Burger of the Week #107

This week's BOTW isn't so much inspiring as disgusting.... This fast food burger was bought in 1999, and was accidentally left in a closet. 14 years later it's in disturbingly decent condition, thanks to all the preservatives processed in our "food".

Go ahead... take a watch, it'll inspire you to skip the fast food. 

Modcloth with a Local Touch

Last Wednesday, AIGA West Michigan, in partnership with Kendall College of Art in Design, brought in Katia Kuethe, senior creative director from Kate Spade New York. As part of the evening, Kendall students showcased designs from recent apparel projects. 

One of the dresses was highlighted as the winner of a recent Modcloth Make the Cut contest. Winner Athena Anger is a Kendall student and her dress is now being produced and sold on Modcloth.

As soon as I saw it I said, "that's a modcloth dress". It's excited to see a concept brought through to production!

(Not so) Scrambled in the Shell

I don't eat eggs.... but I'm just so damn curious that a video posted on DesignTaxi a few weeks back led to this...

The video shows you how to hardboil a scrambled egg inside its shell. I didn't know how to hard boil and egg, so first I had to try study up on that... and I nailed it (right). The scrambly one didn't so much work though (left). You can see in the pic that its yolk is a little off center, but it certainly isn't scrambled to a nice pretty yellow.

Here's the original video and the effect I was going for!
 
The weirdest part is the noise the egg makes inside the shell as you're spinning it. That is one rattled, dead baby chicken!

There will be a round two of this challenge....

Burger of the Week #106

Burger enthusiasts unite! It's a burger revelation at My Burger!

HOW Magazine has given the family-owned, Minneapolis based burger joint Best in Show for the development of their brand. And I have to agree, I want to eat the crap out of this design!

Burger of the Week #105

So, this may sound silly, but I just discovered the all the additional emoticons and icons available via facebook messenger on my smartphone. Looks like I found myself a favorite....

Check it Out: New Life to Gingham

Ever since the calico cat met the gingham dog* I've loved the classic appeal of gingham—everything from Dorothy's dress to Jackie O to picnic cloths.

The resurgence of retro styling is giving this simple pattern new life. 

And thanks to heavy hitters like Kate Spade, who launched her first collection of bags with gingham linings in 1993, gingham is finally having it's day. Kate Spade celebrates the checkered style on their landing page** and they invite you to follow the hashtag #ginghamstyle (get it—like gangnum style??)

I'm charmed by the fresh take mixed with vintage vibes that I'm getting from the rising gingham trend. Can't wait to mix prints this Spring!


*This is a reference to the poem The Duel by Eugene Field. I made the above calico cat and gingham dog to go along with the poem as a 4-H project when i was in middle school.

** See their history of gingham (in a nutshell)

Burger of the Week #104

It's that great big burger in the sky. Not going to lie... this burger looks mighty tasty. Is that thousand island i see dripping between your patties? A nice toasted sesame seed bun? Crisp, crunchy bacon? Mmmmmmm.

From FFFFound

Underrated for a Reason

I take my fast food pretty seriously. And i would have to agree with these 10 Commandments—there are definitely rules to eating fast food.

So let's talk about Commandment #9: Though shalt have a definitive fry preference. A note here caught my attention... BK "demonstrate the best batter-to-potato ratio in the game right now. I would say Checkers’ highly underrated seasoned fries would beat them out, but Checkers are so sparsely located as to be fast food mirages. I’m not even fully sure I’ve ever been to one."

Checkers you say.... there's one not far from me, and I've never paid it a visit. Well it is now post-lent, and I'm leading a potato resurgence. And today we resurged all over the local Checkers. 

So I ordered myself some fries. And it's important to note that they are seasoned fries. My initial thought was that they tasted like Arby's curly fries, but i quickly realized it was more like the coating on fried chicken. And it's a very thick coating that overwhelms the potatoness of the fry.

My first fry was one of delight, but they effect soon transition to an overly heavy, greasy feeling. I soon realized i wasn't eating fries, but deep fried breading, and it left me unsettled the rest of the afternoon. The taste of grease seemed to linger. (I thought I really was going to resurge...). Additionally, a Checkers large also rang in about 100 calories more than a McDonald large. 

A new fry champ was NOT crowned today. 

Burger of the Week #103

Another variation on the Lego Burger from illustrator David Schwen's flickr stream. Loved the crunched lettuce. Check out the rest of Schwen's site, it's a load of fun.

Color Me Ashamed

I've been off my game. I've been told I used to be the Queen of April Fool's Day. But today, not only did I not get anyone, I was got on several occasions. 

And while I still may be kicking myself for falling for this one, I'm impressed by the effort and expense that went into this Urban Outfitters stunt. 

My reaction to the tube maxi dress was one of fury, how dare they bind women that way!?!

I even forwarded the video on to people asking "can you believe this?" before clicking on 'Shop' and discovering I'd been duped. 

Happy April Fool's Day everyone. I better shape up for next year.

Awkward, Bad & Wonderful

As a USPS supporter, I'm pro-postcard; and as an avid-antiquer, I can spend hours browsing  random boxes of the 4x6 artifacts. I love seeing how cities used to look and what lifestyle was idealized. 

But Dave Murray over at mLive has taken a different perspective, with his column, Bad Postcard of the Week. As Murray says, "Nice places can still have gloriously awful postcards." And he's not wrong. Murray, along his readers have found some doozies. Here's some major winners:

Lovely vista at the Edison Mall. Nice road too.

Romantic Lover's Lane in Kalamazoo

Harry S Truman once plowed the land where this mall now stands. 


This lovely motel in Kentucky has carpet and showers. 

Love inducing lettuce aura 

I enjoy the idea of sharing "wonderfully dull or otherwise awful postcards". I've seen many in my browsing, and I imagine in the future I'll be contributing to Murray's column. If you come across an postcard fail worth sharing, scan it and email it to Murray at dmurray@mlive.com.