Friday, April 23, 2010 at 10:38AM clas·sic /ˈ[klas-ik] –adjective : of enduring interest, quality, or style: a classic design; classic clothes.
Architecture, Design Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 8:40PM 
I am trying to find the perfect gift for a dear friend who is pregnant with twins (yes Andrea, I mean you!) Enter alphabeasties: and other Amazing Types. This beautifully thought out concept features animals created out of representative typefaces. There's a dachshund made out of Bauhaus "d"s and an alligator made out of Volta. Is it ever too early to teach children about good design? Created by the brilliance that is Werner Design Werks and available at Amazon.com or Chronicle Books.
Typography Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 8:07PM 
Vintage Audi poster created between 1968 and 1972 by Armin Hofman. Love the headlights. Simple and elegant.
Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 8:16PM 
Coca Cola is a sponsor of the 2010 Winter Olympics so I thought it would be interesting to show the history of the Coke bottle. Enjoy.
100 Years of Coca Cola bottles: (Left to Right) 1899 - 1900 - 1915 - 1916 - 1957 - 1986
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 7:40PM
I am always amazed when I travel overseas at how design is so functional and well thought out. In the European apartments, everything has a place and there is a place for everything. It isn't a surprise then that the designers of the new Guerlain Rouge G lipstick took the same approach. The packaging combines both glamour and functionality into one small handheld "device". They turned the lipstick package into a compact; a magnet holds the two parts together, and the opening with lipstick reveals a two-part mirror with which you can easily apply the lipstick. This is one powerful pistol for your pout! Find more great packaging over at The Dieline.
Monday, January 4, 2010 at 9:42PM
Harry Barker = upscale dog boutique. Shhhhhh....don't tell our designer dogs.
Saturday, December 26, 2009 at 1:55PM 
Move over, mimosa yellow, Pantone 15-5519 has arrived!
Pantone LLC has announced that Pantone 15-5519 Turquoise is the Color of the Year for 2010.
Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®, credited its connection to feelings of serenity, protection and luscious escapism.
Time to get out all that Southwestern jewelry! Better yet, head on over to the Heard Museum website to pick out a new turquoise necklace for the New Year.
Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 11:29AM 
PR Boutiques International Reveals New Look, Expands Global Reach
Doubling membership, PRBI launches efficient new website and logo
New York, Oct. 14, 2009 – Public Relations Boutiques International™ (PRBI) unveiled a new web site and logo today that reflect the rapid growth of the organization as well as its global expansion.
PRBI’s new site features an interactive map where visitors may easily and dynamically access information about the organization’s members. Firms hale from all around the world including Europe, Asia, North America and South America. The new logo conveys the sophistication, reach and power of boutique agencies sharing resources and best practices.
Membership has grown from 12 to 29 agencies in less than two years. “Our new website is easier to navigate, and is a useful tool to reach both prospective members in areas where we are not yet represented and also potential clients,” said Lucy Siegel, president, PRBI (and president/CEO, Bridge Global Strategies LLC in New York.).
The new site was developed by RM Corporate Communication in England. The logo was designed by Alchemy PR & Marketing in Phoenix, Ariz. “Our members are pleased with the elegance of both the web site and the logo,” Siegel commented. “We hope the site will draw a multitude of visitors and help us increase the visibility of our organization.”
About PR Boutiques International:
Public Relations Boutiques International™ (PRBI) is an international network of boutique public relations firms. The principals of member firms are experienced practitioners who have held senior positions in large PR agencies and/or corporations but now put service first and work directly with clients. PRBI member firms excel in meeting a huge range of client needs in a large number of industries, including corporate public relations, consumer PR, health care PR, investor relations, crisis management, business-to-business PR, economic development PR, not-for-profit, academia, government, financial, technology, legal, multicultural and international PR. Member practitioners have won the highest levels of professional awards, with qualifications ranging from PhDs to former top journalists. They also represent memberships in the most noteworthy international public relations and business associations. For more information, visit http://www.prboutiques.com
Friday, December 11, 2009 at 7:00PM 
The logo for the 2014 Winter Olympics, to be held in Sochi, Russia, was unveiled recently, becoming the first Olympic emblem to feature a web address—Sochi2014.ru—as organisers target the digital generation. The Sochi 2014 brand was developed by big-hitter brand consultancy Interbrand. The "s" and "2" of the typeface selection and placement is seamless. Nice job Interbrand. For more information, head on over to logodesignlove.
Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 4:57PM 
Simple, elegant and perfect for a sweet treat. Mmmmmmm....
And here's a fondue recipe to go with it:
Chocolate and Coconut Cream Fondue
Combine sweetened cream of coconut and 12 ounces chocolate in heavy large saucepan. Stir mixture over very low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Stir in whipping cream and extract. (Fondue can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover; store at room temperature. Stir over low heat to rewarm before serving.)
Transfer mixture to fondue pot. Place over candle or canned heat burner. Serve with fruit for dipping.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 12:01PM According to Technorati’s 2009 State of the Blogosphere Report, bloggers are generally an affluent and educated group. The report, released on Monday, focuses on professional blogging activities, brands in the blogosphere, monetization, micro-blogging and bloggers’ impact on U.S. and international events.
Per the report, 73% of bloggers are hobbyists, who blog for fun and do not earn income from their site. The report focused on the remaining groups: part-timers (15%), corporate (4%) and self employed (9%).
Among the findings on current professional bloggers, Technorati found:
• Two-thirds are male
• 60 percent are ages 18 to 44
• The majority are more affluent and educated than the general population:
- 75 percent hold college degrees and 40 percent have graduate degrees
- One in three has an annual household income of at least $75,000, and one in four has an annual household income of $100,000 or more.
• More than half are married
• More than half are parents
Monday, September 21, 2009 at 5:03PM 
The quote says it all. I hope this inspires everyone to go out and be brilliant in whatever you choose.
Have a great day!
Communications Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 9:26PM 
When I work in my home office, my mind often drifts thinking of all the places I want to see in the world. Prague, Mount Rushmore, St. Petersburg. But my dream always starts and ends in Africa on safari. So I immediately "connected" with these cute little animal USB memory drives from Japan. Now, I can have my own little elephant sitting on my desk.
These USB pets are from Japanese company Marubeni InfoTech. Available in both walnut and maple, you can choose between a 1 GB dog, pig, elephant, hippo, or swan. Or get them all and have your very own herd. They could have chosen a better place for the USB cord but hey, they are so cute I can overlook this design flaw.
Available at the monoDO website for 7,980 yen, which is about $73 US. (website is in Japanese, but I’ve linked to the translated version). Thanks to Geek Alerts and Paige + Modern for bringing a piece of the animal kingdom to me!
Design, Dogs, Home Decor Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 8:36PM 
Today was the 24th season premiere for The Oprah Winfrey Show. The Black Eyed Peas performed their newest song and number one single, “I Got a Feeling,” on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. At first, for a good ten seconds of more, not a single person in the audience even moved. I thought, uh oh Oprah’s show is going to need to do some damage control since this will hurt the Peas’ reputation. And then it happened…a flash mob…hands down the best publicity stunt!
A flash mob is when a large group of people get together in a public space and perform an unusual action to gain intrigue and pique interest from the public. You may recall T-Mobile incorporates flash mob tactics in their ad campaigns. I would have loved to have orchestrated today’s performance on Oprah – it was so creative and full of energy.
Check out today’s performance on YouTube, “OPRAH (TV) FlashMob 24th Season Kickoff & "How Did They Do That" aired 9/10/09.”
Oprah’s PR team must have had the most fun with this flash mob initiative. How did they pull it off? Oprah’s team hired a famous choreographer, 20 professional dancers and recruited 800 Oprah fans on Facebook and Twitter to participate in the dance lessons beforehand. Not to mention block off Michigan Avenue, as well as spend a pretty penny. At the event, these 821 dancers were able to inspire the 21,000 people in attendance to follow their moves to make the largest flash mob ever performed in the world. Now that’s the way to generate momentum for your 24th season…not that Oprah needs help in the popularity department.
