Author Archives: christie

Volenweider Chocolate

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My favorite dessert (or rather favorite thing ever) is really good dark chocolate. And I love it even more if it comes in beautiful packaging, like this Swiss chocolate I found in a tiny coffee shop called Squeeze, out in Marfa, TX . The owner said he gets the bars shipped to her direct from Switzerland by her brother, who runs the Volenweider Chocolate (which was actually started by her father).

The all-typographic branding is super distinctive while the black & white color palette (or non-color palette) literally makes the letters jump out at you. My favorite part though, is the smart use of pop-y colors to differentiate different flavors.

I just googled them and it turns out they’re one of the premier chocolatiers in Zurich. And Squeeze Marfa is the sole distributor in the US…so if you want a taste of heaven,  you got a long drive ahead of you.

Guys with Fancy Lady Hair

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Stumbled upon this today and just had to share. Not really design related…except that The Bold Italic is a beautifully designed, overall kick-ass site that makes me want to live in San Francisco.

Click HERE to see the full photo essay on The Bold Italic

Beautiful Car Emblems

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I must confess…

I am a dedicated supporter of the green movement, and do my best to maintain sustainable practices in my business and life, but man!, do I love me a beautiful car. What can I say? It’s all my dad. Thanks, Andy.

While in my home town, State College, PA, last weekend, we stumbled upon this vintage car show. In between drooling, I managed to snap pics of these beauty’s emblems. They just don’t make ’em like they used to. Makes me want to get an old hood ornament for my Prius.

Ethereal Paper Gems by Kirsten Hassenfeld

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OOOH! I LOVE THIS! This is especially interesting to me because of how Hassenfeld uses simple sheets of paper (even though it doesn’t look like paper) to not only create 3D forms, but integrate light in a way that transforms the space into one of delight and awe. Like being in CandyLand! Now that’s user experience.

Inspiration from Italy: Part I

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My cousin recently got married in Italy (thanks, Alex!) so of course we had to go! Italy is my absolute favorite country outside the US. Literally everywhere you look you see beauty—old and new, but mostly old. It’s mind blowing when you see patterns, shapes, colors and styles that were created so long ago, yet are still in use today.

So this post is dedicated to a current new trend—STRIPES! …And when I say new, I mean back in style for the umpteenth time since the 1300’s when these puppies were built. So freaking cool, right? Or should I say, Bellissimo!

Stay tuned for more posts sharing some more cool images of design, products and architecture from Italia! Ciao!

Cooperation Texas Poster Series

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Here is a snippet from the first draft of a poster series we just started working on. We’re doing 7 posters—each one illustrating one of the 7 cooperative principles. What is a worker cooperative, you ask? It’s a business model where the workers are the owners, thus it makes decisions as a whole about how to operate the business. In many ways, it operates Read more →