A tiny wooden steamship.

It actually works! Coo.

The ship has an engine – but an unusual type, one that manages without pistons, wheels or cylinders. It consists of a brass pipe and a tea candle. First fill the pipe with water. Then light the tea candle. When the water comes to the boil, it turns into steam and seeks to escape. This produces a partial vacuum in the pipe, which in turns sucks in fresh water. The force of the escaping steam being stronger than that of the incoming water, the ship is propelled in a forward direction – for some time, until the flame of the tea candle goes out.

Steamship with special Pulsation Engine - Manufactum

Tattly™ Traffic Cones

As someone who used to live eight min from work and now drives to the suburbs for work -- during the most ghastly Wisconsin construction season EVER -- I feel like I need these. As a badge of honor. Or badge of shame. Not sure which. Love 'em.

Tattly™ Designy Temporary Tattoos — Traffic Cones

Art Shay: The Sporting Life & Times

I could not be more proud of my bestie, Bradley, for his work on this video and the Art Shay exhibit tonight at HDC.

Art Shay: The Sporting Life and Times from Bradley Rochford on Vimeo.


Art Shay (b. 1922) is a photographer and writer who has captured and helped define the American experience for the better part of seven decades. After flying 52 combat missions during World War II, Shay took a job as a staff reporter at Life magazine. There he wrote a hundred anonymous stories and did time in the New York, Washington, San Francisco and Chicago bureaus, finally leaving to pursue his first love, photography. He was soon shooting pictures regularly for Sports Illustrated, Time, Life, Fortune, the Saturday Evening Post, Forbes, Business Week, Parade and The New York Times Magazine.

Since the opening in 1976 of Northbrook Court Mall in Northbrook, Illinois, Shay has been chronicling life at the mall. He is also working on a project on the life of The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan. Since the end of 2010, he has been writing a weekly photography blog “From the Vault of Art Shay” on Chicagoist.

Art Shay: The Sporting Life &Times

More here: The Sporting Life and Times: Art Shay, a legendary photojournalist at 91 years of age you must know | ISO 1200 Magazine | Photography Video blog for photographers

Artisinal Tinfoil Hats: my new favorite Kickstarter.

Artisanal Tinfoil Haberdashery by Master Haberdasher Patrick Blanchfield — Kickstarter

Tiny paint chip paintings by Seanna Hong

I'm genuinely embarrassed by how long this has been sitting in my blog queue. But, unlike most posts, I feel that, even though it's OFN, it's still worth posting. I love these tiny paintings on good ol' paint store color chips.

Seonna Hong: Selected Works 2011

via JeannieJeannie

Ummmm - I'm back.

Hullo? Is this thing on?

I'm sorry I've been so damned quiet as of late. It's because I've been in the throes of changing jobs after 16 YEARS. Daaaamn. My robot army and I just (well, almost three weeks ago now) moved from HDC to Bader Rutter & Associates - another agency here in the Milwaukee area. I'm now officially commuting from the east side to the 'burbs, which seriously bites, but the new job is ace.

Anyway, I'm happy to be settling into my new job and new life as a Senior UX Architect. Especially since I'm now reporting to my pal, Gretchen, who is, seriously, brilliant, but for some reason, kept sending me pictures of sexy gorillas and things like this before I started my new gig:

That's it. Just thought you deserved an explanation. Carry on.

How to fold a shirt in under 2 seconds.

 Okay, seriously. This is pretty amazing.



via Digg Videos

Rare color film of London in 1927.

My favorite city in the whole wide world looks spectacular in this little film.


In 1927 Claude Friese-Greene shot some of the first-ever color film footage around London. He captured everyday life in the city with a technique innovated by his father, called Biocolour.

Rare color film shows what London looked like in 1927 | Death and Taxes

Book dustjacket allows readers to donate books to charity.

This is SOOOOO brilliant. I hope to see more of this!

