Decoding Pantone’s Radiant Orchid

As Breaking Bad fans, we can’t help but wonder if the color committee decided on 2014’s chosen color as a nod to radiant screen orchid, Marie Schrader.

We can’t be certain, but if you miss the Schrader purple palace and feel that this year’s color choice is a sign to add a touch to your home or wardrobe (before the Pantone collaborative merchandise officially hits the shelves), we have you covered there as well.

Shades of Radiant Orchid – Women

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Shades of Radiant Orchid – Home

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Kosta Boda Charms Bowl, $285 (background) and Yellow Happy Going Bowl, $125 (foreground)

Birds in bowls usually don’t have much to smile about, but these Kosta Boda bowls give sanctuary to a small flock, if only through brush strokes. Set against vibrant, transparent colors, it seems we’ve finally found Happy Birds. Perhaps not as popular as their Angry, sketched cousins, these glass works still bowl us over.

Not quite ready to invest in the real thing? Pantone says the emerald color will be all over the place for 2013, meaning you can channel the style without the emerald cuts. Photo credit: thisisbossi/Flickr

Long a hit with red carpet starlets, emerald will get a bit of extra attention in 2013 as Pantone’s Color of the Year.

17-5461 is the official ID – speaking of, are Pantone IDs the equivalent of Social Security numbers for colors? When their glory days are behind them, and they’re sent off to an old age home for hues we can see Honeysuckle sitting around with a cup of hot cocoa complaining to Turquoise that Pantone payments just haven’t kept up with the cost of living, but we digress.

Emeralds, though often admired for their strong, vibrant green cuts, actually have a beautiful range that includes greens tinged with just a hint of blue (our favorite, and an ideal shade to complement the turquoise color of the year items still in your closet or around your home) and even pale, glassy shades that wouldn’t be recognized as emeralds at first glance.

Pantone seems to have settled on the slightly bluish green shade to represent the spectrum. For design geeks, we present the RGB, CMYK and HTML Hex codes of Pantone Emerald, between a few complimentary and contrasting spectrums.

RGB, CMYK and HTML color codes for Emerald

For those who are just reminded of their love for the shade and want ways to incorporate it, try these 9 emerald style and home pieces.

 Pamela Henson Silk Blend Emerald Green Dress Pants $118

J.Crew Men’s Lambswool V-Neck Sweater $64.50-69.50

Alexander McQueen Green Bustier Dress $2091.87

The Limited Faceted Translucent Bracelet $12.45

Marc Jacobs Green Paradise Rio Bag $1195

Colombo Men Green Cashmere Oblong Scarf $331

BBJ Luxe Emerald Green 4-pc. Charger Plate Set $143.99

Diane von Furstenberg Golf Green Twigs Duvet $199.99-249.99

Orrefors by Karim Eko Green Votive Candle Holder $35

Not your average flash drive or vibes

The Duet is a USB powered vibrator, with models that can also be used as a flash drive (we’ll leave the type of content you’d find on a vibrator flash drive to your imagination). Insert your own joke about computer viruses here. Joking aside, the design driven sex toy is becoming more popular – and an area we’ll explore in a future post, but beyond business models and general entrepreneurial spirit, the Duet vibrator is probably the one with the most tech cred.

The majority of vibrators – even those which have been given extreme design makeovers – still rely on batteries or electric chargers in order to provide a buzz. The USB-charged battery is sexy tech at its finest, and the functional flash drive gives it obvious discreet geek appeal, but it’s also going into production courtesy of crowdsourced funding – a model that’s had its greatest hit with gadget adaptations and accessories.

While the Duet hasn’t hit anything close to the $1 million of the biggest crowdfunded gadget success story, it exceeded the $15,000 fundraising goal in just 2 days and there are currently 37 days left to go. CKIE, a Kickstarter-style site from design blog Yanko Design that focuses exclusively on industrial design, provided the platform. Women who expect smart functionality and sleek design from all their gadgets have apparently provided the rest.

