Shop:

Well I guess now I HAVE to shop at Saks to get one of these fun bags:



Designed by Pentagram, the new bags encourage shoppers to follow Saks on Twitter. The custom @ symbol has been integrated into their print campaign, and will be seen in an upcoming catalog. Read and see more here.

Type:

Cape Cod is one of my favorite places; it's got nothing but charm, everything is SO laid back, and--most of all--ice cream. Lots of ice cream. Like, I'm seriously going through withdrawl now, there was so much ice cream.

Besides ice cream, the other thing the Cape has in abundance is hand-lettered signs. Because you're hard-pressed to find a lot of chain stores (save for Subway and Dunkin Donuts, at least in our neck of the woods), most of the stores are mom and pops, complete with hand-lettered signage.


Mmmmm, fudge. In addition to ice cream, there's no shortage to fudge on the Cape, either. I know. Too bad, right? Love the "mouthwatering fudge" lettering. Oh, and the fact that THEY MAIL CANDY.



I think I drove by this book store about 20 times a day, as it was right around the corner from where we stayed. It is the cutest little bookshop I have ever seen, and made me want to not order from Amazon and stay there and browse all day. True story. Love the flourishes.



Love the Agro Dolce--not so much the hologram effect, but the lettering is nice.



The first time I saw this sign, I swear I almost crashed my car, craning my neck to see it. Flourishes, script, gold detail... I loved it so much that I went WAY out of my way to snap this pic.



What can I say? I'm a sucker for Bodoni poster, even more so for hand-lettered Bodoni poster.



Come on, it wouldn't be a trip to the Cape without a weathered lobster sign!



Finally, I snapped this at the Brewster General Store. It's not hand-lettered, but Oh. Em. Gee. I love it.

Come on, Irene:

Wow.

So first things first: pardon my absence last week--we took a much needed week off and spent it on lovely Cape Cod. Yes, the Cape was all kinds of lovely... up until we left. We were supposed to stay into Saturday, but because of the hurricane that was due to arrive on Sunday, we left late Friday night.

After planning and prepping all day Saturday (which included the most insane trip to the grocery store I have ever taken, AND an unsuccessful attempt to get batteries [DANG! Why didn't we think to bring those back from the Cape??!]), Irene hit, taking our power with her--but that's it. And as much as I like to whine about not having electricity, that was the worst of it. Our cellar didn't flood, our house didn't collapse... our friends and family were safe, and we had to live like the Amish for a day and a half. Big whoop.


Post-Irene, Sasco Beach in Fairfield


It was still super windy when we went down, way after the storm left us...


...So windy, in fact, the intern almost got swept away!

Friday LOL (Jersey edition--part II):

So this is my second Jersey Shore-themed Friday post in as many weeks (also, apologies to those who follow me on Twitter, as I announced this the other day and now it's just old news). Why? Because these people are funny. Well, maybe not. But their circumstance is.

I have never watched the Jersey Shore. I know the characters have nicknames, like, the Situation, and Snookie, and J-Wow; but I couldn't pick the Situation out of a line-up. Apparently, these characters--the Situation in general--like to wear Abercrombie & Fitch. Problem is, A&F doesn't want their brand associated with this cast of characters. So much so, that they are willing to pay them to NOT wear their brand:

"We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino's association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes, but believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, and may be distressing to many of our fans. We have therefore offered a substantial payment to Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino and the producers of MTV's The Jersey Shore to have the character wear an alternate brand. We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast, and are urgently waiting a response."

I swear, you can't make this stuff up! How funny is this? What tickled me even more, was that A&F is calling this a "win-win" situation. Hysterical.

(You can see the full text of the statement here: click on 8/16, A&F proposes a win-win situation)

Wednesday LOLs (Andy edition):

Mattio and I just watched Wet Hot American Summer for the first time last week (I know, we're pretty late jumping on that bandwagon, huh?), and by far and away, the best part of the movie is Paul Rudd. I mean, duh, who doesn't love Paul Rudd? His character, Andy, was the best. My favorite scene in the entire movie is this one:



I love it. Of course, I immediately thought of my children, and their hissy fits. But now, every time I have to do something so stupid and useless and expend even the slightest amount of energy doing it, I think of this scene. Case in point: I went to wish somebody a happy birthday on FB the other day. I wrote HB on their wall, and hit return. Nothing happened. I hit return again. Nothing again. I realized that I had to physically take my mouse and click on a button, and I was so. put. out. I immediately watched this scene, and giggled not only at Andy, but at my own silliness.

