Unfair Magazine Summer issue is here! A gorgeous new print and digital fashion magazine based in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Unfair is about fashion, lifestyle and arts media brand focusing on Arabian Style.

Finally! It is so refreshing to say the least, to see a great fashion magazine like this stemming from the UAE, that is beautifully designed, creative with interesting Pan-Arab content to promote the fashion and talent originating from the Middle East, and share it with the world. In this magazine you will find the latest fashion, trends, design and arts, with a touch of culture, and clean, fun, original layouts and beautiful photography.

Unfair is the first of it’s kind in the UAE, so kudos to you guys for your hard work and great results! The magazine can be found in a few select cities around the world, including New York, Paris, London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I am so eager to get my hands on a copy, but If like me you don’t have access to a hard copy in your city, you can download a pdf of the latest issue here.

(images: unfair magazine)

It’s time for Etsy Love today, are you ready? But first I must know, how are you doing? I hope that you are well and that you’re enjoying the week. It has been nice and hot here in Toronto, although I think I may be the only one in the city who is enjoying the heat and humidity! What can I say, I grew up in heat; and I’ll be back in Dubai in a week, and I’m so excited! I can’t believe I’ve been away for seven months!

I am so smitten by Noble Town Vintage and everything that they carry in their shop in Salt Lake City. Here you will find rescued vintage shoes and bags, revived and altered vintage clothing and original hand crafted jewelry made up of vintage and modern pieces. All their products are divine, but my favorite has to be their jewelry, so much that I already ordered a necklace!

Blacklist studio is a creative design, illustration and art direction studio in Sydney, run by Nathan Johnson. Blacklist’s limited edition prints carry beautiful, positive messages, with fun and creative typography, interesting compositions and bright colors. We often underestimate the power of a kind word or positive message, and having a print with a sweet reminder hanging on the wall will keep a smile on your face and can turn your day around.

Revived Vintage is a sweet little shop that carries gorgeous vintage chalkboards and home decor items from Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Often embellished with Cedar Rose Pine cones, most items are painted white to reflect the designer’s own personal “Cottage, Shabby Chic” design style. These pretty, decorative would be so great for a wedding, any other event or even for the kitchen – and they are very affordable too!

If you love books, and appreciate handmade and hand sewn books even more, then you will love Rough draft books. Made with spontaneous and found objects collected over time, with many drawings on the covers, the shop located in Philadelphia. These books can be found in select Anthropologie stores across the U.S, but if you don’t find them there then of course you can get them from their Etsy shop.

(images: sources listed above)

I am eagerly, yet patiently anticipating the release of the new book Paper + Craft, authored by Minhee and Truman Cho, and scheduled for mid-September. And I promise you the moment I get my hands on it, you will be getting a review!

The cover looks fantastic, and makes the book even more intriguing to me – I can imagine what the inside pages will look like – with clean and beautiful design, styled by Randi Brookman Harris, and photographed by Johnny Miller, who both live in New York.

Minhee and Truman Cho are the founders of Paper + Cup, a stationery company in Brooklyn, and offer 25 unique paper projects in their new book that you can pre-order here. In Paper + Craft you will find fresh and fun crafty ideas with vintage-inspired frames, hanging bird mobiles, pretty flower hair clips, and personalized place cards.

In Paper + Craft, you can expect to find great, simple instructions and easy illustrated steps for projects that don’t require a large amount of supplies or demand much, you just need to use your creativity! Photographer Johnny Miller is the man behind the gorgeous photos for this book, and since we won’t be able to own a copy before the end of the summer, you can browse his portfolio for some sneak peaks from the book and for a whole lot of visual inspiration.

(images: johnny miller)

Happy Friday! The weekend is here and I’m off to watch the World Cup matches, spend some time with friends, and catch up on errands. What plans do you have this weekend?

I’ve put together my favorite photos from the first issue of the new online magazine BY FRYD. I’ve been hearing so much about it in blogland and meaning to share it with you for a while, so if you haven’t seen it yet, you’re going to love it! It is now available in English, and packed with gorgeous visual inspiration. You can download the first issue at no cost over at Issuu.

