Ahh, the good ol’ school days where slapping someone on the back during recess gave them the opportunity to slap someone else. Well, tagging these days has matured from playgrounds to the web-interface, but it has maintained it’s most fundamental element: its social counsel.

What, you may ask? How did a semi-violent, super competitive child’s play transform into the Web 2.0 system of classification system? Truth be told, it didn’t; yet, the game of tag identifies someone as a leader of a social context (even if you were super fast in Pre-K and immediately purged yourself of being ‘it’) and tags today identify information as important through a social media context.

Tagging, which we have all come to know, love and ubiquitously use, is a Web 2.0 (or semantic web) ontological system of classification system. Yikes, that sounds scientific jargon heavy.  Basically, [...]

At my first job out of college, I worked as a pattern designer for women’s and children’s footwear. I think I must have churned out hundreds of patterns a year, and of that total, a good majority of those were filled with animals and insects . Kids love these little guys, as do parents, so you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Wee Gallery’s sample sale on One Kings Lane today. Surya Sajnani’s lino cut style is very trend forward and quite reminiscent of Hugo Guinness and Perla Anne’s illustrations. The cards are half off, and perfect for framing or for just letting someone know they’re special.

We reported diamonds to be a shining motif in pattern design back in June and now the trend has officially crystallized.

We’ve seen the classic diamond shape shift to a crystal-like gem on works ranging from new Matt W. Moore murals to Chase Bank advertisements. The laser cut shapes are bold. Just check out these angular bangle bracelets by Patricia Field and this radiant Helena De Natalio clutch. The sassy accessories are the perfect way to flaunt some flash with a basic black get-up.

But these crystals don’t sparkle like their compressed coal predecessor. Instead, they catch eyes with their geometric shapes and powerful lines. Strong colors further emphasize their graphic feel, as evident in Phillip Low’s sculptures and Jen Kao’s angular FW10 debut. We can’t wait to [...]

Oh, the proverbial question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The debate can go around and around. Much like the debates of who inspired whom, what inspired what, and where on earth do ideas come from. And of course, how do they become adopted by society and wind up as trends.

Because, we think we called it via our Interior Design Takes a Spin feature: people, they like change. They also like pixels. And in this case, web cams. We recently spotted Pepsi’s Refresh Project, One People tv spot, where a variety of people on their web cams interact with one another. Each paper conveys a pixelated vibe, and as objects are “magically” passed between squares, the concept is unified as global sharing. Naturally, we delighted at the synchronicity to our fun interior finds. Of [...]

It’s quite a treat having friends that double as industry experts. Not only do I have reliable sources to bounce ideas off of, whenever a email recommendation ends up in my inbox, I know it’s from a trusted source. This morning, my good friend and colleague, Alexandra Machinist, a Manhattan based literary agent, sent a heads up about The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World’s Most Consequential Trivia, by David McCadless. McCadless’ new book is a collection of his most recent info graphics, knowledge maps and data visualizations. For any designer handed the task of simplifying data, then this is the book for you.

A few sneak peaks of what you’ll find in McCadless’ book. Enjoy and support!