Recently in Pretty Category

December 3, 2009

I recently got a new job. I have moved from working in a very stressful news environment to working in what seems like the complete opposite. The best part of this move was taking twelve days off in-between. Everyone needs to do that when they can. I got so much done during that time - closets and computer files were organized, trash was trashed, blankets were cleaned. I also ended up getting creative in a way I've been to stressed to do in a while. I painted and put up Christmas lights, changed my Ikea desktop from a plain natural Vika to a blue, peanut-shaped Vika Manne - it is a great thing, to refresh the home place.

So, as I try to get re-inspired web-wise, I'm going to post a pic of a refreshed area of my home that I particularly love...off to surf for all the fab design I've missed out on in the past couple of months.

By kim | Permalink | Comments (0)

---

October 8, 2009

I was lucky enough to come across this beautiful Czech magazine called DNA21. It's in Czech, but you don't need to know how to read the language to get inspiration from the amazing photography, graphics, fashion etc. Here are a couple of examples of the great stuff you'll find:

By kim | Permalink | Comments (0)

---

September 25, 2009

Smashing Magazine has a great article on "Kinetic Photography," which is photography using a camera that is in motion. There are some amazing examples, obtained by tossing, flipping, shaking, spinning, or otherwise moving the camera - be sure you can catch it, if you decide to try the tossing method.

I gave it a try, and came up with a much cooler result than I've gotten from just taking blurry pics - the on-purpose blurries can really deliver. This is nothing compared to the examples in Smashing's article , but it's not bad. :)

By kim | Permalink | Comments (0)

---

September 14, 2009

I'm a believer that including a surprise soundtrack in websites is a bad idea. I'm not talking about sites for musicians, obviously, or games or any other site where it makes sense that music would play upon loading. I'm talking about just normal business sites, portfolio sites, etc. I don't even care how cool the music is - I came across a beautiful site playing a cool Kruder and Dorfmeister song when I loaded it, but the K&D was cranked up really loud and when combined with the what-ever-I-was-listening-to through my earbuds at work, it didn't work.

However, I recently came across this beautiful portfolio site by Jin Young Kim, and I totally forgive her for the music. In fact, the music helps make the site more magical. It really is magical design - check it out (and turn off whatever else you're listening to, turn the speakers on, whichever applies):

By kim | Permalink | Comments (0)

---

September 12, 2009

I'm sure it won't last long, but it's been nice to have a lull in the workload and to have time to find some great inspiration out there. A friend and I are planning a new site, and I've had a terrible mind-block on how it should look, function etc. Six months or more with little time for checking stuff out can atrophy your creativity. But, I found several sites that are curing that little problem, particularly the two below. I love the bright colors of Design Finds, and this article about using vintage colors directly from the original image makes a lot of sense and can provide beautiful results.

Another nice design site is Let's Kiosk. I'm partial to minimalist sites, but they tend to all look the same after a while. Let's Kiosk has a really nice layout that functions differently than a lot of minimalist sites out there - I like the fixed right and left columns...works well here. Check it out:

By kim | Permalink | Comments (0)

---

May 1, 2009

My poor neglected blog, it's like one of those old houses in a ghost town that still has food on the table but is covered with several inches of dust. This new year, that's already almost half-way finished, has been insane.

I'm reminding myself now, though, that if I don't keep my personal, non-work-but-still-career-related projects fresh and new, I'll end up turning into something petrified and dusty, too. While I focus on turning the non-survival part of my brain back on, here's all I have for now - the good part of 2009 so far. We moved to a place that actually has a view, which my cats in particular enjoy. I love seeing kitties in the window:

By kim | Permalink | Comments (0)

---

December 18, 2008

Found via COULOURlovers, this amazing site from Kashiwa Sato. It features animated color palettes using the colors of various projects. It could get hypnotizing after a while...check it out!

By kim | Permalink | Comments (0)

---