Klikk.no has done some research on how to make a cool home office the expensive and the cheap way. The cheap room is mainly made out of stuff from Ikea, and the other from different designer stores.

I don’t like to spend a lot on designer interior myself, and would rather buy something at Ikea, an maybe touch it up a bit myself to make it just as I want it, and therefore unique. My desk is actually made from the Abstrakt kitchen door from Ikea, which comes in many colors and sizes, is cheap and can be used for lots of things.

Another important issue when designing your workspace, is to make it with a plain base color. The most expensive and largest items should go in the same range. Then you can add dots of doodles and color to bring it to life. As the seasons change, and tastes and moods change, you might want to change those colors, and as long as they are only on smaller items, it makes it a lot cheaper. My office is only white, and this year i supplemented with a yellow marker-cup, and a yellow pillow for my chair, etc.

I have used the app here on SXSW for a day and a half now, and keep beeing impressed with the great usability. New cool features, and unexpected practical uses keep poping up as well.

Love it!

Go out. Go discover. Go share. Gowalla..

I just don’t know if I ever could paint him though. Maybe just a couple of simple eyes, and thats it. But I have to give it some time. Apparently he comes with all kinds of accessories, but I think he stands better alone.

It always puzzles me why I love white unpainted things so much, and I think I found the answer. It excites me to look at it, because it represents creative opportunities. However, if i paint it, the opportunities narrow, and then disappears. Its gone!

The solution: Always get two of them (unless they are really expensive). In this way you can go bananas on one of them, without losing your blank canvas!

This is the japanese way of drawing cartoons, and is extremely popular. It is also a fairly easy way in to drawing.

I watched a tutorial by a great Manga artist named Mark Crilley. He is the author and artist behind the popular series Miki Falls. His youtube page features dozens of tutorials and even music-videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/markcrilley

So, this is the line drawing i first made, after his tutorial on drawing a Manga girl.

After coloring it , it looked like this…

As you can see.. i went a bit overboard on the cheeks, and made a small blunder on the top of the hair.

I used a pencil in the beginning, that could not be erased very well, bad choice.

However, it was a lot of fun doing this excercise, and I am really looking forward to doing another one.

The characteristics of Manga art are very easy to spot, the big eyes, small nose and mouth. It is easy to make expressions, and a really fun way to start drawing again.

So, I started collecting Pro markers by Letraset, and even bought the special paper that doesn´t bleed. It gave sketching and drawing a whole new dimention for me. I do draw a lot with illustrator, but its not suited for all kinds of sketching.

The prices for these guys are pretty steep, but if you take good care of them, they last surprisingly long.

To get tips on how to use them, just google “coloring markers” or just “promarkers”.  There are also hundreds of video tutorials on youtube that are great! Enjoy!

Letraset – Creative Opportunities – ProMarker Store.

Kari Anne Marstein is a blogger and an artist, and you can buy her products at “Playmo” foto printet på lerret, 40x40x2cm – Epla. Her blog is kariannemarstein.blogspot.com.

I think this is a great example of how the beauty of everyday things can become art. Through the camera lense, she gives us a new perspective on things. Look how the colors come alive, the faces light up.

I guess I am a tiny bit subjective here, beeing a huge playmo fan as a kid, but I still think most people would like this.

It inspires me to want to go out and find beauty in other everyday things… And I might, just you wait!

It comes in all kinds of fruits, but not very easy to order I am afraid.

I would love it if normal post-its were all burned and replaced with these guys.

Nice stuff!

Smidigt: Prylar och Teknik – Post-its som ser ut som frukter.

Unfortunately, this is only a concept computer, and no one has made one yet. But, hopefully someone will pick it up, and make it possible for me to buy one for myself next christmas.

I do not, however, like the keybard that much, they could have refused the urge to go all typewriter on us there, but i suppose it does fit the rest… sort of!

It is so refreshing to see these models, and I probably would not buy it unless it was fairly cheap, but still keep it as a background-image on my iphone!

SchultzeWORKS |  PhilcoPC.

Pleasetell

meyour

favoritecolor!

My favorite color changes constantly. How is yours doing?

I guess I am a restless designer, easily influenced by things  around me, the seasons and what the guy next to me is wearing. Therefore, I must have a white office at home. NO color on things i cannot move easily.

Blue was my favorite color as a kid, and it probably still is deep down. Right now, though, yellow is a big hit. It started last summer. I bought a yellow t-shirt, and painted my nails yellow. Its a pretty color. A friendly color. So friendly, that every 4-5 years, i really start hating it. Its about the same time as all mothers start wearing yellow again. It just gets to be too much. Also, it must be the right neuance of yellow, as the one on my background here, not the kind of yellow you see on pastel paintings, and used-to-be-white walls.

So, what is your favorite color? I would love to know!

Looking at this diagram it dawns on me how beautiful Helvetica really is. It is simply perfect.

Another fact that crashes into my eyes is the awefulness of Arial.

I have used arial for many years, and still use it on this blog, as you can see.. but it is not with pleasure. I only use it because it is the least bad font when you want minimalistic typography, and have the browser-fonts to choose from.

My boss once said, and she is a typographer, “Arial is not a font!”. And from a designers point of view she is probably right. It is a collection of lines and curves that are put into a shape that makes letters.

To the untrained eye, as mine were before i saw this, they might look like the same font. But, deep down, you KNOW that Helvetica is the real deal, and Arial is the cheap knock off.

the ragbag – arial & helvetica on friday, i hosted a screening….