I have been following Design*Sponge for the past few years and I remain a loyal reader for many reasons. Grace Bonney, its founder, along with other writers, cover interior/ graphic design, design products, DIY, entertainment, city guides, home tours and design-based businesses. I love that I can go to one site for all these things. The blog is updated multiple times every day.
We Love Typography provides a great selection of typography design. Anything that has a trace of typography, you will find it on this website. I find the website’s navigation to be user-friendly; the use of the arrows to move through the page is extremely helpful especially when I`m just skimming the visuals. I also particularly like that it lets me filter my searches by colour- it lets me absorb a great dose of typography in any color, depending on my mood.
FFFFound, an image bookmarking site that lets users post and shares their favorite images online, is always a thrill to visit. If you want to laugh, be moved, or simply just gaze over mouth-watering imagery, then this blog is worth visiting.
I go to this blog for a daily dose of fashion, art, travel and DIY inspirations. The contributors behind HonestlyWTF always deliver tasty reads. I particularly enjoy their easy and super chic DIY projects. In addition, I’m also a follower of their “Cool Hunting” category in which they write about funky products from fashion to home décor.
I like the two different colour combinations here. The pastel colours work well together and give it a colourful yet subtle look. I also really love the combination of different pinks and purples on the second page, it’s fun but sophisticated. The colour combination on these food packages it what makes it look fun and trendy.
I love the combination of brown & any bright colour. It adds contrast but feels richer then black. it also looks great with photography.
I enjoy baking, so I would love to receive these beautiful painted measuring cups for Christmas. They are something unexpected, and I could see myself leaving them out on display when I'm not using them.
I always like playing with new fonts (I freely admit I'm a type geek). This is a cute, fun and well designed font! Fonts with alternative characters and ligatures are great, they can add that something extra to make invites and logos elegant. I particularly like (shown above) how it has 4 different versions of the word 'by', that can add a lot to a design.
It's something unusual, and I love the vintage feel (its a reproduction of a letter piece that was actually used on a press). I think it would go great with so many different outfits! (While I'm on theme here, this necklace would hang perfectly with all my other jewelery in this jewelery display made from a Antique Printer Drawer!)
A few years ago I played around with making jewelery (sort of making it up as I went!). When I was in Italy in October I had a lot of fun going into the Murano jewelery shops and look at all the fun beaded jewelery. They had a lot of beautiful beads that you could use to customize a bracelet or necklace etc. Kinda had me thinking I wanted to try learning a bit more about jewelery making, a basic beginners project kit to start with would probably be a good idea to start with.
I love package design, so this would be a great book to have! Its always good to get the creative juices flowing by having new inspiration.
Bonus. Print Magazine Regional Design Annual - Okay I should (hopefully) actually be getting this one in the mail soon. But I'm really looking forward to receiving it so I thought I'd throw it in here. Its a great gift for a graphic designer.
Florence is home to Michaelangelo’s David, which was as spectacular as they say. Along with David, Florence’s Accademia housed some of Michaelangelo’s unfinished works which I found just as inspiring as the David. Michaelangelo was known for not creating a model prior to starting his works, instead saw his work as freeing the sculptures from the block of marble. I also thoroughly enjoyed the extensive collection of work by neoclassical sculpture Lorenzo Bartolini.
Florence is a beautiful city, filled with beautiful Renaissance architecture. Although I didn’t get to see it from the inside, the façade of the Duomo is beautiful. I also enjoyed walking along the Arno river and across the Ponte Vecchio which is a medieval bridge. On the bridge there are all these little shops, at first glance it really seems almost like a bazaar but in fact they sell mostly jewellery! A very expensive bazaar!
On my day trip to other parts of Tuscany we went to the beautiful cities of San Gimignano, Siena, and Pisa. While I really wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa after being so amused by pictures of it as a kid that was probably the least eventful part of the day. Siena is a beautiful city filled with medieval architecture. The Siena Duomo is spectacular and unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The inside and the outside are decorated in strips, which I found unusual for a church but stunning regardless.
