Oh my word… the designer in me is having heart palpitations, and I cannot help but say, damn, I wish I thought of this! Who did you ask… the folks at Leo Burnett London, and their friends at Pantone. This genius little swatch book was created for Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee, and showcases the lovely hues she’s worn over her 60 years in reign. Yep, I love it all, from PANTONE 16-2124 Pink Carnation, to PANTONE 13-4411 Crystal Blue. Gah! It’s so good!

{via designboom}

Um… I LOVE this. Anna Duthie is a recently graduated textiles student {from Glasgow School of Art} “specialising in embroidery for fashion. [Her] work reflects an appreciation of pattern, surface embellishment, contrasting textures and colour.” It sure does! Not only do I love her experimentations in materials, but I’m absolutely smitten with the way she’s put this project together… lovely repeating black & white ladies covered in colors, and shapes, and sparkles? Oh yes!

{via all the mountains}

I can manage a paper crane, but that’s where my folding skills end! I’m in awe of LA based artist/graphic designer Eva Black and her huge installation of paper triangles, titled quite appropriately Folded.

“I began the piece by collecting paper, using all found paper – paper that was given to me, paper I had collected over time, paper from old artworks, paper bags, or paper I bought from old bookstores. The piece has about 3,500 triangles and is about 12 x 13′.

It’s fascinating working with a medium in which a new tactile experience is explored. A medium that is often regarded as common, but has also created strong connections with its viewers. Each has a story to tell, from old maps to smaller paper remnants. These have been taken from their discarded state and folded three-dimensionally to further their transformation. A transformation that finds order in its details. A transformation into something beautiful.”

She’s also a very talented graphic designer – look at the show cards she designed for Folded… Gah! So gorgeous!

There are a lot of fun perks that come with having a blog, and this is definitely one of them! Jack Cards {via Sarah Bryden-Brown of Blogstar} asked a few bloggers to design a card for them. I jumped on the chance, as did Melanie from Inward Facing Girl, and Amy from Old Sweet Song.

For my card, I used one of my mixed media pieces {and then added a pink birthday hat}, and voila… a birthday card! We held a contest for people to come up with a message for the inside of the card, and there were sooo many amazing entries! Here’s the winning message:

Ha! I love it! As it happens, the chosen message was written by design blogger, Victoria Smith of sfgirlbybay.com!!! Yep, she’s a style maven AND the queen of one-liners! I think it’s a pretty hilarious/weird addition to an already pretty hilarious/weird image.

All three of our cards go on sale today {mine // Melanie’s // Amy’s}…YAY! Thanks Jack, and thanks to Sarah for inviting us to be part of this!

Stitched portraits, CMYK experiments, bold typography! Whoa… the graphic designer, and the artsy embroidery-lover, in me are both madly in love! London based designer/artist Evelin Kasikov blends these two disciplines perfectly! She has been commissioned to do works for WIRED, The New York Times, Kate Spade and many others. Yep, madly in love, and totally jealous! Oh, and you have to see her artist profile for the Kate Spade project:

Madly. In. Love.

Whoa. Brooklyn based artist Luli {aka Lourdes} Sanchez has a huge portfolio full of stunning textile designs. YES, textile designs! I want her work on all of my fabric – pillows, sheets, dresses… or maybe I’ll just frame them, and hang ‘em on my wall! I decided to go half color/half b&w, but there were so many ways I could have done this post. Flowers, dots, abstract… and the list goes on, and on, and on, and on.

Fabric that folds itself! Tel Aviv based artist/fabric designer Mika Barr calls this beautiful, organic-looking series folding A-part. Here’s how she does it:

A collection of 3D fabrics that fold, fracture and turn three-dimensional, derived from the flat printed pattern. The textiles are made in a unique process, in which the printed image defines the fabric’s dropping and folding. The light, elastic textiles are dyed and then screen printed with an inflexible material that indicates the nature of the fabric’s movement and creates a new, three-dimensional textile structure.
While the initial prototypes were hand made (dyed and printed), the technique has been transferred into industrial production through the studio. Besides forming sculptural elements, the textiles can be designated for use in various fields – furniture, lighting, fashion and accessories.

… Yes, things like folding pillows! Gorgeous.

{via designboom}

Gorgeous Hermes scarves, video of a beautiful woman, and a strategically placed wind machine. This story is not new, but that doesn’t make it any less brilliant. Japanese artist Tokujin Yoshioka installed this piece at Maison Hermes in Toyko over the 2009 ~ 2010 Christmas holidays. Oh, how I wish I had seen this in person, but I didn’t, so I guess You Tube will have to do… sigh, so beautiful.

{ps. you really do have to see this in action! Go – you’ll love it!}

Ok, so do you remember when I wrote about the work of Felice Varini? If you do, then these installations might look somewhat familiar. They were done by Joseph Egan and Hunter Thomson, students at the Chelsea College of Art & Design. They wanted to create a body of work that explored a “possible relationship between graphic design and architecture”, and while doing so they “discovered the process of anamorphosis as used by the fine artist Felice Varini.” Well, I think it’s safe to say that they did, in fact, nail this assignment… A+!

Big letters. Little birds. Why? Well, I’ll tell you – these cute little birds are called house sparrows, and in India their population is on the decline due to, well, a lack of houses. With so many high rises going up and the urban jungle constantly expanding, there are fewer places for these sweet birds to nest… until now! Thanks to Mumbai based designer Nishant Jethi, and this project, titled Living Typography, they are getting cozy in a stylish number ‘86′, and settling down for the night with “MONA”… lucky little birdies!

{via Junkculture}