a few fun ads from ikea, reminding us all about cleanliness and tidiness and pick-it-up-ness.
created by tbwa istanbul for ikea.
via design taxi
PINK AND BLUE
in case you missed it, pantone (the color masters) announced their colors of the year...
soft pink + pale blue.
specifically, rose quartz and serenity. expect to see a lot more of these in products, fashion, and merchandising in the coming months.
STENCIL DE COLORES
beautiful, minimalist pieces from german artist imi knoebel. so simple and restrained. i love the proportion and structure he works in. also, i want the orange one for mi casa.
INSTA INSPO
a big part of my job at framebridge is to reach out to content creators and design influencers, share what we do, and make collaborations happen. one of the first people i reached out to when i first got to framebridge was monling lee. she is one of my all time instagram crushes.
and since she's based in dc, we got drinks and ended up talking for nearly three hours about design, the power of instagram and the importance of having a creative point of view. we also talked about the fact that she had been creating beautiful content online for years but had never seen her work in print.
so, naturally, we fixed that. and this week we shared an interview with her on the framebridge blog so others could find inspiration in her work too.
KODAK MOMENT
more awesome work from french paper artists zim&zou.
lucie thomas and thibault zimmerman are both based in paris, trained as graphic designers and just generally crazy talented. they create all of the elements of their installations completely by hand - from paper cutting to molding and sculpture. i love seeing someone work in paper in a more crafted way and relying on more delicate techniques than the digital tools most people are moving to.
they have a ton of beautiful work but this series is one of my favorites.
via creative boom
THIS IS NOT A FASHION BLOG
CUT IT OUT
love these jungle-inspired, sculptural collages from spanish artist ana beltra. these are from her latest series, titled “conjugar jungla.”
via the jealous curator
SUGAR SKULLS AND MEXICAN ROSES
ready for my favorite branding of 2015? good! so...
it's a wedding.
a couple of months ago my friends emma and miguel got married in mexico city, and with the help of the insanely talented isabel from tinta y calamar they created a wedding suite that made this design-lover's heart skip a beat.
from the save the date to the table numbers and the skulls on the place settings, the design was consistent and unique. it was very mexican but the theme never translated as cheesy, just as a consistent thread. and THE DETAILS. to have this level of detail and this amount of color in anything and still make it feel clean is incredibly difficult. isabel incorporated laser cutting, hand painting, skulls, the couple's names, tons of color, the list goes on. but the overall look was consistent and so cool. as you'll see, the main elements of the wedding (and the paper suite) were a mexican sugar skull, papel picado (the laser cut paper) and rosa mexicano, a specific shade of hot pink.
i am so excited to share isabel's work - as well as emma and miguel's vision - with you. it's a beautiful example of how much love and work goes into weddings. it's a lesson in design. and it's branding at it's best, from an unexpected source. the fact that it was for emma, who i've been friends with since we were 15, is just the (mexican) cherry on top.
ok! let's start at the top.
first / the save the date postcards:
next / the full invitation suite:
and / the welcome bag!
finally / at the wedding:
beautiful, right? thank you, isabel, for your beautiful work. y que vivan los novios!
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK
thought you guys would like this series - called facades - from roland fischer. at first you might think these colorful patterns are from tiles or fabrics or sculptures. but actually these are walls of architectural structures from around the world.
and a great reminder to look for art in architecture!
these images also highlight some of the trends that are shaping architecture around the world. from fischer: “i noticed all these new buildings mushrooming everywhere, giving the impression that they could as well be from any other major town in the world... i thought that this was a new urban visual experience, a consequence naturally of the then still new process of globalization.”
looks like architectural abstractions are becoming a thing over here.
Museum, Munich, 2010
Kitamagome, Tokyo, 2014
Eldorado, Brasilia, 2006
Oio, Melbourne, 2012
Highschool, Utrecht, 2013
Docklands, Melbourne, 2014
Black Forest #2, 2010
via swissmiss
COLOR BLOCK BABY
loving the color-filled work of french photographer matthieu venot. he uses color and angle to turn images of buildings into beautiful abstractions. love these minimalist and architectural images.
more here.
via it's nice that
ESSENCE OF A LADY
i recently came across the work of artist lorna simpson, and it sent me down a glorious rabbit hole discovering all of her beautiful work. i especially love this series, a collection of collages using figures from vintage ebony and jet magazines.
simpson was known for her photography and video installations but in recent years she shifted to other mediums and more to portraits - primarily of african american women. her pieces are a commentary on beauty, image and identity. and i love them.
PAINT THE MAGS
SOFT LINES AND HAPPY LADIES
i wanted to share some pieces by chicago based illustrator laura berger. they kinda just make me happy.
via miss moss
PORTRAIT OF A PATTERN
it's amazing how inspiration finds you. just two days after i posted about omar victor diop i stumbled across the work of kehinde wiley. while they have very different mediums and contexts, they speak to each other so much for me. and the title for my post on dipo "portrait of a pattern" fits beautifully for wiley as well.
with wiley the first thing that grabbed me was - of course - his use of color and pattern. but the more you look at his pieces that more the detail and skill begin to bubble to the top. his portraits are so expressive. i can't believe it took me so long to come across his work!
PORTRAIT OF A PATTERN
i recently came across the work of photographer omar victor diop and was immediately blown away. i spent almost an hour going through his work trying to narrow it down to just a couple of favorites to share with you. born in (and inspired by) senegal, he mixes his photography with other forms of art and design - interiors, costume, graphics. he says he hopes to capture the diversity of modern african societies and lifestyles.
my favorites are his portraits. his use of color, pattern and texture is stunning.
MAKING AIRPORT DESIGN FLY
take a look at this very cool rebrand of london luton airport (LLA) from atipo (who i actually wrote about in this post!) and ICO design. as i said in this post, i love when people bring color and thoughtful design into spaces that are typically just focused on utility (read: grey and beige). here's what the design house said about the project:
"rebranding an airport is no easy task. following the approval of a major development at LLA, we were approached to create a brand that would redefine the airport in the london market and inform its future direction as a passenger-focused airport. working closely with the key stakeholders led to four core values that will inform all aspects of the brand. these are expressed in the simplicity and dynamism of the new visual identity which is a clear statement of intent of the airport’s bold ambition for the future. the identity includes a specially commissioned typeface and icon set designed by atipo."