Lessons:

You get what you pay for. I think this is true for a lot of things, but lately it seems to especially ring true in graphic design.

Last week a new DIY logo design site was launched--LogoGarden (I'm linking to their FB page here. Check out the wall full of designers saying LG ripped off their work!). The premise is, for $69, you can choose from a bunch of pre-designed icons, slap some text on that bad boy, and call it a day. Or a logo. Whatever.

Sounds like it's too good to be true, right?

Yeah, that's because it is. See, these pre-designed icons? They were pre-designed by other graphic designers. Who designed them for other clients. And LogoGarden just took them, and started selling them as icons to be combined with text to make your own logo. Only, LogoGarden doesn't own these icons.

Steve Douglas has a really great post about it here.

Lesson learned? If you're starting a business, and need a logo… hire a professional, for the love. You can work with a professional graphic designer and get something completely custom--not predesigned (and, er, stolen). Yes, it will cost you more than $69, but if you're investing in your business, isn't it worth it?

Want:

OH. EM. GEE. You guys, Target has partnered with Missoni to bring us all affordable zig zag goodness!

Debuting on September 13th, the Missoni for Target line includes clothing for women, men and kids (natch), as well as accessories, housewears, and a bicycle. Yes, a Missoni bicycle.

You can see the entire collection (and read some of the hysterical comments--"This doesn't look like something I can wear to a PTA meeting or soccer game!" Ummmm...) on Target's Facebook page.


Hello, adorable. Seriously, I think I might just go broke buying this stuff (not to be worn together, natch. I think it's a little much if you're piling Missoni, on top of Missoni, on top of Missoni).


There is a very blurry line between want and need when it comes to these shoes.


As with these great winter accessories. Hurry up and get cold so I can wear these!


OMG My kids are going to rock the socks off the world in this adorableness. Seriously. How. Freakin. Cute. Is this??!


Home accessories? Yup, I'm in.

Friday LOL (Jersey edition):

I love that somebody matched the skin tone of the Jersey Shore cast to actual Pantone colors.

The second guy down (I only know Snooki) is looking pretty light. Obviously he's not concentrating on the T part of GTL (which I totally had to look up what that stood for. OMG that makes me feel old!).

Photo:

Here I am, riding my bike in the CT Challenge with a big 'ol smile on my face (OK, so this was clearly taken at the beginning of the Challenge, not sure how much I was smiling at the end). Behind me is my friend--and CT Challenge mentor--Ed. Such a fun day!

Faux real::

When I was a child, I wanted to grow up and be an artist--but not just any old artist. I wanted to be the artist that Hollywood producers called when they needed artwork for their movies (as in, the lead character is an artist, but my artwork would be shown as theirs). I had no idea how that all worked--I really thought that was a specific job you could have ("What do I do for a living, you ask? Well, have you ever seen critically-acclaimed, box office smash Movie About an Artist? I was actually the artist behind the Artist.").

Alas, I'm not working for a studio, and my artwork doesn't appear in the movies. But, there IS hope. Check out Fauxgo, a Tumblr of logos of companies that exist only in the movies. Lots of Pixar love here, Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Up and Wall-E are all represented; as well as huge pop culture icons Dunder Mifflin, Sterling Cooper and Oceanic Airlines.

I'm checking back regularly to see what else gets added. Who knows, maybe one day that will be my claim to fame.

(via swissmiss)

Yum:

Can we just take a minute to talk about my new design crush, Jocelyn Warner? I first saw her on favorite design*sponge last week, and, come on, who is not drooling over this:



Check out the gorgeous coordinating wallpaper, rugs, fabric and lamps, and if that's not enough for you, head on over to Terrain to see some furniture. Lovely.

