Wednesday 30 November 2011

eco design #1 [paper after paper]

If you're like me, you just use cardboards to stow stuff. Vera Tochetti, an Uruguayan designer, is way more keener than that. She created furniture with those cardboards. I would give you the URL to her page, begoo designs, but it seems it doesn't exist any more.

Well, meanwhile we seat and wait. ;)

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Cardboard Furniture by Vera Tochetti [via cloroflot and green diary]


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Cardboard Furniture by Vera Tochetti [via cloroflot and green diary]


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Cardboard Furniture by Vera Tochetti [via cloroflot and green diary]


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Cardboard Furniture by Vera Tochetti [via cloroflot and green diary]


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Cardboard Furniture by Vera Tochetti [via cloroflot and green diary]

Edit: As Vael pointed out, Frank Gehry, a famous architect, also makes chairs from cardboards. According to Green Diary, it was from his works that Vera was inspired.

Wiggle Chair by Frank Gehry [via hive]

Do you shop eco?


Tuesday 29 November 2011

featuring #1 [arthur de pins]

Arthur de Pins is a French artist known by his sexy, beautiful and curvy girls illustrations. His artworks are funny and his characters have a unique personality. See for yourself:


[via arthur de pins]


[via arthur de pins]

[via arthur de pins]
[via arthur de pins]








Do you feel sexy?


Monday 28 November 2011

breathing #1 [sweet mondays]

As promised here comes the first breathing post. First of all, Mondays need to be sweet. Get some sugar (no calories added!).

There's nothing like love... »  everything in the world by Merwii [via Tumblr]


Pick a cherry! » Untitled by Kaitlynn Lucas [via Flickr]


See but don't touch » A latte cupcakes by  The Pinterest Project
All Because of You
Typo love » all because of you by rahma projekts [via Flickr] 


Feeling better?


Saturday 26 November 2011

here and there #1 [I ♥ shorties]

[via nanos]

Here and there awakes in the middle of some thinking about short URL's and how to use them.

The short URL function has born in 2001 as an idea which came to reality one year after with TinyURL. Twitter adopted the system and several other similar websites to Tiny were created. Nowadays, Twitter uses bitly to shorten their URL's (since 2009).

However this function has more possibilities than just make a link shorter. I'll make a list of its utilities:

Aesthetic: a short URL is more pleasurable to look at;

Ecologic: if you'll print a document with a link on it, you'll save ink;

Memorable: few characters are easier to remember;

Statistics: you can track how many people clicked your link;

Identity: you can create a namespace with your own domain.

But, with so many URL shortening services (+90!), which one should I chose? I'd go for bitly or goo.gl. They have all the functionalities above and let you use their services in your own blog. bitly even installs a button in your browser so it's easier to use it. You don't have to type the short URL address, copy the link you desire and then shorten it. You just copy the link and there you go: a window appears with your shorten URL. They know how lazy we are.

And you, do you shorten your URLs? Will you start doing it?



Note: short URL history was taken from Wikipedia.

Friday 25 November 2011

inner-view #2 [a journey to Italy]


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[Inner-view is back for good! Yay!]

Barbara Cortilli, a sweet and creative blogger, from Momographica came join us today in a #10 questions interview. She's a freelancer graphic designer and photographer and is saying hello from Italy.

Welcome to designing dreams, Barbara! And thank you so much for your time.

[via Momographica]

1. Let’s chat a little about you: what are your conquests and dreams?

I love how the first question is the trickiest one, for me at least. My dreams are endless so going for a list would take a very long time. If you have a couple of centuries to spare, I can start.

Summarizing my best dream is creating something that will make people happy. I am not going for World peace here. Just the smile of a child pleased with my characters photo stories would make me the happiest person in the Universe; knowing my works helped a bit to make this reality a bit more fun for everybody...that would be cool. Really. I can be really ambitious, you know.

2. Did you take a course related to photography or you learned all by yourself? Can you share with us the story of your journey?

My quest for my educated side is never ending like my dreams. Somewhat I am very much convinced that is nearly impossible to come out with great projects without having a bit of help from others and especially without building your professional self over the years through experiences.

My best choice was to leave university here and getting into London's Saints Martins College for my four months professional course. Besides their terrific ways of teaching, it helped me to become more confident with myself and my works.

Culture is fundamental in the job of the designer. Getting inspired is, too. I attended classes and courses of various nature (photography, graphic design etc.) that helped me to be what I am today. I also read very much about everything, I travel a lot and visit lots of different places. I try to learn a bit from everyone. That's my policy.

[via Momographica]

3. Do you get inspired easily? Where do you go to find inspiration?

Inspiration surely looks immediate but truthfully is built over years of knowledge, observation and research. Patience is a virtue of many values.

I get inspired by everything around me and then I sort out information that help me in that particular project I am working on. I own a black leather-covered Moleskine that I fills with notes about anything that inspires me on daily basis. Mood boards are helpful, too.

4. Are your works strongly inspired by another artist/style/period of time? If so, which one(s)?

For my character design works I generally get reference from Asian design, particularly the Japanese Kawaii and Superflat. Takashi Murakami and Aranzi Aronzo are my heroes. Beatrix Potter is too.

