Spotted outside a dairy in sunny Grey Lynn on my lunch break. I love this sign so much. I want to scoop it under my arm and run swiftly down a side street with it. The hand painted type, the damage, the message:
PS. The photo was taken with my new cellphone – 5 MPs worth. Holy moly. I am so impressed with the quality Is the compact purse camera dead?
{ 2 comments }
“It’s very tricky to do any drawing of a tragedy,” said Christoph Niemann, who created “Dark Spring,” this week’s cover. When asked to come up with an image about the series of disasters that have hit Japan, he was hesitant. “A drawing often comes across as lighthearted, and there’s obviously nothing lighthearted about this thing.”
4 years ago (this week) I visited Tokyo and Kyoto. The cherry blossoms were just popping through, it was amazing. Whispery little snowflake-like petals got caught in your hair wherever you walked. They truly are an icon of Japan.
Comments on this New Yorker cover range the gamut from “totally disrespectful” to “powerful”. Personally, I like the subtlety, and find it an elegantly sombre take on a terrible situation. It’s a great piece of graphic design in a world where we can often be overwhelmed by photographs.
{ 2 comments }
I love these highly saturated, engaging videos for EF International Language Centres. Combining typography with lush cinematography, each video teaches us some bite-sized lingo from the featured city – Paris, Barcelona, Beijing and London.
Perhaps because I’m learning español (I’m three weeks into classes), and I haven’t been there yet, the Barcelona one is my favourite. It makes me want to pack my bags and jet off now.
{ 2 comments }
Check out my fancy pants KeepCup, snapped this morning while I waited at the bus stop.
KeepCup is the first barista standard reusable cup and is designed to save our little planet from the strain of indulging in disposable cups. I for one, never quite realised how often I said yes to the ‘easy’ throwaway option… Over the course of a week I probably take at least 5 coffees to go, which adds up to 260 a year. Holy moly.
Until recently I never realized that every paper cup could take 50 years or more to biodegrade. And according to the KeepCup site, it’s not just the cup and lid that go into landfill. On average each disposable cup contains only 5% of the raw materials involved in the process of making and delivering it. Despite that, there is enough plastic in 28 disposable cups and lids to make one KeepCup! That’s only a month of takeaways.
If you’re not yet convinced, think about the cool factor. They look damn good (compared to say, those ribbed paper cups – they give me the heebie jeebies), and you can choose the colours and size. They make lovely, useful gifts too; mine was brought back from London’s Design Museum, a nice alternative to the usual tourist tchotkes.
After just a couple of weeks of using it, I love my KeepCup. It’s not really a hassle to wash, and you know what, I love my planet more than a little bit of convenience. So with that in mind, I’m making a vow:
NO MORE TAKE AWAY CUPS, EVER.
If I don’t have a reusable vessel on hand, or I don’t have the time to sit down and enjoy a coffee, well, too bad. A tiny sacrifice, but I’m sure I’ll remember my KeepCup after a few cranky mornings with no caffeine. Join me?
{ 2 comments }
Just wanted to share with you this gorgeous poster designed by my dear friend Tessa Stubbing. It’s a simple poster made of found images, but it really works. I want a print of this beauty for my new house.
The gig itself sounds pretty swell too! D. Burmester is touring his new alt-country album “The World Of Beast”, with support from Lubin Rains (The Vietnam War) and Ms. Ivy Rossiter, aka Luckless.
{ 1 comment }
There’s more than one way to stop a bike thief! This video showcases an innovative device that’ll stop jerks making off with your trusty steed. Skip to 1.20 if you just want to gawk at the final result.
{ 0 comments }
My mini laptop has finally given up the ghost. Fair enough though, they weren’t designed to stand the rigours of so much travel and abuse from a full time writer. Good news however – I get to welcome a shiny new computer into my life – an HP Envy. And the perfect accompaniment to a new piece of technology (that must be protected from coffee & knock at all costs), is one of Saben’s designer laptop bags.
Saben’s designer Roanne Jacobson also offers this bag in in black, or if you have a mini machine, you could case it in canary yellow. Personally, I adore the candy coloured geometric shapes. Sweet as.
