There are Books...

I am packing my books today and am reminded of this beautiful quote:
"There are books which take rank in our life with parents and lovers and passionate experiences."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Goodbye studio

this photo and above were taken by photographer tim leyes


my map drawers, screens and ink

I'm packing everything up this week so decided to take a few photos of my studio.
I think the ink is very photogenic.

Olaf Hajek - again.

Olaf shows me his portfolio in his studio which he shares with Martin Haake

Olaf's brushes and painting table which looks out onto a quiet street in central Berlin

Olaf's paints


My favorite Olaf illustration Marie Antoinette

Ok this is my favorite too. Black Antoniette. Love love the texture.

SZ_Duft

Flowerhead

Naturamorte


One of over 20 book covers which Olaf illustrated for a Taschen's Travel series.
This one is out in stores now.
Contains lots of dreamy photos of Hotels in New York! sigh.


I've been writing my profile piece on Olaf Hajek this week so I have him on my brain again.
Above are a few more pictures from my studio visit with him in July plus some of my favorite Olaf illustrations. The 2 Antoinette pieces are my absolute favorites. Olaf explains in the interview that he loves exaggeration so Marie Antoniette is ideal subject matter for him. Her over the top hairstyle gives him the opportunity to play with pattern and collage and insert all sorts of impossible things like birds + fruit+ insects into the painting.

One of my favorite things that Olaf said in the interview is that he loves his Dutch Gazelle bicycle. He said it feels to him like his Rolls Royce! For the rest of the interview check out the October issue of uppercase magazine.

Telling time with words: QLOCKTWO

QLOCKTWO tells time in words. It has a quadratic matrix of letters where some of the letters are illuminated. The time is displayed as text in five minute intervals. Handmade in Germany by Biegert & Funk. via Swiss miss.

On the Value of Working with your hands: Matthew Crawford

Great interview on Q just now with Matthew Crawford on his book
Shop Class as Soul Craft: An Inquiry into the value of Work.

A former white collar worker, Crawford explained how he found salvation through returning to his first love: motorcycle repair. He explains that working with one's hands and fixing mechanical objects is immensely gratifying + grounding because it's a genuinely rational activity in an increasingly irrational and abstract world.
I agree.

Now, excuse me while I go hammer something into the wall.

Great title

Mug found in the kitchen of my talented typographer/designer friend Zab.
Love this title.
Would make a great silk screen.

Far Foods: Brilliant

FAR FOODS is an alternative packaging concept for supermarket produce, highlighting the distances that some foods travel from and the resultant carbon dioxide released during the journey. The receipt features a boarding card style tear-off strip. By James Reynolds. Brilliant. via swiss miss.

Inspiration: Kate Spade's Clothing

Kate Spade debuted her clothing collection yesterday.
Her style has long been a source of inspiration.
The photos for this collection are the epitome of librarian chic and include lots of elements that I often feature in my work including: polka dots, knocky knees, bird cages, 1940's cloches, and plucky heroines!

Nothing happens, and nothing happens,

I have a lot of change going on right now and am reminded of this great quote by Fay Weldon. It's beautifully illustrated above by one of my all time favorite illustrators: Jeffrey Fisher

Inspiration: Old envelopes

Envelopes are endlessly inspiring with their layers and patina. I love the yellowed paper, overlapping lettering and elaborate stamp on this one.

Berlin: Some young Designers

Berlin Fashion week headquarters at Bebelplatz on the historic Unter den Linden

Poster for Arkonamarkt Fleamarket

Berlin Beauties

Fashion designer Lisbet Carnegie Krebs of espendru at her booth wearing one of her fabulous frocks (with pockets ofcourse!)

Anja Werner's Lovely embroidered birds

Loved the contrasting pink zipper on this sweater. Fun.

Lovely Thea Altman of Hut up
(A Berlin beauty who could be Miranda July's doppelganger!)

Look at this stunning dress from Hut Up design - made of felt.I want one.

Thea sewing a stuffed felt animal for the shop.

Finally a chance to post a few more highlights from Berlin.
In collaboration with Berlin Fashion Week dozens of young designers set up booths at the Arkonamarkt Fleamarket on the last day of my visit.
A big highlight for me were the dresses and skirts of Lisbet Carnegie Krebs.
When I asked her to describe her designs she said they are 1/4 coquette, mixed with 3/4 working girl - and emphasized that all her pieces must have pockets - because busy working girls need pockets!
That's my kind of woman.

The quirky felt dresses spotted in Hut up, a beautiful shop located in Mitte at Oranienburger Str. 32 were also very sigh worthy.

Some more sketches

Some Sketches

Hi
I'm getting ready to move - always a daunting task - so have not had anytime to blog.
Tonight was going through sketch books and decided to scan a few of my favorites. Sometimes when thrown all together they can make interesting juxtapositions and spark an idea.

Berlin's Reichstag: These Walls Talk

Reichstag exterior with Norman Foster's glass dome


Victorious Soviet graffiti on interior walls wow.


Close Up of Graffiti


"You have paid dearly for Lenigrad"

Another big highlight of Berlin for me was my tour of the Reichstag. Norman Foster's glass dome and Jenny Holzer's art work were both really striking but it was the graffiti on the walls that had the greatest impact on me. Here's the deal:
When Soviet troops took Berlin in 1945 they scrawled victorious graffiti all over the interior walls of the building. The words were then hidden for decades when the walls were covered up after the war. When Norman Foster and his team began work on the building in 1995 they were rediscovered. Foster then made the courageous decision to incorporate them into the new structure: in order to make the Reichstag a living museum of German history and show a brave determination not to forget the tragedies of the past. Methinks such a courageous decision!!

The photo above contains the graffiti I found the most striking: These 6 Russian words translate as
"You have paid dearly for Lenigrad".
Gave me chills.

Good Egg: Congrats and Thank you

Toronto Life cover - on stands now


Mika's sweet shop in Kensington Market Toronto

Congrats and thank you are due to my friend Mika Bareket. Her shop Good Egg made it onto the first page of Toronto Life magazine's 'Best of the city' issue complete with big colour photo. whoo hoo. Mika also recently included a link to my blog on her website naming me one of her favorite design bloggers. Thanks for the plug Mika and nice to know you find my remarks "pithy".

Scandinavia wrap up: Top 10 Design ideas we ought to import to Canada

1.Outdoor squares. So civilized.

2.Cafés with couches in the street. So cozy.

3.More interesting and functional bikes (This one holds a family of 4!)

4.Dual Flush Toliets!!

5.Proper bike lanes (I know, painfully obvious)

6.Signs in Subway that let you know when the next train is coming!

7.Handsome clocks in train stations

8.Bike rack Advertising

9.Bike seat covers (If you are a cyclist you know how handy these would be).

10.Umlauts. Because everything looks so much better with an umlaut.
Right Brüno?

ps.
I'm back home. Still lots to post from Berlin, Copenhagen and Reykjavik.