Gifts for You Design Minded Folks

Since the season’s in full swing, I’m assuming most of you are already crossing gifts off your lists- particularly if you celebrated Chanukah. With pop up shops on every downtown corner, I figured I’d jump in and offer my two cents. I might continue adding more to the mix, but to kick off, here we go:

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1. Fold, Unfold, Tablecloth by Hay & Margrethe Odgaard, $160
2. Patterned Paint Roller, The Patterned House, $15 GBP
3. Sitting Bull Pixel Bean Bag, $313
4. Little Bits Holiday Kit, $49
5. Green & Gray 15″ MacBookPro Laptop Bag, $49.95
6. Revenge of the Nerds Onesie, $18
7. The Napsack by The Poler, $130
8. Blueprint Paper Placemats, $26.50
9. Detachable Conductive Smartphone Friendly Glove Pins, $11.99

December 17, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Mr. Boddington's Wrapped Patterns

There’s a lot of focus on gift-giving this season (ahem, obviously), and with presents, comes packaging. As a designer, I’m obsessive about presentation and while you don’t have to be fancy, anytime you share work, an idea or a physical object, I believe it should be crisp and well wrapped- figuratively and literally.

This brings me to Mr. Boddington Studio. Their wrapping paper is cool. It’s interesting. It’s bold graphics are reminiscent of bedding, wallpaper, and fashion. Above is a textured ikat and a holiday themed block print.

Here we have Chanukah with a twist. We’re halfway through the holiday, so you’d have to jump on this today…or perhaps store for next year. Regardless, the illustrations are playful and very kid-friendly.

Translating this illustrative technique into Christmas paper, here’s another favorite. It looks like an Eames, Warby Parker, Linus, wreath and candy cane mashup!

December 13, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Holiday Gift Guide for Parents

Here’s hoping this holiday season’s a seamless balance of tradition, family, friends and special treats. For all of you last minute multi-taskers (ahem…), this week will be devoted to holiday gift guides. I’ll be taking off on a 10 day trip to Asia- Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo (!) early tomorrow morning, and in lieu of regular scheduled programming, you’ll be getting gift guides all week. Enjoy!

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December 19, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

Kate Spade & Papier-mâché Stripes

Anyone who spends time with me knows I love video and am always recommending it to clients when branching out into editorial content. Between the massive budgets that produce seasonal campaigns and homemade flip camera productions, there’s a swath of space in between to produce films on a budget and today’s Kate Spade feature is a perfect example. Enjoy.

November 9, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

Holiday Windows in Paris

A few weeks ago we went to Paris on a trending trip for one of our clients. Along the way, we shot imagery, left and right, as everything caught our eye! Few places are more inspirational during holiday season and we wanted to share a few of our favorite and most relevant window shots with you.

Creative Sleighs

The idea of the sleigh will never go away and Printemps has reinvented the idea this season with a few clever solutions. Lucky cats double as carousels, blending eastern and western themes with the use of color and costume. Contrasting the slick porcelain sleigh, needle point horse and chariots sit a few windows away, giving the concept of decoupage new meaning.

Pretty in Pink

Be it evil chucky babies or over sized matryoshka dolls, Parisians are pulling at feminine strings, combing pink palettes with textured backdrops. The babies and their necklaces can be found in the Marais, while the Russian dolls are part of a Chanel series at Printemps.

Paper Graphics

H&M is a little different in Europe. The merchandise is slightly less chaotic and the attention to detail is more on target. The overarching theme this season embraces the doll house, incorporating a multitude of printed box tops to achieve this effect. Taping less vivid palettes on the interior retail displays, 3D/2D illustrations cover the back walls, reminding us what Audrey Hepburn’s closet would look like if she chose to collaborate with H&M.

White Wonderland

Be it an orbiting headdress from Chanel or a glistening crown from Printemps, white is the safest and most glamorous color choice for the holiday season, particularly when paired with gold. Be it paper, branches, toule or pearl, both of these windows seem to have taken a page out of Ralph Lauren’s playbook.

Figurine Storytelling

Tugging at the customer’s inner child. these two windows remind us of Toy Story, from both the masculine and feminine perspective. Warrior play sets battle through mens merchandise while pink doll sets tumble though pink ribbon obstacle courses.

December 22, 2009 | By: Shayna Kulik

Print: Giving in Style

In our world, packaging is just as important as the product. Megan Herbert, illustrator and artist extraordinaire from Reykjavik, Iceland gets that. She’s just upped the gift giving-ante with her newly released collection of wrapping paper. Each design is printed on reclaimed deadstock and represents the elements we all share as humans, be it blood coursing through our veins (Circulation), bones enabling us to stand (Skeletal), food that nourishes us (Digestion), oxygen for our lungs (Respiration), or shapes that define our history (Snowflakes). The colors range from a deep red and rich green to a soft teal and warm biscuity brown. This limited edition collection is available for sale online at meganherbert.com.

December 4, 2009 | By: Shayna Kulik