sun-bleached

MORGAN: This illustration by Richard May seemed to perfectly capture the sun-bleached coloration of all things after spending too many hours on the beach.

Feeling beachy

CARRIE: This is a photo that I pulled from flickr ages ago and I came across it again this morning. I can't stop thinking about being at the beach on this dreary Monday after we had a blizzard, basically, in Kansas City. Plus, the lettering in this sign makes me so happy!

MORGAN: ...inspired by the "no subject" art and signage-with-no-message posts from earlier this week, i went with a what i was really thinking when facing this week's post...

CARRIE: ...and that is the truth.

clever drinkware

CARRIE: I'm following Morgan's lead with the clever products and focused on drinkware with a sense of humor. Clockwise from top left: Porcelain crinkle cups, Pick your nose party cups, "I am not a paper cup," stacked mug, mustache pint glass and sommelier wine glasses.

witty designs

MORGAN: While Carrie and I studied design in England, one of our textbooks was, A Smile in the Mind: Witty Thinking in Graphic Design (Phaidon). This weeks posts have reminded me that this book taught us that "seeing humour as the shortest distance between two people" makes the case for using wit in design to capture the attention of your audience and make them not only notice, but remember. I thought the two products above were a great example of how to translate that wit into product design!

{ taxi and hi 5 mittens by Kate Spade via ohjoy & Dress for Dinner napkins by Héctar Serrano Studio available for purchase here }

christian robert-tissot

CARRIE: This is the work of artist, Christian Robert-Tissot. He creates installations that form a relationship between language and the environment he puts it in. This one, in particular, reminded me of Morgan's post from yesterday. Even with nothing to say, you can make a bold statement.

your message here

MORGAN: ... just loving the irony of a sign with no message!

{check out other signs at yourmessagehere.typepad.com }

the small stakes

CARRIE: When I think of cool band posters, the Small Stakes immediately comes to mind. Their work is often witty and graphic like the Flight of the Conchords poster Morgan posted. There are endless clever, well-designed posters on their website.

really arty poster contest

MORGAN: The hilariously funny HBO show, "Flight of the Conchords" just announced the winner to their "Really Arty Poster Contest"...congrats to DKNG Studios for the above winning design!! Designers Dan Kuhlken & Nathan Goldman (hence DK & NG) explain their concept behind the design right here.

Check out all other poster design submissions right here.

MORGAN: Throughout the week, I continually referred back to Carrie's first post of all the colorful bubblegum in a bowl, so I focused my weekend original design on doing an abstract of my gumball machine (that I've had since I was very little, and still keep out to this day)! I'm not sure what is more fun than a big glass globe filled with rainbow candies that are just 1 cent per piece! No wonder I still have it!


CARRIE: I felt like drawing my own candy store. I always love seeing the different shapes of glass jars and all of the different candy colors sitting on the shelves so that's what I focused on.

pop candy

MORGAN: For this week's posts, I just couldn't overlook American painter, Wayne Thiebaud's pop art candy pieces: Three Machines (1963), Seven Suckers (1970), Gumball Machine (1971-1986), Glassed Candy (1980)

candy gets super-sized

CARRIE: Now, here's a company that loves candy as much as we do. Featured above are The Button Bench, Gumball Time Clock and GummiLights from Jellio. The company's tag line is "fun by design." They love taking icons from childhood, putting a design twist on them and bringing back fun memories.

"eye candy"

MORGAN: {Photographer, Craig Kanarick's "Eye Candy" series on Rock Made}

sykodelic

CARRIE: These are two examples of display cards that were in glass candy vending machines from the 1960's. They are both available on ebay. I think they would be really fun framed. The colors of the bottom one, in particular, remind me of Morgan's fashions from yesterday.

candy-colored fashion

MORGAN: Inspired by Carrie's photo yesterday, I put together some bubblegum-influenced spring fashion ideas! yummm!

{IMAGE 1 (clockwise from left): sunny yellow Juicy Couture lace silk dress via net-a-porter.com, apple green Italian leather handbag by Kate Spade, orange Frye pleat peep-toes via habitatshoes.com, IMAGE 2 (clockwise from left): hot pink Olivia Harris Patch E/W Satchel via piperlime.com, sky-blue Theory dress via net-a-porter.com,  flame-red Vince Camuto Basso gladiator sandal via piperlime.com, IMAGE 3 (clockwise from left): Azzaro Flottilles bi-color swimsuit via net-a-porter.com, candy apple red Foley + Corinna Mid City Tote piperlime.com, purple T-strap platform sandal by Steve Madden via piperlime.com }

sugar high

CARRIE: I thought this bowl of gumballs would be a fun way to start our week. This photo is by Lauriann Wakefield and it is available on etsy.

CARRIE: This is a quick drawing I did of my house. It's somewhat true to the real colors, except that I couldn't resist coloring all of the window panes and changing the door and shutter colors.

MORGAN: I did this continuous line drawing while on the beach looking up at the colorful city of Positano in southern Italy. Today, I searched for the sketchbook that I carried on that trip and added some much needed color to it, and here you go! How much would I give to be back there right now....?

k studio

CARRIE: Three embroidered pillows from K Studio at 2Modern.com. Each piece is made by hand in their studio in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

klas fahlen

MORGAN: Klas Fahlen's wonderful city illlustrations are unique on their own, but the first three images show how he has ingeniusly incorporated them on the spines of magazine holders. Now we can design the city of our liking right on our home bookshelf. See more of Klas Fahlen's work at Art Department.

Andre Balazs for The Standard

CARRIE: The images above are from Arkitip Issue #50: Andre Balazs. Arkitip is a limited edition of 1500, hand-numbered 4/color art book which is published 6 times per year. This particular edition features illustrations created by artist Andrew Holder of some of Andre's properties. They include (from top) The Standard Hollywood, The Standard New York, Chateau Marmont and Sunset Beach.