Archive for the ‘Design’ Category

Pantone-inspired Christmas cards

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Christmas cards with bold colors that represent different aspects of the season? Yes please.

Check out the Pantone-inspired Christmas cards (and posters).
(via Curatedmag)

Of Alarm Clocks and Volume Controls

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Why does an alarm clock’s volume control go all the way to silence?

I’m sure it’s a matter of time and money savings by using the default range of the electrical component, but it seems strange that you’d ever silence an alarm clock with anything other than the snooze button or off switch.

I promise…

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

If only I could get everybody who sends email in my office to sign one of these
(via swissmiss)

UPDATE: Ack…fixed the link.

Time Around

Monday, December 15th, 2008

clock cylinder

This clock over at the MoMA Store has me drooling…

Chocolate Pie Chart

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

chocolate pie chart

This edible info graphic is spectacular. I wonder how it tastes…
(via swissmiss)

Ladle

Monday, November 10th, 2008

This is an absolutely brilliant design for a ladle whether it’s used for punch or a pot of chicken soup:

(via Gems Sty)

A Functional Heart

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

In a manner of speaking:


(via, etc.)

Shave Yourself!

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

three pictures of a shaving razor

This past weekend Valerie and I finally stopped by 1601 Overbrook Road at what seems to be a clearing house for estate sales. What you see above is what I bought; a (likely) late-40’s Gillette Super Speed razor. I haggled the price down to $3 and we went on our merry way.

Behold the nickel-plated glory.

I purchased a pack of razor blades (also pictured above) and decided to see whether the old-school man tool was barbaric compared to modern shaving implements. After some house work and a good hot shower my face was ready for a clean, smooth, and fresh feeling, so I lathered up my jaw and put blade to skin (don’t worry, I sterilized the entire shaver razor by steaming for 5 minutes). I guessed at the proper angle for holding the razor and dragged the head down my left cheek. Other than the light pressure against my face I barely felt anything, so I did a double-take in the mirror wondering whether I’d merely succeeded in wiping shaving cream from my face and little else. Closer inspection, however, revealed a close and even shave where I’d traced, so I finished up.

Shaving my entire face took no longer than a Gillette Fusion or Shick Tracer or what-have-you, and it was certainly more comfortable – and I have very sensitive skin (that is, I can’t shave every day without shredding my face, usually). I’m convinced at this point that Gillette switched to cartridge-based systems to increase profit margins.

The whole device is a glorious piece of design, too. You twist the slightly-thicker base of the handle to open the head which opens with a sort of butterfly motion, and lock the blade inside by twisting in the opposite direction. The weight and balance are just right, and the smooth polished surface glides pleasantly across the face. I think my next step is to procure a good shaving brush and some old school shaving cream :-)

Oh, and how could I not share the sweet little artifact that is the instruction manual? The directions are clear, short, and helpful, all in a two inch wide strip of two-color printing (I scanned both sides – there was only one piece of paper):

shaving razor instructions

Brain Baked

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Things could be slow this week, folks…

Between a crazy busy work week and crap-loads of work around the house, my mind isn’t all there lately.

But I did get something nifty, recently :-)

To the Gills(ans)

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

There seems to be a fair amount of letterpress type to be had on eBay, and much of it seems to be in gloriously good shape, such as this example from Flickr user h. wren:

metal letterpress type blocks

I think I’d have a hard time justifying the purchase of letterpress type to Valerie, even if it is one of my favorites :-)
(That would be Gill Sans, in case somebody looks at this page long after the eBay auction is gone.)