Textiles: Rainbow Dye Treatments

Last week I attended Portable’s Curator Conference here in Manhattan. The topics spanned art, culture, travel and tech and each speaker shared stories of their successes and failures creating and sharing content through various outlets. It should be said that the branding was stellar and was developed by RoANDCo. Additionally, the watercolor-splashed videos and print materials were translated simply and elegantly onto their tote bags (which I love and will carry until it breaks). Some of the stand-out presentations came from Carrie Scott of SHOWStudio, Gia Coppola, an extraordinary young film maker, Chris Corrado of Capsule, Josh Rubin of Cool Hunting and Piera & Philippe of Refinery29.

So back to the point of this post: Rainbow dyed textiles. I’ve been a fan for a while, as noted by this scarf purchase a few years back. The above sherbet-dyed knit is currently for sale from one of our favorite online retailers, Of a Kind. It was recently produced as a limited run by Creatures of Comfort, based in Los Angeles. Expect to see more of this style in the year to come, particularly in the home division. This technique is quite friendly for seating, pillows and bedding. Are you into it?

September 13, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Red on Red Retailing

Red is the comeback kid this Fall. I’m not sure if you recall seasons past, but it went on a bit of a hiatus, standing behind shades of magenta and plum. It’s interesting in a way, as I vividly remember the conversations we all had at the Color Association round table a while ago, as we discussed the strength and emergence in Chinese and Russian territories and the direct influence it would have on European and American palettes.

The Prada coat is photographed by Jacob Sutton for Bergdorf Goodman’s latest Fall catalog and the chairs were captured by my iphone at ABC Carpet this past weekend. The monochromatic foreground and background combo is rather striking, wouldn’t you say?

September 12, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Coralie Bickford-Smith

Bookworms and design blog aficionados have likely all come across the gorgeous cover art of Coralie Bickford-Smith. The senior cover designer at Penguin Books has thoughtfully and beautifully interpreted a slew of classics into modern cloth-bound book covers that appeal to both the modern eye and the literary diehards. Indeed, her reinterpreted classics have captured the hearts of many. Of course, her work extends beyond the clothbound classics and a run through her website is a testament to her talent.

It’s clear that her work is imbued with a sense of fun and joy. Recently, Coralie’s been sharing her experience as a book cover designer with students at the London College of Communication, encouraging a sense of play into the design processes.

Coralie’s book covers have been recognized by the AIGA (NY) and D&AD (UK) and have featured in a numerous international magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, Vogue and The Guardian. Her work with Penguin Classics on the clothbound series attracted worldwide attention and harks back to the world of Victorian bindings and a golden age of book binding.

September 12, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Lessons in Technology from Estonia

Sometimes our posts are a little monkey-see-monkey-do, but that’s the nature of a visual site: to provide bright, compelling content that’s thoughtful and relevant throughout the market. Today I’d like to return to my researcher roots and share a few thoughts on an article that I was particularly moved by.

This past weekend, Thomas Friedman wrote a piece for the New York Times entitled, New Rules, describing how schools in Estonia are adding coding to the elementary curriculum in the hopes of solving hiring problems for the future.

Having just returned from Tallinn (Estonia) I witnessed the technology boom first hand. It almost felt like San Francisco- save for the fact that I was on Russian/Scandinavian territory. Skype was developed there and many of the conversations at the cafes and restaurants I visited were tech related. Unsurprisingly Tallinn’s Foursquare tips were also abundant.

There’s free wifi on every other street (Paris could take a hint) and Facebook, Google, PriceWaterHouseCoopers and many other American businesses have engineering offices based in Estonia- it’s one of the coding and development capitals of Europe. So that brings me back to patterns. And the future. And the idea of staying relevant in today’s fast-changing world.

Friedman puts it best quoting futurist Alvin Toffler, “lliteracy will not be defined by those who cannot read and write, but by those who cannot learn and relearn. Any form of standing still is deadly.”

Here are a few photos from my time in Tallinn. I thought it would be nice to share a taste of the creative culture. So what are your thoughts on the matter? Do you ever think about the evolution of your industry, where it’s going and how you’re going to stay relevant?

September 11, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Eleven Years Later

Eleven years ago, I was a student at George Washington University sitting in a computer programming class when the towers were struck. The days and weeks that followed were completely surreal: they were filled with shock, with sadness and a loss of innocence for my generation, one which was raised on the good fortune of naivety.

As I sit writing this, I’m surrounded by the sounds of construction. Roofs being replaced, garages being converted and most poignantly today, the new Freedom Tower going up. I recently moved to lower Manhattan and live a mile away from Ground Zero. The new structure is a part of everyone’s downtown existence. It’s tremendous, mirrored on all sides and reflects the ominous surrounding sky. In the process of unpacking last night, I came across this New Yorker from 2001. The cover has a bit of water damage, though it’s as striking today as it was eleven years ago.

September 11, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Friday Quick Links!

1. Solar system lollipops! via Colossal
2. You’ve got something on your face via The Artful Desperado
3. Jim Houser’s new range of patterned wall tiles for Blik via Poppytalk
4. Faig Ahmed’s stellar embroidery art gives tradition an edge via Trendland
5. Fascinated by Mathias Kiss’ faceted mirrors via Design for Mankind
6. Tauba Auerbach’s book illustrates the RGB color scheme via The Design Ark
7. Charmed by the new Meditteraneo collection from La Casita de Wendy via Miss Moss
8. Cilla Ramnek certainly knows how to play with pattern via Pattern Bank
9. Digging Jacob Magraw’s drawings, paintings, and embroidery via booooooom
10. Laurent Chehere lovely “Flying Houses” series via Honestly WTF
11. DIY painted 3D cube wall design via design*sponge
12. Striking sculptural paintings from Laura Moriarty via Artsy Forager

Contributed by Emily Gup

September 7, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik