The World Without Us

Anyone that got an A in science class will love this book. In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman writes about what would happen if humans suddenly disappeared from the earth, leaving everything else intact. What plants and animals would thrive in our absence, and what would die off? What parts of the world would quickly erase all traces of humanity, and what parts will bear our environmental thumbprint for ages to come? It’s a simple premise, but the author goes into such fascinating detail that you will never look at the world around you in quite the same way.

If you’re at all interested in eco-friendliness or sustainable design, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.

For additional info, check out the book’s website.

For additional reading on the topic of sustainable design, check out Cradle to Cradle, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, also highly recommended.
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Vintage Starbucks

I recently visited Seattle and went to the first Starbucks at Pike’s Market. Being an avid coffee drinker, I had to go to see where the retail phenomenon started. The store was very similar to the mainstream roll out in terms of colors, textures and overall feel. The original Starbucks logo still hangs in triplicate outside the shop and is in my opinion much better than the more common one we all know.





Repetition turned up a lot in my visit early Friday morning to the market (the Starbucks store, a gourmet food shop for example). I arrived there before it was actually open but noticed the cues everywhere as the vendors were setting up. Just a reminder that this simple design element creates visual interest and relevance in large-open areas. Even with coffee beans and salmon – presentation is everything!

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Fashionation

We all know and love thecoolhunter.net as a resource to be up to date on all things design. Well, now they have come out with a new site called Fashionation www.fashion-ation.net!

Fashionation is a site for fashion lovers. Whether you’re interested in street style, runway, or fashion photography; it’s a site to be inspired by and keep up with current trends. Fashionation gets all of their information from the very best fashion magazines around the world, and puts the articles on 1 convenient site. No more spending tons of $$$ on multiple magazines!

The site also lets you post to your social networking profile, or email certain aricles to other fashion savvy friends who are interested in being in the know.

There are still aspects of the site that are under construction, but keep checking it out for more updates!
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