I have close to 10 years’ worth of magazine clippings amassed in my flat files and here’s a small sampling. Even with the abundance of reading materials online and on the iPad, I am still a diehard connoisseur of print. I do have an iPad (and subscribe to some magazines that are more interactive) but I’m still keeping my print magazine subscriptions as well. All you hear these days is, “Print is dead!” But it’s really not dead, it’s just changing. You may see less printed materials but the quality of what you do see is higher overall. I love my iPad but still equally enjoy the feeling of digging through stacks of clippings and pooling together inspiration. What about you?

I still have some of my 90s clippings too stuffed into a folder (though those mostly revolve around Kurt & Courtney, some Versace ads and a healthy dose of Marilyn Manson). My poor, poor parents had to deal with my bedroom walls covered in this stuff! And maybe that’s where my nostalgia for print and holding onto my magazine subscriptions comes from — that’s all I had before a steady internet connection and the iPad.

Readers: What iPad publications do you subscribe to? Any recommendations? My favorite so far has been Project Magazine.

I’ve been oddly inspired by all things yellow lately. It’s odd because up until a few short years ago, I loathed the color and wouldn’t go anywhere near it. My dad disliked the color when I was growing up and it definitely rubbed off on me! One of the turning points was two years ago when I came across these insanely cool architectural Margiela heels. I told myself that if I wore these blazing lemon beauties with all black, it would be okay…I’d just dip my toes into the pool of yellow. Wearing shoes like this with a monochromatic ensemble really inspired me; they felt like an explanation point at the end of my outfits. I began embracing more things yellow in my wardrobe but the first addition to my house was this light from Schoolhouse. Our all black and white house felt somber and lifeless and I wanted a touch of color for the dining room. Even my dad, a hater of all things yellow helped me pick it out! This goes to prove that it’s good to keep an open mind, even with the tiniest things. Hello, yellow!

1. Yellow Cross in the kitchen, 2. 3.1 Phillip Lim Double Layer Floating Kit Tail Top, 3. My Margiela Heels, 4. “Roma” by Arian Behzadi, 5. 6 Building (source unknown), 6. Fall 2010 A.F. Vandevorst Dress, 7. Pretty Blue Guns & The Revelators Poster by Adam Hill, 8. Those Shoes Again, and 9. Remix Magazine.

Over the weekend, I decided that it was time to order some rubber stamps featuring my branding. I set up vector files for my wordmark and square ‘Nubby Script’ logo but wanted a third option as well (when you’re on a roll with these types of projects, you might as well go all out). I wasn’t exactly sure what the third option should be but then I remembered a really great window installation that Belgian fashion line A.F. Vandevorst had done a few years back. In a way, the logo reminded me of the round stamps that were common at the post office though that is now sadly history. Inspired by A.F. Vandevorst and the old school round post office stamps, I’m working on that third option. The other two custom stamps have been ordered and I’ll be reviewing them on my blog as soon as they arrive! Inspiration is everywhere. It’s all connected.

When my brother and I moved into our house a few years back, everything happened fast — we had zero time to plan how we wanted our surroundings to look and to complicate matters more, our decorating budget was also close to zero. Most of our furniture was hand-me-downs, thrift-store finds or purchased from the newly-opened IKEA. At that time, I was 27 and he was 25 and we were just happy to have a place of our own. And, IKEA really is awesome.

Our house was previously owned by a much older couple who thought high-gloss beige walls and off-white berber carpet were just fine. Our first impulse was to paint out as many rooms white as quickly possible and to rip out the filthy carpet. To keep things easy, we kept the scheme throughout the house white and black. We really just wanted a blank canvas to build off of.

Over time though, I felt like our place was missing two things: color and those special pieces that make a house feel like a home. Last week, I picked up a custom order from Schoolhouse here in Portland: the City Chandelier. The yellow base and oversized bulbs felt unique and fun and replaced a standard white IKEA fixture we’d had in our dining room. Sometimes, all a room needs is one simple change. In our case, the dining room just needed a splash of color to bring it to life.

Our living room is still a work in progress but a lot of the things we need to change are going to take some serious time and effort. So for now, I’m focusing on what I can change. Our all black couch in the middle of our all white living room has never felt very inviting.

