been overlooked as a source of direct inspiration. The recent surge of intense and layered ornamentation in illustration does share elements with the work of artists like Erte; however, it is not a tribute or throwback time of the flapper. Here’s a smokin’ new product line from Blue Q (masters of freakishly fun packaging) that looks like it was pulled straight from the era of the bob.  Continue ...

Is of course, another woman’s treasure. We all know it is a good idea to recycle, conserve and generally be aware of the planet. Somehow actively pursuing what’s ecologically friendly is, in popular culture, often linked with being unstylish. We picture Birkenstocks with socks, and bland, natural colors. However, there are actually great gifts out there for green and need-to-be-more-green friends that have some funk to them.  Continue ...

Bad News: Print Gocco is vanishing. If you’ve experienced Riso’s Print Gocco, you know it’s magical. It is a self-contained screen printing gadget. It allows you burn (make) a screen with Gocco-specific flash bulbs, and then use the same machine to stamp your design. There’s no mess unless you’re a total slob. It works for business cards, stationery, bumper stickers, t-shirts (with special fabric ink) and just about everything else. In short, the Print Gocco is an amazing DIY tool.  Continue ...

Tomorrow is one of those confusing consumer holidays. Is it good clean fun or a dirty big business trick? My heartfelt gift to you: a visual sampler of the naughty and the nice of it all. Hope it puts you in the mood…to discuss your sentiments on V-Day. Continue ...

Holiday shopping isn’t ending. In fact, for the savvy party planner it is just commencing. At the original price of 9 dollars a pop, these candy cane shot glasses left a bad taste in my mouth. Continue ...

As the season of consumerism and cheer approaches, daytime and early evening variety shows contain featurettes telling you what to buy. Oprah tells her viewers about her favorite things (which seem to be strangely similar from year to year), Al Roker welcomes toy experts so you know what your little cousins want (as though they won’t tell you themselves), and publications such as ReadyMade provide gifting instructions for crafty people on a budget. I’m here to hand out the Creepiest Gift of the Year Award.  Continue ...

As most people refer to their sweetening needs based on color (”I’ll have a pink”)… Continue ...

Trompe l’oeil: classic artistic technique currently being applied to oh-so-intellectual fashion items. Hell, if Marc Jacobs is doing it, then shouldn’t we all be? Continue ...