I’m loving the subject and design of this new book by Phaidon and Kobi Benezri Studio. It details around 2300 restaurants from around the world, personally recommended by chefs. The design was inspired by 1960s phone books and uses that vintage style of covering each inch of the page (including the paper edges) in advertising. Pick it up for a bargain price at amazon.

Just found this spectacular piece of print on September Industry. It’s an invitation designed by the inhouse design team at Mulberry for the launch of their  Autumn / Winter 11 range (better late than never to find this!) From the SI website: Packaged in a black covered box with a slip lid, this invitation is quite an elaborate piece of hand-finished paper engineering. The only way to describe it is as a ‘fortune-teller’ format, where the corners unfold to reveal the various details of the event. The finely-detailed artwork is produced in a combination of foil blocking in metallic gold and screen-printed white on black uncoated stock.

I was in WA on the weekend and saw an exhibition of Jimmy Pike’s work at the Fremantle Prison where he taught art during the 1980’s. Jimmy Pike was a great storyteller. Touched with a lively sense of humour, his art depicts the dynamism of life in the desert: waterholes, the landscape, animals and plants, as well as Ngarrangkarni or Dreamtime stories, people, and modern technology. He passed away in 2008 but has left us with some truly inspiring designs. There is an exhibition of never before seen drawings on until December 12 at the University of Western Australia.

An excellent article by Mat Dolphin for Creative Review. Ever wanted to be an undercover client to find out what you get for £25? Read the article here.

Love. Love. Love. Maximo Riera.

Cool gig posters by Mark and Robert at Methane Studios.

How lovely are these pieces by Dawn Vachon! Dawn’s a Melbourne based ceramic artist, she experiments with adding coloured stains to clay and the result are these beautiful pieces. Dawn has a blog and her work can be purchased at SMALLpieces shop in Brunswick East but does not currently have items available to sell online, (although I really wish she did)!

Clever and beautiful packaging design by US studio Ultra Creative. The placement of the chocolate bars create individual scenes and stories. The chocolate pressing itself is beautiful – too nice to eat!

I’ve mentioned Aled Lewis once before on this blog. But this cover design caught my eye recently and I just had to know who created this magic. It’s exactly what a book cover should be – entertaining, enlightening and breathtakingly beautiful. Nice work Aled.

Seattle based artist Shaun Kardinal creates these lovely hand-embroidered oversized postcards. I find them fascinating. Vintage landscapes and city icons framed by textured geometric shapes. What a unique style.

On the weekend I visited the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia and saw these beautiful resin discs (each spanning around 1.2 metres in size). Dinosaur Designs were commissioned for the task, to mark the 5th anniversary of GoMA. There are 8 of them in total and they’re absolutely striking!

Marni is the fashion label of Consuelo Castiglioni. These graphic pieces of jewellery are crafted using resin, vinyl records and foil. I love the playful feel.

I really like this new decorative typeface created by the gray-hooded-sweater-wearing Dan Gneiding (Grayhood). Available from Lost Type – a ‘pay what you think it’s worth’ site where typographers receive 100% of the donations.

Some very cool work coming out of Sydney boutique studio Boldinc. I like this well thought-out identity for the Bell River Estate’s Bold & Brave Port Co. Read the full story here.

Cool rustic print concept for fashion / jewellery label ‘Vetter’, created by Vienna based designer Hans Renzler.

I’m in love with this design collaboration between Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen. Check out their site and their stunning sculptural furniture collection. The above are cutting boards and heat rests created out of geometric shapes and interesting colour palettes.

Fantastic stationery concept by Berlin based company CM (Cut & Make). Their products are literally that – cut to shape but rarely printed. These lovely pieces take on a sculptural quality of their own.

Here’s some of my favourite typeface’s from 2011:

1. Fiance by Miguel Hernandez for South American foundry Sudtipos

2. Gordon Black (caps) by Lan Huang for Letterbox

3. Bookeyed Jack by Crystal Kluge

4. Neplus Ultra by Mark Caneso

And my most regularly used font of 2011 (although designed in 2008) is Museo by Jos Buevenga

Last week I met London photographer Max Knight. Max directs music videos and has some very cool photography to view on his site.

Marianne Rautureau’s jewelry label Calourette is so much fun! I particularly like the Flags necklace.

I recently came across Jenny’s work on Peepshow. I really like her style and use of colour.

Lovely new font by designer Rositsa Gorolova. Available for free download too!

I recently came across the portfolio of London based illustrator Kate Wilson. Lovely work and an impressive client list.

Lovely new typographic identity for One Marylebone Road by Dry UK. Contemporary and nostalgic both at once.

Here’s a very nice interior design blog by Czech Republic based creative Jan Skácelík. I love the mid century furniture in these photos, I wouldn’t say no to an office like this.

Some lovely work by illustration student Khadia Ulumbekova who is based in Moscow.

German design group Paperlux have created some very nice examples of luxury branding. Here’s some close ups of a few of my favourites.

I saw this a while ago on September Industry but it’s so nice I have to post it (albeit a little late). London design studio Egelnick and Webb have a stunning collection of work on their site. I think this particular piece for House of Holland is a colourful explosion of joy. Are they real pantone swatch cards? I don’t know, but it’s very cool.

An interesting and stylish new look for Diet Coke, designed by San Francisco agency Turner Duckworth. Clever use of considered space. The monogram is understated and self assured. I like it.

Nice identity and print finishing for UK creative agency Burn the Book.

