Get on your safari hats, because today we’re going wild! We love a splashy animal print because it borders on that line of oh-so-good or oh-so-bad. That line can be crossed in fashion, interior design and graphic design, but when it’s done right it makes our hearts go pitter patter. Check out these examples of just the right amount of jungle style on the runway, in print and in the home. We recommend just a dash of these prints—don’t be afraid to mix and match with other bold patterns & textures, but always remember to go faux. Grrrr.

The Color of Animal Print

The color of animal print is 7504, a warm brown that looks soft to the touch.

The Typeface of Animal Print

The Typeface of animal print is Zeebraa. It is clearly wild and crazy enough to represent this fierce trend.

A week would not be complete without a glimpse at one of Greg’s infamous Top Tops. Check him out here—already passing on his stripey top top style to a little friend! We’ve heard the fashion tip “if you find something you like, buy one in every single color.”  But we commend Greg’s slightly different motto; “if you like the color of something, make sure you buy one of everything in that color.” We just have one recommendation; it’s summer, and it might be worth adding a sleeveless number to the Top Top collection. Just a thought.

The Color of Greg’s Top Tops

One part pms 304, one part brown, stripe it up and you’ll be rockin’ the town.

The Typeface of Greg’s Top Tops

At last, a font to accompany Greg’s Top Tops. DF Vanilla embodies the feeling surrounding Greg’s infamous affinity for stripes and lends an 80′s feel to the whole scene, which of course is highly applicable. High tops and funny hair anyone?

Ciao Amici,
So much to love about summer! Flip flops, barbeques, running through sprinklers, warm nights and long days by the pool. All of that is good and wonderful, but let’s not forget gelato, such a delicious summery treat. Greg came back from France bragging about the tasty gelato he sampled in Southern France, and his mouthwatering description had us running down to the local gelato spot to grab a sample. We may not have been enjoying it on the Mediterranean, but it sure was scrumptious. Besides the taste, we also love gelato for its gorgeous colors and unique and daring flavors (tarragon with pink pepper, ricotta, avocado, black mission fig and champagne to name a few).

The color of gelato

Need something sugary to get you through the day? Maybe PMS 7492 will tickle that sweet tooth and make this Wednesday smooth sailing! YUM!

The typeface of gelato

Aah the typeface of Gelato! What could be more deliciously sweet than Coquette Bold?

With temperatures nearing 107 today, things are getting hot, hot, hot! We’ve dedicated today’s post to keeping you uber cool. The sweatband is designed to absorb the pesky perspiration around your crown, keeping the sweat out of your eyes. Of course they have the added benefit of being super fashionable and come in a variety of colors and styles. Head over to American Apparel to grab your own. Or, if you are as cheap as we are, check out this article on how to make your own (p.s. you might need to break out an old pair of your 80′s sweatpants).

The Color of Sweatbands

The golden hue of 7408C is totally the color of sweatbands. It’s the color of the hot, hot sun, and always looks good in terrycloth. If you’re going to go with the sweatband, we say go bright or go home!

The Typeface of Sweatbands

Virna is straight out of the 70′s. It’s classic curvitude complements this fun fashion throwback. And we all know sweatbands look ultra hip in stripes. Stay cool…real cool.

This hot weather makes us dream of sitting poolside, sipping fancy, fruity umbrella drinks. Whether it’s a Mai Tai, the classic umbrella drink, or a Mojito, Margarita or Rinitini, an umbrella just adds that much more summertime fun.

The Color of Umbrella Drinks

Pantone 213 is the perfect vivid pink to add color to any fun cocktail you may be sipping.

The Typeface of Umbrella Drinks

In honor of the cocktail umbrella’s pacific rim origins we’ve chosen Tiki Hut by House Industries as the official typeface of Umbrella Drinks.

Cheers!

We’re so glad to see flocked wallpaper make a comeback—it’s just so lush, divine and velvety! We’re inspired to cover our walls, or at least a canvas or headboard, though it would be hard to choose from all of the beautiful designs out there.

The color of flocked wallpaper

We chose PMS 7472—a lovely teal—because we love the idea of a velvety version of this color covering our walls.

The typeface of flocked wallpaper

Oh, how we love Zag Drops Thin. Its fantastically frilly ascenders and decenders remind us of the wonderful designs on flocked wallpaper.

Ah, today was a good day. We all know Gangster Rap brings joy to everyone’s ears, and to show our appreciation today’s post honors three-wheel motion,  grillz, billz, and mad skillz.

The Color of Gangster Rap

Well, PMS 7540 of course—the color of gun metal gray.

The Typeface of Gangster Rap

Gangster Rap is just too pimpin to pick one font. Today we mixed SG Balmoral SH Regular (Script) and Plain Black Wide (Blackletter) to satisfy our needs.

- Peace

Last week’s typeface was developed in 1986, so we decided to travel on back to this magical year for our post this week. If you need a little music to get you in the mood check out this hip video that was topping the charts in ’86.

The Color of 1986

Pantone 808 is a totally 80′s teal that reminds us of leg warmers, Garbage Pail Kids and Pee-wee’s Playhouse (which happened to premier in 1986.) It’s the perfect color to celebrate the year that Nintendo was introduced to the US and that Maverick, Goose and Iceman flew into the scene in Top Gun.

The Typeface of 1986

Streetbrush is the official font of 1986 because it has classic 80′s flavor and reminds us of the kick-ass movie Purple Rain.

Let’s start the day with the letter A. There is no better place to begin our first design love post then with the very beginning of the alphabet.

The Color of The Letter A

We all know that A is for Apples. And since red is the color of beginnings—beginnings of rainbows or crayola crayon boxes for instance—it seemed to be the perfect choice for our first post.

Pantone 032, reminiscent of a bright red Honey Crisp apple, is the official color of The Letter A.

The Typeface of The Letter A

Boton’s straightforward letterforms and chunky slab-serifs, developed by the illustrious French type designer Albert Boton in 1986, bring us back to our days of learning the ABC’s in grade school.

A is for Apples
B is for Boton
C is for c-ya next time!