The High Tea Party has a makeover of its own

Because a change is as good as a cup of tea with some tiny tasty sweet morsels... this year the wonderful Alison at The High Tea Party decided it was time to give this all-things-feminine brand a breath of new life. We have loved working on this project and took it upon ourselves to recreate this identity to be one which inspired whimsical optimism in both the guests and the partners who loyally return to the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane events each year. We wanted to capture the experience of a day at The High Tea Party as being an escape from the everyday – where mothers, daughters, girlfriends and sisters could meet up, feel gorgeous and be delighted. The result is a collection of hand-drawn and softly collaged elements which come together to create a pretty, sunshiny new image. Their website is yet to be completely finished, but still looks great and you can see it here. To celebrate the makeover, tickets this week are only $65: check out their facebook page for more info.

Pantone Color of the Year 2013

I'm not entirely sure that Pantone's Colour of the Year announcements aren't self-fulfilling prophesies. Nor am I all that comfortable really with the makers of my printing swatch book (or at least the descendants of the makers of my swatch book) should be informing me of what colour I should be filling this season's wardrobe with or indeed, which hue my eyelashes should be. In any case, I have to admit this is a fun idea and a nice way to introduce the graphic designers' referencing system to the shiny white tiled floor of David Jones. Buy it online at Sephora.

Ashley Goldberg

Since I'm planning a visit to Portland OR sometime soon (Yipppeee!) I thought I should probably get listening to The Decemberists a bit more, and find some other artists which have come out of this bohemian (in the traditional sense of the word) city. Ashley Goldberg's illustrations have a naivety and an unhindered creativity which is really charming. Check out the prints of her  at her seemingly asian-inspired illustrations at her Etsy store.

Handy online tool

... Now all I have to do is remember a5.gg. Thanks, Jason Cooper!

Free printable: Weights of Common Ingredients

If we're going to have a chart stuck on the fridge, it's got to be pretty, right? I put this together for my own kitchen and thought I'd share it with you guys as well. Feel free to print-and-stick, although note that it's still bound by copyright, so personal use only. Oh, and FYI the Nut Flour is fairly variable, I was getting results ranging from about 80g to 150g, so I went midway. Enjoy!

Karen Walker x Advanced Style

New Zealand designer Karen Walker has just released campaign pics of her upcoming eyewear range for 2013. Partnering with the blog 'Advanced Style', a blog dedicated to capturing the style of over 50's in New York, Walker has been able to showcase her new collection on a range of seriously stylish older models aged between 65 and 92 years old!

The outcome is great. It's so nice to see such creative ideas for a high end fashion label. The quirkiness of both the eyewear and the styling work perfectly. If only I could pull of that silver hair…

I think I might

With about a gazillion pictures being taken worldwide using mobile phones and posted on Instagram and other social media networks, and almost as many websites being built to show off these little treasures, it's hard to know where to look to find some real beauties. "I think I might" is an online curation of photographs with a cute interface and quirky collection of images. It also has a world map indicating what's being shot where... although no Aussies on the map yet as far as I can see!

Helvetitee

Found this quirky retail site yesterday which caters to all lovers of Helvetica. We all know American Apparel's famous use of the typeface in simple and effective type-based design, not to mention the ten gazillion other wonderful and successful applications worldwide of this classic, beautiful, friendly and neat font. Now you can head to helvetitee.com to order your very own custom-printed tee featuring the copy of your choice. Shipping is free worldwide. Click through their 'randomize' options if you can't think of anything for yourself, some great ideas there as well. Love a smart, simple uncomplicated creative retail idea!

Washi Washi

A few years back I picked up a book in New York called the "MT Kamoi Masking Tape Book". I didn't really know what it was about, but have since observed a growing trend for Washi Tape: printed Japanese rice paper masking tape. It's very crafty and I haven't yet been able to think of any genuinely useful ideas for its application, but it is soooo pretty and I love the uncoated paper finish. Have a look at Etsy for a growing list of sellers offering this delightful stuff.

The Little Book of Big Gift Ideas

January. My new year's resolution is to keep the Boheem portfolio up to date.

Hmm. I wonder how I'll go with that. 

Well anyway to kick things off I thought I'd share a project we worked on late last year with Baptist World Aid. We love this organisation and the people in it, and this brief was a fantastic challenge and one for which we delivered what we believe was a great result.

Baptist World Aid have undergone a rebrand in the last year or so, and as part of this they wanted their pre-Christmas gift donation promotion to be something special. This project was a lot of fun, and we benefitted from working with a team who wholeheartedly trusted our direction and vision for it. 

Our concept of having a very small book named "The Little Book of Big Gift Ideas", featuring artwork inspired by vintage children's book classics was welcomed as creative approach within the now fairly saturated market of overseas aid gift catalogues. The book has been a huge success and the illustrations by our very clever intern, Mia Crow have proven very popular. 

We were involved in every facet of this campaign to get it off the ground: beyond the book there were envelopes, posters, promo cards, advertisements, sales material as well as online marketing including digital design for the website and Facebook page. Have a look at the online store here.

Ready or not, here comes 2013

Here it is: ten reasons why it's awesome to be back at work. I'm SO glad the holidays are over. Phew!

Gingerbread houses 2012

Gingerbread house decorating has become a bit of a tradition at Boheem, and for the past week this studio has had about as much sugar in the air as Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. This year to add an extra challenge for ourselves we decided to decorate our houses according to movie themes... you'll have to guess who do what and based on which movie!

Merry Christmas to all of our treasured friends. We're closing the door here in about an hour and will be opening it again at 9am on Monday 7th January. Till then, thanks for all your support and for being one of about a thousand regular readers of this blog, take care and enjoy a fabulous festive season...

A thrill of hope

.... For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

We're cranking up the Christmas Carols in the studio these days, and the above lyrics are from my all time favourite, O Holy Night. The photograph I took a couple of years ago in Jindabyne NSW.

Mr Coffee has spoken

Is it normal to go to bed at night, anticipating the pleasure of a morning cappuccino only hours away? It's what makes me want to fall asleep quicker, honestly. 

I spotted this really lovely hand drawn typographic poster a little while ago on Behance and just thought I'd share it. Unfortunately I can't seem to find how to buy a print, but to see more from Simon Ålander's portfolio have a look at his website. 

Surrendering to the inevitable

Somebody is thinking the same way I do. Thanks, Darren Firth.