stationery show, 5.19.09

well, while i truly enjoyed this year's national stationery show immensely, i did not get to go through the entire space. little miss anna jae was with me, and between all the attention she received from the exhibitors and her needs to eat and sleep, i only made it through half the show before we needed to go home.

i will definitely be back next year, quite possibly without the little miss, and i hope to get really in-depth views of all the work.

but for now, i did want to show off some exhibitors that caught my eye (and my ear) with their work.

thanks to all that i spoke with, especially those who doted on my daughter!

local stationery designers, sub-studio, create all of their screenprinted goods in their tiny manhattan apartment. you would never know it! their cards and posters were clever and beautiful.


twig&fig's display was quite a lot of fun. clean, environmentally conscious, and different. their new cards, on wood and chip board, were tactile -- you truly wanted to feel them.

smudge ink's new totes were quite fun and colorful, and roomy enough for groceries. i do love my totes. =)

one of my "best in show" picks in 2008, old school stationers came back with new calendars and a few new cards.

i did love ODS's new elephant card! yes, yes, i know i'm obsessed with elephants...

fab notebooks by girl of all work.

bobbin had quite fun stuff! the felt cards (sewn on) were made from recycled plastic bottles! there were also custom-made illustrations and framable objects, with the frames made from recycled barnwood. i thought they had great objects for kids and kids' rooms.


two trick pony's cards were, as always, fabulously fun (and green).


and, finally, my best-in-show (or, half a show) pick for 2009 goes to L2 Design Collective. i marvel at their work year after year. they look like they have so much fun creating their goods. new this year -- lettered sign packs, either standard (like "happy birthday") or custom. they displayed their product in their own sign, pictured above.

also new -- totes! and, again, i love me some totes.

i want this card for myself. it applies! =D

the lettered-sign packs.

some fun notebooks from L2.

ok kids, that is it for this year. i'm so sorry to all the other exhibitors that i missed. but i promise to see you all in 2010!

ICFF, May 17th

ok, so my reviews are late. i'm sorry! i'm having a lot of trouble judging exactly how long things are going to take me with my little one here!

first, i'll review the ICFF, which i attended with my husband dave and little miss anna jae. we saw a lot of great items and displays, and even anna got to have some fun!

amuneal, who had my favorite booth last year, wowed us with their 2009 booth build. fabricated by this amazing company, the booth was aluminum and iron (i think). dragonflies adorned the outer walls, while the lights from the javits center shone through the openings. plus, their sign was just yummy typeset-like goodness. =)





artemide's chandelier, with text on the interior of the shade, was refreshingly different.



chato & co. had fun, whimsical wallpaper prints in the most outrageous colors.

anna jae takes a ride on magis' dodo rockers.


lovely furniture from diane paparo studios. all locally made and striving towards a greener home.

tables/footrests at hastens display. i just love the concept of a dog with a paper. =)

the japan pavilion at the ICFF.

jonathan adler's display was lovely. both a living and selling space at the same time.


kikkerland design, based in harlem, created their display from 3000 campbells soup cans, purchased from supermarkets in the city. after the show, they donated the cans to city harvest to feed those in need. it was an amazing display, both from a visual and a human perspective.


miss print's lovely pendant lamps and wallpaper.

gorgeous gold placemats from chilewich.

and finally, i give you my husband's prized parking job on the day we visited the ICFF. he insisted on taking pics of it while i got anna in the car (you can see my head in the back), and insisted even further on me posting it on the blog. so, i hope you all appreciate his efforts. =)

ICFF and the Stationery Show

so design week is over around these parts. it was a great show season this year. i attended the ICFF with dave, little anna jae, and my friend loren. and the stationery show was just me and little miss anna, as press for the event. while overall anna did great at both shows -- and managed to be a star at them, entertaining everyone around her -- she did complicate things a bit. sadly, i didn't get to do as much at the stationery show as i would have liked. next year, i think i may need to go without her!

i will post my reviews starting tomorrow. i thank everyone that i met with this year -- it was truly a fun few days. can't wait until next year!

lessons in theft

as a member of the design community, i stay in touch with a number of designers all across the country. when one of my fellow designers is ripped off, i feel the need to tell the story.

my friend at burn creative found one of his illustrations in the portfolio for another so-called designer on logopond.com. it wasn't just "influenced by" or "derived from" his illustration -- it was his exact image placed on a new background. this other designer was claiming it as hers, and gave a false story of how she came up with the idea and the illustration. she was also getting a lot of great feedback on the piece, with everyone amazed at her talent at such a young age.

this girl is 16-year-old julie kapral (julieK on the site).

burn creative posted quickly in the comment section of the image page, letting everyone know that he was the real creator of the piece. julie posted back, at first saying that she did not steal the work, and then later stating that she found it in a book (hmmm... which is it?). soon, the image was taken off her portfolio on logopond.

after further investigation, burn creative found at least 2 images that were stolen from other artists -- one from designer lina khesina, another from orla keely. we are now convinced that all the images julie has claimed to be her own (a few which have sold as logos to unsuspecting customers) are actually ripped off from other designers.

