Today, I’m going to share my new favorite book with you, Pantone: The Twentieth Century in Color. What makes this book so amazing is that it covers the evolution of color in our society over the last 100 years, from 1900 onwards. Each decade receives its own chapter along with corresponding images of art, fashion and decor representative of particular palettes that were popular during that period.

From the swatches of 1930s The Wizard of Oz (Silver, Straw and Lion) to 1980s Miami Vice (Pink Mist, Lavendula and Radiant Orchid) to 1990s Grunge (Coffee Bean, Faded Denim and Earth Red), the cultural movements of America and the colors they helped influence are all painstakingly covered. Students of graphic and fashion design as well as lovers of color theory will adore this book.

I’m going to keep this post short and sweet; I just discovered Pantone wallpapers from their Plus Series and wanted to share them with you. Enjoy!

When my friend sent me a link to I Need Nice Things, it was love at first sight. The site was created to make contemporary art collectible and yes, affordable. With an emphasis on simple, graphic prints, many of which feature type and brightly hued shapes, I Need Nice Things has the tastes of most designophiles covered. Now, I just need some more blank walls…

I have been following the style blog Sea of Ghosts for well over a year now. Alicia, a Melbourne-based jewelry designer chronicles an edgy yet accessible aesthetic in personal style that I can easily relate to. When she recently offered to send me a piece from her otherworldly debut jewelry collection, Drown, I was beyond excited. The pieces have a mysterious, intensely futuristic quality which comes across in the lookbook.

I love this statement from Drown: “Drown’s highly conceptual collections are more than mere adornments, designed to elicit a dialogue between the wearer and the viewer. Channeling inspirations as distant as the cosmos or as close as the road beneath our feet, Drown jewellery encourages individual interpretations by inspiring the question rather than representing the answer.”

Though ‘highly conceptual,’ I felt like the piece was still very wearable. While something may look cool in the box, I wanted to share how I worked the Landslide necklace into an every day outfit. It’s nice to have a change from my typical black acrylic typography necklaces! This is how I wore the necklace yesterday:

Along with the Landslide necklace, I wore:

Cropped sweater, knit dress and tights, H&M
Studded headband, Forever 21
Heels, Diana Broussard

Simple yet edgy. Unique yet accessible. The craftsmanship and razor-sharp cuts had me enamored upon first glance and I am so excited to have a piece from Drown’s debut collection.

When I first stepped inside North a few months ago, it was easily one of the coolest spaces I’d ever been in so I asked who’d designed the interior. Turns out that the honor goes to Portland’s Skylab Architecture. Here are some of my favorite projects of theirs:

Departure

Departure Restaurant & Lounge, Portland, Oregon

North

North Ad Agency, Portland, Oregon

Sugar Laboratories

Sugar Laboratories Salon & Spa, Portland, Oregon

Flavor Paper

Flavor Paper Wallpapers, Brooklyn, New York

East

East Chinatown Lounge, Portland, Oregon

Doug Fir

Doug Fir Lounge Restaurant & Bar, Portland, Oregon

I was recently cleaning off my computer and came across a folder of collages I made back in 2007 as an experiment for Black & White Graphic Insight. Working with your hands opens up your mind to think about design in a completely different way. After sitting in front of the computer for the majority of this year, I am itching to get back into collaging to break up my routine in 2010.

2XL, Skullcandy’s secondary line of headphones has been out on the market for a few months now. With their trendy, youth-centric graphics and wallet friendly prices (averaging from $10.00 to $40.00), they’re bound to be a huge hit.

For a big chunk of last year, I worked closely with the Nemo HQ team on the development of the 2XL line of headphones, packaging, stickers, catalog and trade show booth.

2XL was the first job that I’ve worked on of this size and it was interesting seeing how product development unfolds from researching and creating graphics to applying them to 3-D mockups, then to mechanicals and finally receiving prototypes from the factory over a period of many months.

The line features 14 color ways with five separate styles for each:

Brickyard: DJ-style headphone with over-ear design, comfort headband suspension and full dynamic acoustic range.

Grid: Headphone featuring super comfort on-ear design, headband suspension and dynamic acoustic range.

Groove: Adjustable headphone with active grip hanger ear buds.

Ratio: Ear buds with soft silicone wrap and dynamic acoustic range.

Spoke: In-ear bud featuring noise isolating, in-ear acoustics and changeable gels for comfort fit.

I prefer larger, DJ style headphones so my personal favorite is the Brickyard model.

2XL has smartly made a PDF version of their entire catalog downloadable from their website. Below are a few examples of what the line looks like:

The full product line can be seen on these pages:

If you’re a fan of Skullcandy but on a budget, 2XL is a viable option. These are fantastic for everyday use and you don’t have to stress about breaking or losing them because of the low price point. For a complete catalog, a list of dealers and more, please visit the 2XL website.

A solid resumé and a portfolio are standard issue these days. What can you do to push the boundaries, to go that extra mile? In my case, I was doing media kits for companies fairly regularly and then I had a light bulb moment; why not make one for myself? From what I can tell, media kits for individuals are pretty rare. But I have no shame in marketing myself and for a good reason. As a designer, you are your most important brand.

After creating a media kit, I turned it into a little book for mailing out to clients. While a PDF is great, some love to hold the actual product in their hands instead of staring at a screen. Here are some details of the results:

Right now, I’m preparing for a trip that’s going to be filled with many meetings and I am making a stack of these to bring along for leaving behind.

Readers: Do you have any unique and inventive ways that you market yourself?

As I’ve been doing a major office cleaning, I discovered that I have a small crate of Bodoni shirts in both black and white left. And, the less I have to move, the better! So, this week I will be running a special with all Bodoni shirts marked down from $22.00 to $16.00. SHOP HERE!

I am definitely feeling more optimistic than ever now that I’m walking around with the equivalent of psychedelic rainbows on my feet. When the Dries Van Noten Fall 2008 RTW collection came out, I was immediately drawn to the bright, slightly futuristic marbled patterns on some of the clothing. I saw some of the pieces in person twice, but they were woefully out of reach. And, the shoes didn’t appeal to me because they’d lost the chunkiness of seasons past.

Fast forward to last week when I was perusing the selection at Halo and realized that they had some pumps from that collection marked down to less than half price in my odd size (36.5) which is extremely hard to find. I slipped them on, took a few steps and they actually stayed on my feet. A miracle. And, the curvy pin-up girl shape suddenly made sense, balancing out the blindingly bright pattern.

When I originally saw the Fall 2008 collection, it had a strange familiarity. Back in 2006, I had made an art piece called Psychedelia with a similar bright mix of colors that later influenced the work I did for Virgin Records.

And, that’s partially why I make no differentiation between fashion, graphic design and fine art. They are all triggered in some manner by one another with influences that constantly circle back around. One inspiration leads to another and they form a path like little stepping stones to an even bigger vision. But, enough of the philosophical meanderings. All I know is that from now on, each one of my brightly colored steps will be filled with rainbows and smiles!

P.S. Jane of Sea of Shoes wears the marbled dress from the same collection here and you can get a much better idea of how intense the pattern really is!