These are some great Stella ads from Lowe London. I can't find the work on their site anymore though.

Great color, texture, vintage feel. I especially like the bomb image. So simple and convey an important point, beer must always be saved. No matter what.

I pulled this fantastic link out of my "blog it!" folder tonight, and it seemed to just fit for todays post. Meet Hello Jenuine. I found her site and blog quite awhile ago, but I am glad I waited to post it. One because like I said, it felt like the perfect post for today, and two, because she has more things posted since the last time I was there.

Her illustrations are great and really fit in with my current theme of drawings I have been working on as well. Except she actually gets them out of the sketchbook and prints them. Often it seems like she is using gocco (oh how I would like to get my hands on a gocco set...).

Go check out her work, and check out her store as well with some of her items for sale. Lots of great things to see and it really inspires me to get some stuff down on paper. Clarify that, ink on paper, not just sketches.

Oh, also, she seems to like bears since a few of her different illustrations and posts involve it. Never hurts.

I apologize the ridiculously small image...

So, I need a hypothetical umbrella to get me out of the rain. Clients have been getting me down, and then the weather was supposed to be perfect this week, and is now crap. So a real umbrella would help too.

This was a shirt and art print on Threadless and all I wanted to do is post an awesome photo of it for all of you. They used to have a way to look at all of their shirts, even the sold out ones. I tried searching, but I guess it isn't keyworded with anything like rain, weather, umbrella, raindrop, etc... silly me. This was the only image I could find of it in google. I give up.

So what do all of you think of this proposed redesign of Monopoly by Andy Mangold? He created this packaging for a class project and I like the way he put it, "Monopoly, in spite being the classiest of all board games, unfortunately is packaged just as boringly and uncreatively as every other garbage board game on the shelves. So, I decided to repackage it... turning the class up to 11." Nice Spinal Tap reference there.

I am really loving the color, and these are the exact ones I have been into lately. Rich colors: earthy brown, deep orange, cream, all so good. I think my favorite part (besides the color...) is the cover with just the giant monopoly face. So iconic and so perfect.

Now, what I would like to see next, is the board and the rest of the pieces finished to go with the set. Maybe a more elegant design for the cash, something really extravagant and ornate. And a really nice paper used for the money and the properties. Get something 100% cotton. To go over the top (and I mean like everest over the top, dare I say it) letterpress cards and money. Mmmmmmm.

So, here is what is on my mind though. What is stopping you from making your own version of the game, seriously? All you need is a printer and a bit of time. You could even take a current board and box and just put your design over it. I would suggest a laser printer though so that it has a bit of durability. Inkjet might deteriorate a bit faster.

Throw it on the to do list.

And a last note. I had a bunch of links in my browser at work (forever, I always have too many tabs) and I lost an important one I wanted to post. So, I pulled this link today out of my giant folder of "Blog It" of all kind of stuff that I have found, and, what do you know, the same guy did the thing I wanted to post and lost... another post coming up soon!

Ok, so most of you have external hard drives out there, and the thing is, most of the time we are trying to hide them. Why? Because they don't really need to be on your desk, and most of the time they don't look that great. Plus, if you have an eternally messy desk like mine, you don't even have room for them.

Enter the Twelve South Backpack. It is made of heavy gauge steel and fits on the back of your imac and cinema displays. Gravity is it's best friend, which it uses to attach itself to the back of your setup, and support your favorite backup drive.

The only problem I foresee is having extra cable since it will be so close to the port. It says the perforated base can be used to tie them up with. I would probably wrap it around the part of the stand above the shelf

However that perforation can help you out too, it is probably to cut it's own weight down but that should help with heat distribution too.

You could stick a couple of them back there and hide a literal treasure drove of low profile drives.

Gp pick one up for $30, with free shipping for a limited time.

Oh! How about that logo too! Fantastic job on an icon.

 Another great poster to feature today. The Camera Poster #3 by Rod over at The Post Family.

I happen to have their Camera Poster #2 hanging over my bookshelf and I am looking at it right now. Love my poster and was a great gift from my wife. This new one starts adding some other cameras into the mix, looks like a 8mm camera on the bottom middle and some other compacts. I can't tell for sure, but it looks like a Brownie Starmite in the top left corner too. That one is on my list of real ones to obtain.

These posters look great if you are just an avid photographer, collect vintage cameras, or just love great posters (guilty of all three). Pick one up today, signed edition of 250, $30.

Extremely happy! A box got delivered today with this inside! A very awesome thank you from some friends who I photographed their wedding for them.

The Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Home. It looks to be just the right size for me. It can hold a few lenses with room to spare. Hopefully, some of that will be taken up buy a new flash soon.

A small feature but an awesome one, the bag has velcro silencers. Lets say you are at a wedding or something, you can't be opening your bag all the time. CRNNNNNCCCCHHHHH goes the velcro. Those little red flaps you see actually have flaps in them, fold out, and cover the velcro. So awesome.

Note: I linked to the "lite" version of the Crumpler site. Their full version of their site is ridiculous and memory intensive, and really adds no value to their site. I don't understand how a business can really think that is good....

I am really liking this poster from the Delicious Design League. Great illustration on it's own, but the one of the 3 colors coming together is just fantastic. I am also drawn to the trees on top and the woodsy feel. I have been in that mood a lot lately and have been incorporating it in to some of my own work (which I will share with you soon).