from burn creative's blog post about the theft.

julie's portfolio has been deleted from logopond.com, and her website has also been taken down. however, she still has a twitter name up @juliekapral.

situations like this really get to me as an artist and designer. there are a lot of people out there that don't think twice about stealing someone else's work and using it for their own purposes. it seems as though everyone thinks that things posted online are fair play. it makes us all very concerned about our work and our good name, since some designers who have created the original work have been accused of plagiarizing!

julie kapral seems to have taken it a step further. she has concocted stories about how she arrives at these brilliant pieces and taken the praise, apparently to great extents all over the internet. there were people talking about how she's so inspiring and that she's really going places, and she has played right into it. it's almost delusional.

in the end though, she was caught. as are all people who steal from others. and she will not dig herself out of this hole for a while.

to read more about burn creative's story, go to his blog here, or read about it on the HOW forums here.

bklyn designs -- quick post

so if you kept up with my mobile tweets on saturday, then you would know that i wasn't thrilled with bklyn designs this year. there were a few standouts, but overall it was less than interesting. there was a lot of bland or predictable design, which i thought was a real shame. that being said, there were a few standouts with innovative designs and high quality, and that made me smile.

i will write more about bklyn designs tomorrow. i also wanted to remind you to look for my tweets and reviews of ICFF and the stationery show next week.

nyc design week begins!

oh man, i always love this time of year. design is in the air here in NYC people! and it all kicks off this weekend with bklyn designs.

bklyn designs used to happen the same weekend as ICFF, at least for the first year. but there's so much going on the weekend of ICFF that they moved it to the weekend before. we're thinking of attending on saturday if time (and baby) allows. it is mother's day weekend -- my first mother's day!!! -- so it's a bit inconvenient. but whatever. design waits for no one. =)

who am i excited to see there you ask? well, argington is one of my most favorite baby furniture designers. flavor paper uses unique prints to make gorgeous wallpaper. and pratt institute always has interesting pieces there from their design students. dave was one of the grad students featured at bklyn designs 5 years ago. so i have a soft spot for those students and what they can become.

i will report back next week!

tap & tapas

one of the organizations that is close to my heart is groove with me. i had the pleasure of working with them on the program for their winter spectacular at the apollo theater, and i am so glad to know these fabulous ladies and be a part of their cause.

from their site: Groove With Me, Inc. is a youth development organization using free dance classes and performance opportunities as a tool to instill in young women the leadership, pride, spirit of cooperation, creativity, joy and discipline needed to confront the adversity in their daily lives and throughout their future development. The program seeks to decrease teen pregnancy, truancy, crime, violence, prostitution, substance abuse and gang related activity by nurturing youth, building self-confidence, offering positive choices, and providing a safe place to go.

i mean, come on. how cool is that?! the organization is run by abby rosin (founder) and meredith sherman (program director). all classes are taught by volunteers, and all shoes and clothing is donated. wow.

i had the honor of attending last week's tap & tapas event. the event featured a number of fabulous "celebrity" chefs here in NYC, doing tasting stations ranging from the amuse-bouche to the dessert and coffee. i haven't eaten that well since anna was born! additionally, their girls gave performances -- and one lucky teen tapper performed with savion glover. again, everything was donated -- the food, the waitstaff, the flowers... everything. all proceeds from the event tickets went directly to the girls, not to mention the outpouring of donations given at the event itself. i would say it was a very successful night.

thanks again to abby and meredith for including me! i hope this is a long relationship. =)

getting ready (this photo reminds me of a degas painting)

Harold Dieterle and his team from Perilla

yep, that's THE tom colicchio from craft (and top chef, of course!), with abby rosin. i did have to introduce myself. couldn't help it. =)

april bloomfield of the spotted pig

"eggs" from le bernardin. mmmm....

savion glover dances with an advanced tapper.

the kids with the chefs after their photo op.

end of the night, and nothing but smiles.

all photos courtesy Ron Holtz Photography. copyright 2009.

follow me on twitter!

yes, i've finally joined the world of twitter. and now that i have my laptop back (it was a little sick), i can actually update it!

so follow me at twitter.com/nicstudio. and you can check out my latest tweets on the right side of the blog.

tailgating your engagement?

what a fun idea!

carly from myrecipes.com just sent this my way... if you're looking for a fun way to celebrate your engagement, or maybe even for a rehearsal dinner, why not tailgate? even if you're not a sports fan, like me, everyone enjoys a tailgating party!

the couple gave out koozies as favors (pictured above), which were appropriate. it would also be fun to design your own jersey for the event, no? oooh, ideas are coming!

there are recipes listed on the article as well.

hope everyone has a great weekend! see you next week.

custom jewelry

from andrea lucille's gavernie collection.

new motherhood brings new opportunities. since i am going to groups to meet other moms/babies and to chat about our shared woes, i get to meet interesting new women. andrea lucille shin is just one of those women.

andrea is a brooklynite like me, with an adorable newborn baby girl. in one of our group sessions, i mentioned that i was back to work and that i worked for myself. andrea and i talked about this later, and i found out that this woman is an artist in her own right, designing custom jewelry and jewelry lines out of her office in manhattan. when i had the opportunity to check out her stuff, i was blown away.

andrea's work is that of luxury, surprise, and a hefty dose of "wow." her jewelry is spectacular in its unique qualities. you can tell that this is not your run-of-the-mill piece when you see one.

from andrea lucille's modern hammer collection.

if you are looking for something amazing for your wedding day, or just something amazing, go to andrea lucille designs. you won't be disappointed.