For my photo works, it depends on the project. LULA magazine photographers strongly influenced my way of working and so did Tim Walker.

5. We always put parts of our own personality in everything we do. What do you let escape into your photos?

Escaping is a strong word. When you are a designer you can't let it happen really. As much as it end up being something personal and reflecting your style, when you are working for a client you have to put your emotions in a box and pick up from them what you exactly need to be on the same wave of your client. That's it.

[via Momographica]

6. Momotan is such a sweet character. Where does he come from? Will he ever get a girlfriend?

She is a female actually. A couple of years ago I was asked to create a cute Japanese influenced type of character to introduce at a Japanese culture festival in my city. Some people liked it a lot so I gained the courage to shape it in a more consistent project. There are other characters from my atelier, of course, like Momo the girl and Babo the space octopus but for now Momotan is happily single. So do I.

7. What are your current projects? What would you like be doing in 5 years?

I am currently concentrating on my character stories projects, my books, my blog and a photo book project inspired by Alice in Wonderland that I am creating with a staff of professional people. Not sure what I'll be doing in 5 years from now. I am now concentrating on the present and next future. There is enough to get busy with.

8. What do you love more about being a freelancer? It is something difficult to manage?

Going freelancer was needy. It's difficult to promote yourself and you need to be courageous on this. You need to get used to it and be ready to work 24 hours per day when required. You can't be afraid of people opinions.
You need to love your work a lot,too.

[via Momographica]

9. Did you ever run out of ideas? What do you do when that happens?

I do sometimes. When it happens I switch off my brain and concentrate on something else which is totally different. Listen to music, read a book, go for a walk. Then I put hands again on the project when my brain is refreshed.

Keeping my ideas on my Moleskine does help. I know where to go looking for ideas when I run out of them.

10. Are you a half-full or a half-empty cup person? How do you motivate yourself?

I am a realist. The love for my job and what I create is my motivation. People happy smiles are too.



Thursday 24 November 2011

changing is good

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Wood Plank Wine Rack by Claire [via Camille Styles]

So, designing dreams is facing some changes. I want this blog to have a more professional look and to be more organized. To gain more readers too, it really needs that. To achieve this objectives, I created #10 category posts, each one attributed to a specific day of the week. I know we only have 7 days a week but some of them are random, as you'll see.

Let me introduce you to the new designing dreams' posts. If you'd like to see other kind of posts let me know and I'll find a way to include them as well:

Since Mondays are the first day of work, and we feel lazy (so lazy), I'll give you a push with some inspirational images, videos and/or quotes to make you feel better. It will be the day of breathing. Wanna breath with me?

  Featuring will happen at Tuesdays. In this day I'll present you works of artists I admire. It could be fashion, packaging design, illustration or any other work of art. Nothing new, right?

You know I care about this world and that I feel that design should be sustainable. That's why eco design will bright your Wednesdays. I'll give you tips about sustainable objects and how you can save the world through design. Go green with me!

And here come Thursdays! I bet you're already thinking of the weekend so I'll go easy on you, so easy that you'll have the word. I took the idea from Reader Appreciation Monday by Profresh Style. The thing is: you e-mail me your suggestions and I feature them in my blog and of course I'll give you the credit. This one will be called knock on my door. But since my blog has still a few readers, Thursdays needs a double post. That's when trial and error comes. A selection of tutorials regarding Photoshop and Illustrator. Are you excited about this?

And at Fridays... my treasured inner-view! Why? Because I get to know the work "behind-the-scenes" and the artists themselves. It's pretty cool!

Now we get to the weekend. Finally! I'll post on weekends as well. Yeah, with me there's no rest. But since I like to have time for myself and my loved ones weekends will be full of random posts (the here and there): stuff I think it's funny or anything like that. Sometimes I'll post about nature as well (named as by nature). It's a great passion of mine so you'll have to deal with it. ;)

Love works was created so I can post my own works and build a portfolio in my own blog, whenever I'll have a new work it will be posted. No matter the day of the week.

Once a month I would love to have a guest post (be my guest). Don't know if anyone will be interest, though. Will see.

What do you think about these changes?


Monday 21 November 2011

your new dress

Your boyfriend's shirts are more useful than you think. Go buy him some more. ;)




This video was made by Ira Zvidrina (the designer and model) and Kati Turkina (the director) for Colour Heels Diary, a blog about fashion and colour. I'm a follower and you should know why. Oh! Go and subscribe too! 





my new ID



I know it's similar, but this one was made entirely by me (on the other one I used free vectors). I'm also sharing with you a new freebie! And I'm already thinking in developing something for Christmas either. 


You can download the AI file here. Enjoy!




Creative Commons License
Card deck symbols by Nícia Cruz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Saturday 19 November 2011

let's play!

You like gaming, right? And if you're here I'm sure you like design either. So I'll list here some cool games graphic design related. Hope you enjoy them!

