PERIODIC

My schedule is past the overflow at this point, so I might be taking a break from posts until next week.

Until then, enjoy this super-cool poster that I have been meaning to post for a while: the Periodic Table of Type!  Click here for a bigger version, or see the designer's website here.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: FADING GLAMOUR

Hope you all have a glitzy weekend!

[Image of the Artist's Cafe in Chicago]

MONEY GROWS ON GRAPHS?

Are you as confused about the whole economic mess as I am?

Well FlowingData has an incredible array of really well-designed 

diagrams to explain all the crazy complicated information in nice, pretty visual terms.

Check them all out here.

TASTY!

Isn't this a sweet photo?  I feel like I can taste the cupcakes just by looking at it . . . 

Even better?  This 4 x 6 print is being sold for only $10 by a seller named "buttons magee"!

Check it out here and the rest of the portfolio here.

GREEN HOUSE

How great is this?  A literal green house made for your recyclables!  Unfortunately it is still only a prototype . . . 

Found via swissmiss and Apartment Therapy.

PRIME REAL ESTATE

What a cool idea!  The NYTimes ran an article today about the latest fundraiser for the Queens Museum: adopt a mini building!  It seems that they have a range of prices to adopt each of their scale-model buildings.  You can adopt your apartment or, for a heftier fee, have them install your new construction!

They installed the Mets' new stadium recently.  Love it!

Check it all out here.

PRETTY IN PINK

There are some pretty cute pieces at JCrew right now.  It seems that they have revamped their website to allow you to sort their sale section by article of clothing, size, and color.  You can even easily remove sorted categories too.  Check out these and many other cute pink pieces here.  Or try your own color here.

p.s. I bought the second dress from the top this weekend (in white) and it has an adorable pleated scoop back . . . too bad the website doesn't have pictures of it!

TECH TREATS

Apple just announced their new iShuffle.  Miniscule!  Check it out here.

Also, LaCie is now offering this awesomely designed jump drive in 4G ($17.99) and 8G ($27.99) which looks like a key and fits on your keyring!  Love it!  Check it out here.

LIVING ROOM PLANNING

I am trying to start keeping a visual diary about apartment design planning as ideas come to me.  Since I will be moving in with my boyfriend to my first real, all-my-own apartment in August, I want to make sure I keep all my ideas in order.

One of the main things I am planning to splurge on is a really nice couch.  I am very picky.  I want something comfortable, but not something that sucks you down into the cushions so you can't get out.  I also want something that is basic enough to go with a lot of different things (since we know I like bright colors), with a chic modern design.  All that said, I think I have settled on an option (pending on-site comfort test): Room & Board's Jasper Sofa in grey.

I think it would go really nicely with this Jonathan Adler "bargello" pillow that I have been coveting for a while.  I want to put couch + pillow under my favorite painting, done by my friend and fabulous artist Meleko Mokgosi, which was a graduation present from my parents and is splendidly large and in charge (and a little brighter than this picture conveys).

What do you think?

CLOUD UMBRELLA

How fun!  Leave it to a foreign designer to come up with such a smile-inducing product: a pump-up umbrella that is shaped like a cloud to keep you dry for those rainy days . . . 

Found via smiss-miss, you can see more (in Japanese?) by designer Joonsoo Kim here.

LIGHT ME UP

Now I don't condone smoking, but if you want a really cool lighter to light candles around the house or sparklers, or a fire in the fireplace . . . this one is pretty sweet.  Clearly I like the bright colors, but I also like the faux matchstick shape.  Check them out here.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: WATCHING THE RAIN ROLL IN

Four days of cold winter-slush rain are slated for New York City this week.  

I am tempted to stay in bed and watch the world go by while I wait it out.

Hope the skies are a little brighter where you are.

[Photograph from the Hancock Tower Observatory Deck in Chicago]

WHAT THE . . ?!

You are eyes are not deceiving you.  You are not tripping.  This is a PINK DOLPHIN.  

Technically it is an albino dolphin and little girls with their eye on marine biology are freaking out right now.

Read more about it here.

(I know I am supposed to be posting design-y things, but I couldn't resist this.)

VENICE FROM ABOVE

Incredible.  The city of water seen from above!  

Oh to be walking a calle there right now with a gelato in my hand . . . . 

(top image from google maps, bottom three (with more!) from Denver Post Blog)

YOU'RE INVITED!

Do you all know about Pingg?  It's pretty awesome.  Basically you can design invitations from their extensive and gorgeous collection of stock photographs which can then be emailed or printed and snail mailed.  The design options are really lovely; for all those graphic design junkies this is a blessed alternative to boring old Evite.  You can even sync things with Facebook or Twitter (if you are into those things)!

Bonus?  Martha Stewart has recently added a ton of photographs from her magazine/products for you to use too!

Check it all out here.

JAZZ TYPE

Feeling Good, Nina Simone
by mrfnk

Remember those stupid 80s-like swirling neon lights that would play as you listened 

to Windows Media Player (way back before anyone used iTunes)?  

Yeah, this totally blows that out of the water.

(Sorry about all the videos.  I promise I will get more variety soon.)

TRUISMS FOR THE MODERN DAY CRANK