by Annie | Mar 25, 2010 | Other
Well, actually, the water bottles below are built to hold cold water (not haute), but you get the idea. I recently attended a meeting at a design firm and was given a bottle of water shaped like a flask. What a novel idea! I could drink the water, fill it back up with <ahem> other clear liquid, and reuse the “water” bottle. Here are some other fun water bottle designs you might run across: In case you’re wondering, the multi-colored bone-shaped bottles were designed for vitamin waters for kids. The bottles double as toys that connect to each other like K’Nex or Legos. Neat,...
by Annie | Mar 23, 2010 | Illustration Station
No, this is not a shameless plug for my favorite fast food restaurant, though if it does make you crave Chipotle’s juicy marinated meat, fresh guacamole and salsa, and steamy tortillas, so be it. Conversation can be somewhat difficult for me when eating at Chipotle, since my mouth is constantly stuffed to its maximum capacity. Thus, most of my time is spent looking around, admiring the scenery, and preparing my next perfect bite. During a recent visit to Chipotle, as I was savoring a giant mouthful of goodness, I noticed the graphics on Chipotle’s napkins. What a great means of communication! These graphic instructions provide crucial eating tips while saving paper....
by Annie | Mar 3, 2010 | Other
Residents and tourists of DC are no doubt familiar with the seemingly useless box/post fixtures on many street corners in the District. Back in the day (ca. 1860s), these wrought-iron fixtures served as emergency call boxes. They contained telephones with direct connections to the police station. Once a call was made, the globe on top of the pole would light up, indicating to arriving police officers where help was needed. A century and a half later, many of these fixtures, too heavy to be removed, have fallen into disrepair. Since the call boxes were replaced with the 911 system in the 1970s, the phones in the call boxes have been removed, and many of the poles vary from drab shades of gray to dull shades of tan. However, since 2002, the Arts on Call project has worked to beautify over 100 call boxes by repainting and embellishing them. Here are some that you might see while walking around DC: So the next time you see one of these things on the street corner, stop and take a moment to appreciate this valuable piece of DC...
by Annie | Feb 18, 2010 | Typographically Speaking
Who doesn’t love a Hershey’s bar? The creamy milk chocolate is a must-have for any s’mores sandwich and makes a delightful anytime snack. Hershey’s bars were originally wrapped in white paper with scripty gold lettering. Through the years, dark paper was introduced due to an accusation of copyright infringement, and the iconic block lettering was added. Hershey bars were just 5 cents through the end of 1969. Then, they doubled to 10 cents, and the price has been climbing ever since. Notice on the earlier versions that the chocolate bar was dubbed a “nutritious confection” and a “nourishing food.” Those labels were dropped in the 1930s, and after the nutrition label was added in 1973, no one can claim that the bar is very nutritious. It is, however, undeniably...
by Annie | Feb 11, 2010 | Logoland
Ah, Valentines Day. According to the Greeting Card Association, over 1 billion valentine cards are sent each year. That makes Valentines Day second only to Christmas in terms of largest card-sending holidays. But hearts aren’t just for Valentines Day. Check out some logos that successfully incorporate hearty sentiments...