PRESS ALERT: My work in WellWed Hamptons

the stationery i did for kaitlin and will's wedding in east hampton this past fall was featured in wellwed hamptons magazine. they covered kaitlin and will's lovely affair from top to bottom, and i was lucky enough to work with with this fabulous couple and my fave event coordinator and friend, lyndsey hamilton.

check out the pages posted here, and pick up a copy to get the whole story.

photography by christian oth studios.

Real Simple Weddings 2009

while i was on leave, i had the pleasure of reading through the latest issue of realsimple weddings. what a lovely publication! if you are planning a wedding, this would be top of my list of resources for up-to-date information, ideas, and imagery. the real weddings that they show are absolutely inspirational -- the photography telling most of the story.

of course, i was most interested in what the editors had to say about invitations and stationery. i was very happy to see quite a bit in there about different invitation styles/options (my invites would likely fall in their "whimsical" category) which is not a common sight in most wedding publications. sure, you may get to see a random quirky invite here and there, but to actually break down the different styles available is a rarity. i think it gives new ideas to brides inundated with formal and classic stationery photos. also check out their thoughts on wording, etiquette, and eco-friendly options.

another favorite is the chart of flowers, -- extremely useful for the majority of brides that don't know a dahlia from a ranunculus -- the palette picker, and the gorgeous cakes pictured.

the magazine is practical, well laid out, and a very simple reference guide. just what one would expect from realsimple.

i'm back! well, almost...

hey out there in blog-land! i wanted to tell you all that i'm coming back to work -- in a limited fashion in the beginning, but i'm transitioning back in starting this week. so if you have a job that you would like me to work on, just let me know!

i'm in the process of updating my websites and 2009 pricing. in the meantime, 2008 prices are still valid, so get in while the gettin's good!

in the meantime, i leave you with a photo of my adorable little girl, who will be hard to leave...

introducing the new little designer, anna jae

our beautiful daughter, anna jae block, was born on january 13, 2009. 12 days late and much drama coming into the world, but she was quite worth it.

i will be back to work in mid-march, and will update this blog from time to time until then. but for now, enjoy the photos. and if you are interested in our new family life, feel free to check out our baby blog, growing block.

happy birthday to me....

hello out there in reader-land! just wanted to pop in today and wish myself a happy 30th birthday. ha! yes, i'm not doing much today, so i thought i'd wish myself a happy happy. =)

still no baby. i'm officially 5 days overdue. but i can't wait to update this blog with photos of the new little member of the nic family.

i hope everyone out there had a glorious holiday season. and happy new year to all of you!!

great choice for disposable dinnerware

hi all!! i'm technically on maternity leave, but there's no baby just yet. so i'm spending time getting my home ready for the holidays, since our family members will be here for both christmas eve and christmas day this year. it's our first holiday hosting, and of course it will also be a tricky one since i'm not exactly physically capable of being the consummate hostess.

so we got some of those disposable plates that look like real dinnerware. have you seen these? they're very cool, since you can still have a dressed up table without having to wash the dishes. and frankly, that's necessary, since we don't have a dishwasher.

however, there are two snags in this plan. first, we didn't get soup bowls to match, which is an issue since we have a pasta course to deal with. second, as these plates are plastic, they are not exactly the most ecologically sound. and while i'm far from a perfect "green" hostess, i do regret having to throw away so many plastic dishes.

in my research today for soup bowls, i came across these disposable dishes by verterra. while not the cheapest, they are definitely the coolest! they are organic and compostable, and are made from collected leaves! how amazing is that? to top it all off, they are quite lovely and would suit a modern or classic home perfectly.

while it's too late to order these for the holidays, i do love that the option exists. and for our next party, we'll definitely go this route.

100 Habits -- Cover is out!

some of you might remember that my work will be in a book in the spring. 100 habits of successful freelance designers, published by rockport publishers. well, in checking online today, i noticed that the cover is on the site! how exciting!

don't forget to pre-order the book for may!

happy post thanksgiving...

hey everyone. hope you all had a great thanksgiving!

ours was great -- we spend our time with dave's family for this particular holiday, and we had a lovely weekend.

unfortunately, monday wasn't so great. to make a long story short, i had a stomach flu which led to dehydration, which lead to contractions, which led to me being on an IV in the hospital. everything's fine now, and i'm starting to feel better, but i'm sort of forced to "relax" now. ugh. LOL... i hate that idea.

anyway, just wanted to let you guys out there know that i'm still alive, the baby is still inside, but that i'm going to continue my intermittent posting. i'm sorry! as soon as i can come back on here full time, i will.