(via design*sponge)

Illusion:

This post, like the 13th floor in a high-rise, does not exist. I mean, like the 13th floor, it really does--you're here, reading it, right?--but I'm going to take my cue from high-rise-floor-namers, and not call this what it really is: my 666 post.

Scary.

Friday LOL (best ever edition):

Do you like Mad Men?

Do you like Arrested Development?

If the answer to both of those questions is HELLS YEAH, then have I got a treat for you: a fantastic tumblr called A Trick is Something a Whore Does for Money (see G.O.B. introduction, season 1 episode 1).

Screenshots of Mad Men, coupled with dialogue from Arrested Development. Enough said.

(via Jezebel--I knew this was special when they titled it, Pete Campbell is a never nude.)

Mecca:

The Vogue shoe closet? Yup, that my friends, is Mecca.

Everything Prada:

Quite a number of years ago (more than I would care to admit), a friend found a great little hole in the wall in Chinatown for knock-offs. Completely convinced I was going to find a gorgeous [insert designer name here] knock-off, I trekked into the city, only to be completely let down by that day's selection (first world problems, I know). However, they did have a decent selection of basic, black, nylon Prada bags. For $20? Sure, I'll take one. Problem was, all of the metal Prada tags on the purses were scratched (I think we're beyond first world problems at this point). I reluctantly asked if they had any bags without scratches... and do you know what happened next? The woman took a plain black bag off the wall, and opened a box FULL OF METAL PRADA TAGS.

Naturally I asked her if I could just buy the box of tags.

Naturally she had no clue what I had just said.

So I got my knock-off with a shiny new Prada tag (and believe me I got my money's worth, as I still use that bag to this day). The running joke is that I wanted to buy the box, and stick a Prada tag on everything: our refrigerator? Oh, it's Prada. The TV? Prada. These shoes? No, that's not Nine West crossed out--they're Prada.

Now at least I don't have to worry about labeling my fonts Prada, as Alias has already done so:


Prada the font? I'll take it!

I love how they call it Prada Candy--it seems so appropriate. And, if, if they ever sell it, I won't need that box of metal tags anymore!

Challenge:

This Saturday, I rode in the 7th annual CT Challenge--it was my first time. Even though I'd just gotten into road biking this past spring, I've been training hard and completed the 50 mile route. It was such an amazing experience!

The CT Challenge raises money to support cancer survivors. There were plenty of survivors who were riding, others who chose to volunteer, and lots of survivors cheering riders on. Before we all took off, there was a survivor's walk, and after that they announced that the oldest survivor riding was 71, and the youngest was 8. I'm not sure which was more impressive (and made me cry more!).

The spirit out there was unbelievable. Riders were looking out for each other, yelling "car back!" or "car up!" depending on the direction the car was coming from (a couple times, it was "runner up!"). As we headed through Ridgefield, about a million Ferraris passed us by on their way up to Limerock (and, just so you know, if you're ever on a bike and a Ferrari is behind you, you can totally hear it coming). The rest areas--about every 15 miles or so--were incredible. Stocked with power foods, water, Gatorade, electrolyte tablets, pain relief, EMTs and bike mechanics, they were such a great oasis to ride up to. I don't think I've ever eaten so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my life!

As I rode, I kept my friend Kathy and her mom in my thoughts--Kathy's mom is battling cancer as we speak, and every hill I climbed I thought of the battle she was fighting. I also kept in mind my BFF Sara's father in law, who just last week passed away from cancer.

There were some tough hills, and every person I know who has been touched by cancer helped me up them. It was such a great feeling finishing the race--I had been on some longer training rides, but never 50 miles. The race to the finish line felt great--we traveled from Westport up through Ridgefield into Bethel and Newtown, and back down through Easton, Fairfield, Southport, and back to Westport--I got excited approaching the Merritt Parkway on the return trip, and even more so once we passed I95. It felt great to finish, but truth be told, I was just so proud that I got to take part in something so amazing!

The CT Challenge is a fundraiser who's mission is "is to empower cancer survivors to live healthier, happier and longer lives. The Connecticut Challenge serves its mission by creating and funding programs, offering credible resources and building a community of support. To date, our programs have impacted the lives of 5,000 survivors in our state." If you are interested in donating, click here.