#1

Things I Like Right Now.

1. Alternative Apparel's website design (crafty and cool.)
2. Stefan Sagmeister (eternally awesome.)
3. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals (She's got pipes, they've got jams.)
4. Will Bryant (adorable and fly at the same time.)
5. Mark Weaver (spacey.)
6. Print Workshop (yes, please.)
7. Modern Family (I dare you not to laugh.)
8. Now Go Home (I wanna do this.)
9. Documentaries. All of them.
10. This video.

Hatch Show Print intern!

Well, I am happy to report that I recently accepted an internship at the historic and AWESOME Hatch Show Print, located in Nashville, Tennessee! Needless to say, I'm STOKED. The internship runs from about the middle of February to about the middle of April. In between concerns of how I'm possibly going to pay for living in a brand new city for two months, lining up a place to stay, and other logistics, I've finally found the peace to just be EXCITED about this incredible opportunity! For those of y'all who are unfamiliar with Hatch Show, it is a sweet letterpress print shop in downtown Nashville that is known for its distinct flavor of poster characterized by its gothic typefaces, hand-carved imagery, and vintage appeal. It's also really cool because it's kind of a "living museum"--some of the presses and wood type they use are nearly a hundred years old, so by using them, they are keeping the presses in working shaping and the vintage letterpress poster alive. NEAT-o!

I will be sure to post up a ton of pics of Hatch, Nashville, and my time there. Here are few I found of the shop and posters they've done!


A poster for the Black Crowes.


The shop! I like how it's plastered with its posters, wall to wall! : )


John Mayer Trio poster.


Hatch Show Print wine? I like the sound of that!

Into Lately #5.

1. the Anthropologist

What a cool site. The Anthropologist is a project from Anthropologie, the chic, upscale urban outfitter and furnishing store (whose beautiful products are utterly beyond the means of a modest paycheck, or even a respectable one, but fun eye-candy nonetheless). This site features the work of interesting artists, creatives, and makers. "We illuminate those who move us in order to move you. We champion the idea that sharing the sources of creativity in turn kindles us." The work they feature is gorgeous, but how they present the work is gorgeous, too--against a plain, clean white background, with seamless transitions and easy navigation. It's beautiful, and I love it.

My favorite featured works are Urnatur, a Swedish nature resort that focuses on living simply and at peace with nature....



and the photo project of David Eustace, who got to document a road trip with his teenage daughter the summer before she left home for college.



Check them out!

2. Eat Pray Love

Okay, okay, I've heard arguments both for and against the major premise of this book by Elizabeth Gilbert, and even though I mostly feel it IS a bit ridiculous, the writing is so thoroughly entertaining and relatable, I am completely enjoying every page of this book. But we'll see how I feel at the end of it.



(Plus, the cover art is pretty neat.)

3. Independent Bookstores

There's nothing better than spending time meandering around a bookstore. And I'm not talking about mall-like beasts like Borders or Barnes & Noble. I'm talking about the cute, whole-in-the-wall, tiny bookstores lined wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling with books and books and books to explore for hours. I recently went into Subterranean Books, one such bookstore in the Loop. I love walking around this store because I always find something interesting amongst the books they display and feature. And buying local is ALWAYS a plus.

4. snow/cold weather

I may be the only one who feels this way, but the warm weather around here lasted WAY too long! I swear, it was mild weather until late November! I am glad that it is finally cold, and it's here to stay. We even have a nice blanket of snow here in mid-Missouri. PRETTY.



My favorite musical foursome singin' "Snow" from my all-time favorite Christmas classic (sorry, It's a Wonderful Life), White Christmas.

5. Mel Stringer



Super awesome illustrations coming from this Australian artist I saw featured on Modcloth's blog. So cool! Check out her Etsy shop. Oh, or her other one.

This is beautiful.

Printzzz

"The road is life." My first ever broadside! I loved doing this. It's a quote from Jack Kerouac's On The Road.


"Shipwrecked." Polyester plate lithograph.

OU Site Re-Design: Not a Fan.

Ouch. It physically hurts me. It looked like Microsoft Paint threw up all over UO's homepage. Urban Outfitters, usually a haven for fun, hip, funky design, is using stretched and skewed type. Weird placements, awkward arches of type, questionable typeface choices--it's just awful. However, I recently came across an article that at least made the ugly explainable. Brand New had this little blurb that said that "UO’s new look feels purposely ugly. It’s hip-ugly without a wink."

Wha??? I don't get it.

It also gave a link to this excellent Michael Beirut article that further explained it. Apparently, Ugly is Back. But I agree with Beirut: "Dear God in heaven: at long last, is nothing sacred?"

Hopefully UO's site re-vamp comes sooner rather than later.

Into Lately #4.

1. This photostream.


2. Scott Avett's art, especially his woodcuts.


3. Lizzy Janssen.


4. J.Crew's website design. Simple, classy, and fun.


5. The Apache Relay.

Into Lately #3.