Jeanette Lunde has designed 92 pages devoted to inspirational images, lifestyle, kids, baking, flowers, decor, and everything light and positive. Jeanette also has a shop where you can get gorgeous designs and prints. So head over to download the issue and see the whole magazine!

(images: jeanette lunde)

I’d like to thank all who entered the first Burrs & Berries Contest! I enjoyed reading the way you each incorporate art and design differently in your everyday life, and it’s always very inspiring to hear the way others get their design fix! I used Random.org to select two winners randomly, and here they are – each will receive a copy of down the rabbit hole!

Winners who will receive a copy of down the rabbit hole design book are:

• # 7 Treena

• # 5 Camilla

CONGRATULATIONS!

If your name appears above, I will be contacting you shortly for your complete name and mailing address so I can mail the book to you. Please reply to my email to claim your prize by June 7th, because if I don’t hear from you by then, another winner will be selected at random to get the book!

I’d like to thank you so much for participating in Burrs & Berries first contest and giveaway! I am very excited to be sharing this book I designed with you!

(images: samia kallidis for burrs & berries)

I’m excited to announce the first ever contest and giveaway here on Burrs & Berries! I have 2 copies of down the rabbit hole, the book I designed that tells the visual story of Alice in Wonderland. And I’ve decided to give them to two lucky readers! I’d love to share this book with you, so if you’d like one, the details on how to enter are below so please read them carefully and follow them closely to make sure your entry qualifies. Thank you!

Entry Details:

This contest is open to all who read this blog from anywhere around the world, and I will pay the shipping fees so it is completely free! No anonymous entries will be accepted. Comment on this post below using your valid email address, which is the email I will use to contact you if you win. It will not be published in the actual comment, it’s for my eyes only!

In the body of the comment you must list your first name and answer the following question. How do you incorporate art and design to express your creativity in your everyday life?

The giveaway will be open to enter for one week from now until Monday, May 31, 2010 at 12:00 PM EST and will have two winners. Winners will be selected using Random.org. I can’t wait to read your comments!

(images: samia kallidis for burrs & berries)

Event planner and designer David Stark just recently released his new book David Stark Design earlier this week on April 27th. So if you’re looking for a little party decor inspiration, look no further than David’s new book that highlights his design philosophies, conceptual process and breadth of work. David was so kind to answer a few questions for burrs & berries readers, and also included his decorating tips for you! So let’s get started!

How do you begin your process of planning a new event?

Because I create events for real people, with real likes and dislikes, desires, and specific goals and occasions, my first and foremost goal is to jump inside my client’s heads and hearts.  I really want to know what makes them tick, what they love, what they hate, an and what is inspiring to them.  The events are so custom that I really need to fall in love with each and every one of our clients so that I can understand WHO we are creating for. It’s so custom and the individual personality of each client is what drives variation and instills the great breadth in what we do!

What was your inspiration for pulling the book together?

Events are so ephemeral.  They last for five or six hours and then they are just a memory.  The book allows me the priviledge to collect a whole bunch of memories in one place and share them with others that could not be at the parties.  I suppose a painter has paintings to document his or her creative act.  In many ways, I think of the book as that kind of record for me since my creative work is so short-lived.

What are your 5 tips for summer entertaining?

• Bring back Games:  Horseshoes, croquet, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Scrabble, cards – don’t just talk, drink, and eat, play stuff together!  Games break the ice for guests that are new to your usual gang and provide a stylistic framework for other aspects of the evening.  An invitation created with Scrabble letter tiles and cookies decorated to look like Scrabble tiles are the kinds of details that help make a regular gathering of friends memorable and special.

• Shop your Hood:  Look to your own backyard to find unique food ideas.  My neighborhood in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn is well known for it’s terrific culinary treats, and I don’t need to look far for what to serve at a party especially when I am short on time!  Local pickles, olive oil, cured meats and cheeses, baked goods – all are uniquely from around the corner and not available from chain supermarkets.  Not only am I giving my guests a window into the local tastes, but I am supporting my community and neighborhood businesses.  It’s all good.

