Hercules XIII - Classic Meets Cool In Scott Eaton's New Universal Tablet Stand

I thought it would be impossible for Scott Eaton to outdo the cleverness and aesthetic appeal of his Venus of Cupertino iPad docking station, but I was wrong. Behold, his new Hercules tablet holder/stand, a great counterpart to his functional female sculpture.



While Venus is an actual charging station for the iPad ($239.57), Hercules XIII  ($159.71) is designed as to be the perfect height and angle to browse all your media on your iPad, iPad Mini, Samsung, Google or Amazon tablets.  Available in matte white or glossy grey, the resin cast sculpture of the mythological son of Zeus cradles your tablets in a heroic pose that works in vertical (portrait) or horizontal (landscape) formats.






Each Hercules is hand-cast in museum-quality resin and costs $159.71 USD, but they have a pre-order special going on for 20% off.

EDITION: open
SHIPPING: worldwide
ARTIST/DESIGNER: Scott Eaton
PRE-ORDER estimated shipping in 8-10 weeks.

A shout out to my friend Bill Bowersock for bringing this to my attention!

Handcrafted Eco-Friendly Font Puzzles For Typophiles Hand Made in Italy.

above image is cropped

Fan of fonts? These beautifully designed and crafted painted plywood puzzles from Looodus are laser cut and hand-finished in the hills of Trivero in Piemonte, approximately two hour’s drive from Milan, Italy.



The puzzles are a true collaboration between designer and artisan, exploring the possibilities of computer aided design and hand finished products. A marriage of new technologies and pride in a craft handed down from father to son. Each puzzle goes through numerous checks to ensure a product which is precise and modern while being unmistakably artisanal.




Extreme care has been taken by Looodus to use a manufacturer who shares their values with attention to craft and quality while ensuring that the product is as environmentally friendly as possible. The process begins with the selection of wood used to create this beautiful piece. All the plywood is FSC (Forestal Stewardship Council) certified Poplar from the surrounding Padana Plane. This is where the majority of Poplar is grown for Italian paper and the carpentry sectors.




The concept for the Puzzle, like many of Looodus’ products, is born from observing the designer's baby daughter and her real life experience of being a first time parent. The Fonts were selected to be appropriate for their shape and size but also have a special place in the world of design. The colours have been checked and tested to offer a harmonious range across Green, Blue and Red.




“There are opportunities which arise every day to be creative and make quick fun toys for her, using the most rudimentary materials and sometimes these mini prototypes can become more refined products,” explains Kurt Stapelfeldt, Co-founder and Looodus Chief Designer.

NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER THREE YEARS OLD



buy them here

House Industries and Hugo Guinness Goodies From Chronicle Books.

Chronicle Books has just released two terrific collections for lovers of typography and contemporary art. Affordable, functional notecards, notebooks, postcards and journals.



Having teamed up with hip font foundry House Industries, Chronicle Books is offering a fabulous boxed postcard collection, a sticker and label book and a set of four mini eco-Journals.



House Industries 100 Postcards:




The boxed set of 100 postcards has an impressive range of letters, numbers, symbols, and patterns (including two full alphabets!) and is printed in bright, bold colors and silver metallic accents. Highlighting House Industries’ cache of typographic treasures, the postcards measure 4 3/8 x 6 1/4 x 2 3/4 inches and come in a cool hinged lidded box.
Link to buy:House Industries 100 Postcards

House Industries Labels & Stickers:




This will hip up scrapbookers everywhere! This handy portfolio contains hundreds of stickers adorned with House Industries’ one-of-a-kind fonts. Including full alphabets, numbers, and symbols galore, these colorful labels are kissed with metallic flourishes and are perfect for personalizing packages, labeling books, decorating goodies, and more. The kraft paperback portfolio measures 5 3/8 x 6 7/8 inches and has 30 full-color sticker sheets and metallic silver ink.
Link to buy: House Industries Labels & Stickers: Over 299 Typographic Stickers for Decor and Design