1. Billy Elliot.
An old favorite of mine, everything about this film is gorgeous. I'm in a film class right now, so I was way more aware of the quality of this movie than I have been in the past. It's perfect. Plus, I can't get over the accents, and the set. I want all the wallpaper from his house in mine!



2. Kid CuDi.

Okay, okay, I'm quite late to the game on this one, but he's fantastic. Plus, look at that album art. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet.

3. Dolan Geiman A mixed media artist I came across about, oh 10 minutes ago in my daily blog rifflings. "Contemporary art with a southern accent," gotta love it. His stuff is rad.

4. Modcloth I can't get over how much I love this company. Their clothes are pretty and I love their site. Every piece of cloth (EVERY PIECE) has a funny, clever title and a cute description next to it. Plus, they feature indie designers, so you're getting really unique pieces. Who doesn't love a little vintage flair?

5. This song by Neil Young. I wish the video was in sync, but at least the audio is pretty high quality. I love the lyrics!

I want to work here: Modcloth.




Yeah.

So glad I came across this guy.

Just listen.

Mixed tape.

"What do you love about music?

...To begin with, everything."

Into lately #2: Short and sweet.

1. Road trips.

2. Yulia Brodskaya.

3. David Sedaris.
4. New Mexico.
5. Joan Armatrading circa 1979... though she's still pretty grand.

Campus Christian Fellowship Poster

splatters and drips.

I made a mess doing this!

It's up!

I just submitted a new design to Threadless! Check it out by clicking the link below, and, if you're so inclined, vote on it to give me a better chance of getting printing! Woot woot!

Things I'm into lately: #1!

I've decided to start a weekly "inspiration" post. It'll keep me at least a little on task updating this thing, even if it's with other people's design/work/creativity rather than my own! It'll be five-ish things that I'm "into" that week.

#1. Kelly Cutrone.

She's the PR diva and marketing queen who founded People's Revolution, a super successful fashion PR and marketing firm. I first saw Kelly as Whitney's scary-as-hell boss on MTV's The Hills (Say what you will, but I love that show... and if nothing else, the episodes are only a half hour long, so I'm not wasting THAT much time!). She says things like, "Do not roll your eyes at me. Do not question what it is we're asking of you to do. I'm not here to be your friend."* She soon turned into one of my favorite parts of the show--she's sarcastic, down-to-earth, unforgiving, and completely unafraid to hurt others feelings (but in a good way).

I was at my sister's apartment and noticed a book with her picture on the front, titled If You Have to Cry, Go Outside, and Other Things Your Mother Never Told You. It's a book she's written for women that's a refreshing slap in the face. A real-world guide to following your dreams, Kelly talks about finding yourself by listening to yourself and following your intuition. I'm only 30 pages in and I'm already hooked. Who knew the scariest bitch-boss could be so inspirational? Kelly, you're my hero.

2. Crazy Heart

I saw this film starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Robert Duvall last week. It's about an old, washed up country singer who is broke, sleeping with a different woman every night, on the edge of his health, and drunk more than he is sober. He meets a younger woman and considers changing his ways. The soundtrack is fantastic, the cinematography is superb, and Jeff Bridges gives the performance of a lifetime. It really is a great film. The back of the movie box said, "The harder the life, the sweeter the song." Beautiful, right? Plus, it takes place in the Southwest, and I'm gearing up for a road trip down that way, so I was especially delighted by the setting.

Speaking of which, this also leads me to the next item on my list...

#4. Palo Duro Canyon,

Located in the panhandle of Texas, it's the second largest canyon system in the United States, and a place I plan on stopping to see on my road trip. Pretty stunning, right? I can't wait to see it in person! I've never been to the Southwest, so I'm pretty psyched to check out that corner of the country. Plus, there's something so completely American about a road trip. The open road, the corny roadside attractions, the fast food stops... it's going to be superb! Plus, we're camping the whole way down, so that should be an adventure in itself.

#4. This desktop wallpaper.

One of my favorite design blogs, Design*Sponge, features a new artist every month by releasing a sweet desktop wallpaper with a calendar on it. I really love this month's, which was made by Betsy Walton of Morning Craft. Pretty swell.

#5. Threadless.

This super cool site features t-shirt designs submitted by designers. Other users of the site score and critique the designs. Then the Threadless gurus hand pick the designs to be printed from the highest scored designs. If your design gets chosen, not only do you get the glory of having your very own piece of art made wearable for anyone to buy, but you also get 2000 green ones! Pretty rad right? Above is one of my favorite shirts that's been printed. Keep your eyes open, I have submitted a couple of designs myself, and am continuing to work on some others! I would be pretty psyched to get chosen, and I know it's a long shot, but a girl can dream! I'll keep you posted when I submit my next design.

That's it for my first designspiration post. I'm suspecting most weeks won't be this long....