Ok, so I’m a bit of a fan of Brooklyn Based designer, typographer, illustrator extraordinaire Jessica Hische (featured on this blog a few times before). Her recent project – designing the covers of Barnes and Nobles classic books is really beautiful. My ‘inner goth’ likes the cover design for Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’. I also enjoyed looking at her “I can haz art school” where she shows her high school work and early college work. What a brave girl. It truly is a pile of awful, yet we all know we did work just like it. And it’s refreshing to reflect on how far we’ve come.

As featured in August’s Creative Review, this gorgeous art project book by Illustrator Marion Deuchars is superb. I know what I’m getting the nieces for Christmas.

I like this piece of work by university graduate Luke Elliott. Once a a discarded old cupboard, he’s created a typographic woodblock and printed his own posters. Nice!

Cool branding by Maddison Graphic for writer Zoe Williams. I also really like the illustrated screen they produced for St Luke’s Church.

Some lovely packaging design work by Michelle Gadeken.

Founds these geomtric patterns (of which there’s 101 of them), designed by Nicolaz Grohl (& himself). He has a very cool website and other nice work worth checking out.

Another entry about Newwork Studio’s design. This is the opening invite for the very talented Robert Geller’s autumn/winter 2011 show. I like the structured feel of this design (reminds me of a well crafted garment pattern) and the simplicity of the type. Black, grey, red and white is so graphic.

Fun identity for a new Yorkshire based cafe called T&Cake. Designed by Build.

I like this high-fashion sophisticated fold out design by New York based collective Studio Newwork. It was designed for label Lerario Beatriz.

Design studio Marque have created a sharp identity for fashion label Victor Alfaro and have applied it beautifully to packaging design and labels.

Leeds based agency The Consult have created this rather cool identity for a a communications firm. Fantastic use of a different substrate for the business card.

Nice soap packaging, inspired by vintage imagery. Designed by US based studio Aesthetic Movement.

April and May is a stylist with a lovely blog. It’s an excellent resource for interiors, furniture and products. All reported and executed with stunning photography.

The London based collective responsible for one of the loveliest designed books last year (The Geometry of Pasta) caught my attention again on the September Industry blog. A few months back, they designed a publication for the Heimtextil Trend Show 2010/11 in Frankfurt, which showcases forthcoming trends in home fabrics. The coloured ribbons and exposed spine combined with perforated Pantone swatches gives the book a very ‘hands on’, tactile feel – one that’s appropriate for the nature of the piece. Check out Here Design.

I just love these late 50’s LP covers, 3 of which are for the musician Enoch Light’s work. The designs for Persuasive Percussion and Provocative Percussion were designed, I believe, by the colour experimentalist, Mr Josef Albers.

I really like these ‘Toy Stories’ created by London based designer and illustrator Aled Lewis. You can buy his prints from inPRNT.com

exljbris Font Foundry

Sweet girly drawings by San Franciscan illustrator Charmaine Olivia.

It’s not exactly brand new (designed in 2009), but here’s a font I’ve fallen in love with called Buttermilk, designed by American typographer Jessica Hische. It reminds me of vintage tablecloths, picnics and ‘Iced Vo Vo’s’!

Lovely new font called Reina by Maximiliano Sproviero for Lián Types, Argentina. Available to buy here at myfonts.

Stunning hand rendered typography by Jon Cantino, New York based illustrator / typographer. Jon also runs the fashion label CXXVI Clothing Company.

I recently came across photographer Jamie Nelson’s online portfolio. A fashion photographer based in New York, her work is textured, graphic and just beautiful!

Pietari Posti is an illustrator based in Barcelona who creates gorgeous illustrative scenes for books, magazines and posters. One of my favourite projects is the collection of work called ‘Giants’ where creatures are placed precariously in a miniature city. Prints are available for sale here.

Daily Drop Cap is a project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. Since September of 2009, an illustrative initial cap has been posted daily. The project will end after the twelfth alphabet is complete. Jessica is based in Brooklyn. What a fantastic project to have created.

Sergey Shapiro is a designer and calligrapher who lives and works in Moscow. He has created a very niche style to his identity work as he specialises in flowing, calligraphic marks. I like the way he is able to get such unique personality into each one. From a traditional mark for wedding accessories to a contemporary mark for a design studio in Chicago, he clearly understands the subtleties of type and its power to communicate an identity.

I’m a little late in finding these, but London agency La Boca created some teaser posters for Darren Aronofsky’s film, Black Swan late last year. I really like the vintage style, it feels reminiscent of classic poster designers such as Abram Games and Batiste Madalena. The red, black and beige gives these a striking, contemporary edge. Very nice.

Some fun promotional posters from agency H-57 Creative Station based in Milan.

Very nice packaging design by award winning agency Stranger & Stranger. They create over 100 drinks brands every year with bespoke bottle shapes and innovative openings. With a string of awards under their belt and offices in London and New York, they’re certainly doing something right.

My very talented friend Clair Estelle has recently launched her new wedding and portrait photography website. I am not being biased when I say these photos are absolutely surreal in beauty. This recent shoot she did in Northumbria is breath taking. There is a real honesty to Clair’s work, I absolutely love it.

Lovely hand rendered typography by Manchester designer Daren Newman (aka Me & My Pen). I’m a sucker for this style and really admire the labor of his typographic love.

I love the illustrated work of Chicago based design duo Delicious Design League. Their illustration style varies from highly crafted shapes and textures to very organic ‘messy’ line work. They say on their site: ‘we strive to create the most insightful, well crafted, impact full and uncompromising work that we can’ – and although it seems that a lot of design studios claim to do the same, I genuinely believe it from Delicious Design League.

My friend Mark sent me a link to this beautiful food blog by Katie Quinn Davies, a professional food photographer and stylist based in Sydney. Stunning photography and mouth-watering food inspiration!