Color Scheme Tool

Are you one of those people who just doesn't have a natural eye for color? If so, check out this color tool, which provides you with "Color Wheel", "Color Harmonies", and "Suggested Colors". It's ColorSchemer Studio, and you can try the freebie online version of the tool, right here. The paid version (about $50) also includes a "Color Blindness Simulator" and "Convert to nearest WebSafe or WebSmart color". More color tools to come.

Luxurious, Red Beauty... Mite Macro?!

A colorful duster? Perhaps a posh hand muff, to keep warm in the winter? Guess again.

This is a macro of a red velvet dust mite, taken by user Mudo Poco, and posted on Flickr.

If you live in the Northeast, you've most certainly seen these tiny spider-like insects scurry across dry surfaces in the summer months. They look like little orange-red dots. If you're like me, you've never given much more thought to them until viewing this photo of their intricate detail.

Cubicle Coolness

Scott Adams of Dilbert cartoon fame, designed the ultimate cubicle. I suppose it's only natural that the person who spent years drawing little office-themed boxes on paper (his "cubicle farms" cartoons), would eventually want to develop a real-life box, so that real people can actually sit in and operate out of it, in comfort and style. The glowy honeycomb look & feel of this box beats all cubicles I've ever worked in, hands down, bar none.

Flashy Illustration

I like the tree. I like the lines that wander--a little bit unexpectedly--up and down the trunk and the branches. I like the illustration's feeling of design agency, Motto's web site.

That said, this web site is not the easiest to navigate... but I still love the feeling of simplicity. I like the bird that hops about on the branch. I am not sure about those Union Jacks that sit on the tips of each branch... what do they mean? Sometimes they hide the text that appears next to it. They are part of the nav, of course. Maybe not the most user-friendly, but certainly nice to look at. It reminds me of a book I read, when I was a kid in French school: Le Petit Prince.

Kitch Lives On: The Nantucket Whale

Among other notable styles that surfaced in the eighties, the preppy thing was all in. It was the rage to sport those little alligator Izod golf tees, red or pale yellow clam diggers, and canvas tote bags with repeated Nantucket whale motifs on them.

I thought everyone knew about these, but last night, at a friend's house for dinner, the hostess had never heard of the Nantucket whale pattern (that I thought was so popular, because I had a college roommate who owned one of everything ever made, that had a whale on it).

Perhaps the East Coast fad wasn't as commonplace as I remember it being, but apparently there are still a few Bif's and Buffy's roaming the planet. They keep places like Vineyard Vines (who are actually cultivating a following of sorts, by showcasing some particularly interesting preppy people here), in business.

Praizing the Praized

Praize 'n Raize is gaining ground. It was started by some guys in Montreal, one of which is my blogger friend, Harry, an ideas guy. I recently decided to try my hand at this app, now nicely integrated into Facebook, cool graphics and all. It's a way to bookmark your favorite hot spots around town, and share this information with other users... Kind of a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" review, of sorts.

Optical Illusionist: Installation Art

Swiss-born installation artist, Felice Varini, has been altering spaces since 1979. His work creates the illusion of someone having marked up the spaces he designs with giant markers and stickers. Check out his portfolio (page takes a while to load, but is worth the wait).