                                ♠ Kern Type by Marc MacKay (for Method of Action)

                                ♥ Munsell Hue Test by Color Munki

                                ♣ Logo Quiz by Yeah It Is

                                ♦  The Font Game by I Love Typography













Friday 18 November 2011

I'm no queen

I'm reading another book of one of my favourite authors, Jostein Gaarder. The book is called The Solitaire Mystery. I'm loving the story so much that it did inspire me to do a post about one of the characters: the Joker.

A joker is a little fool who is different from everyone else. He's not a club, diamond, heart, or spade. He's not an eight or a nine, a king or a jack. He is an outsider. He is placed in the same pack as the other cards, but he doesn't belong there. Therefore, he can be removed without anybody missing him. (Jostein Gaarder, The Solitaire Mystery)

I feel a little bit like a Joker, as you see in my signature I'm not entirely a club and not completely an heart. I'm a mix of the two: creative and emotional and I'm always wondering about who I am and where this world comes from. A Joker isn't lonely, he enjoys life to the limit.

But enough talking. I have for you a little collection of Jokers I found on deviantArt:




Joker reloaded by ~Manarama on deviantART





RR PROJECT: 007 Black Joker by `ravenskar on deviantART




Augen Auf: Joker 1 by `yuumei on deviantART






Kennel Club - Joker by ~kenket on deviantART




Joker Card by *anry on deviantART



Which type of card are you?




Friday 11 November 2011

inside is cozy

One of my favourite blogs about design, seesaw, is closing it's doors. I was sad at first, but then I get to know the personal blogs of each author. One that caught my attention was raneytown, by Raquel Raney.

Raneytown is filled with great art, full of inspiring posts and beauty all around. In one of it's posts I found another blog that I also want to share with you. Well, if you are an aficionado about interior design like me. It's name is Ema design blogg and it's now my top resource in what comes to interior design inspiration.

I'll feature some of the photos not yet presented on Raquel's post (I like her name a lot), because I'm not a copy/paste person and it will be just boring for you. Enjoy!


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via  Ema design blogg 



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via  Ema design blogg 



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via  Ema design blogg 



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via  Ema design blogg 


What's your favourite design interior blog?


Thursday 10 November 2011

if you wish it

You know girls are always looking for the best tips on fashion. That's how I bumped in Wendy's YouTube videos, and later in her amazing blog.

She's such a fresh  breeze in this stylish world: creative, bold, sweet, funny and with all those tricks we all want to know. If you don't believe me, see for yourself:











And now some of her outfits:


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via Wendy's Lookbook 



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via Wendy's Lookbook 



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via Wendy's Lookbook 




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via Wendy's Lookbook 



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via Wendy's Lookbook 


What are your favourite fashion gurus?

Note: The title is a reference from Peter Pan's film. Why, you ask? That's where Wendy's name come from.





Wednesday 9 November 2011

i'm happy

Hi!

I'm here just to tell you that Barbara from Momographica interviewed me and here's the result!


let's be friends

I'm here to show you one of the best video clips that are out there. No naked girls or hot boys. No fancy outfits or paradisal images. Just this:


I always wanted to learn sign language. It's beautiful!
The music is from The White Stripes and it's called "We're Going To Be Friends" and it was produced by D-PAN (Deaf Professional Arts Network). Check out their Vimeo page to see more music videos.

Saturday 5 November 2011

10 steps to a better you

When it comes to achieving our goals, motivation is the deal. Not self-esteem or desire. But motivation. And some days we're not motivated at all to even do the things we love.

So I'll share with you some tips to get your motivation up, in no particular order and based in my own experience. No guaranteed results, but they work with me.

1. -Passion- First of all ask yourself why are you passionate about what you're doing. Write it down and put it in a place where you can read it everyday.

2. -Little by little- Your goal/dream will only be achieved if you break it in small steps. Go on, make a list of what you need to do to achieve it and convert them in small tasks. Don't forget to do at least one task a day.

3. -Compare- But not yourself with others, that will have the reverse effect. Compare you with yourself! See how much you have improved and ask yourself how can you be better.

4. -Read- A lot. You always learn when you read, may it be romances or sci-fi.  Technical books doesn't have all the answers. The more genres you read, the more inspiration you'll get.

5. -Tell others about your goal- They'll certainly have their own ideas and advises. That might help you in your journey.

6. -Have fun!- If you don't enjoy what you're doing, you'll never end that task. Add something that amuses you to your work.

7. -Kick your stress- Do something else: take a walk, go to the cinema, eat chocolate. Too much things in your mind and you won't be able to do a thing.

8. -Don't be afraid- If you fail that's a good thing. You've learned something and you won't do that mistake again.

9. -Be creative- I know your box is safe and cosy, but go for something spicy. It's almost a cliché, but before that: it's true.

10. -Close yourself- behind four walls and a locked door. Yes, sometimes you can play seek-and-hide. A couple of minutes all alone is the key to reorganize your thoughts and find out what you were missing.

10+1. Your bonus: -Be you- In every step. And don't let others tell you otherwise. Or all the fun will be lost and you'll get frustrated. Truth is always simpler and cleaner.

If that doesn't work take a look at these videos, they will give you something to work on for sure even if you already know them:





My baby blog is now one year-old! October, 30th was his birthday. :)




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