Stay Organized with Weekly Planners

With a new school year beginning and fall right around the corner, it is easy to get overwhelmed with appointments and to-do lists. Keep your family organized with one of these great planners.



{Mom - A Thon Planner by Periwinkle Press}

The personalized planners are available on eInvite in sheets of 60. Additional styles available here.

{Weekly Menu by Periwinkle Press}

The Occasional Design Disaster

Every once in a while, a design goes horribly awry. Sometimes it is a lack of planning and sometimes it is just simply miscommunication. We don't make a point of being negative on this blog but there has been a great deal of controversy lately about two huge design undertakings. I'd love to know everyone's thoughts!

The London 2012 Logo

©London2012.com

The London 2012 logo has made headlines around the globe, generally evoking shock and horror amongst designers. Ever the optimist, I'm looking for someone who can point out the good in this design. Personally, I'm not sure there's anything that's working for it. Even the type is somewhat bizarre. I simply don't know what to make of it, but my initial reaction is much like that of everyone else: confusion. Generally, when doing identity work, confusion is not the emotion you're looking to evoke.



The IKEA Verdana Fiasco

©www.idsgn.org

Needless to say, this controversy has made huge waves in the design community, particularly amongst the typophiles. It even made Time magazine. The short story is that, after twenty years of using a custom designed Futura face (IKEA Sans), IKEA suddenly changed its identity to use an off-the-shelf screen face, Verdana. So, what do you think? Love the logo? Identify with IKEA's new look?

A perfect wedding gift...

{image of sample website via buy our honeymoon.com}

This morning, during my daily read of Cup of Jo, I discovered the genious website called "buy our honeymoon". She is planning her own honeymoon and is using and endorsing the service. I would take her word. As Joanna Goddard clearly states, they never see the tacky name and she's right. Your website looks like a customized home page and then a cute little list of gift ideas. You MUST visit just to check it out, here is a sample of a European vacation registry. I just love my Cup of Jo!

Living Flora

Jewish New Year on eInvite

September will be upon us quickly and with it, Rosh Hashanah. Check out eInvite's impressive Jewish New Year greetings collection: it's artful, soulful and tasteful. This year, there is also a stylish earthiness that I am loving.

Inside the studio

{image courtesy of www.bartongalleries.com}

Last night on the Sundance Channel I watched an excellent documentary called Painter's Painting: The New York Art Scene, 1940-1970, directed by Emile De Antonio. It examined the Abstract Expressionist art scene in New York and how it segued into the Pop Art movement of the 60's through interviews with such ground breaking artists as Robert Rauschenberg, William de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Barnett Newman, Hans Hoffman, Larry Poons, Robert Motherwell, and more who were instrumental in forging modern American art.

Also interviewed are critics and collectors such as Clement Greenberg, Leo Castelli and Henry Geldzahler. It was released in 1973 and features these artists in their studios as they worked, talked about their process and personal history as well as their place in 20th century art. I strongly recommend this to any artist or art lover.

Match Maker

Not only as a designer, but also as a collector of vintage tins, I truly appreciate old typography and graphic design. Anything that dons the aesthetic of days-gone-by has a cozy place in my heart. At the moment, I’m particularly enamored with vintage matchboxes or anything resembling them in the slightest. Their illustrative graphics, paired with interesting phrases and colorful typography, are captivating and otherworldly. The fact that older boxes are made of wood, make them ideal for reuse, either to store more matches in, or perhaps small valuables. At a vintage themed wedding, old matchboxes could make for great favors, or decorations at each table. However, if shopping on Ebay for days-on-end, or scouring antique shops is not necessarily in your schedule, there are fabulous alternatives that would give the same old-world vibe. I’ve featured a few options above, as well as, some photos of the real deal. Be sure to check out wackystuff’s photostream on flickr. The Russian matchbox labels circa 1965 are amazing!!

{images L to R}
Vintage Belgian Matches from P.O.S.H
Daily Fortune Matchbooks by Rosebud Design Studio
Luxe Covered Matchboxes by Cori Kindred
Vintage Matchbox Labels via Wackystuff's Photostream on Flickr

DIY Bridesmaid Card

This DIY bridsmaid card designed by RIFLE Design for Once Wed is so much fun. I would love to receive this in the mail!





Additional Photos and Instructions here.

Art and Copy

My personal background is in advertising, so I still keep a close watch on what is happening in the advertising and creative worlds. One of the interesting developments has been a documentary called Art and Copy, a film about advertising creative and inspiration. It looks at the impact of some of the famous campaigns of the past. The director was also inspired by such films as Koyaanisqatsi (one of my favorite films of all time).

Take a look and check out the website: http://artandcopyfilm.com/

Coming Soon! Crane's Martha Stewart Holiday

Here's a sneak peak of the stunning collection! Coming to eInvite soon :)

Exciting time for fashion!

{images: vera wang fall 2009 via instyle}

Of all designers, Vera Wang is one that stands alone for me. Her edgy and sophisticated forethought is amazingly accurate. The latest InStyle mag has gotten me so fired up about today's fashion. The epitome of the times, her grasp of texture, line and color, femme and mod interpretations are perfection!

By the way, i love what is happening with shoes. Have you seen the latest? Avant-garde at the most conservative labels. I am loving the guts and gusto.

Love, War and Letters

Jaime and Jeremy, on their wedding day.
{image via NY Daily News}

If you have been reading any online news source in the past week or so, you have more than likely seen the story about Jaime Benefit and Jeremy Clayton. During the Persian Gulf War, Jaime (then 13 years old) decided to send a letter addressed to "any soldier" thanking them for their service. The letter ended up in the hands of 19 year old PFC Jeremy Clayton and the two became pen pals, writing back and forth whenever they could.

Fast-forward almost 20 years, and Jaime decided to try to find Jeremy. After some unsuccessful attempts at trying to reach him through more traditional methods, Jaime used Facebook to sort through over 300 Jeremy Claytons! The rest happens only in the movies - Jaime and Jeremy met, instantly fell for each other and were married in July of this year. After reading an article about them, I knew I had to speak with Jaime about her extraordinary romance and how paper brought them together. One of the things that really got me about Jaime and Jeremy is that they still write each other little notes every day. She puts them in his lunch and he'll put them on the bathroom mirror for her - she says that they're as simple as "I love you" or "hope you have a great day", but that they mean so much to the two of them. Jaime says:

"Handwritten letters add a personal touch and it means a lot more when you take time to write someone, especially in today's society when emails and text messages have become the norm. With a handwritten letter you actually put your hands on it and they can save it to read at a later time."

Jaime actually kept all of the letters that Jeremy sent her during the Persian Gulf War, and Jeremy had to hide a couple of Jaime's letters in his truck so he could hang on to them. Most of us delete our emails or text messages or let them pile up in our inbox - Jeremy took the time to hide letters during a war. Jaime and Jeremy are just as technology obsessed as the rest of us but Jaime still sees the letter as a way to let someone know that you care about them.

"[It's] a way to show them that they are in your thoughts and that they are worth the extra minute it takes to write something out for them."

Who knows, that extra 5 minutes you take to actually mail a letter could make someone's day 20 years from now. So put down your cell phone, pick up a pen and piece of paper, and connect with someone special.