Design For Mankind

The Tangible Creatives

erin — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:44:48 +0000

It seems fitting today that I’d planned to share Artifact Uprising, a Colorado-based photo book company inspired by “the disappearing beauty of the tangible” – especially poignant given the recent destruction of all things tangible in Oklahoma’s tornado tragedy yesterday. Their story is one that reverberates the exploring and shifting and re-building of dreams; one [...]

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The King Of Masking Tape

erin — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:04:46 +0000

I’m a creature of habit, meaning I’ve been wrapping gifts in the same mega roll of brown kraft paper for years now. I’m also non-crafty, so any mistakes I make are promptly covered up with the vibrant patterns and hues of Japanese masking tape. And it’s inevitable – I break open my stash to wrap [...]

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The Layers of Creativity

erin — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:10:56 +0000

Making room for creativity often seems like a daunting task, right? Between “real life” responsibilities and dinner prep and ink-scrawled calendar pages, finding time to create for the sake of creating seems like a long-lost luxury. And it is, for most. Unless you’re Austin-based artist and powerhouse career woman Xochi Solis. Xochi always knew she’d [...]

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Between The Folds

erin — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:00:06 +0000

I own multiple pieces of Leah Duncan’s – pillow covers and tea towels and prints – all perfectly patterned in today’s most coveted color stories. Glancing at her work, she appears to be a highly-trained, playful artist with a slight Southwestern flair – perhaps evident of summers spent in New Mexico with a grandmother and [...]

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Out Of Office

erin — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:58:06 +0000

I’ve been doing some heavy duty soul searching lately (that’s pretty obvious, right?), and one of the things I’m realizing about myself is that I love to travel. (I know; I’m a late bloomer here.) It used to be that the crowds and the unknown and the anti-routine of it all just seemed very… non-me. [...]

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My Home

erin — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:57:46 +0000

Ever since I took a hiatus from our HGTV.com show, I’ve missed the rush of planning daily projects, weekly photo shoots and non-stop filming of our home. Most of the time. But then there are the days when I get to enjoy the space Ken and I have created – for no other reason than [...]

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The Slow Fashion Movement

erin — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:03:56 +0000

The Solv clothing label was born to promote the long-last values of consuming - loving, caring and passing along what you own to those you love. "But as the business grew, it became more and more difficult to hold on to our core values," Mari writes. "Visiting our retailers and seeing our beautiful, timeless garments hanging on last-minute sales racks made us feel as if it were shampoo and toiletries we were selling."

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An Unusual Dining Experience

erin — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:52:45 +0000

To press 'pause' on today's fast food cycle, São Paulo and London-based designers Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves of Studio Swine designed a fast food restaurant where the diner is taken on a journey picking vegetables and baking buns to construct a hamburger before reaching the dining table. As a result, the act of consuming food is transformed into a ritualistic ceremony.

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My Workflow

erin — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:00:13 +0000

I get a lot of emails from readers asking about my workflow in terms of inspiration and sourcing and research and all of the juiciness of the world. And today, I thought it might be fun to take a peek behind the curtain of this site to reveal a bit about how I manage two [...]

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The Art of Play

erin — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:02:12 +0000

Confession time. Pre-baby, I worked endlessly, filling my calendar to the brim with travel and opportunities and conferences and events until I had, quite literally, drained my body and mind and energy of any creative inspiration. The well was dry. And in my head – the most jumbled of places – I thought that meant [...]

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