BOOKMARKED #17
This week has been a little bit of a breakfast eat fest. I visited a few cafés in the Brisbane and Fortitude Valley area. Below is a photo of the Eggs Benedict with salmon from Campos.
So on the topic food, I decided to post a few food blogs that really enjoy.
Whenever I go to a restaurant or café I can’t help but notice and admire the menus (if they are well designed that is). Art of the Menu is a fantastic blog that looks at the design of restaurant menus.
If you are looking for blogs that comprise of food, fashion and lifestyle you should check out Luxirare and The Blonde Salad.
Biorequiem (amongst many others) is one of the blogs that has strongly visually inspired my blog. She has a fantastic food segment called Mmmf. Her photography is nothing short of amazing.
To localise this post a little bit I thought you would be interested in A Table For Two. It is an Australian blog that is fantastically designed and provides reviews, recipes, photography and much more.
And last but not least is a blog by Kaman and friends! Kaman has been a long time friend of mine and one of our main common interests is food. This year, she started a food blog called Takes Two Gluttons. It typically looks at affordable food, recipes and other food related news.
That’s all for now. Happy eating!
BOOKMARKED #16: NOT COOL URBAN OUTFITTERS, NOT COOL.
Usually I don’t reblog posts but today I thought I would mix it up a bit and reblog some of the news I have been keeping up with this week.
Urban Outfitters have had a history of copying artists and designers. Over the last few days, the internet has exploded with a new Urban Outfitters story. This story can be seen below:
One of my lovely customers sent me a message today with this link.
And here is my United/World of Love line:
My heart sank a little bit. The World/United States of Love line that I created is one of the reasons that I was able to quit my full-time job. They even stole the item name as well as some of my copy.
I’m very disappointed in Urban Outfitters. I know they have stolen designs from plenty of other artists. I understand that they are a business, but it’s not cool to completely rip off an independent designer’s work.
I’ll no longer be shopping at any of their stores [they also own Free People & Anthropologie], and I’m going to do my best from here on out to support independent designers & artists.
Please feel free to pass this link on. I really appreciate all the support & love I’ve received today.
xo,
Stevie
It is a little bit tragic that Urban Outfitters have done this. And it is interesting to see that they have removed these copied products from their webstore. Although this story is gut-wrenching, the positive things that have come out of this debacle is the amount of publicity given to fantastic independent artists/designers like Stevie K. It has given them the opportunity to be heard and recognised. I sincerely wish Stevie all the best and hope that one day she makes an i heart Australia or i heart Queensland.
BOOKMARKED #15
Once again, to be 100% honest I haven’t read anything this week other than emails, my own copywriting, ramblings on Twitter and the so-called apocalypse. All of these are really not worth me posting in this Bookmarked post so I will tell you about my plans to awesome plans to read more comics! I really want to make time to read more comics and graphic novels. I have just gotten a new phone (hence the picture above) and am looking for a good comic book reader for it. Do you have any recommendations? Also, while I already have a nice list of comics and graphic novels to read are there any you feel are a ‘must read’?
BOOKMARKED #14
Between juggling work and a social life I haven’t gotten the chance to read a great deal this week. What I have been doing however, is keeping up to date with the latest Eurovision news. Why? Because I love Eurovision!
The amount of time and effort that goes into Eurovision is amazing. It has such a rich history with fantastic (or fantastically bad) songs, sets, dancers and COSTUMES! After the lovely Lena won last year, this year’s competition is being hosted in Düsseldorf, Germany.
If you are curious and want to learn more about Eurovision, I strongly advise that you check out the website. There, you will learn the history of Eurovision, photos, videos and music. This is the one event that I am 100% guilty of live tweeting, so I completely understand if you unfollow me or ignore my tweets.
For the finals I will be spending it at KL Fair’s house partying Eurovision style in sequins, leather and metallics. Hopefully I won’t be too wrecked for work the next day!
BOOKMARKED #13
This week I have been reading LogoMania by Bob Gill. It is a fantastic little book that looks as the problems with logo design and creative ways to overcome them. The book in itself is like a little portfolio of his designs and thought process.
Following the theme of logos, I came across this amazing art project by Risto-Jussi Isopahkala called the Logo Tourist. His works blend iconic landmarks and commercial logos. You should definitely take the time to look at this series (I would like to give a notable mention to the Arc de Triomphe and the La Tour Eiffel).
Here is an interesting look at the logo evolution of 20 corporate brands. I like how it gives you a little bit of information on the origin of the name and the original logo of each brand.
Virgin seem to have a billion sub-brands. To add to this epic list, Virgin Blue has rebranded themselves as Virgin Australia. What do you guys think of it? Personally, I prefer the Virgin Atlantic logo over the new Virgin Australia one. I really don’t see why they have designed a completely new identity for Virgin Australia. I have to say though, I love the new colour scheme and their new uniforms.
