I LOVE this magazine. I've only seen it at Barnes & Noble twice, but it's awesome. EVERYTHING in the magazine is either an article about someone or something doing good or about how to make your life, other's lives, the earth, everything.. better. This month's issue has a great section on Design and designing things better and how to improve on design in our lives.
The design itself is fantastic. The layout is great, the stock it's printed on is wonderful! It's a matte finish, and it's got a good weight to it. Not too flimsy or too thick. Not too much advertising, and all the ads are for good things (like KEEN shoes). Not to mention the smell of the ink is just lovely.
Overall though, the BEST part about it is that
100% of your subscription money goes to the organization of your choosing.. which means... if you're my friend, you'll be getting a subscription for Christmas!
In other really-awesome-design-worthy news,
Chef'n Good, one of
emma's clients whose e-mail stationery I worked up, asked if I'd like a care package (which the obvious answer is YES!). It came in Friday and was on my chair.. I was SO surprised to find what was inside. A ton of awesome kitchen goodies! I kept the vegetable steamer (that big round thingy with the looped handles) and Jenn kept the avacado thingy but the rest I donated to our new
emma building.
The
Chef'n Good design though, is amazing! I love the color scheme and it's incorporated throughout (right down to the bright purple bubble wrap to go with the purple in the logo). Not your typical, Williams and Sonoma/Crate & Barrel look. Their products all have a certain feel to them. Very sleek, ergonomic, and purposeful (and FUN!). The strainer in the image there is so cool! The green part expands when you dump your food in then closes back up to save space. And everything is made with heat and stain-resistant silicone. Very fancy stuff. You can tell a lot of thought goes into all of their products.
Needless to say, I was MOST impressed! And we'll definitely be sending out some
emma swag to them as well. But seriously, check out their site. They've got some really nifty products, a very stylish website and snazzy product design overall.
*sigh* It's that time of year again. Fair Week. And I'm down here in Nashville, no Fair for me. I don't know if it's the unGodly 90+ degree weather or just not seeing my family for months, or missing the times when I had a whole week off for Fair, but I'm definitely feeling down. I think a bit on the homesick side.