Miller Goodman

It's lucky I don't have kids. I'm afraid I would spend way too much money on toys that they wouldn't be allowed to play with. Children's toys should be simple, colorful and safe. And if you have to pay $100 for a set of blocks in order to fulfill those standards, so be it.


I love the ShapeMaker and PlayShape wooden blocks by Miller-Goodman. They remind me of a bunch of different things I like: the wooden toys created by Alexander Girard, AJ Fosik's rad spirit creature heads, designs by Paul Rand + Charlie Harper, Mary Blair's It's a Small World Ride, and 60's Scandinavian dishware.

This animation is pretty darn cute too:



More at the ShapeMaker Flickr pool + PlayShapes Flickr pool and at their shop.

Alexander Everywhere

Gasp!

Bicycles?





Home Decor at Urban Outfitters?





Now if someone would just issue a reprint of the 1962-63 "The Nativity" Poster...

... re-manufacture this couch..

..And reopen La Fonda Del Sol, with his designs and not this.

I don't mind his stuff being sold at Urban Outfitters. Maybe because it's almost affordable now. I've seen reissues of the "heart" pillow for close to $100 on design sites.

I am sooo disappointed that www.fondadelsol.net has been taken down. Whoever ran the site, had pictures of everything. It makes me want to take every picture from The Braniff Pages and save them to my hard drive, just in case it disapears too.

Jeff Canham

I love the work of artist Jeff Canham.
I wonder why.





House Industries is releasing a Alexander Girard Font soon(?)! Can't wait.

More Alexander Girard

Oh my gosh. I want them I want them I want them!

FLOR is about to release an Alexander Girard line and I can't wait to see it tile by tile. (Maybe I'll be able to afford at least one for my wall - I mean there's no way I would walk on these.)

I just cannot get enough of him. He encompasses everything that I love about design. Bright color, simple lines, inspired by folk art, modern and sleek but but still comfortable, intimate and playful. He and Mary Blair can absolutely do no wrong in my book.

Here are some images from the amazing site lafondadelsol.net, which is all about the restaurant he designed in 1961. (Gosh, have I already posted about this???) He designed everything from the wall hangings to the dishware - and it's all fantastic.




Look - that's a paper plate that transforms magically. Even the directions are pretty.
He designed the chair and the fabric. (He was the head of the Herman Miller Furniture Company textiles division in the 50's).
A menu. I can't say for sure - but I think it's the size of a record album.

The bottom of a glass. Could you just die?

One day, I'd like to visit the Museum of International Folk Art and see the collection of 10,000 pieces from the Girard Foundation Collection. Oh, and yeah, apparently I have already posted about him. Probably not the last time either...

Braniff

I can't sleep. So I'm having popcorn in a pyrex bowl and a ginger ale and reading about the fantastical world of Braniff Airlines. Boy, I'll tell you what. One of the most thrilling things in life is discovering something you knew nothing about, but that has been there your whole life.
How is it possible that I've never even heard of Braniff?

I discovered them while researching my new favorite designer Alexander Girard. His work brings my hand to my chest with a deep sigh. I wish I could make it to the SFMOMA to see the exhibition of his works.

Girard's design for La Fonda del Sol in New York City is absolutely incredible. He wasn't just the interior designer - he singlehandedly invented a distinct atmosphere for the restaurant. He designed everything- the tables, dishes, glassware, napkins, salt shakers, signs, menus, matchboxes, ashtrays and uniforms. As far as I can tell his only collaboration was with Eames who designed the chairs.

I kinda just can't even stand it - how much I love his stuff. It encompasses so much of what I'm drawn to - he's a modernist, but it's softened with colorful Mexican folk art, a passion for bold color, simple shapes and typography, a Swedish design influence, wooden toys, hearts! (mary blair-ish too, see below) It's just so sweetly joyful. I love love love it! Apparently so much so that I'll have to wait to post about Braniff. The birds are chirpin' and I gotta get to work!