BOOKMARKED #12
My reading seems to be on a bit of decline lately mainly because I have been keeping busy with other things (like work and drawing). This week’s Bookmarked post revolves around inspiring drawings and illustrations.
Featured above is Tony Orrico working on a piece. His works are amazing. He is like the human Squiggle Wiggle Writer/protractor/compass. When I look at his graphite covered arms I instantly shut up about being a lefty and getting smudge marks on my hand.
Jacob Dahlstrup’s works are also amazing. I really wish I had the patience and skills to draw the things he does in such great detail. I was really tempted to use his 100 Hour Drawing above in place of Tony Orrico’s.
I am a sucker for clean and crisp lines. Skeletronix’s illustrations are well composed and provide a good dose of macabre and gore.
On the subject of clean and crisp lines, I could look at Tina St. Claire’s illustrations all day. I love that she draws with both pen and pencil.
I have always been a fan of things that are personalised and handmade. Natasha Barr makes lovely birthday cards which have her very unique style.
Chiara’s illustrations are very bold with an organic feel. I really loved her Thom Yorke illustrations.
Kelly Thompson has stunningly gorgeous illustrations. I particularly love how they are so fashion focused.
For a little bit of comic relief, is this post on Suketchi with Sean’s recount of a mean girl incident at school.
BOOKMARKED #11
Happy Easter! Featured above is a tattoo commission drawing by Poorly Drawn Things. I love how her drawings have a high focus on eyes. As someone who has always been intrigued by the aesthetics of life, my eyes are very important to me (I also draw eyes a lot when I am doodling). So, this week’s Bookmarked post is all about eyes.
I wear contacts everyday, so keeping my contacts clean is very important. Last year Bausch + Lomb rebranded their Renu multipurpose solution and this year CooperVision has followed suit.
Eye infections are not cool. Erin Flynn makes this clear in her Efff… You, Eye Infection! post.
If only all eye infections were like Sonic’s.
Feast your eyes on these stunning self-portraits by a 17 year old.
On the subject of eyes and portraits, here are 10 ways to take stunning portraits.
BOOKMARKED #10
I started at my new job this week and managed to power through it like Rosie the Riveter (I may be over exaggerating here). Anyway, thankfully for me I’ve found something in common with a few colleagues: comics. This week’s Bookmarked post is an ode to my love for comics. The image featured above is an Illustrator-drawn infographic by the talented Joe Stone.
Civil War is my favourite crossover storylines from Marvel. If you still haven’t read it yet you should make the time to do so.
GeekDraw is an interesting blog that focuses on the illustrations of comics.
Here is a list of the best erotic comics by great artists. Although I am not a massive fan of Superman I would love to get my hands on a copy of Secret Identity.
If you are not following Ryan Penagos’ blog, Agent M Loves Tacos, I suggest you do so now! He is the Editorial Director for Marvel.com and his posts never cease to amuse me. His blog include industry insights, answers to all of your question, things he finds cute/interesting and random photos of his life. He also shuns those who spell Spider-Man wrong.
I could probably spend all day posting links on comics so I’m going to stop here. On a final note, KL Fair and I are super excited and can’t wait to see Thor!
BOOKMARKED #9
To be perfectly honest, I have been so busy this week that I have barely had the time to read anything! I did however, manage to squeeze in some magazine reading. The magazines featured above (left to right) are Elle South Africa March 2011 issue, Harper’s Bazaar USA April 2011 issue and Elle USA April 2011 issue.
Hopefully I will have a little more time to read next week so that I can catch up on some of my favourite websites and blogs. In saying that, if you have any links please send them through! I would love to read what you guys are reading/writing.
BOOKMARKED #8
Today’s Bookmarked theme is cleaning. I have just been offered a new job and have started a cleaning/organisation overhaul to get things in order before I start. The image above was sourced from John Mahaffie’s blog, Foresight Culture.
I think that it is vital for us to clean our wardrobes at least twice a year. Anna Dello Russo, editor-at-large and creative consultant for Vogue Japan, provides us with the top 10 rules of cleaning our closets.
This is a bit of an old blog post but it is still highly relevant to us. Here is Gala Darling’s guide to cleaning out your wardrobe.
Sometimes our computers need a bit of cleaning too. Here’s how to keep your computer safe, clean and backed up for 2011.
Lately I have taken a fancy to 1950s illustrations (such as the images featured in this week and last week’s Bookmarked posts). Here is a 1950s housewife spring cleaning advertisement/art print for a product called VIM.
Finally, I really couldn’t resist posting examples of the ways you should NOT clean your window.
