Pantone Hotel, Brussels

Anyone that does anything with design will know the importance of Pantone references. When I came home from doing my Masters with a red Pantone mug as a leaving gift from my lovely friend Ashleigh my dad was so confused about why I was so pleased with my present. Now our house is full of knock off "Colour" mugs from B&M Bargains. He still doesn't quite get it.

When my boyfriend and I got cheap flights to Brussels there was only one place I wanted to stay - Pantone Hotel. When I realised it was within budget I let out a girly scream (very unlike me) and rang him straight away to say that's where we were staying. Thankfully, he didn't question it.

 

Nifty Notepads

I have a love of all things digital, my iPad fuels my laziness and it now hurts when I have to write with pen and paper for too long. Despite all this I still love paper. Stationery is one of the only things I actually enjoy shopping for.

Cue these nifty notepads available at Liberty. Not only are they stylish (with a rather retro feel) but they're perfectly designed to pass around the classroom (or the office). There's nothing like a paper aeroplane to tell someone to please stop throwing virtual sheep at you.

Social Media Citation - £5.95

Apology - £4.95

Ms. Fitz Does Jewellery

Ms. Fitz, who I mentioned before in my Blog Reading List back in January, has used her skills in styling and design to create her own jewellery line for SS12, with the collection entitled 'A Kind of Magic'. Whilst she launched it back in August with an online store, it continues to grow with new designs and their unique nature means they would make perfect Christmas presents. Yes, I dropped the C word in November, I'm shocked at myself.

There is a great interview with Ms. Fitz herself on The Vine, where she talks about her inspiration for the line.. My favourite designs are her knotted and woven necklaces and bracelets, which are made from hand dyed tribal print cotton sourced from Amish communities. She also features some wonderfully eccentric earrings and recently added a range of ear/nose chains.

If you love her collection as much as I do you can also tell her on Twitter and take inspiration from her blog on how to wear her pieces... get creative with your overall style or just use the pieces to add something bold and individual to your normal look.

Wallpaper Magazine: Custom Animated Covers

I love Wallpaper Magazine. It's pretty great when it comes to all things design and I relish in all the beautiful architecture, art, products etc that it features. In fact, Wallpaper makes me wish I'd become an architect. Well, I can't be an architect but my work can now grace the cover of their magazine...

Wallpaper are giving readers the chance to create their own animated Wallpaper cover, which will live in their online gallery.  Following this you can take a still shot of the animation and for £6 ($10) they'll post you a copy of the August issue anywhere in the world with your customised cover gracing its front. No design degree needed because there's even an easy peasy guide.



The deadline is May 31st and I have zero time. I have an MA to complete after all. So, just in case I don't get time, I think you should all do it and then let me bask in the glory you feel for designing something spectacular and unique.

Umbro Sports Technology

So...I am officially a student once more and diving into a project with Umbro.  I am going to investigate many different things from trend and design inspiration to market research and the use of digital media within business.  For my first task I need your help...

I am going to investigate the use of technology and design within other sports and see why/how the professionals within them are picking certain brands/materials/fit/colour and how it enhances their ability.  The concept being that all sports are linked more than we realise and that brands focusing on a particular sport can learn from one another.

I think it's a really interesting starting point and so I am on the lookout to speak to competitive/professional players that know their sport and how to enhance themselves inside out.  Know anyone?  Jockey/snooker player/F1 driver?  The more obscure the better really.  Come on now, share and share alike.  Only you aren't sharing with them...you're sharing with me.  I'll keep your secrets if you want me to!  After all, I am only a lowly student not an Umbro employee.  Who knows maybe your help will allow England to finally get somewhere at the next world cup without showing us up!



Off to Umbro HQ in Manchester city centre on Friday morning.  What's the likelihood I'll make a fool of myself?  After all I know NOTHING about football.  (Proper football American readers...not your twisted version of rugby :p )  I'm really excited to work with them, there's so much more to them than football that people don't even realise and the employees I've met so far have been amazing and so knowledgeable.  Check out their blog to see what they've been up to.

So I'm a Geek...

I like to pretend it isn't true on occassion but I am, most definitely, a geek.  I love gadgets, I love what technology can do and I always get excited when I see something that utilises these aspects in a fashionable, design focused manner.  Hence, yesterday I succumbed and brought the iPhone 4.  Don't judge me.  (And yes, I love it.  And no, it hasn't broken - signal is fine and I have no weird yellow dots...yet!)

Despite this now gadget purchase this weekend I am most excited about an article I read on Style Bubble  "Furthering with Furber".  Whilst I usually try to publish new material rather than material I've read elsewhere I feel this is necessary...  Aesthetically amazing, technically developed and as eco-friendly as a shoe can be...


Icica from Helen Furber on Vimeo.

Helen Furber's Icica project has a quality that is very rare to see within graduate work...and as a recent graduate I have seen my fair share...and I can't wait to see what she does next!  She's not the only one showing potential from her class (check out the magazine Furber put together showcasing work from students on her course at her blog) but she's definitely the most forward thinking.  I envision recycling and swapping, mixing and matching heels with uppers for a truely bespoke way of design.

 Images and video taken from Helen Furber's Vimeo and LCF pages.

Handmade

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Jennifer Behr and pondered on how Topshop could think it was ok to sell me an elastic homemade-looking headband for £14 and decided I could make one just as good.  Whilst some people (Caleb!) thought this was a stupid idea (If you get a home-made headband and wear it out and about, I want to see it!) and doubted how professional I am it's nice to see that handmade items have been given a new lease of life by the internet.

From Etsy to Folksy creatives are putting pen to paper and needle to thread to create some unique pieces just for us...and they're fabulous!  You can get everything from vintage style cupcake toppers to stunning leather creations to adorn the newest gadgets.  Yes, you can even adorn your new iPhone 4/iPad in some wonderful designs and all handmade.  I need some of these in my life soon....

 Alice in Wonderland Cupcake Toppers (£10 for 12) and Journal (£17) by Craftypagan Designs.

  Bird Cuff (£19), Lace Cuff (19), Walkman iPod/iPhone Cover (£20), Flower/Print iPod/iPhone Cover (£26), Cherry Blossom iPad Case ($90), Wood Print iPad Case ($90) available from Beautiful Skin at Folksy or Etsy.

  Neve Hex Bib Necklace ($98.50) and Marianne Trien Bib Necklace ($69.00 - sale item) by Giia 

Unique store design...at a butchers!

I'm not much of a meat eater.  I don't like the taste, the fattyness (not in terms of my own diet in terms of the chewy-factor) and I definitely don't like the smell or even the look of meat.  Basically I only eat chicken and only because if I eliminated this I'd have very little left to eat.  I'm picky.  Extremely.

Needless to say, I was amazed when The Cool Hunter highlighted a Sydney based butchers that actually makes meat look worth my time.  Victor Churchill's store utilises rich timber walls, marble flooring, refrigerated glass fronted copper cabinets and a ‘chook cam’ wall (a nod to the recent 2008 Fall Louis Vuitton window display, with multiple video cameras trained onto our daily special within a glass domed display pedestal).

Theatrically Victor Churchill's butchers slice and carve at timber block 'stages' and behind the glass fronted cooler where cuts of meat rotate for viewing purposes.  Of course, "the backdrop for all this is a Himalayan rock salt brick wall that infuses the hanging meat with flavor and sterilizes the air."  The designers (Dreamtime Australia Design) have thought everything through visually and practically...a far cry from the butchers in my village, from which the stench of meat permeates through the sliced plastic door curtain.  Nothing is hidden but nothing puts me off either.  This is reinventing the expected and it's what more brands should be doing!