Chinese Takeout Container is True Americana

The classic Chinese takeout container doesn’t exist in China. They’re made by Fold-Pak, according to an article in today’s New York Times magazine.

Apparently the graphic designer who added the red pagoda and thank you message is unknown. It was fun to read all about that box; I love folding, packaging and origami.

Patagonia’s reversible shoebox

My husband purchased a pair of Patagonia shoes at REI, and we discovered a pleasant surprise in their packaging: the box is printed on the inside and is reversible. Either way, the box is very attractive, brown card printed in blue ink:

http://www.slideshare.net/evanpebo/patagonia-recyclable-shoe-box

The above posted photos showing various views.

After googling around a little, here’s another post:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgoralnick/3187204355/

Surprisingly I didn’t find a direct link to Patagonia’s site. No PR, marketing? Or has this product been around so long that it’s no longer news? Patagonia is heavily invested in environmentalism:
http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=2329

Well, thanks, Patagonia. More companies need to be this forward-thinking.

Kickstarter.com: Hope for the Artistic Innovator

Thank you again, Rob Walker. The NYT magazine, as always my source for the best and brightest:

Design Pattern with Visual Thesaurus

Did Visual Thesaurus plan this, or is it just a happy accident?

Design Pattern using Visual Thesaurus

If you look up the word “design,” then select the connector between pattern and figure,  voila, this lovely shape fans out, just like a peacock!

Cover Design for Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History

This site reviews book designs, and I decided to post my comment to it:

http://nytimesbooks.blogspot.com/2007/09/well-behaved-women-seldom-make-history.html

 

Here’s what I wrote:

I was honored to have my Christine de Pizan at Her Computer included as an illustration in this book, and Dr. Ulrich also suggested that I propose a cover illustration to the publisher. I didn’t pursue the project at the time, which I’m sure was a professional mistake, but instead followed another topical “thread” of my choosing. Anyway, my first reaction to the cover was disappointment, mainly because the image lacks complexity. I had envisioned a “rich historical pastiche” of some kind, like the type of images I create that mix illuminated miniature painting with contemporary narrative. My opinion of the cover has changed now, because of what I view as important about the book.

Well-behaved would be too much a re-telling of already well-known feminist history, if it weren’t for the beautiful interlacement of stories and connections leaping backwards and forwards through time. The cover strengthens the thesis of the book and reminds us W-b is more than anecdotes about strong women; it’s a look at how history can be recounted, recorded and reconstructed, thanks to more creative, diverse and inclusive accounts by historians. Particularly female historians. It’s a celebration of how history can be told, as well as a telling of it.