Forage Bow Ties

Let me just start by saying that I am so bummed I did not get it together to go to the Forage pop-up opening at the Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco [stupid, stupid, kicks self]. The exclusive bow tie line was created by Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt of Something's Hiding In Here. Each tie is handmade by the artists (with love, of course) and appears in 3 limited-edition styles: Arrowhead, Cricket, or Thistle.


The line was inspired by "the personal style of our favorite mid-century artists, designers and architects ... We're in love with three different silhouettes inspired by Louis Kahn, Charles Eames and le Corbusier. We spent weeks searching for the right collection of fabrics in classic patterns and sorbet colors — just right for summer! We're obsessed with the details ... well crafted with simple hardware, vintage french woven labels and the perfect box." It's true, the box is almost worth the price of admission, as are the postcards!


You can see some set-up pics at the Smarts & Crafts Flickr. And if you want to be looking dapper, best peruse your options (and quickly before they're gone!) here. To everyone involved in this project, you get on with your bad selves and keep up the good work!

French Paper Pop Ink Soap Packaging

You know you do it. You buy the beer with the Coney Island mermaid, and the bubble bath with the 50's looking Dirty Girl. Maybe you buy them because there are boobies involved, but really you buy them because you'll keep the packaging after you're done with the product. Good packaging is perennial, and I am a huge fan of French Paper's Pop Ink soap packaging designed by the Minneapolis creative CSA Design. [via Lovely Package]

Maum Tea Bags

In Korean maum means the mind, soul, or spirit. There's definitely some spirit in these amazingly playful tea bags from the designers of the Korean company wdaru. Each themed box set comes with an assortment of quirky characters from which to choose. How could you refuse? [via Toxel]

Vintage Coke Cans

Serious retro eye candy from Andrew at Inspiredology.

Matt Brown: RFID Laser Cut Radios

Recently, I've been looking into laser cut creations to help brainstorm new projects for a friend. Thus I stumbled upon Matt Brown, an Interaction Designer/Idustrial Designer from Michigan currently living in Genova, Italy, and his RFID systems — Hello lover!

The basic idea is this — "you would have a speaker with an RFID reader, and laser-cut paper radios with RFID chips inside. The radios themselves are designed by musicians, charities, brands, and designers. When the paper radio is placed over the speaker it changes the radio station to what the artist has chosen ... This system tries to add a little bit of fun to internet radio, and give people a connection with the artists they choose." [via Design Milk]

Crayon by Luxirare

For those of you who know and love Luxirare (killer clothes & fine cuisine), this Crayon project will not come as a surprise. But that doesn't stop its fervent involvement and creativity from blowing us away. Whole ingredients (almost all healthy) were chosen for their color (rather than flavor), ground up, and pressed into molds to look like crayons. For instance, the green crayons were made of peas, green beans, dried kiwi, green fruity pebbles, and dried pumpkin seeds. The individual artistic sticks were then wrapped in paper and packaged in a homemade box. This entire process is done by one remarkable girl — from conception to testing to photographing. As Refinery 29 said, "Luxirare gives us a serious case of blog envy".

Sanna Annukka

Printmaker and illustrator Sanna Annukka creates a range of works, from Marimekko textiles to album art, biscuit tin packaging to folklore prints. Half Swedish and half English, Annukka draws great inspiration from the forests, lakes, and wildlife of the Finnish countryside, as is evident in her curvilinear nature imagery. Three cheers for Scandinavian design! [via Looks Like Good Design]

KOREFE for Mini Garage Winery

I was flipping through an old issue of CommArts and came across these amazing mock oil canisters used to package pear brandy and olive oil. German design company KOREFE has created an entire gourmet food and drink brand for Anthony's Mini Garage Winery under the division the Deli Garage. De-lish! More from The Dieline.

Origami Tea

Russian designer Nathalia Ponomareva has created a delightful experience with Green Berry Tea. Once submerged, the figured tea bags expand in the shape of origami birds. How exquisite! [via notcot]

Fruit Juice Packaging by Naoto Fukasawa

It is impossible not to love well executed, high concept packaging. Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa has this to say about his look-alike fruit juice boxes: "I imagined that if the surface of the packaging imitated the color and texture of the fruit skin, then the object would reproduce the feeling of the real skin". Indeed!
[via The Dieline via toxel.com]