As we turn our attention to getting our patio ready for hanging out, we’re inspired by this charming image we found on From Moon to Moon of a Moroccan-style garden ladened with brightly colored rugs. The rugs define and soften the space, and create an outdoor “room”, perfect for hanging out with friends. Creative use of colorful textiles, Moroccan-style, is a great strategy.
Read MoreShin Yahiro’s Tsunami Images
Japanese-born photographer Shin Yahiro superimposes images of the 2011 tsunami disaster over photos of the subsequent recovery and rebuild in the Tōhoku region. The images have a curious effect in our view of disasters.
Read MorePiano Tree and Technical Difficulties: Please Bear With Us
Despite recent technical difficulties, we’re still posting away. Dig this big fat miracle of improvisation (or magic) from our friend Fast Forward.
Read MoreWondrous Sculptural Pottery from an Analog 3D Printer
Great Things to People’s 3D pottery printer is not directly digital at all, but a fabulous rig that allows them to “work in the translation of computational logics and automations process in the material world” to make make their beautifully organic, assymetrical pottery.
Read MoreAsymetrically Cut Mirrors
Designer Michael Anastassiades assymetrical copper mirror gave us two ideas: First, making a mirror of highly polished copper.
But even better: cutting mirrors in odd, assymetrical shapes to shake up a room with the unexpected.
Read MoreRole Model: 13-year-old Girl Eagle Huntress
Thirteen-year-old Ashol Pan is one of the first females to learn eagle-hunting, a tradition among Kazakh eagle hunters that was the province of boys and men. We think the image at the joyful Pan is incredibly heartening, a perfect example of “Why not?”
Read MoreBinder Clips for Cuff Links + Other Last MInute Fashion Fixes
Binder/presentation clips are essential resources for quick emergecy fashion fixes like the cuff links Anthony Giglio improvised on his way from the gym to a luncheon. We rely on them for all sorts of fashion and home solutions.
Read MoreDesign Love: Origami Toothpaste Tube
Design student Nicole Pannuzzo created this clever origami-inspired toothpaste packaging concept that collapses, accordion-like, as the toothpaste is used. We’d LOVE to walk into the bathroom and see that practical little sculpture. But what we love best was Pannuzzo’s window into the design process, with the many attempts it took to get it right:
Read MoreGeometric Fireplaces and Stove Hoods
This compendium of sculptural, geometric fireplaces and stove hoods make us wonder why stay with plain old rectangles. The key is in figuring out how these odds hoods (or any hoods) will draw.
Read MoreMake a Map of Your Daily Life
Becky Cooper of Map Your Memories printed blank maps of Manhattan, gave them to New Yorkers and asked them to fill them out however they saw fit. What she got in return opened our eyes to the many levels on which we can perceive a place. And how illuminating it is to map where you live, wherever that may be.
Read MoreHappy Easter, Passover, Spring 2014!!!
A SWELL Easter egg in the realm of graffiti…with Spring wishes from Improvised Life!
Read MoreRamp Season: Odes, Festivals and Recipes
Every April, I start thinking about ramps, the first wild food to peek through the cold ground in early Spring, and the focus of equally wild festivals throughout the Appalachian mountains. For decades, I’d travel down to West Virginia to the Helvetia Ramp Supper to get a transformative blast of ramps, both raw and cooked.…
Read More2 Ways to Listen that Will Change Your Life
From Seth Godin: You can listen to what people say, sure. But you will be far more effective if
Read MoreDIY: Carefree Garden in a Bottle
50 years ago, David Latimer planted a seed in a glass bottle out of pure curiosity. He had no idea that it would flourish into a mass of greenery that would thrive untouched for several decades to become a wonder of lush plant life. Depending on the bottle you choose, bottle gardens can look like living sculptures.
Read MoreHanna Eshel’s Dream Loft with Sculpture
Artist Hanna Eshel’s inspiring Noho New York loft is full of windows, light, and her elemental sculptures. What a vibe and look, from the patched floor to the 70’s style tracklights, plinths with artworks, ongoing projects, plants, sculptural plywood stools, white everywhere, even the simple elevated loft bed, which here manages not to be a cliche.
Read MoreHow Vivian Maier Defied the Norm and Made Her Secret Art
Anthony Lane asks a compelling question in his review of Finding Vivian Maier, a documentary about the nanny who, during the 50′s and 60′s, secretly photographed the street-life of Chicago during her time off.
Read Moreel Bulli’s Bullipedia: Mapping the Genome of Cuisine
Since th legendary restaurant elBulli’s closure three years ago, über-chef Ferran Adrià and his team at el Bulli Foundation have been working to convert the restaurant to a creativity think tank, with a online resource to helps you understand the inner-workings of food.
Read MoreWhy Not Stripe Your Coffee Table?
This charming striped, oddly-shaped coffee table from the 70’s made us consider what we take for granted in the realm of coffee tables. WHY NOT stripe them?
Read MoreJagged or Unfinished as a Design Element
We’ve long been fans of “broken geometries”, the purposeful leaving of design elements unfinished, uneven, or even broken, to create a visual surprise. Recently Remodelista did a roundup of some fine examples.
Read MoreIt’s NEVER Too Late to Start
Funders and Founders infographics provide inspiration for entrepeneurs of any age.
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