The Goods: coffee mugs

This summer, my work schedule is sporadic to say the least, and to keep myself busy I've decided to start entering design competitions, even if they're small unimportant ones.

The first of my conquests is going to be the cover of GD USA who is looking for a cover which will showcase the capabilities of Kodak's new dimensional digital printing. If you're interested in entering one yourself, you can find more information here.

I've started on this project, but am basically no where near close to finishing, but I will fo sho show you guys my progress as I go.

The second project I intend to complete is a GOOD doodle. GOOD magazine is starting a monthly project centering around doodles and this month the theme is a day without technology. I haven't started this one yet, but some day in the near future I will be going without my phone (and probably computer) for A WHOLE 24 HOURS. And then I will doodle about it, or more likely I will doodle during, as I will have nothing else to do.

Ok, this isn't something I'm entering, just some results I really really like. TfL (Transport for London) recently held a contest for the new design of London's iconic skyline, and to the left is the winner. You can read all about the contest and winner in this month's Creative Review and you can visit the winner's website here (it's rul nice). The skyline will be used on TONS of merchandise for TfL, for example...coffee mugs! I obviously want one.

Goooood morning! Just now I have woken up and pranced (stumbled) down from my attic room (much better than it sounds) to make myself some coffee (Dunkin Donuts!). After anxiously awaiting the end of the coffee maker's gurgling and steaming, culminating in a full pot of deliciously caffeinated brew, I opened the cupboard to select a mug. Coffee mugs, possibly even more than coffee itself, are one of my main interests in life. Often, they are sooo beautiful! They can also be clever, humorous, or just plain well-designed. The particular mug I chose today is a gem I received as a parting gift about a month ago. Side note: I had been studying (I'm a student of graphic design) in London for the spring semester of 2010 and, as part of my course load, I was "employed" as an intern at a company called the ILN. This McLaggan Smith mug is a combination of sooo many of my favorite topics. For starters, it's a coffee mug. I am sensing the need for an entire post on my favorite mugs because if I went into that now, this post would be 3 years long. For seconds, it's based on posters which were first created by the British government during WWII, intended to raise morale in case of an invasion. The poster was never used, but was rediscovered in 2000 and has spread like wild fire. Not only can you buy posters of the original saying "Keep calm and carry on" in a million colorways, but you can also find it plastered onto mugs, towels, chairs, books, clothes, bags, and chocolate. And that's just the start! Once the original had been sufficiently circulated, of course people started playing with the words. Some of my favorite variations:

See more here.

I think one of the things I like best about the original poster is its actual message. The country was at war and Briton's advice was "deal with it and keep fighting" which in general I think is good advice. I mean, sometimes you can't control what's going on and you just have to keep going anyway.

Anywhoser, my good friend Lulu and I were discussing these posters the other day while also shopping for new day planners/journals/sketch pads...and then we started craving cookies. We really wanted cookies that were both GIANT and thick and HEALTHY, but had little luck. Thus, we decided we should just make them ourselves, so I'm putting myself in charge of recipe-finding. This is what I've come up with so far: