wallpaper games

I always thought that if a child of mine ever drew on the wall, I'd frame it. But actually encouraging the domestic graffiti? Leave it to 5.5 Designers to creatively do that. Wallpaper Games is their trio of tic-tac-toes, mazes, and word searches meant for the walls and, as the website says, recommended for bathrooms, waiting rooms and any other room in which you can expect to incur boredom. I especially like the way the magic marker solutions add an accidental abstraction. Maybe this isn't for kids after all!

more David Shrigley

and look what else I found:



Ten steps ahead of everyone...

I tried

as promised.
The pickles are still my favorite.

juxtaposed

Designed by Mike and Maaike, this shelf, made from an 5"x8" hunk of salvaged hardwood, is intended to display the world's religious texts on an even level (as described by the site blankblank). I love the idea of creating a specific place for precious things. Mine would be made for Underworld, Blood Meridian, Ham on Rye...

passive aggression

This Passive Aggressive Anger Release Machine, created by Yarisal and Kublitz, is amazing! I want one in my home.
No, I don't have anger issues...

help!

Help Remedies, a simply named and simply based package design firm (at least to my understanding), offers two products: bandages and acetaminophen. But wait! Before you skip to the next post, please consider this. And the fact that in one fell swoop they have entirely wiped out my nostalgia for the old tin Band-Aid containers.

Peter Callesen

Browsing the papercut works by performance and fine artist Peter Callesen is a bit like witnessing a pop-up book artist gone completely mad. The details are stunning, the precision is intense, and I have my suspicions about whether he might actually be a laser cutter dressed up in pants.

tablecloth

This may have debuted two years ago, but it's new to me and too good to leave out.

Go ahead, act carelessly with your stemware, let your babies drink grape juice out of the "big kids" glass, be a klutz for the sake of art! This ingenious tablecloth, shown at the St. Etienne Design Biennial 2006, starts out looking like any generic white table cloth, but then develops a floral pattern when your drink tips. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade! (or red wine, in this case)
Kudos to Madeleine Montaigne. If I cry over spilled milk, they will be tears of joy.

spin

Swedish designer Marie-Louise Hellgren has a knack for whipping up modern designs with a multi-functional flare. Each piece from her perfect little mug collection, called Spin, includes a teak stirrer and a shelved saucer that triples as a cookie (etc.) tray and a lid. We have a winner!

designer dictionary

This leather bound Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is so gorgeous it could make Scrabble sexy. (I'm speaking of the gold one.)

Jennifer Poon

Ever noticed the abundance of cutesy, bubblegum illustrations that have popped up? These are not those. I love figurative work, and Jennifer Poon certainly has a talent. Her paintings look as if they've emerged from some twenty-first century fairy tale: they have an obvious dark side, yet somehow maintain an innocence. Oh the irony!

magic carpets

Dutch designer Wendy Plomp put packing crates to use as dinner tables for restaurant de Witte Tafel. Hung on the walls and overlapped on the floors are her screenprinted cardboard carpets. Hobo chic!

fire string mountain

I came across this piece by Aili Schmeltz and was stunned. Something about that color and the way it richens at the base. It looks like the work of an eccentric arachnid and I wish I'd thought of it first.

timber hooks

These straight-out-of-the-woods wall hooks, made by Live Wire Farm, can be used as anything from towel slings to tissue racks, as the website demonstrates. My favorite example is the last photo, which looks like a prosthetic branch for the wooden porch post (do you think it had phantom limb syndrome? zing!).

recycling bags

Start off the New Year right and bright. DWR offers this set of four color coded bags, which are so much more handsome than those hard-plastic tubs that make me feel as if I'm living out of a shipping warehouse. Another great thing is that, after carrying out your earthly duties, you can stuff them under your sink (at least until you gulp down the last bit of that Smart Water).

rod shelf

I don't know how you screw them into the wall (and do they sag?), but the results are minimalist excellence. The book becomes its own bookend (like in clampology). No extra materials needed.

Designed by Max Lamb.