One of my favorite things about working at BrainstormOverload (in addition to the gourmet hot cocoa) is the studio garden. Like all the other projects at bsol it’s a work in progress but one that is particularly wonderful in Spring when the garden seems to change almost daily. Why am I keeping all this blooming goodness to myself you demand? Good point. In an effort to share this is the first in a series of desktop calendars I’ll post (not daily but regularly) on the bsol blog. (I hope regular RedBlackBrown readers will forgive me for wanting to avoid posting on multiple blogs.)
The calendar makes it useful and I’ve always liked the texture of type over a photograph. Each date following a vertical line is a Monday. I’ll also provide the plant name in case you are inspired to work in your own garden which I highly recommend as a terrific creative outlet. I’ll start with the following standard (Mac) screen resolutions. Post a comment if the size you need is not represented.
Download
1440 × 900
1920 × 1200
since the minneapolis is likely to see about a foot of snow over the next few days, i thought you all might like to enjoy it virtually (no shoveling required!) with a cheerful desktop for all to enjoy. download it here.
happy holidays from all of us at redblackbrown!
Winter Solstice has been celebrated by many cultures for many thousands of years. And why not – it’s a big deal. What better occasion to gather together and find comfort in our connections with friends and family than the longest night of the year? Modern life often finds us far from our relations which is why sending a card is such a nice tradition. The time it takes to create, write and subsequently read brings us closer to one another. Granted it’s not quite the same as an all night, star-gazing, bonfire amidst the megaliths but it’s a nice bit of ceremony none the less.
So, in an effort to celebrate connections with colleagues, friends and family I’ve created the third annual, limited edition, BrainstormOverload Winter Solstice Card. Since I can’t send one to everyone I’ve linked to a pdf version of the design here. It won’t have a personalized note that way but given how I’m inclined to go on perhaps that’s best.
In the design on the front of the card each season’s solstice (or equinox) is represented by two arcs. A gray one for night and a colored one for day – the length of each being determined by the number of hours of light or darkness translated into degrees of circumference around a circle where 360 degrees signifies 12 hours. Possibly more than you wanted to know but it underscores how everything in Nature is simultaneously beautiful and meaningful. I hope it will bring a little color and connection to your evening on December 21st and that 2010 will be a beautiful and meaningful year.
I love the first few issues of a new magazine when the emphasis is heavy on design and a faithfulness to the mission. Those early issues are wonderful even though their success often attracts enough advertising that the original magazine winds up so buried in a sea of pharmaceutical and automotive ads that I can no longer even find the table of contents. Let’s hope that is not the fate of this sweet new cycling rag out of Britain (am I the only one who misses calling it Great Britain btw?) called The Ride. It’s got a great low-fi feel that fits my experience of cycling’s semi-underground. The kids out inventing new tricks or pounding out mileage in the middle of nowhere (as apposed to all the expensive spandex you can see any evening on Summit Ave.)
But I digress. Importing one of the first two issues is pretty spendy at roughly 23 bucks but these guys are still hungry remember. So they’ve generously offered to let you download a pdf of the premier issue for nothing more than the time it takes the electrons to jump across the pond. Then again if you can spare the 23 bones I’m sure they’d appreciate it and you’ll have a collector’s item from before it contained seven pages of SUV ads.
Go Ride.
feed your soul (with free art)
feed your soul is a free art project organized by jen wallace of indie fixx designed to give art lovers their fix during these rough economic times. it’s a simple premise: download art and print it yourself. for free. totally simple. and completely great. check out the downloads here.
and if you want to give to the cause as a featured artist, send jen a couple of samples.
last week the weather in minnesota gave us a little hint of spring. but since today’s forecast has another dusting of snow coming our way, i thought i needed a little something spring-y to keep my spirits up. so i put together a little orla kiely-inspired spring desktop for you.
happy colors and tulips. that ought to make me believe spring is around the corner, right? well, at least when i look at my computer…
you can download it here.
It’s a bit early, but I’m feeling the love so here’s a cute little desktop to decorate your computer for valentine’s day.
download it here