Saturday, September 5, 2009 at 12:23PM
Rain showers my spirit and waters my soul.
~Emily Logan Decens
Photography Friday, September 4, 2009 at 6:12PM Today the US unemployment rate hit 9.7%. Certainly it's a far cry from the lowest recorded unemployment rate during the Great Depression. That was 25% in 1933. So, we all know it's important to stand out in the job market. Leave it to an enterprising designer to do just that. If you are looking for a designer who obviously knows infographic design....his contact is clearly on the top of his resume.
Friday, August 14, 2009 at 11:46AM
CEO Paul Levy of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston is progressive and primitive in his corporate communications approach. Let me explain. Levy’s approach is “primitive” because it fundamentally goes back to the basics – honestly, openness and collaboration. Yet, at the same time he is using progressive new media channels as an engagement tool.
Levy identified transparency as a crucial part of problem solving when he was tasked with addressing a $20 million deficit. He opened lines of communication to employees on the front lines for suggestions on how they feel the organization could be run more efficiently and effectively. Levy sent emails to all of the staff with the nature of the problem and welcomed participating. Thousands of people actively provided input at scheduled town meetings and social media forums like chat rooms that Beth Israel set up. The result? Layoffs were reduced by 75%. Rather than the projected layoffs of 600 employees, only 150 were deemed necessary.
Like Beth Israel, many companies are facing financial difficulties in this challenging economic climate. The key is for an organization to provide good news and the bad news. Companies must be open and honest because hiding bad news only leads to speculation and the loss of integrity and leadership.
The following is an audio interview with Levy conducted by the Harvard Business School. I hope this lends management inspiration to you.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 3:19PM 
For those of you who have been to my home, you know how much I adore my oven. It is the original General Electric that was installed when our house was built in 1957. When my husband and I found the house, his first home improvement item was to replace the oven. My response was "over my dead body." Needless to say I have a lot vested in this oven.
So, last week when it caught on fire while cooking a yummy steak, I knew I had to protect it - not just against my husband's wrath but also from itself.
We couldn't remember the last time we replaced our fire extinguishers. We could get a generic replacement at Costco for $70 but didn't my oven deserve something better after all those years of service? Something to express its personality? Something that is so pretty it could be on display? Or even better, a fire extinguisher that we could custom design?
As luck would have it, the French think like I do. Enter www.fire-design.fr. Ooh-la-la!
Home Decor Monday, August 3, 2009 at 4:45PM
In thought leadership today, social media and traditional media are being used as forums to position people as subject matter experts and gain loyal followings.Thought leadership styles include approaches that position people as visionary or innovative (i.e. Steve Jobs) and educational or supportive (i.e. Oprah Winfrey).
I found Ryan Zuk’s commentary in the July issue of PRSA spot on in regards to the six traits thought leaders must adhere to:
• Knowledgeable — they develop expertise on a specific topic and share it freely.
• Aware — they track trends in their industry and across business at large so that they can insert themselves into conversations, or start new ones, in a timely and relevant manner.
• Interesting — they are charismatic and have memorable ways of delivering their messages.
• Innovative — they create new ways of thinking about and solving problems, and highlight these ideas in their conversations, writings, media interviews and speaking engagements.
• Engaged — they start conversations, and stick around to facilitate and encourage them, often including a compelling call to action or question that helps spread their message.
• Accessible — they openly make themselves available to media, analysts, prospects, customers, fans and followers so that their ideas resonate and can be shared easily across the social Web.
Monday, July 27, 2009 at 11:41AM 
I wanted to share a really interesting social experiment that I heard about through LK's Grab Bag blog.
A musician playing violin in a Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning......
He played six Bach pieces for about 60 minutes. During that time approximately 1,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After:
3 minutes
A middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes
A three year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.
45 minutes
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.
1 hour
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
This is a real story. The Washington Post, as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities, arranged the entire scenario. Playing incognito, no one knew the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days prior to this, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the tickets averaged $100 per seat.
The questions raised:
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments .......
How many other things are we missing?
