While there is often a deeper meaning behind art created with words, text can often be mesmerizing purely for its repetition. I confess to loving the use of words for the hypnotic rhythm that they create. The effect can be like a blanket or textile of letters that slowly envelope as you gaze. Here are a few pieces that I find particularly appealing.

Sean Landers, Thought Bubble (1994) & Navel Gaze (1995)

Via imageobjecttext

Various pieces by Annie Vought

Via Annie Vought

North Adams (2007) installation from Jenny Holzer’s Projection Series

Via Jenny Holzer

Match sculptures are becoming all the rage. The artists featured below incorporate using different colored and burned matches to create texture and intrigue in their sculptures. Hot!

Pei-san Ng

Claire Fontaine

David Mach

In a recent search for unusual fabrics with type/font, I was wowed more by the classics I found at Maharam than many of the contemporary designs out there:

Alphabet by Alexander Girard, 1952

Names by Alexander Girard, 1957

Letters by Gunnar Aagaard, 1955

But here are 2 current fabrics that did catch my eye – both bold and graphic yet minimal and well balanced:

Nature Will Prevail fabric from Thea & Sami (left); Yuwa Kei fabric from True Up (right)
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Every event needs a great marketing strategy. Invitations set the tone for your guests and if printed, make your event all the more personalized in a world of online invitations and mass emails. I ran across this really cool wedding invitation via Beast Pieces, designed by Scott Peiffer. The letterpress is an added bonus on these beautifully designed pieces. I am digging the color palette and fun moments of whimsy (flamingo pattern, oh yeah!)

These rockstar reinvention posters are so minimalist and inspiring I’m having a twinge of nostalgia for art school. Swissted is an ongoing project by graphic designer Mike Joyce, owner of stereotype design in NYC. Using his influence of music, form and typography, he has reinvented some of the classics.

Happy Valentine’s Day. What perfect timing. Last week I went to the first art show for Everyday Valentine. Trina Spiller, a genuine lover, just plain cool girl, and the artist behind these poetic illustrative pieces of art, is just the type of person you want to be around. If you don’t know her, each one of her pieces takes a bit of her humor and lovely nature and swirls it up in a quirky one-of-a-kind piece that you can buy, if only to remember to smile every time you look at it. Trina was kind enough to engage in a quick Q&A. Read below for more.

Jump to the next page to read Trina’s interview!
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Ok. So, I know Valentine’s Day is cheesy. It’s a holiday mainly dedicated to the sale of candy, pink teddy bears, and expensive roses. We don’t celebrate it in our house as a couple, but I love the idea of throwing a party or celebrating it with friend’s. I found these so cute V-day cards from the girls over at Hello Lucky and I instantly was taken back 20++ years. I have fond memories of hand crafting my own little mailbox in homeroom and anticipating the moment when I could distribute all those Valentine day notes that I, oh-so-carefully choose for my close friends. And of course we can’t forget the one or two special ones for those cute boys hoping they’d clue in to the message on the front, “I cho cho choose you”? (they never did clue in, did they?)

One of our favorite designers for events is none other than David Stark. David works in a world free of constraints and expectations. Here, he hired to create the mood for an evening gala called ART NEXT for the American Friends of the Israel Museum. The logo for NEXT was transformed as a huge installation piece hanging from the ceiling. Created of welded steel, florescent flagging tape dramatically draped from all points along the type. The effect, especially when the light hits it, is radiating and dynamic.

Photography // Susan Montagna

I came across this awesome typographic video yesterday. Doyle Partners, a design firm in New York, created these incredible typographic installations at KIPP Infinity, a charter school in Harlem, and Riverdale, a private school in the Bronx. The New York Times commissioned these installations for the recent article, “What if the Secret to Success is Failure?” I love how each of the set of letterforms create these graphic installation pieces that students interact with in different ways, while also subliminally getting a dose of positivity and realism.

In The Gym from Doyle Partners on Vimeo.

I love the holidays! More opportunities to host and break out my special cocktail menus and party dresses. I am so inspired by this Kate Spade shoot. What a great way to reinvent the holidays. Can’t afford a tree? Draw one. Want a new holiday idea? Go crazy with the glitter! How cute and delicate.

I ask you, is it too late to whip up a holiday extravaganza with only three weeks to spare? I hope not, because I’m on board to make this happen!

Photography: Alison Conklin / Styling: Styled Creative / Cakes and Cupcakes: Brown Betty Desserts / Paper Materials: Two Paperdolls

read on to hear more about the shoot from the Kate Spade team!

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