28 April 2008

IM OFF TO NEW YORK - back may 12th

today is my last day of posting for two weeks as im off on holiday to new york. i'll be pounding the streets of manhattan and will obviously have my trusty camera in hand - so anything i spot will hopefully be reported back here when i return. im taking a shopping list of books that im after, and i hope to buy some cool 12 x12 papers, cards, gift wraps, etc. im keen to visit the big new kinokuniya store, get a copy of adorn magazine, browse urban outfitters, anthropologie, cb2, and many more. please join me back here on may 12th. in the meantime please feel free to browse the archives. see you soon !

BOOK - picture pie

i wanted to recommend two books today, that may have been intended for children, but have great appeal for designers and illustrators. picture pie and picture pie 2 are part of the ed emberley drawing book series. the idea is that you can creat all manner of objects, animals, birds and patterns from simple shapes. just check out that beautiful peacock above. see the books here in the print & pattern bookshop click here for USA and here for UK.

DESIGNER - ed emberley

japanese company hightide have licensed ed emberley's picture pie and turned it into a range of fabulous stationery products.

ILLUSTRATION - flight of the conchords

if i sit and think of some of my dream commissions; maybe one would be to do the 'flight of the conchords' cover design for their new album. well this dream job came true for illustrator tyler stout. these are the results.

25 April 2008

DESIGNER - jen skelley

jen skelley saw that i had written recently how much i liked prints of tea cups and mugs so she sent me details of her new print. jen produced the design for a coffee themed art show in philadelphia opening this june. she works as freelance illustrator and designer, and ive posted some examples from her wonderful portfolio, but luckily for us jen also sells her prints on etsy and her own website. finally jen's boyfriend nate also works as an illustrator and he produced the cute owl print at the very bottom of the post. see here for details on his work.

ROUND - UP

im off on holiday next week so monday will be my last day of posting before i head off. so today i thought i do a kind of round up of of all sorts of things ive been meaning to post lately. starting with this cute tree motif from scrapbook company pink paislee.
notebook and mug by mmmg. i cant rememer where i got these images from but the designs are definately by millimeter milligram.
i love the colour palette on this wonderful illustration from fun cup cake.
i think these tea towels and placemats from ferm living may have been well blogged elsewhere but i wanted to showcase these terrific stylised designs.
the fabulous bedlinen from fred the dog went down a treat recently when it was featured here on print & pattern. the good news is that the french company now ship overseas.
original card designs from darling clementine.
a couple of things i liked from the all things original website, a great little shop for handmade goodies from the uk. above peacock by lucie sheridan, below pretty purse and badges from amanda luke.

TEXTILES - shannon lamden

shannon lamden, aka aunty cookie has done it again with some fabulous new fabric designs in her etsy shop.

DIGITAL DOWNLOADS - design fruit

p+p reader mel told me about a selection of downloadable designs she had found at design fruit. $17.99 allows you to download a set of 8 seamless vector patterns for personal use, or if you go for the full licence commercial use too.