Concrete evidence of nouveau Brutalism with Alexa Lixfeld

Both Dezeen and The Dieline featured Alexa Lixfeld's wonderuously Brutalist bottle designs this week. How I love a bit of concrete (Corbusier would be so proud)! And it's amazing how much better Brutalism seems to work on a small scale. These bottles are interesting... so textural. The equal ratio of concrete to glass makes this item light and beautiful... not too heavy or dark. Sadly the same can't be said for the post WWII building effort in London. 

No doubt, bigger brands will be snapping up this creative wonder soon.

Cool correspondence with Snow & Graham

If you're not in the habit of sending hand-written notes and thank you cards, now is the time to start. It's a habit that will never do you wrong. I have not a single doubt that all of the men and women to whom we look for advice on living, alive or not (Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn et al), were die-hard thank you noters. Nowadays, it's the perfect way to slice right through the white noise and electronic haze we live in, thumping us right back down in reality, where people actively create REAL, tangible things for other people. A thank you note is a wonderful way to reconnect on a human level and let someone know you truly appreciate what they've done. How much more thoughtful is an envelope in the letterbox than a beep on the mobile alerting you to a text message? Loads more, that's how much.

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A beautiful package... K2 Design for Korres Natural Products

Korres Natural Products is being featured in Taschen's tome, Package Design Now!, for its beautiful, sleek, modern packaging, done by Greek firm K2. Their packaging creates a disconnect with the usual suspects utilised in beauty packaging. It's clean, simple, completely unisex... it's definitely award worthy as is their store design, especially the NYC flagship.

I think we'll start a regular branding and packaging appreciation column on this blog, similar to the way Flawless Beauty Blog does a Sunday inspiration post with bathroom design. Why not. Packaging gets better all the time.