House Industries Four Mini Eco-Journals:


A set of hip mini eco-journals (1 graph, 1 lined, 1 blank, 1 dotted) feature enticing patterns with classic type elements, all drawn from House Industries’ collection of cool fonts. Featuring splashes of metallic ink and bold designs, these eye-catching journals are as covetable as they are portable. 4 notebooks, each notebook: paperback with stitched spine, 3 3/4 x 5 1/2 in, 48 pp, 100% recycled paper, 1-color interior, bellyband and polybagged.
Link to buy: House Industries Mini Eco-Journals: Four Mini Eco-Journals

Hugo Guinness Journal and Note Cards


Hugo Guinness, is a London-born New York-based artist, illustrator, model and writer. He is known for his illustrations in the New York Times and his bold, graphic black-and-white block prints, many of which have appeared in films and publications. Known for his fabulous lino cuts, Hugo Guinness has created a journal and boxed collection of notecards for Chronicle Books.

Desktop Objects Journal:




Five favorite pens lined up in a row—it’s an image that writers, artists, designers, and students will appreciate. Within, this sophisticated journal features striking linocuts of desktop objects, inspiring planning, doodling, note-taking, or dreaming. The journal measures 5 x 7 1/8 inches, has 192 pages with various 1-color illustrations and has a lay-flat binding making it easy to use.
Link to buy: Desktop Objects Journal

A Curious Collection - 20 Different Notecards and Envelopes:


An inkpot. A keychain. A vintage car. A dog. In this handsome and eclectic collection, 20 unique cards feature classic linocut prints from Hugo Guinness depicting all manner of things, ideal for all manner of correspondence. Measuring 4 3/8 x 5 9/16 x 1 9/16 inches each, the lidded box contains 20 cards (20 designs) and 20 envelopes.
Link to buy: A Curious Collection: 20 Different Notecards & Envelopes

Full disclosure: these items were sent to me for review from Chronicle Books, with the understanding that if I did not find them of interest, I would not blog about them.

Uber Stylish Backgammon Set by Arik Ben Simhon and Ben Frankforter.

This lovely, easy-to-carry, modern backgammon set crafted of oak with wooden playing pieces comes in a self-contained case of either wood or a flocked finish.





Photos © Ori Ackerman

Price $440
Buy it here

Test Your Typeface and Brand Knowledge With Two Cool Memory Games

The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog is a Typeface Memory Game based on the classic game of matching two images.




This very attractively finished typographic memory game includes 25 variations of the letter ‘A’, each in a different letter type. Players attempt to find the matching A’s in the same letter type. The player who has the highest number of matching letters wins the game. 
Typographic information about the letter is included on the card, and a separate folder provides a general history of the typography. This is an enjoyable and instructive game for graphic designers and anyone who is fascinated by letter types.
 As you play, you increasingly recognize what are often very subtle differences between the letters and more about the details of the letter types. They become progressively easier to recognize and distinguish from one another (even Univers and Helvetica!)



Among the letter types included in the game are Akzidenz Grotesk, Baskerville, Centaur, Garamond, Helvetica Rockwell, Times New Roman, Univers and many more. 
The game was assembled and designed by the Brazilian design studio, ps.2 arquitetura + design.



Design: ps.2 arquitetura + design
Format: hardcover
Dimensions: 2 x 25 cards






The Brand Memory Gameis another addition to the successful BIS memory games series, a new game about the knowledge of brands. 
For this game, Hendrik-Jan Grievink has made a selection of 30 internationally
 well-known brands, showing neither logo nor name on the images of the matching pairs.

The challenge is to find matching pairs of a brand, based solely on their characteristic colors and style elements and a short description of the brand.




Playing this game is great fun and offers an excellent test of your brand
 knowledge. 

Hendrik-Jan Grievink is also one of the creators of the Fake for Real Memory Game, which has already gone into its fifth edition.

Design: Hendrik-Jan Grievink
Format: hardcover
Dimensions: 2 x 30 cards