Product Spotlight: The Secret Keeper by Alongkorn Sanguansook

I love this cute wooden character called the Secret Keeper, part of the 'Cubic Warrior' series, by Chinese designer Alongkorn Sanguansook. 

Take a look at more of his work over here.

Product Design: Paris Travel Book by Natalie Ratkovski

German designer Natalie Ratkovski went to Paris and on her return she designed this fantastic Travel book.

It's like a travel scrapbook full of memories and experiences, photographs and postcards. This could also make a great gift for someone who is going to Paris, you could put in cafes and restaurants, places to go and things to do.

You can see more work by Natalie over here.

Artist Showcase: Ex-Boyfriend Series by Olivia Takats

After a particularly bitter break-up, Olivia Takats decided that she was going to create an embroidery of three of her exes. I can't help but think that this must have been very cathartic.

"The first image is that of my first boyfriend and first love, the images surrounding the portrait and some of the things we bonded over and enjoyed. The following is my second boyfriend, we had a relationship based of psychical chemistry, so the images in this embroidery are exaggerations of that. The last is my third boyfriend, the first boy to "break my heart"."

Check our more of Olivia's work over here.

Graphic Design: Laura & Thomas’s Wedding Invitations by Laura Coggins

When I spotted this project over on 'Oh so beautiful paper ' I just knew that I had to share it. Take a look at this absolutely beautiful wedding invitation designed by American graphic designer Laura Coggins.

She had a custom map printed, made tags and labels on her vintage typewriter and gave away jars of natural honey as wedding favours.

You can see more work by Laura over here.

Graphic Design: The Raspberries T-Shirt and Mug

As promised here is the gift that I made for my Secret Santa for Pakjes Avond.

This year I had to get something for my Mum. I knew that I wanted it to be something personal, possibly even handmade, and remembered her telling me once that when she was younger she played in a Punk-rock band called The Raspberries. Thinking that this would make a great theme for a gift I got working on a logo.

I used a punk typefont, a distressed effect and two tones of red to add a bit of depth. I then got this printed onto a t-shirt and a mug. There are a number of places that offer this service, I plumped for London Print Service who are over in Greenwich and I have to say I was very impressed, the whole order only took two days to go through and I was very pleased with how both the mug and tee turned out.

Branding: Mighty Oaks Self-Promotion by Ashley Sime

I love this little self-promotional pack put together by Australian graphic designer Ashley Sime.

The idea follows the expressions "Every mighty oak was a seed before a tree", or perhaps the better known "Mighty oaks from little acorns grow", that is to say that even the best and greatest designers started small.

Ashley designed this with the idea in mind that it would make a lovely gift that could sit on a designer's desk, a constant reminder that everything had humble beginnings. She included a test tube plant holder, a set of cards and a single card which provides instructions for how to grow the test tube plant.

You can see more work by Ashley here.