Welcome to this week's selection of links. Enjoy.
Vintage Photos of Paris
The online photographic collection of the City of Paris. Amazing. Via things magazine.
Ceding Control to a World of Random Beauty
Alice Rawsthorn looks at contemporary designers who work with natural crystals to create forms such as chairs and other objects. Unlike traditional design, where the final product is a predicted result of careful planning, these designers consciously cede control over the final result — the medium dictates the form.
Inspired Reading
Goodness blog recently asked a group of noted graphic designers to recommend a book that they found inspiring or meaningful in their development as a creative person... but wasn't on graphic design. The answers are quite interesting. Via Swiss Miss.
Multicolr Search Lab by Idée
The Multicolr Search Lab has applied its visual similarity technology to Flickr — choose up to ten colours, and in return it'll find Flickr photos in those colours. Quite mesmerizing, actually. Via Kottke.
Words of Wisdom From Vivienne Westwood
A bit of eccentric but inspiring advice from a fashion legend.
The Politics of the Retouched Headshot
Virginia Postrel of The Atlantic examines just what constitutes a valid portrait these days in an increasingly image-savvy culture. Via Design Observer.
Subliminal Veggies
Alicia of the great bread & honey blog has photographic proof of frozen broccoli packaging gone weird. A must-see!
Download, Print, Fold, Paste
Low-tech Magazine has a great post full of links to sites with downloadable paper models, from vintage ones of 19th century French circuses to modern spaceships. Via Cabinet Magazine.
The pretty photograph is from the portfolio of stylist Lucyina Moodie.