} Theme Fragrance

This is the 2013 version of I’m-buying-this-CD-just-because-I-like-the-cover.

The Theme Fragrance shop is filled with products in beautiful packaging, and tempting scents. Designs are clean and crisp, the colors fit well the announced smells.

Seeing that, it’s not much of a surprise that the owner, E. Morrison, is a RISD graduate and photographer, but she went into the perfume world blind and self-taught herself her now mastered skills!

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} Inkkit

Inkkit is a little shop, full of little items, but that makes you wanna buy a lot.

Most of the shop is filled with packaging supplies, from sequin ribbon to envelopes and stickers. And also cutesy items, like gold tip twig pencils (How CUTE.) and tiny painted rocks. Plus, pictures are gorgeous, I can’t even stop looking around!

Plan on restraining yourself, or be prepared to splurge! lol :)

} Field Guided

Anabela of Field Guided lives in Toronto, and from there, she uses mostly typography to get her messages out. Not surprising, since she has a degree library studies, and now typesets books for a living.

Everything, from prints to tote bags and prints, are done with subtlety and simpleness, but weirdly enough, full of emotion. I adore!

} Edu Barba

A bit of geometry, a but of typography, a bit of color, and then you get Edu Barba, offering really big posters (oh yeah) at affordable prices (double yeah!) of very graphic visuals, intricate shapes and wise words. I’m so in!

} Hairbrained Schemes

Oh, irreverend humour, how I love you! You put a kick in everyday life, and Hairbrained Schemes creates you so well!

Also, some sweet ones in their shop. But hey, I’m trying to grab your attention here! So these were my choices. Haha! ;)

} Bariol

Free fonts are usually wonky, and just plain not cute. Some exceptions tho, just like this Bariol, a font by Atipo. It has a nice rounded shape to it (perfect for anything sweet or wise), but it also has some sort of modern typewriter quality, I find.

It’s available in 4 cases (thin, light, regular and bold).

One other cool thing about this font, is the way you can get the Regular case for FREE: with the Pay with a tweet social payment concept (also possible with a Facebook post).

HOW AWESOME IS THAT. I find it a very inventive and simple idea, perfect for this day and age.

And, in my opinion, this is bright, practical and useful. Offer a freebie, but also get the word out for it and your company as a whole. An always welcomed social payment for all the hard work you put in that free beautiful font/cute desktop image/awesome new song/useful Photoshop brush! Oh the possibilities! This kind of smart idea almost makes me shiver.

I’ll try thinking of something so I can use this in the future. What about you? :)

} Wedding Invited

Rustic postcard invitations, by Tupy Boutique.

Preppy chic invitations, by Julie Hanan Design.

Record with sleeve invitations, by Ello There.

Rusted and chic invitations, by Wide Eyes Design.

Heart stopper letterpressed invitations, by Word Letterpress.

Woodgrain invitations, by Cricket Printing.

Printable “How it began” invitations, by Something Blue.

Red side banner invitations, by Twigs Print Studio.

2012 is a wedding year for my family! In January, my brother got married. And later this year I have 2 others… Considering I had never went to a wedding in my family EVER (I don’t think my parent’s wedding, when I was 1yo, counts. lol), woah! Yes, this single gal can take it. lol!

I find wedding invitations (when done right, and with a little modern twist) to be a great graphic design treat for the eyes! A little bit like company stationaries, which I used to love doing as a graphic designer, in that other life o’ mine.

Anyway, here’s a few handmade invites I found that I really love! Maybe it’ll be useful for some of you lovebirds. :)

} Blissful Case

I like Blissful Case‘s selection of affordable iPhone cases! Simple yet unique looks, and at under $20 a pop, you can change them to fit your mood of the day, right?

I should get an iPhone one day… I’m living in the stone age, with my pink flip phone! haha! ;)

} Natalie Nicklin

When the vintage and current looks collide, it can make for some flashy yet understated works of art. Like these, from Natalie Nicklin hailing from the UK.

} Adamas

Some fonts are just not an obvious choice in pretty much all situations. As statements tho, they can indeed be perfect.

Sky is the limit and you know it.

Adamas is a free font (personal and commercial) by Colorblind, and you can get it here.

} The Graphic Miss

Image by Mikael Floysand.

Weirdly enough, I’ve been missing graphic design a little these past fest weeks. I say “weirdly” because when I stopped doing it in 2008, I never looked back, and never regretted the decision, not even one second. And I still don’t.

But, there is some precise things I do miss about it, and one of them is layout design. The other thing is typography. I used to do a lot of magazine design, catalog design, brochure design. Printed documents, containing plenty of text to play around with. It was kind of my specialty, I guess, and it was what I loved to do… That is, if you forget about the ridiculous “for yesterday” deadlines, and the always so many constraints, and some (definitely not all) know-it-all-that-don’t-know-anything clients, and yadayadayada, those things that made me not want to do graphic design anymore.

Anyway. I spent some time yesterday looking at the Grafika 2012 results (Quebec province’s annual graphic design competition). And spent some time unwillingly noticing this design desire coming back slowly.

Honestly, I don’t know what to actually DO with it all.

I’m kinda… simmering. Simmering thoughts and ideas. On, perhaps, how to bloom that little need into something I’ll actually enjoy doing. Something that has freedom and joy attached to it, ya know?

Rambling: OFF.
Simmer: ON.

} Reed + Rader

So, we all remember the early years of the interwebs, where the more a website would move on it’s own, the more we’d be impressed. Right?

I remember my very first website (this is in 1996 or 1997, not quite sure anymore), where Dennis Rodman had it’s own section in my world (he still does, but only in my heart. haha), and where animated .gif banners ruled the world. I had created it all in HTML, one <a href> code at a time, in Word, and then copy-pasted in my free Angelfire website. A 90s masterpiece, I’m telling ya…….. Ok, not. :P

Anyway, those overly animated days are long over (most of the time…), as simplicity makes for the most effective and visually appealing ones, in my opinion. But now, who said animated .gifs needed to be corny and classified as a “low class” of images?

Thankfully, Reed + Rader are there to get things straight! They work mostly with the fashion world, creating beautiful animated .gifs and videos! Sometimes weird, sometimes classy, but one thing is for sure, you can barely stop your eyes from looking at their portfolio! :) LOVE IT ALL!

} Pantone Xmas

Altho I truly understand the want to give during this period (and think it’s great!), I don’t really give gifts during the Holidays (nor do I want to receive some), and I’d rather share some great meals and see the people that I care about.

I’m not one to buy a Xmas tree or decorate either…

But these Pantone Xmas tree balls are making me doubt my whole thinking process… Haha! Ok, maybe not the WHOLE thing, but the tree, at the very least! :)

Via } Fubiz

} Don’t Want

Perspectives.

I have nothing to add.

This print by Grass Green Design says it all way better than I could! :)

} Mark Weaver

Graphic designer and illustrator Mark Weaver creates visual pieces that are reminiscing of past eras using his digital collage skills perfectly. Every project is like an orgasm for the eyes. haha! I truly can’t get enough of browsing each and every piece!

Find more of his work with the “Make Something Cool Everyday” project on his Flickr!