This set of glasses consisting of a butterfly, spider and spider web are simply beautiful individually or as a prey vs. predator scenario. They were created by design group Propoganda, which was established in 1994 by of group of advertising executives who set out to instill the innate sense of Thai playfulness into every day products.

*via Mr. Matt Spangler via devincastro

“The details are not the details. They make the product.” -Charles Eames

The Eames.  They were innovative, modern, practical and classic.  Their house was built 60 years ago in the 1949 as part of the Case Study House Program.   It took just one-and-a-half days for eight workers to build the frame from 11 tons of steel and cost just $1 per square foot.

We’re big fans of whiskey.  I like Oban and D prefers a Lagavulin.  So when I came across these Whiskey Stones design by Teroforma, I was pretty darn excited.   Made out of natural soapstone from Vermont, they take advantage of the fact that soapstone has a unsual ability to conduct and retain coldness, making it a perfect solution for chilling our whiskey without watering it down.  Can’t wait to give them a try.

I’ve always loved and been inspired by well designed packaging.  One of my greatest sources of inspiration in this area is the blog, Lovely Package.

I was particularly taken with a recent post on the new bottle designs for DRY Soda by Turnstyle Studios.  The creative brief from DRY was that they wanted the bottles to look at home in an upscale restaurant or at a five star hotel. Turnstyle intentionally kept the bottle minimal yet sophisticated – modern with a twist. I think they were spot on with the design, it conveys the message of the brand and makes me want to drink up.

(pictures from Lovely Package)

Coming from a family that makes french toast and pancakes that look like this, it becomes essential to buy, enjoy and appreicate maple syrup.  In honor of the fact that we are in the last few weeks of maple sugaring season, I thought I would share these beauties with you.

I love the small coincidences in life.  I came across these intricate and gorgeous terrariums at Paula Hayes’s studio on East 13th street in NYC.  When I went online to see more of her work, I discovered that in addition to her terrariums, bird feeders and silicone planters, she also happens to be a fellow Skidmore alum.

Paula has designed landscapes and gardens for a few lucky ones including renowned designer Jill Stuart and gallerists David & Monica Zwirner (who coincidentally represent Marcel Dzama.)

Enjoy the playfulness of Paula’s website here.

‘Creative Faces’ is D&AD’s way of highlighting talent in different regions producing great creative work.  They held their first event in Japan, while launching the D&AD exhibition at Advertising Museum Tokyo.   Akira Odagiri of Ogilvy & Mather Japan served as Chairman of the panel and then they invited 2 top creatives from Japan and 2 from the UK to select a creative team/person whose work exhibits some of Japan’s most exciting talent.

One of the judges was Joe Ferry, Head of Design, Virgin Atlantic.  He selected Hironao Tsuboi.

I think Tsuboi’s work is modern, accessible, simple and playful.

This is Joe Ferry’s description of why he chose Tsuboi as a ‘Creative Face.’

“Virgin Atlantic once ran an advertising campaign, with the strap line – ‘some say why, others say why not’. This expression could be used to summarize Hironao Tsuboi’s work. He has the ability to look at everyday objects in a completely new way….In fact making simple designs look good is one of the most difficult things to do. Who would ever have thought that a watch could become exciting if you entirely remove the watch face – this guy clearly did.

He turns a negative into a positive. Hironao Tsuboi’s glass design creates a beautiful detail from essentially a condensation drip. I feel this glass captures his positive take on life, which is both admirable and infectious.

By creating great designs that make people smile, Hironao Tsuboi is definitely a creative face of the future.”

See more Tsuboi’s work as well as the other ‘Creative Faces’ here

*photos taken from www.askinosie.com

I have to admit; I’m a bit spoiled.  I have amazing and dear friends who have great taste and appreciate food, design, experiences and branding .  This year, one of the gifts I received was a bar of Askinosie Chocolate.  Not only is it beautifully packaged; it is some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had.  In honor of the fact that we finished the last few squares last night after dinner, I thought I would share a bit about this chocolate so you can go out and enjoy it for yourself.

Askinosie Chocolate is a small company based out of Springfield, Missouri.  One of the things that makes them unique is that they are the first small batch chocolate maker in the U.S. to press their own cocoa butter and are the only makers of natural cocoa powder.  Perhaps also why I found their chocolate so divine…

The particular bar I was given was made of  75% Cocoa Beans from Soconusco, Mexico (this includes 1% Askinosie cocoa butter that they make with the same beans). Each of their batches of chocolate varies slightly because they experiment with texture.   However, on each bars there is a Choc-o-lot # and if you enter it here you’ll find out a number of goodies about your bar.  My Choc-o-lot # was 102208.

I found out that my bar lived this life:

7/21/2008    the beans were shipped to our factory.
9/15/2008    beans were roasted to perfection bringing out all the flavors.
9/22/2008    cocoa liquor, sugar, and cocoa butter were mixed to make chocolate
9/22/2008    roasted nibs were mixed into a paste called liquor in our universal
10/22/2008  your product was packaged by hand.
3/27/2009     given as a birthday present to Dan and I
4/9/20009     no more chocolate.  Sad

You can order directly from their website and even visit their factory.

Askinosie Chocolate
514 E. Commercial
Springfield, MO 65803