• Avoid Disposables:  A cloth napkin is NOT for just a special occasion or holiday.  In fact, you are good enough to “treat” yourself to one everyday, and in doing so, you are helping the environment to cut down on unnecessary waste and helping your wallet in the process.  Go that extra mile and wash your plates instead of using paperplates.  An outdoor picnic is so much more glam when using real china.

• Turn it out for your hostess:  Instead of that perfunctory bottle of wine, curate thematic gifts.  I often give a favorite cookbook of foods from some far off land alongside a selection of essential ingredients that are key to the recipes inside.  My other default is a set of linen napkins with my napkin folding primer NAPKINS WITH A TWIST, picking napkins that speak to my host’s taste.   Going that extra mile is ALWAYS appreciated (and you will always be invited back!).

• Delight that Inner kid:   I like to take the seriousness down a notch, using materials that harken back to childhood to decorate summer backyard parties, infusing them with surprise details.  Giant blow up pool toys, crazy straws with boyant paper fruits that turn cocktails into journeys, water guns, and silly sunglasses – adults want the same thing as kids:  a little fun!

Thank you so much David for your insights and for your fabulous summer entertaining tips!

(images: david stark)

Nonpareil Magazine is an online magazine full of great inspiration and do-it-yourself projects and templates, dedicated to crafting beautiful weddings on a budget.

The second issue was just launched a few hours ago, and it’s looking better and better! A huge congratulations to Maddy Hague of the Inspired Bride and Kristen Magee of Paper Crave.

So I can finally share with you the exciting project I was working on last month, and you can see it in the second issue of Nonpareil! How exciting! I designed printable wedding save-the-date and favor label templates inspired by a specific color palette. Visit Nonpareil Magazine for the full article, to get your copy of the printables, and for more wedding and event design inspiration.

(images: nonpareil magazine)

Happy bright, sunny, and wonderful Friday! Ah! The weekend is finally here! But before I sign off I would like to share a little personal project of mine as I promised earlier this week, are you with me?

Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite Disney classics, and when I had to choose a topic to design a book on in my final year of design school, there was no doubt in my mind that I would want to base it on the fantasy tale. Since Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland comes out today, I thought what could be more fitting than to share with you my own version of my book that I recently reprinted and bound with a hardcover and slipcover?

The original story has so many hidden messages and is pretty twisted itself, but I wanted to exaggerate the “dark” aspects of the story and design my book for an adult audience instead of a children’s fairy tale. I chose to portray a visual story through collages combining my own original photography, illustration and typography designed just for the book of course. Mirroring the actual Disney movie and ‘old hollywood’ movies, the story begins by fading into the first scene, and ends with a fade out.

The main events in the story are highlighted in my book, and messages are emphasized with very intricate and big illustrations and experimental typography. I wanted to stay away from narrating the story using text since I feel like it is well known enough and could be understood using only visuals. What do you think? Do you follow?

My main aim was to have fun with the book, and create an adventure for the reader. Like they would be diving into the story through the visuals, and they can do with them whatever they would like. I hope you enjoyed my book! Are you excited to see Tim Burton’s take on Alice in Wonderland?

(images: samia kallidis for burrs & berries)

If you’ve been looking for some great looking colorful stationery and books lately, the rag & bone bindery boutique has got something in store for you! They carry everything from frame albums, to guestbooks, day planners, fill in books and growth charts. Have a look at their latest Cover Designs to get you geared up to welcome a new, bright season!

They have a variety of designs to choose from, whether you’re the bold pattern type, or you like things sweet and simple. I love their playful illustrations and cute little characters. It might be time for a new journal! Plus, every book they create is crafted by hand, with skill and care. They use traditional bookbinding skills to make the  books, so you know they will last a lifetime! Which ones are your favorite?

(images: rag & bone bindery)