 

Conceived through a collaboration between creative agency BMF and The Footpath Library charity, the idea is a fairly simple one – dust jackets are redesigned to include flaps that, when flipped around, turn into sturdy packaging that can be wrapped around the book and sealed. The reverse is pre-addressed with the details of The Footpath Library and the postage is pre-paid, although the retail price is slightly higher than standard books. Once they’ve been sent, the charity distributes the books to homeless and poor people who don’t have easy access to literature.

In Australia, dustjacket-envelopes encourage consumers to gift finished books to charity | Springwise

I really, really want The Griz Coat.

The Griz Coat from Shravan Vidyarthi on Vimeo.

Buy it Here: Griz Coat | The Original Grizzly Bear Coat

Tribeca Collection Single-Bulb Pendant

I'm a little in love with this little industrial pendant lamp.

The Michael McHale Designs Tribeca Single-Bulb Pendant is a unique jewel of eccentric, modern lighting made in NYC. The "industrial-chic" pendant chandelier also has a warm and charismatic feel to it. Depending on its setting, it can hang from any perch or can also be hung in groups, perhaps at different elevations, for a more interesting lighting scheme.

TouchOfModern: Tribeca Collection Single-Bulb Pendant
(It's a flash sale site, so you might need to register for details)

Radiator retrofit cover controls heat & cuts emissions.

I don't live in a place with radiators anymore, but, man – if I did, I'd keep my eye on this product from Radiator Labs. It's still in development, but, if it works, it could be a godsend for a lot of people battling major temperature swings.

Those living in older steam-heated buildings will know how inefficient the systems are, experiencing cold temperatures when the boiler is off and unbearably heat when it is on. Considering some apartment complexes have just one boiler controlling the whole system, that’s a lot of people having to put up with temperature swings. The Radiator Labs solution is an insulated cover that can be placed over the typical steam-heated radiator, which stops heat from immediately filling the room. A sensor fitted to the cover acts as a thermostat – when it detects that the room is too cold, the trapped heat is released via a fan located on the side of the cover. According to Marshall Cox, who created the device while studying for a PhD at Columbia University, the system would help reduce carbon emissions from steam-based radiators and save money for owners if implemented.

Steam-heat radiator retrofit controls heat and cuts emissions | Springwise

Wireframe tee.

One for my fellow IAs.

WIREFRAME | Ugmonk(via)

Giraffe anatomy model.

Some things are just innately cool.

 

Tydepool - Svpply

Java Jr Mini Diner Creamer Carafe

So cute.

Fancy - Java Jr Mini Diner Creamer Carafe

Ernest Hemingway print by ohmydeer.

I think this is lovely.

 18x24 poster size ernest hemingway print by ohmydeer on Etsy

Wisconsin's new motto?

If you've been here, you know. Nicely done, Little Friends of Printmaking.

The Little Friends of Printmaking Ye Olde Shoppe

Paul Octavious' bird prints are back.

I fell in love with these when I was staying at Longman & Eagle last December. (Paul Octavious' work is all over the restaurant & hotel.) So lovely.

 

Paul Octavious — Welcome

Old people wearing vegetation.

I honestly have no idea what the impetus was behind this photography collection by Riittai Konen and Karoline Hjorth. It's so bizarre, I can't help liking it. (After doing a little research, I realized a lot of their work has a playful edge to it.)

p.s. They have a one-night only exhibit in Brooklyn tonight.

Eyes as Big as Plates – Norway & Finland | Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

(via Sad and Useless)

Michael Valenti cycling prints.

I wish I could properly show you how beautiful these prints are. (We've got them hanging around our studio right now because we're having a show.) They're big and bright and beautiful and printed on a heavy paper stock with a texture that's almost like watercolor paper. They're 24"x36" and, for $100 each, they're an amazing deal. (Smaller sizes also available.)

p.s. The chamois cream one makes me giggle.

VALENTI :: Store