tired of 'to do' lists?

So am I. Especially as they lost their power to motivate me. That's why I love this idea of this clock, designed  by Maria Bergson called "Shoulda Woulda Coulda". The little coloured magnetic tags represent tasks to do that you set for each hour - when the time comes the hands start pushing them along as they move. So you can visualise how much you're due. Ingenious.

 

here is the link to designers website

 

Lego booties

When I was little I hated tying my shoelaces. I bet if I was given a pair of those Kickers Lego, doing my shoes would have been my favourite thing.

I think that Lego's interlocking system is one of the best fastenings ever invented, so using it in many different applications is a way to go. And being used in children's clothing and shoes gives them amazing play value.

via Babygadget

Paper business

For the last couple of weeks I have been surrounded by paper - paper cards, pop-ups and loads of wonderful flat and 3 dimensional things made out of paper. It's a completely different language of 3D design I am discovering now and I admit I'm getting surprised on every step.

Here is something nice I have found - very girly

However... as brilliant as paper may be - with all it's forms,textures,colours and its cheapness and availability and recycle-ability... it all seems like cheating... Temporary and non-durable design. I mean it is all good when we use it for cards and packaging and all that stuff that's going to waste after a few days. But I'm not really keen on those papery every day objects, like furniture for instance, that claim to be so eco-friendly. One rain and here goes your cardboard chair turned into paper pulp.

Paper cutouts

Since I have started freelancing in Tigerprint, I am surrounded by loads of talented people. Last week I have met Emily, who's really talented paper craft artist. What she does are very detailed, multi layered paper cutouts.

Emily is from Edinburgh so many of her pieces include Scottish symbols such as thistle or hairy cows, like the one above, which makes me feel a bit sentimental. 

More of her work can be found here.

Stop Motion Animation

For the last year I had the most contact with stop motion animation that I ever had in my entire life. Obviously this is due to my boyfriend Jacek, who is very much into stop-frame and directs and shoots his own animations.

This year he has completed two and a half films - "A.R.T." that can be watched here,"Not Growing Up" of which shooting is still in progress and "Once Upon the Time" which was a 1,5 min intro of my Baika Dolls and can be watched (link soon)

Sneaky shot from "Not Growing Up" scenery planning

However the final pieces do not show how much effort is involved in making a stop motion animation. As I had a chance to see everything behind the scenes and I must admit that this is a hard work including a lot of forward thinking and planing.
Jacek is registering his process on his blog: http://stoptheframe.blogspot.com

Interesting thing about stop-motion animation is that it is very traditional and sort of 'old school' of making films, but it is still very popular and appeals greatly to both adults and children, despite all the 3D computer graphics available. In the beginning I considered stop-frame films as a niche but as I'm more into them, I started to notice how stop-motion studios are around and how widely is the method used.
For example today I have found Raspberry Film studio that has very impressive site with nice graphics and lovely raspberry colour theme. Their animations are interesting when it comes to models and scenery, but I the stories could have made more sense.

Trzymyszy - cardboard toys

And again I find myself sighing about a toy design...

Trzymyszy (from polish: three mice) is a designer duo that is designing and producing cardboard toys for children. Inspired by their own kids, two graduates of  Warsaw Art Academy decided to make DIY houses and planes from card that can be build and painted by children according to their own taste.
I believe this is a great idea which encourages kids to make their own toys. Besides, how many times did the packaging box become more entertaining toy than the actual content.

house and its creators

pilot and his aeroplane

this clock looks amazing - I wonder if the gears turn - how cool would that be if it was actually working

Irrational toys

Something I really appreciate about childhood is its irrationality - kids perceive the world according to what they see and experience. The rest is dictated by their imagination often stimulated by stories, tales and legends they hear or watch. As adults I don't think we can fully understand and appreciate the beauty of this imaginative and irrational thinking. Therefore I really value toys that are produced to satisfy children's abstract rationale.

One example of a irrational toy I have seen recently on Yankodesign.com and it's called Echo. It is a soft creature without face but with a big ears and a peculiar wooden trumpet instead of mouth. The ears are connected to the trumpet using the string-phone fashion so Echo responds when a child is whispering some secrets into its ear.

It was created by Emi Schenkelbach.

via Yankodesign

Another really nice design which stayed in my memory since I have first seen in in Mint Design shop in London a year ago. It is called Buba and it was produced by Alon Meron.

Buba is a guardian against dark matter and its magical power comes from children's fallen milk teeth. I think this is a beautiful story. And here again  Buba doesn't have face - he has two rows of sharp teeth that scare the ghosts and monsters of the night.