Pretty rings

These rings at simplywoodrings.com are so beautiful. They're all made of different kinds of wood and are really nicely done. I have a soft spot for the Tree Grows in Brooklyn ring (below) because it's pretty much my favorite book of all time.

There's a bunch of different ones, some that include stones, some metal, etc. I saw it at 2modern.

DIY Calendar!

This calendar totally reminded me of the "Do" collection at Droog. It seems to be sold out at Etsy unfortunately. I found it at Poppytalk.

So here are the sketches I keep promising. Basically, it's a brooch that will hold down a co llar through oversized, interchangeable buttons. The oval shape is the loop to hold down the button. I wanted it to look kind of stitched.



I think I want to make three buttons and really use the techniques we've been learning.



The scan isn't too good, but the top one would be lamination inlay of a bullseye shape and kind of seeing how it would come out. The bottom left is a twisty scroll design I thought I could etch. The bottom right is solder inlay.

Droog Project

So I know I said I would scan in pictures of my design and post them, but I keep forgetting...I will though tonight. I was thinking that I could make a couple different buttons and they could be switched out. So right now I'm trying to really firm up button designs. My goal is to have those sketched out by tonight and upload those tonight too.
In fibers on Monday, we did a very public display of knitting. It's pretty awesome. I don't have a picture, but I will?Once I get in the habit of carrying my camera around.
I'm getting really excited about my Droog idea, but I don't really have any feedback on it...Also, I think the pictures will make the idea clearer. But if anyone has any thoughts on it, that would be really helpful. Thanks in advance!

I wanted to start posting things that I like, but it's so hard becasue I like so many things! I've been looking at desingsponge.blogspot.com ever sense Megan assigned it to the fibers class and I love it. I love everything on there. Here are some favorites: These come in other bright colors and different styles! They're so bright! They're by http://www.christinemisiak.co.uk/
These are laser cut paper panels by Emily Morris, who is a recent graduate. I think it's really interting becasue it's all lattice work of insects.

This is a rug by indib. There's no link to a website, so I'm assuming they don't have one yet. But they're beautiful.

This is by dunford wood. They have a lot of really pretty maemade wallpaper, all avaible in different color schemes. I love having color options. Designsponge has a lot fo cool wallpaper on their blog.

AlsoI've been checking out the alumni stuff and I really really like http://imogene.org/shop/index.php

I think this is my favorite of her peices, but really they're all pretty tight. And the other designers in the shop are great too. But that's my favorite.

First Project

So I've kind of changed everything I was thinking about for the Droog project. I had liked the bracelet under the shirt idea, but I don't think the textures are going to show up well enough through the shirt. So I was thinking about the brooch over the collar idea, and came up w/ something new. So collared shirts usually have buttons under the collar to keep the collar down. I would make a kind of large button that would be decorated. Possibly with rolling mill texture, though I'm thinking w/ solder inlay, depending on how I construct the button. There would be a pin fastening on the back, which I don't know how to make but I guess I'll find out, and then a piece of metal coming out from it and going over the collar of the shirt. It would have a loop on it that the button would go through, thus keeping the collar down. I was thinking the loop would be textured somehow to look like a buttonhole.
That probably didn't make tons of sense, but later tonight, when I'm not at work, I'm going to scan in some drawings to make it clearer. It's kind of weird, but that's not really a measurement of good or bad. So basically, if anyone reading this have any opinions or ideas, those would be very much appreciated.

Designers/Artists in Training

I thought that this had a lot of good points in it. I've never been particularly good at keeping up w/ my sketchbook. Keeping a record of things is something I always want to do but never end up doing successfully. I understand the benefit of it though and like the idea of it. It's something I want to get better at. I never really thought of it as figuring out what your interested in, but after hearing it, it makes sense. That really makes me want to keep up w/ it more, because I feel like I like a lot of things. It would be good to kind of hone in on some specifics.
I get the idea of keeping up with information in the craft world. I feel like over the past semester or so, I've come to understand the importance of doing these things and also just the importance of keeping a blog of your work. It seems like everyone has one. I think it's a great way to get your stuff out there and also adds more interest to an audience or buyer to be able to go back and read about the life of the piece that you made.

Droog Revisited

So I really enjoy this one a lot. The description says it's to teach the birds some etiquette. It's really a simple design but it's also really clever. I checked out blogs from other students today and saw that Droog translates into dry, which didn't occur to me to do. And it's awesome. And makes me appreciate the designs even more.
This is from the whole "Do" challenge. I like that it's so interactive and you can just put it up anywhere.
Once again, all I can say is clever.
This is handy. It sticks. To I guess anything? So you can have light anywhere. I'm not sure how bright it'd be, but I guess then that's all the more reason to buy several.

Obviously the thing that seems to compel me the most about these objects is the cleverness. I'm still trying to sift through and see specifically what compels me and I guess go from there?

Target

Target's slogan is "Design for all". I never noticed that before, but its all over their website. It makes sense, because they really do bring affordable good design to everybody. Wal-mart and Target are considered the same kind of store, but shopping at each deliver completely different experiences.
Target has many designers. Isaac Mizrahi is a fashion designer who's won awards for his work. He does clothing and home furnishing at Target. Thomas O'Brien designs pieces for home decor. He's a designer from SoHo. Rachel Ashwell creates a lot of bedding. She designs things to be cozy and lived in. Sean Conway designs for outside decor. He is really inspired by nature. Micheal Graves is an architect who designs for the kitchen, cleaning, and home decor departments. Victoria Hagan is an interior designer "blending classic and modern". Liz Lange is a deisgner who really started the idea of "maternity chic". She has an exclusive line at Target. These are only some of the designers. Others include Amy Coe, designer for baby things, and Sonia Kashuk, mek-up artist and designer.
As an art student, or a designer-in-training, studying design is obviously important. The designers featured at Target are made so accessible to us. It's something to take advantage of. Besides that, it's about being aware of design around us and noticing where is comes from and why. All these designers have done amazing things and who knows what kinds of opportunities will be available in the future. Pay attention!

Droog

I thought the Droog website was really interesting. It's a design company from Amsterdam. I thought this line from their homepage really encapsulated them well: "Creating innovative concepts that change perspective".
The glasses are advertised to create cool shadows once water is poured in. The tablecloth has silhouettes of dinnerware to look like a dinner party was just there. What I think is most interesting is that the silhouettes are set up to tell a story, not just to look like a regular place setting.