desidioms

join the club

low and behold, john sent me a link this morning to a site he said i'd love: designers-who-blog - a site that features blogs about design by designers, about life by designers, about blogs by designers, and, of course, designers who blog. it's probably one of my most favorite sites to come across, as it has led me to many many more sites that have been added to my bookmarks bar - like joshuaink (pictured left, which i bookmarked bc it is a greatly illustrative yet simply designed blog that i read very quickly but was amazed bc of how pretty it is - so yes, i basically just "looked at the pictures").

i'm not only jealous of the sites they feature bc some of them are extremely gorgeous and are evidence that these designers know way more about designing blogs than i do, but bc my other form of green-ness is they're featured on the designers-who-blog site.

my jealousy is miniscule to the tremendous amount of jubilation i have to finding a great resource and community of like-minded bloggers. it's like discovering mecca.

smoke'm if you got'm

ad age published a story on r.j. reynolds new efforts to glamorize cigarettes. with a new premium line of smokes called, "marshall mcgearty," and the posh chicago lounge created around them (it is in fact the only place you can purchase them), r.j. reynolds is pioneering a new approach to selling a taboo product.
of course, it has its opposition, but the lounge complete with food, drink, fresh tobacco leaves and a tobacconist who hand-rolls the mcgearty's (named after the creative director of rjr''s agency) is sure to gain more than a few supporters. especiallly since it offers them a place to come in from the cold.
the ads can be seen here and here.

annie, get your gun

so i sent john this link earlier today, after kevin sent it to me. but since i was trying to finagle my myspace profile (which i think i broke), i hadn't posted it on desidioms.
anyway, i sent the link for amnesty international's microsite where you can watch their parody of the "home shopping network" selling AK-47s like they were the latest craze in middle-aged women's gaucho pants.

Day 26

i'm looking through my messy bookmarks page folder and find day 26 - a great photographic journal of Erick and Lisa - a married couple documenting their lives online.

i know i didnt bookmark it so i could see them everyday (though you can sign up for their newsletter if you start to feel particularly attached) - i bookmarked the site bc of the great design of their site as a whole and i like how the navigation matches the friendliness of their big idea.
and it's great to satiate your voyeuristic tendencies once in a while.

knock knock

who's there? knock knock - a "semi-spanking new design company with aspirations to greatness" (so says their homepage banner).
knock knock is not a "store" but they do sell a bunch of cool items from to-do pads, library kits, to party banners that say, "mad props" and personal library kits for the books, movies, and music you might lend out. all the goods are fun and nicely designed - clean - sharp - funny - same stuff you can find at urban outfitters, without the jacked-up price.

I wish I was Graham Roumieu

my co-worker sent me the site for GRAHAM ROUMIEU, an illustrator who's done work for Harper's, Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Penguin Books (and much much more).
i like his site - i am a big fan of hand drawn type. beats verdana's butt any day. plus, make sure to check out the "special" section. there's a lot of fun work in there. heck - the whole site has great work all over it.

Hell yes

a friend sent me the link to the top 50 music videos of 2005. there's nothing bad to say about the whole site. it's obviously a blogger blog, but the authors cleaned up the blogger template (see the address). but i give them props for taking the time to post the best videos of 2005, and helping me fill my friday afternoon with something else to do besides work.