I knew I wanted a blanket to throw over the back to add to the coziness factor but my heart was set on the Crux Blanket by Pia Wallen. I’d been obsessed with this blanket for years but it was totally out of reach until a cotton version, the Cross Blanket was finally released last year. It was still expensive but I knew that if I settled for any other blanket, I just wouldn’t be happy. Sometimes it’s just better to wait it out and to save for what you really want. (Yes, that’s an 8 ft. tall black bear in the corner of our living room. Inviting, huh?)

• Don’t settle for what you don’t want. In our case, we spent the bare minimum on IKEA basics until we could save towards the particular items we loved. It took a few years but we didn’t make any big impulse purchases. If you buy a substitute for the real thing you’ve always wanted, you probably won’t be satisfied and will just keep obsessing over the object du jour you still don’t have. I saw plenty of other blankets that were great…but they weren’t THE Cross blanket. I knew it was better to wait it out for the blanket of my dreams (yes, that sounds crazy. Thankfully, I’m not alone).

• When you move into a new place and nothing feels right, start by painting the walls a neutral color. For us, there were so many details about our house that felt off that it was beyond overwhelming. Starting with white walls gave us a blank canvas to begin with and allowed us to build our own vision.

• Sometimes, all a room needs is a few small changes to come to life. We tried our dining room in a number of configurations early on but it all felt off until my brother found an old workbench for a table that grounded the room. At first, I didn’t like it but what I later realized is that it added some much needed personality.

• If something doesn’t feel right, don’t settle. When we first moved in, we thought it would be funny to have a black living room (haha?) We spent a few days painting it and…it looked horrible. We kept trying to make it work but walking into a cave every day just felt weird. We finally agreed that it had been a huge mistake and repainted the black walls white. What a pain! But immediately, everything felt better. Go with your gut and suck up those mistakes!

• Don’t get too caught up on Pinterest and inspiration sites. If you see something you like, it doesn’t matter if it’s popular. If you love it, you’ll usually find a way to make it work. Our house is filled with ‘oddities’ but it works for us.

We still have a million changes to make to our place but these two recent additions have started to make our house feel more like a home. It’s those special touches that bring your surroundings to life.

Readers: What are your suggestions for making a house a home and is there anything on your must-have list you’d like to share?

I’m a self-confessed magazine junkie but it doesn’t end there; I collect catalogs as well. Not just any old catalogs, though. There’s a handful of titles that I’ve collected for years and with good reason. My passion is editorial design and while there’s a lot of inspiration in this area online, the magazines and catalogs they come from are often truncated to only include the ‘best of the best.’ The experience of flipping through a printed piece, page by page, in its entirety tells a story with a beginning, middle and end that can never quite be replicated online.

Today I’d like to share some of my favorite catalog titles and best of all, they’re all free (see links below). These catalogs can really come in handy for designers. Three years ago, I was hired to design a fashion lookbook for a Fortune 100 company. When I was briefed on on the job, a lightbulb went off. I’d collected dozens of catalogs that were very much in line with the demographic this company was trying to reach so I hauled in my collection the next day and my art director and I got busy flipping through various issues, gathering visual cues and layout inspiration during our early explorations. Having complete catalogs at my fingertips to bookmark and sort through versus screen shots of bits and pieces of online inspiration was immensely helpful.

Books can be expensive and not every designer has the means to build their own personal library right away (I am only now amassing a decent one). But one thing you can do, no budget necessary, is to collect catalogs. They often change their theme and layouts on a monthly basis and can provide a quick dose of inspiration wrapped up in a short retail story.

As a designer, it’s good to be aware of trends and movements around you, not just online but also in print. The goal is to not lift everything you see but to rather ignite the sparks of creation. Colors, type choices, the placement of images and the copy all play a role in the finished product and may inspire your next project, as well. Get inspired and then push forward and use that inspiration to create your own vision. Remember though, inspiration is meant to be just that; inspiration. Then, it’s time to get to work! As Anna recently said, “Try to put a limit on the amount of time you spend searching for and cataloging images for the sake of inspiration. Think more about appreciating these things for what they are, and not just how you can apply them to your own work.”

Here are some of my favorite free catalogs for print inspiration:

• Urban Outfitters: Sign up for monthly catalogs; they change themes very often.

• Anthropologie: Monthly catalogs with inspiring locales and subtle type.

• Madewell: This catalog is in an oversized format and printed on matte paper with hip, lookbook worthy layouts. Definitely my favorite of the bunch!

• House Industries: This type foundry catalog is always colorful with a cheery retro vibe.