{ 2 comments }
The apartment is slowly and surely getting there. I has a little fit of inspiration last night after an Air BnB ad winked at me on facebook and I had a look through some amazing pads (San Francisco, Barcelona, swoon).
On the way home from lunch today I popped into Karangahape Road’s Buana Satu – an eclectic homewares store. I think Buana Satu translates as “Number One” in Indonesian. Aside from all the lush quilts and silken cushion covers, this tin mirror caught my eye. They also had a circle and a heart shaped one, but square won.
I’m really starting to embrace tin as a material, it’s been catching my eye everywhere – plates, mugs, tea lights. Will it soon enjoy a mainstream resurgence?
{ 1 comment }
Get a little bit cooler mid-meeting. This makes me think of kooky two strategists I know.
{ 0 comments }
I spotted this owl sweet mug with matching coaster/cup warmer yesterday at Auckland store Iko Iko. Want it? Yes! Strictly necessary addition to my kitchen? No. I had to march myself swiftly out of the store. But maybe you’re in need of a fine new vessel? I found it online at Cloth Ears… Please buy it and I will live vicariously through your consumerism.
{ 0 comments }
Bee-eater. Kowhai Squadron Letterpress Print by Walter Hansen. Inspired by ‘the love of making model jets as a kid and tui’s’. It comes in a fancier edition – a 3 colourscreenprint on plywood – but the embossing on the 600 gsm art board has me weak at the knees.
{ 2 comments }
The title, One Room Mansion, is a Japanese term: ワンルームマンション. At 100sqf, often they don’t have bathrooms attached and residents have to visit a public bathhouse. One of my favourite books, Tokyo: A Certain Style
With dozens and dozens of domiciles in the book, it is hard to describe them all. One of my favorites is the apartment of a music reviewer: CDs and vinyls are stacked floor to ceiling. There’s barely any room for the reviewer, though the two cats that share the apartment seem to find it manageable. Another remarkable spread is the house of a newly married young woman who loved cartoon characters so much that she works for a character goods company. Nearly everything in the house, including the husband’s lunch box, has some character on it. Huge Kerropi dolls share space with a veritable pack of Snoopys. A young interior designer had extra shelves put into her room so she could show off the covers of her manga volumes. A Shinjuku DJ, living with his Dutch girlfriend, uses his bathroom as a darkroom and spends weekends practicing on his windowsill turntable.
I’m not quite ready for the close up on my pad yet! However, here’s a nerdy budget update:
Furniture budget: I am indulging my inner scavenger and calling in favours.
TOTAL: $90.50
REMAINING: $9.50
Accessories budget: Now this is where I am falling down! I have had to buy heaps of things because I ‘forgot’ or at some stage gave my old one away. Oh can opener, where did you go?
TOTAL: $54.92
REMAINING: $45.08
Still need to buy: that dang can opener, a coffee plunger, hooks to hang up my art collection. Boiling water in a pot is working out well so far. Meanwhile when it comes to the big stuff, I still want to buy: a manrobe or a clothes rack or perhaps even a ladder to hack up. I’ve been living out of my suitcase for 8+ weeks now. Hanging my dresses up seems like a distant novelty. Failing that? Nails + hangers on the wall…
{ 0 comments }
Still on a thrift-shop-score high thanks to my Scorpio mug. That’s $1 of the new apartment ‘homewares’ budget spent, $99 to go. I move in on Friday, can’t wait to show y’all pics.
{ 2 comments }
Katie Turner is an illustrator living in Brooklyn, New York. She draws loads of fun, brightly hued pictures of people telling ghost stories and cute boys.
There’s also a lot of great hand crafted type in her portfolio, viz:
This however, is my favourite piece:
YES. Right? How did she know that’s what floats my boat? (Although if we’re going to get a little more specific, I like 80′s horror movies.)
If these made you giggle, check out Katies’s website and her blog for more delightful illustrations.
{ 1 comment }
Hello! My name is Amber Parkin. I'm a New Zealander living in London. I'm a writer obsessed with fondue, chesterfield sofas, vintage dresses, foxes, and 35mm.
Here I like to talk about fashion, design, food, travel, writing & books, and culture. Everything else (including my photography) goes into my digital notebook.
If you'd like to email me the address is amber@codeforsomething.com
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|