Hyperactivitypography from A to Z — a super cute activity book designed with a vintage flair — looks fantastic. According to the designers, “The book is packed with activities, ranging from silly to hard core nerdiness.”
I just discovered Michelle Forsyth‘s work over on The Jealous Curator, and I love it. What from a distance appears to appears to be a mosaic or pointillist painting is actually a grid of cut paper, felt and beads. Her methods remind me of a crafty mixed-media Chuck Close. I think the detail shots are great and would love to see this work in person.
… Each piece documents a site of disaster re-photographed by me years after the event has occurred. Part requiem and part obsession, these pieces are a testament to those who have suffered there in the past. Each piece made in Ostinatos has a counterpart that exists as part of One Hundred Drawings and although both series are drawn from images of the same site, each piece has been generated from a different photograph and bears a different vantage point. Throughout my travels to each site, I have noticed many flowers. While cut flowers have been placed on the sites to mark a loss and secure a memory, others have grown on the sites simultaneously hiding and healing the scars of each disastrous event.
This small square of paper is probably the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. What looks like a modern cut-paper tree is really a tiny medical diagnostic tool. Invented by Harvard Faculty member George Whitesides and made of paper and water-repellent comic-book ink, these incredible little labs can detect diseases like malaria, HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis with just a drop of blood.
While paper medical tests are not new (pregnancy tests are probably the best known example), this little chip can test for multiple diseases simultaneously and the colors can indicate the severity of the illness.
Check out the video below of Whitesides’ talk from TED to learn more about the making these chips and their practical uses in remote areas with limited access to medical facilities and doctors.
I am loving Nuria Mora’s street art. Her combination of color and pattern is really great. Plus looking at these photos is making me fantasize about more places to travel. I definitely recommend heading over to her site to check out more of her work — so much of it is really lovely.
How rad are these necklaces from Elva Fields? I love so many of them. Unfortunately since they are all one of a kind, almost all of them have been bought by other lucky fashionistas. To make them even more awesome, a portion of each online purchase is donated to charity.
Posting has been light here at The Experts Agree, as we’ve been traveling. In honor of our travels, we’d like to introduce you to the fantastic luggage collection from Sarah Williams’ London College of Fashion master’s project Crafted Fashion.Its mix of funhouse distortions and solid worksmanship is really amazing to look at — oh how I would love to own one of these.
“Historically exceptional craftsmanship was the norm now it is the exception.”
The collection is designed to challenge this statement by utilising regional historical craftsmanship and metamorphosising the traditional in order to produce a collection of original fashion artefacts.
Throughout the whole design and production process three method of change were applied to the materials used; metamorphosis, presence and anthropomorphism. This results in fashion artefacts which relate both to historical traditions but can be used in a modern day context.
I always love seeing how designers interpret a simple set of design restrictions. For this redesign of eight classics from Penguin Classics in collaboration with (Red), a group of designers was asked to create covers using a quote from the text and a red band at the bottom. For the most part, I think the results are fantastic. I particularly like the ones where the design breaks out of the top of the cover and crosses into the red band. The books will be published in early May.
Designers shown: Therese Raquin — Jim Stoddart (Penguin Press art director) The Secret Agent — Coralie Bickford-Smith (Penguin Press art department) Dracula — Non-Format
Row 1: Organic Cotton Hand-Printed Produce Bag from paintedapple; Vegetable Print by Stockton; Emery Pincushion – Felt Peapod by dottyral
Row 2: Eat 5 A Day print from pixelandpost; Radicchio block print by drenculture; Hand Carved Carrot Stamp by EnchantingStamps
Row 3: Green Veggie Recipe Cards by DingbatPress; Eat Your Veggies – pinback button by BarrelOfMonkeys; Happy Veggie Magnets and Crate by vrielle42
Row 4: A Happy Eggplant from nataliemae; Hand Printed Fruit and Veggie Paper Gift Bag Set by silkoak; Veggie Alphabet – Learning Base Set by evgie
Apparently, we have a bit of a thing for Craig Ward — we posted about his work here and here. His latest endeavor — a collaborative project with Sean Freeman and Alison Carmichael — from the If You Could Collaborate show from earlier this year is pretty awesome. I’m particularly into Allison Carmichael’s piece (top).
Here’s a little more info on If You Could Collaborate:
If You Could Collaborate is the fourth annual If You Could exhibition. Aiming to provide a platform for the finest creatives from all over the world to question their conventional working methods and outcomes. The contributors have been challenged to produce something a little unexpected, by working with a partner of their choosing from any discipline, profession or background. There is no brief to answer, or format to honour – the only limit being the enterprise and imagination of the artists involved, and a liberal 12 month deadline.
And here is a pretty neat process shot from Sean Freeman: