Twinkle Loon

Wow! I can not even tell you how cool I think these Tin Can Lids are designed by Jack Bresnahan. Apparently he is a recent 3D Design graduate from Northumbria University. I saw this article about his new design on Dezeen (which is an awesome site! You should check it out right now!) after seeing a little snippet on Notcot. Oh the internet! I love how one thing leads to another and on and on…

Back to Jack, I love these designs so much. They are so simple and lovely and biodegradable! I have no idea what they are made from but he says they are biodegradable (I’ll believe him for now). The quote Dezeen has from him is great” anything that ends up in landfill is simply poor design”. Awesome! How can we get more designers to think like this?

(Image: from Dezeen)

Five days in Paris just wasn’t really enough. The city was beautiful but I wish that I had the opportunity to go to the countryside. I love going to cities but I always feel like going to smaller towns is what gives you a realistic view of that culture. Right off the bat one of the things I noticed was that Parisians are beautiful, fit, and know how to dress! I wish I had the courage to photograph some of the amazing outfits I saw.

As cliche as it sounds my favorite activity was climbing up the Eiffel tower. It was really impressive and the view was amazing! My second favorite thing we did in Paris was laying on the grass in the gardens by the Louvre (but not the Tuileries… I’m not sure what the ones we were in were called). We bought paninis from a near by stand and laid in the grass snacking and napping for a few hours.

If I could sum up Paris in one word it would be “impeccable”.

The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona Spain was started in 1882. Just one year later Antoni Gaudi took over designing the church. He worked on it until his death in 1923, devoting the last 12 years of his life exclusively to it and the work continues today. The projected finish date of this amazing Church is 2030. Is was breathtaking to see in person! The church towers over the entire city. From any high point you can see it’s massive pillars like a giant drip sand castle (as my sister describes it).

It was really interesting to go through the mini museum they had on the history and design of the church. I loved seeing all the photos of Gaudi’s inspiration. In the photo above you can see the huge pillars of the main chapel. They really do look like stylized trees with the canopy of leaves creating the ceiling.

The exterior of the church is covered in detailed sculptures. When you see all the details up close it’s not difficult to believe that this has been in the making for 127 years! I have a sneaking suspicion that this will not be finished in 2030 but when it is finished my friends and I have vowed to go see it again. I might actually check in on it before it’s finished, I can’t wait to go back to Barcelona I loved the city so much!

Not too long ago my friend Anne e-mailed me this eco-font. Ok so it’s not the prettiest looking font when it’s all blown up like that. But when it is a normal point size you can’t even tell there are little swiss-cheese holes in every letter. The site claims to reduce the amount of ink used by 20% ! Pretty cool, I think. So if you really have to print out something you might want to consider this font.  I am desperately trying not to print out anything, ever. It’s not only a waste but the paper collects by the stacks in my house. If I let paper in it never seems to leave…. curious phenomena, I think it’s called “pack rat”. Apologies for the mini tangent!

On Not-cot I saw this post where Matt Robinson took it upon himself to see just how much ink (from a ballpoint pen) different mainstream type faces would use. It’s not exactly a scientific way of measuring how much ink is used since he could fill in the lines of one font more than the other (sorry, I’m a bit of a stickler for the scientific method). But I think it’s a really great way of making someone aware that something as simple as changing the font before you print out a letter could, in the long run, will save money and resources.

(Image from: mattewrobinson.co.uk )

I’m in love! We have been in Barcelona now for six days and I am completely sold. I love it here! We have seen so much in six days and even had a couple days of rest when it rained. We have seen the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, the Gaudi apartment building, the Picasso Museum, and the Dali Museum and the Tour de France! But more than that I love the city. The people here are kind and casual and ready to have fun. It’s got a real NYC vibe with all the people and little cafes and restaurants but has the laid back attitude of a beach side town.