• J. Crew: They’re always sending out something new and have glossy magazine-worthy photos and type treatments.

With Easter right around the corner, baby blue and grass green have both been on my mind. I love the idea of taking the pastels we typically associate with Easter and adding a twist with saturated brights and color blocking. In other news, this week has been really full behind the scenes but the design projects I’ve been working on should be making an appearance over the next few weeks. Can’t wait to share the outcomes!

1. Karen Elson by Tim Walker for Italian Vogue, 2. PXL Pendant Light, 3. Marimekko Irrbloss Platter (no longer available), 4. Penguin Great Food Collection Books, 5. Essie Mint Candy Apple and Ole Caliente Polishes, 6. Surface To Air Moks Multisole Shoes, 7. Swissted Heatmiser Poster (on sale this week on Fab.com — via invite only!) and 8. Dan Blackman DelVal Botany Poster.

I first locked eyes on the Avedon Fashion 1944-2000 book earlier this year because it featured my favorite Avedon photo of all time, Jean Shrimpton from the cover of the April 1965 issue of Bazaar. But beyond that, I couldn’t put this book down. Avedon is considered one of the top fashion photographers of all time but I was curious to know more about the stories behind his most iconic images and how he got his start. I learned that Avedon was a merchant marine in World War II, where he was assigned with taking identity photographs of fellow sailors. This book does a meticulous job of showcasing some of his more rare, early work from the 1940s mixed in alongside his most famous photos and ad campaigns.

Avedon was at Harper’s Bazaar (1944 – 1965), then Vogue (1966 – 1990) and finally, at The New Yorker (1992 – 2004) and this book covers all those stints as well as work he produced for other clients including some of his most memorable Versace campaigns, which he shot for two decades. At over 350 pages long, I had a hard time choosing just a handful of images to share. If you get the chance, check this book out, winking holographic eye cover and all.

Happy first day of Spring! This month I’ve been drawn to a palette of juicy hues including tangerine, coral and purple. In the photo above, I paired a BITNB SUMI tee with a tangerine J.Crew cardigan I picked up at Buffalo Exchange.

1. Supernova Suspension Lamp, 2. Fang Jun Zi Xu by Pelagio Armenta, 3. Brighten The Corners Poster, 4. Opening Ceremony Glastonbury, 5. Source Unknown, 6. Heidi Merrick Huntington Dress and 7. Hermes Marcelina Scarf (this color is no longer available).

Readers, what’s inspiring you this week?

In a post that resonated with many of you, Doing What You Love, I discussed the process of actively taking steps to get from point A to point B in your life and mentioned that one way I moved forward during times of uncertainty (of which there were many) was by actively making lists of goals.

I was really serious about that list-making, too. One of the drawers in my flat files is devoted to storing old notebooks. These notebooks date back to around 2002 and are packed with notes and thoughts about what I wanted my path to be. Looking back, I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do with my life but I knew it would include a combination of art and design. As the notebooks progressed, I did a lot of sketches of art pieces, began thinking more about my website and jotting down new ideas for design projects. Somewhere around 2005, I started making lists of potential design programs. Everything continued to progress from there. I had a few setbacks along the way but I kept pushing forward because it felt right. I worked through what I wanted first on paper, then made a plan of how I thought it was most feasible.

I still actively keep notebooks but these days, they are mostly filled with thumbnail sketches of logos, ideas for blog posts and client feedback. I also keep a daily planner now as well (you can see some of my old ones on the top of that stack). I know that many of you use digital means to track your to-do lists and goals but there’s something incredibly satisfying to me when I write everything out. It’s cathartic, a release. When I cross an item off, I’m letting go and moving on.

Looking back, I didn’t always know what exactly I was doing or how I was going to make it happen. All I knew is that I needed a change and I needed to feel like I was moving forward each day. Sometimes, all it takes to get started is a pen, paper and the drive to create change in your life, no matter how small it may seem at the time.

A color that’s been on my mind lately is chartreuse — it’s by far my favorite color for Spring. Over the last six months, I’ve noticed it popping up in a number of fashion shows as well as home interiors and I love the friendly jolt it adds to an otherwise neutral palette. I like chartresue so much that I used it as an accent color in many of the pieces in the My Cross To Bear series.

1. Bold Living Room, 2. Diane Von Furstenburg Fall 2012, 3. Vitra Panton Chair, 4. Mimi Holiday Bra, 5. CB2 rug and 6. J. Crew catalog outtake.