This week's selection, to be savoured over the course of a sunny afternoon. Enjoy.
Deadly Vintage
A vintage clothing website with lots of great finds (and very reasonable prices, too). For those who like their vintage with attitude.
Record Sleeves of the Month
The Creative Review blog picks their favourite record sleeves of the month. Some great design. But even better — a new (and beautifully designed) album by Stereolab! Yay!
A Waterproof Picnic Blanket
A nifty idea from (who else?) Martha Stewart. We've been getting a lot of rain alternating with heat this summer — our last picnic featured blazing sun and squelchy shade — so this is the perfect solution.
10 Things to Scratch From Your Worry List
John Tierney of the New York Times calms your fears of killer hot dogs, toxic water bottles and other warm weather worries. Get outside and enjoy those summer holidays!
A.R.E. Naturals
A nicely designed online shop that features green and organic home accessories for the kitchen, dining room and bath — plus organic bedding, natural cleaning products, and other good things. I rather like the Capiz Shell Chimes — they might be a good substitute for the Verner Panton's Fun Pendant Lamp (without the light, though) until I can afford the real thing...
It's How You Said It
Design heavyweight Paula Scher takes a look at the recent controversial New Yorker cover by Barry Blitt — a satirical portrayal of the right's image of the Obamas in the White House. I agree with Paula's opinion about the illustration style not working, though (as an illustrator myself) I don't think it needs to be replaced by photography, but rather by an illustrator with a much tougher approach (sorry, Barry!). Via Design Observer.
Coming Soon: Your Very Own Jetpack!
The first practical jetpack is currently going through its trial runs, though it's not the compact one that James Bond was using in the 60s. Pretty cool, though.
Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling
This new show at MOMA sounds intriguing — it's a history of the prefabricated home as well as a building project of five contemporary prefabricated houses in the Museum's Fifty-Fourth Street lot.
The lovely summery photograph is by Ngoc Minh Ngo.