Go pick up this poster. 3 screens, 18x24, $30

Update: I think the first link may be the first edition of this poster that is now SOLD OUT if you try to get it directly from the League, however they are doing a second printing, and you can pre-order here, $20, makes me want it even more. Colors may vary though, so I will probably wait until it comes out, color is very important to me.

[via Grain Edit]

I am getting a little tired of the rain and cold. What happened to fall seriously...

This is a great shelf by Estela Lugo. These would look great just single on a wall like they have in the photo or an entire wall of them. I also think that it would be fantastic almost anywhere, not just a kids room. It would be a bright and cheery side for any home library.

Plus, how fantastic is that blue wall, so happy compared to the grey I have here.

I am also putting this on the DIY list. A scroll saw and some paint and you are in buisiness.

Available at Fawn & Forest for $72

[via swissmiss ]

If you don't have a subscription to ReadyMade, pop over to your bookstore and check out the current issue. The cover feature is this great A-Frame House and the renovations they did on it.

Amazing color on the house, I know it is that 70's look with the brown and orange (and the door is robin's egg blue) but they look so good together. This has me inspired to finally print my block that i carved awhile ago and get it done!

I don't think I could live it in it all the time because of a lack of space but this would be an amazing cabin / vacation home. Or heck, maybe I could do it if I had a studio space built out in the woods as well.

Also, if you don't have  subscription, i recommend one, great magazine and you can get it cheap. Their normal offer is 2 years (12 issues) for 20 bucks. But I got a really good deal and got 4 years for $27. Great gift idea for the holidays!

(sorry for the small photo, all I could get without scanning my cover)

Yesterday was off for the day for Columbus day (it was also Canadian Thanksgiving) and spent most of the day driving through Michigan. Not the fun kind of drive, more of the "when is this drive going to be over" variety.

I have seen this Holga in the past but really was looking into it today. It is obviously something I don't need, but it is pretty cool. Maybe one day...

This holga is a color flash model and creates 3D photos! It takes 2 photos at the same time, from slightly different vantage points (just like your eyes work) and put them next to each other on the film. You can then put this into a viewer, and it will appear 3D. Think of your viewmaster toy as a kid, same idea.

You can get them off ebay for a pretty good price, often with a viewer or 2 and some film holders. They run around $100 - $120, but worth it for a really cool and different camera. If you pull this baby out, people are going to say "What the hell is that!"

Also check out the lomography site where they have put some of these photos together into animated gifs that show both photos together. It gives you a bit of an idea since a computer is not 3D you can't get the full effect.

Also, just a thought, but if you are a wedding photographer, buy one of these. Well buy a regular Holga too because then you can offer something a bit different and alternative (along with digital) to your clients. But how many people have 3D photos of their wedding? That would be pretty cool.

Today I wanted to show you the amazing typeface Archer . If it is from Hoefler and Frere Jones, and if you don't know about their typefaces you need to go check them out right now.

I have been in love with Archer since I first say it. It is a slab serif with ball terminals and it is just all together fantastic. Plus, it comes in a huge array of widths and weights (as with most/all of the H&FJ typefaces). You can use it as a headline, body copy, all over typography, pretty much anything. It takes it all with strides.

Unfortunately, it is not free like the last typeface I posted, but this one is well worth it. Go check it out and the rest of their typefaces.

I am in a video game mood tonight, so here is a pretty awesome painting. Love combining the classic duck hunt with an actual painting. I'd like to see this with some other games. Unfortunately you don't find many painting or a brick ground, pipes coming out of it and question marks come out of it...

This could be a great gift for the upcoming holidays you could make for the geek in your life.

[via buzzfeed ]

I saw this awhile ago and thought it would be a good time to post this. I really like this, and oddly enough have something like this in a sketchbook from awhile ago. One of these days I'll DIY it.

It was available at Potter Barn but it looks like it no longer is. Wish I could have caught them clearancing them since the original $279 price tag was a bit steep.

[via AT ]

I was having kind of a bum day yesterday because a project of mine wasn't going so well. Add in the gloomy rain and the fact that rain makes me horribly gloomy myself... not a good day. So I decided to relax and not post.

Today it's still gloomy but I am feeling the Fall weather and wanted to share this poster. I posted it on my personal blog a year ago, and went back to find it. It is from the Spike Press and has been sold out for a long time. I love the use of the kraft brown and the iconic warm red/orange/yellow hues. The format is really nice too, a bit different for a gig poster which are usually all the same.

Sorry for the small image, it was all I could find. I prefer large ones but really wanted to share the poster with you. Spike also redid their site and I like it a lot better now. It used to have a black background and was harder to view the images.

If you're going to be in the Indianapolis area tonight and tomorrow stop by and check out the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange. I went last year and will be driving down for it tonight. It's similar to the Renegade, but much smaller, and because of that I think I enjoyed it more.

Lots of great gifts are to be found and with the holidays right around the corner, doesn't hurt to start your shopping now.

I will hopefully be taking some photos and do a more extensive post on it.

Get Crafty Readers!

Do you know your Helvetica from your Arial? David Friedman wanted to see if people do, so he made up a test. He took 20 logos normally set in Helvetica, and set them in Arial as well. Can you spot the real ones?

What's your score? I will honestly admit, I missed one. Toyota got me. Also, send this off to your non designer friends. It would be interesting to see their score just by picking what one looks better.

[via swissmiss ]