Unfortunately my trip to Florence ended on somewhat of a bad note as I lost my camera so the only pictures I have from my trip are from my iPhone.
My trip to Milan was pretty short, and much like Florence and Siena the Duomo there was one of the highlights. It’s definitely a sight worth seeing. I enjoyed walking around the shopping streets of Milan event though I couldn’t afford to do more than window shop in stores such as Valentino and Armani!
Despite a complete lack of sunshine my two days in Venice, and the flooding (rainboots apparently are a must pack item which I didn’t happen to clue in on in my pre-trip research) I rather enjoyed my trip to Venice. I would love to go back and see the Venice when it’s not rainy but this was a bit of a funny experience walking across the flooded squares on a makeshift platform.
In Venice they have water buses called vaporettos, it was an interesting experience that made my stomach turn for the most part, but fun at the same time. The vaporetto also goes to the other islands including Murano, which I spent a lot of time on! I really loved popping into the different shops and viewing all the beautiful Murano glass jewellery (and shopping a bit too!). I also viewed a glass blowing demonstration which was pretty interesting! Also on the main island there are a lot of shops that sell beautiful masquerade masks and I was able to expand my collection.
My trip to Italy was filled with amazing sights from the ancient ruins, the beautiful landscapes of Tuscany, and the beautiful architecture. Words can’t explain the amazing gelato they have over there, and the food wasn’t too bad either (I’m not sure pizza here will ever be edible again)! There was so much to see and do I wish I could have stayed a month!
"Focusing on sustainability, this packaging attempts to eliminate the need for a plastic bag.For multiple orders, hook carrying strings into the diecut design of the one on top of it. Holds up to three entrees."
I like the idea of eco-friendly takeout containers.I think the best part about this design is how the different containers can connect to each other so there is no need for a plastic bag either.
Lovely packaging for Evelyn's Chocolaty Sauce! I love the rich brown in contrast with the light blue. Great detail in the pattern on the box, I love the diecut window that mimics the shape of the label. I like the little detail of the seal on the jar fitting to the shape of the label. Its a nice combination of elegance and casualness (love how its called "chocolaty sauce" rather than just "chocolate sauce").
Diet Coke gets a new (temporary) redesign in hounour of their 125th anniversary! Love how bold and modern it is! Its pretty abstract, but at the same time very recongnizable in my opionon, it says something about how big the brand has gotten over the last 125 years! The aim of this redesign was to hook up with trendy hipster fashion & design world with a partnership with Stylecaster.com as well as sending out cases to the influencial trendsetters and designers!
William White, group brand director for Diet Coke and Coke Zero, Coca-Cola North America, told Adweek in an email: “Fall is all about new looks and new energy, making this a great opportunity to give the Diet Coke can design a refreshing uplift that celebrates the season.” He added that “this new concept will only be around for a short time.”
I'm loving this logo and label design for BAR GELATO by Naia. I love the colours chosen for the logo as well as the combo of the bold type (with what seems like an Art Nouveau influence) that is a nod to retro window signage and the more casual script type chosen for 'by Naia' which gives the impression of a personal craftmanship. I like the relative simplicity of the label design, the logo makes its it stand out.
Its a probably a good thing these aren't sold in Canada, because i'd probably wind up stocking my freezer with these! Who doesn't love Gelato?
Frozen foods get a gourmet look! Love these packages for frozen vegetable entrees. Great logo, bold type, and great photography give it a modern (with retro touches) and rich gourmet look. I like the bright colours on the brown, especially with the orange logo. I really like how the food is photographed on textured backgrounds, and how they really stand out as the focus.
I love the fun touch of the words "bon appetit!" on the lid of the box.
Great packaging designed for "The Spice Tailor by Anjum Anand". To start with, I like how the sauces aren't packaged in the very traditional jar. The spices are uniquely packaged separately rather than a ready made sauce, which really makes it stand out. Its very clean, bold and modern while still using Indian motifs and vibrant colours. I like the mixture of the condensed san serif font in the logo and then the thicker serifed font in the flavour names. The combination adds to the modern feeling. The photography of the TV chef is a bit awkward, but is nicely set within the motifs.
