Typography Friday: Urban Outfitters!

Happy typography Friday!
Recently Urban Outfitters increased their home range & we are completely in love with everything from boom box floor cushions to gorgeous rugs. Today we are featuring some of their fab wall art by some fantastic designers!

Keys of Life Wall Art by Dale Edwin Murray

Everything Is OK Wall Art by Nicole Thompson 

Best Of Times Wall Art by Laurie Szujewska

Fancy Seeing Vintage By Hemingway

Drunk By Nicole Thompson

Me + You By Nicole Thompson

LOVE By Hanna Melin

And for those who like a bit of character...

Cats Wall Art by J. Camilleri

Circus Horse Wall Art by Stacie Swift 

Ohh Deer Kaholawe Print by Kris Tate

Ohh Deer Bob Wall Art by Jamie Mitchell

Ohh Deer Bison Wall Art by Sandra Dieckmann

Interiors Roundup: My top 8 staircases

I am so excited to be sharing gorgeous interiors with you. As Rachael Taylor’s new Interiors roundup editor, I will be posting every Thursday afternoon with my weekly update of all things Interiors. This week, I am sharing 8 of my favourite staircase designs.

From the quirky to the bizarre, here are my top 8 staircase designs. Some play with your mind (just like the one below!) and some are just plain crazy (I’m possibly referring to the separate staircase for the pets!), but I love every single one of these staircases and would certainly love to hear your views on them. They might not be to everyone’s taste but you can’t deny that they are amazing, each and every one of them! I’ll be back next week with more inspirational interiors, but for now, enjoy the rest of your week! Emily x

Designmilk.com

Dezeen.com

Blosoem.blogs.com

arne jacobsen, aarhus town hall 1937-1942

langbaumann.com

langbaumann.com

langbaumann.com
See below for the other half of the staircase!

langbaumann.com

idesignlove.com
Hand-painted, wow!

Elle Decor

Beauty Breakdown: Philosophy

Good morning creative people!

Welcome to a Beauty morning with me, MaJo :) Every Thursday I'll delight you with gorgeously packed beauty products (and every now and then, I'll even throw you a beauty secret).

So I thought Spring was finally going to arrive, but it's still freezing in Milan. I'm in desperate need of blooming flowers and sunny days, and I find myself constantly staring at floral fresh patterns. Last week I found one of Philosophy's new fragrances and was enchanted by its simple but still striking packaging. I dug deeper and discovered a whole beautiful packed line called Field of Flowers. The line includes: fragrances, shampoo, shower gel and bubble bath gels, and body lotions. They are all based on different flowers (orange, violet, water lily, wild blackberry, magnolia blossom, wildflower, and peony) that act also as the sole motifs of the packaging design. Enjoy!

All images courtesy of Philoshopy

And since this post was all about scented products, I thought I'd give you a few little secrets for you to make your favourite perfume last longer. It's always better to use the complete line of the perfume you adore (shower gel > body lotion > perfume). Prefer perfumes instead of eau de parfums because the latter have less fragrance concentration. Finally, my Grandma's favourite secret: spray a cotton ball with your favourite perfume and put it between your skin and your bra bridge… this will allow the scent to remain longer throughout the day (never spray it directly on your clothes or it might stain them). 

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read. See you next week with more inspiring designs. Have a great day, MaJo. 

Amy Blay

Recently Rachael announced that she is now a proud member of the Lilla Rogers Studio. For the next few months we have decided to feature a regular weekly showcase from Lilla's esteemed group of designers & Illustrators. Today we bring you the lovely Amy Blay.

Amy Blay is an illustrator & designer originally from Montreal but now lives in the UK.  Amy gained a BA (Hons) degree in illustration at The University of Westminster & then went onto further study for a Masters at Central St Martins, London. Although Amy studied illustration, she has a passion for surface pattern design too but her illustrations are still very strong within all her designs.

Amy has worked for over 10 years within the design industry, in-house & on a freelance basis designing for a range of products including stationary, greetings & packaging. Amy's designs are very graphic, illustrative & conversational using bright, bold colours & imaginative motifs. A lot of Amy's illustrations are designed for the children's market. Amy has many clients including Graham & Brown, Hallmark UK, John Lewis, Waterstones & many more. Enjoy, Hannah.

Gift Guide: Into the Woods

What do you buy the person who has everything? Well, I can think of a thing or two...

Welcome to my weekly gift-guide; I’m thrilled to be sharing a selection of creative, quirky and downright awesome gifts with you here on Rachael’s blog. This week’s guide is for the nature lovers.

It’s spring! Supposedly. Unfortunately this weather we’ve been having isn’t exactly inspiring impromptu BBQ’s and Ultimate Frisbee tournaments. In defiance of the wet and cold, I’ve scoured the internet for gorgeous gifts designed to cheer up any rainy day. Evocative of nature and all things outdoors, these gifts are perfect for spring birthdays, weddings and well...just about any special occasion.

If we think positive, perhaps the sun will eventually come out...

This woodland teapot by ceramics designer Alison Appleton takes my breath away. Don't you just love that flash of green and the raw wood handle? Perfection.

Cake tins for the discerning baker in your life. This trio features an otter, owl and wiley fox. Fill 'em with cake for the best gift ever (in my humble opinion). Designed by Tom Frost for Magpie.

This elegant hair comb is a thoughtful gift for an outdoorsy bride. Available from Red Truck Designs on Etsy.

I don’t have a garden so I don’t get to make mudpies and dig holes, but you can bet your bottom dollar that if I did, I’d be tooling up with these pretties by Orla Kiely. Get the trowel and fork at John Lewis. 

One for the boys. A woodsy and organic Spanish leather iPad case by Santileather on Etsy.

Keep your bright ideas in order with a frolicking foal notebook or two...Designed by the aptly named Ohh Deer studio.

This is the pick of the bunch (groan). Home-brewing has become a popular hobby in these straitened times, now wine connoisseurs can join in the fun with this amazing grapevine gift set.

I hope you enjoyed today's offerings - and I'm sorry (not sorry) about the awful puns. Leonie x

Artist Review: Chloe Early

I am thrilled to be able to share some inspirational art with you every Tuesday morning as Rachael's new 'Art and Creative Writer'. This week, we're showcasing the exquisite paintings of Chloe Early.

Chloe grew up in Cork, Ireland and since graduating from NCAD Dublin in 2003 has pursued her painting practice and exhibited in Cork, Dublin, London and Los Angeles. In 2004 she moved to London where she currently lives and works.

Chloe has developed a unique style working in oils on linen and aluminium panels. Her work shows a freely expressed almost graffiti style mixed with finely painted representational imagery which creates a dream-like tension between the real and unreal. "Early aims to layer motifs and meanings, using imagery from a range of sources, her own photographs, magazines, books, the internet and travel ads to create paintings whose meaning shift and blur like a troubled dream."*

She cleverly combines graphic, urban scenes with beautifully rendered colour palettes and eye-catching compositions which depict many layers of meaning. Chloe's website shows her current work and details her forthcoming exhibitions - a talented and skilled artist to inspire your Tuesday! More next week! Justine x