Graphic designer Dave Delisle has created a fantastic map of the Washington Metro, in the style of Super Mario Brothers. It even includes the new silver line!
You can purchase a print here. I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting one for my public-transit-obsessed son.
Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.
Chevrons are everywhere, and they show no signs of going away. This is just fine with me because I really like their bold and graphic impact: pillows, rugs, and even furniture can be punched up with a little zig-zag! I’ve found a few unique interpretations of the chevron that I adore nthat differ from the typical color-on-white graphic we’re used to seeing. Take a look…
This mirrored chevron entertainment console from the home of Laura Day was featured in a 2010 issue of Lonny. It’s so subtle but makes such a huge impact.
(image via Lonny)
I love this yellow room with the custom carpet and coordinating art panels:
image via The Tile Shop Design by Kirsty)
These “Scattered Chevron” drapery panels from Anthropologie are a much less jarring take on the wide bold chevrons we’re used to seeing:
(image via Anthropologie)
For a twist on floor textiles, Flor even offers a carpet tile in what they call the “Sophistikat” pattern. I love it…especially the subtle imperfection of the way the edges meet (or don’t).
(image via Interface Flor)
This watercolor is simple yet so interesting. I’d love it in an all white room, or against a navy wall.
(image via entrenous)
And finally, these refinished Queen Anne chairs from Etsy seller Nenavon (unfortunately, already sold) are just adorable!
(image via Etsy seller Nenavon)
Have you seen any other chevron-themed decor items you love lately? If so, please share!
Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.
From time to time I post about Pantone: the company that deals exclusively in color. Their swatches and precise matching systems exist to create standardization among the color industry. Sound complicated? Think of it this way: if you’re a corporate entity with a blue logo, your logo isn’t just any shade of blue. It’s a very precise, specific blue, and if you match it to a Pantone chip then you can order all of your signage, t-shirts, paper products, and even fabric for the chairs in your lobby to be “Blue XYZ,” thereby creating a specific and stable identity.
Pantone "chips" -- get it? That's a little design humor for you... (image and design via thoughtful.squarespace.com)
I’ll be the first to admit that I have little to no use for Pantone swatches in my design practice. As of right now, I have no clients who demand super precise dye matches, and I have no trouble finding complementary colors among the thousands of options out there. I conceptualize colors, hunt the right ones down, and through a combination of visual instinct and trial and error I find the right ones: mission accomplished! But despite my tried and true method, I love to look at Pantone products and I dream about purchasing their very expensive swatch sets and color books for myself one day. They just feel so…fancy. And professional. And rainbow-ey.
Well, the rainbow just got bigger, because Pantone has added 175 colors to their line! Watch the video here describing their process of creating a new color:
I love how a guy in the video refers to color as an “instantly accessible, over-the-counter antidepressant.” I couldn’t agree more!
Their 175 new colors are particularly suited for fashion and home, and include additions such as Mykonos Blue, Cherries Jubilee, Storm Front, and Marmalade. (Yum!) You can read more about the “new” colors here on Pantone’s website.
Happy Color Shopping!
Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.
Nerd Alert!
Here’s a book that design lovers won’t be able to put down, and others might find just a little interesting. It’s called Seventy-Nine Short Essays on Design and it’s by Michael Bierut, a writer for the popular, often-but-not-always-very-design-industry-specific blog, Design Observer.
I am happily and excitedly going to be teaching a graduate studio in the fall that focuses on conceptual development and communication, and this book is a wonderful companion for that class. Though it talks a lot about graphics (as Bierut is a graphic designer himself, and at the famed Pentagram, no less) it is effectively interdisciplinary in its discussion of client relationships, concept generation, public perception, and it even touches directly on architecture for several essays. I can’t stop myself from going back to it for inspiration for studio exercises.
A fun bonus that makes this book even more appealing: each essays is set in a different font. What a great detail that almost anyone can appreciate – there’s even a legend for the different types in the back of the book.
If you’re interested in picking it up I encourage you to do so and browse some of the essays: none is longer than three pages, and though you may find yourself googling lots of graphic designer’s and architect’s names, it’s well worth the read. You’ll find yourself learning about everything from how product posters actually get made, to what happens when an architect makes a grave mistake that means a skyscraper has been constructed in a structurally unsound way.
…and while you’re browsing the book, there’s no better coffee mug to be your companion than this one:
Pantone Mug (image via Tesora.com.au)
Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.
Detail from "Colors of the Social World (Wide Web)" by ColourLovers (image via ColourLovers)
ColourLovers is a site that allows people to share palettes, ideas, articles, and all things related to color. It kind of reminds me of Adobe’s Kuler website, which I discovered in grad school. Not only is the ColorLovers website beautiful but their blog is really interesting…if you’re into gorgeous charts and sorting crayons and Skittles like I am.
Dominant colors in Twitter pages, by state. (Image via ColourLovers)
They’ve created a huge series of infographics called “Colors of the Social World (Wide Web)” that document the colors people use on their Twitter pages. I think it’s as fascinating as it is beautiful. Enjoy it here, and don’t forget to click on the hi-res version for the full impact.
Design consultations for all styles and budgets: JGB Interiors.
