Do vegetarians eat animal crackers? I'm sad to say this isn't my own original quote — just a quick Google search will tell you that. And yes, you'll even find actual questions about whether or not vegetarians are allowed to eat animal crackers. I'm a flexitarian-leaning-toward-vegetarian but I can tell you one thing. I eat animal crackers.
It's Valentines Day and lots of starry-eyed couples will be heading out for dinner. A perfect day for a food-related design! I had an entire story about being from the midwest, signs promoting beef and pork...but I have to admit, this one is just a good excuse to use pigs in a design.
Last year I challenged myself to a personal design project. My goal was to create at least 5 non work-related designs each week, and each month I gave myself a mini challenge. It was a lot of fun, stretched me as a designer, and kept me away from silly time-wasting TV shows I didn't need to watch. So, I'm going to do it again.
My first challenge is to finish the Sketchbook Project that I didn't complete. It's never to late to start...er finish...right? The theme of my sketchbook was "Things You find on Restaurant Napkins", so I'm going to continue with restaurant / food-related designs for the next few weeks.
I'm also throwing in another challenge for myself. My train commute is about 75 minutes long and my goal is to have something ready to post in that 75 minutes. Whew! Enough challenges?
Here's No. 1: Feeding the Fast Food Crave
Seeing the neon sign makes me very hungry. Sitting in my car, feeding the fast food crave. Living the American Dream.
I feel like I'm rediscovering the internet. It's been filled with wonderful things today, and it's not even noon! Here's the run down:
Image credit: Brand New / Under Consideration
My most recent food obsession is frozen yogurt. I can't get enough and am ashamed to admit that I think about it all day long. Earlier this week, my husband introduced me to Yogurtland, a smorgasbord of fro-yo and toppings. I'm partial to original with fruit toppings, but it doesn't matter because you purchase this stuff by the ounce. The ounce!
That being said, it was fun to see Yogurtland's rebrand featured on one of my favorite blogs, Brand New, this morning.
Image credit: The DieLine
Another one of my favorite blogs, The Dieline, featured a studio tour / interview with David Turner. Seriously lovely.
And last but certainly not least, you can listen to the König of Type talk about visual language, the design process, and of course, typography.
Erik Spiekermann - Putting Back the Face into Typography from Gestalten on Vimeo.
If you've ever moved any sort of distance, you know that living in a new area means you have to find new hang-out spots, and of course, new places to buy groceries. Thankfully, my husband has been living in Silicon Valley for over a month already and has an affinity for a supermarket called Lucky.
Earlier this week, we were picking up a few last minute dinner items and noticed a 2 for 1 hummus sale. Yes please! At the checkout, I noticed that rather than simply crediting the price of the second container of hummus, it said 100% off. From a marketing perspective, I think that is absolute genius.
Seeing 100% off on my receipt got me thinking. What if Lucky were to create a smart phone app that capitalized on its name?
Here's how it would work: When you get to the store (or before), open the app and tap the "I'm feeling lucky button". In turn, you receive a coupon or discount for a particular item. Fairly simple. However, there is another twist.
Once you've been through the checkout and have your grocery receipt, you scan a barcode at the bottom of the receipt which holds all of the information about the items you purchased during your trip. This does a couple of things:
1. It tells Lucky what you're buying and how often 2. It allows them to give you coupons that are more in line with the items you purchase on a regular basis. 3. You keep coming back because you're receiving coupons for things you actually use (rather than getting a coupon for $3.00 off canned cat food when you have a dog)
So there you go Lucky. Free idea.
Image credit goes Custom Confections
My stomach has been grumbling at me all morning, which means any food-related internet thing I run across is killing me.
For example, Stylish White Female (who is supposed to be posting pictures of her killer outfits) is blogging about baked potatoes and kale. To top things off, I just found out from a friend on Facebook that today is National Chocolate Cake day.
Gah! What's a girl gotta do to get a giant piece of chocolate cake?
P.S. I also like any kind of cheesecake.
Some of you may already know that my husband and I love to spend quality time in the kitchen (proof here and here), but that doesn't mean we don't love a great restaurant! Since before Silicon Valley was even a twinkle in our eye, I've been following a great blog called SFoodie. Over the past year or so, it's been fun to follow all of the great food markets, festivals, and featured restaurants, and now I can't wait to actually try them!
Honestly, is it even possible to not look at something like this and want to find it's source?