The basic Duet comes in 3 colors, and will retail for $139 (it’s $75 if pre-ordered through CKIE), while 8GB and 16GB dual flash drive models will retail for $189 and $349 respectively ($125 and $250 at pre-order) and come in black and gold combinations. If that seems a little expensive, even for a flash drive that does serious double duty, both versions come with a 24K gold band, and we know how valuable gold is these days so just think of it as an investment. All models feature 4 vibration modes, 5 power levels, a waterproof design, two “virtually silent” motors and up to 4 hours of continuous use, though there’s nothing that indicates how storage space on the flash drive might effect performance.

Designer Ti Chang and engineer Michael Topolovac are the founders behind the line.

{via Refinery29}

Underneath the glass staircase in the Franklin County, Ohio courthouse. Wearing a skirt? You may want to take the elevator.

A shiny new courthouse recently opened in Franklin County, Ohio, but not all of the buildings residents are happy with some of the modern design touches. Specifically, Judge Julie Lynch is questioning the wisdom of a glass staircase that gives people standing underneath a clear view of everything above them. {CNN} If you’re a woman – or one of the few men (hi, Marc Jacobs) who favors skirts or dresses, perhaps you see the problem.

While security guards and others “hope people will be mature” about the glass staircase, Lynch notes that if people were “mature” they probably wouldn’t need the courthouse in the first place.

Fair point, but we think there might be another solution that would be appropriate to the setting and modern decor goals: two-way glass. Place the glass so that those looking up only see a reflection, and those walking up the stairs can still look down and have the illusion of transparency. The modern design remains in place, the skirt and dress wearing public can walk up stairs without worrying about immature people snapping illicit camera phone photos. And really, aside from what we’ve seen of TV police stations, would there be any better place than a courthouse for two-way glass?

Voila, aesthetic decisions maintained, privacy protected and if a film can be applied to the existing glass to give it a two-way effect, likely a fix that can me made for less than it would cost to drag the design team back into court.

The $999,999 figure is the current price attached to an eBay auction where someone claims that after matching up the prices of sold artwork to tax records, they know the artist’s name. For a price, they’ll mail a piece of paper to you with that name on it.

The mask could soon come off

On Banksy’s website though, there’s a claim that “Banksy neither produces or profits from the sale of greeting cards, mugs or photo canvases of his work. He is not represented by any of the commercial galleries that sell his paintings second hand and cannot be found on facebook/twitter/myspace etc.”

Which means that there’s no assurance that the name found is that of the artist, and even if it is your Facebook friend request will have nowhere to go.

On another note, how upset must the artist be that they didn’t consider this for a retirement plan? Or, perhaps they did. While Banksy is careful to disavow association with Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, there’s no mention of eBay and this is a pretty ingenious way to test the market for the value of a piece of “art” most of us give away in some form on a regular basis.

Around the world, hundreds of graffiti artists just went “why didn’t I think of that?”

Maybe Harold and Kumar were busy?

This week, Stewart and Wang stopped by the White Castle in Herald Square, New York City to help promote slider-and-onion scented candles made by Nest Fragrances. {The Cut} The candles will be sold at White Castle locations nation-wide for $13 each, which The Cut notes is about how much 14 White Castle sliders cost.

The proceeds from the candles will go to Autism Speaks, which is certainly something we can support, but does anyone honestly want their house to smell like White Castle? Weâ€ve seen candles scented like other foods such as cookies, and while White Castleâ€s onion-laid sliders do smell delicious, the fragrance permeating an entire space for a long period of time would probably be a bit much – or at least make you unnecessarily hungry. Whatever happened to good old jasmine and apple-cinnamon candles?

Besides that, isnâ€t it a little strange that Martha Stewart is partnering with White Castle, even if it is for a good cause? The domestic diva gave a speech at White Castle in Herald Square about the charity and White Castle (including how this was not her first visit to the fast food chain) while greasy sliders and martinis were passed through the crowd. A Christmas tree decorated with White Castle cartons was also in attendance. {Elle} Forgive us, but Ms. home-cooked meals and crafty decorations seems a bit out of place in this situation.

In any case, along with the charitable aspect, the other good thing about the burger-scented candles is at least theyâ€re relatively inexpensive – unlike many other off-beat, IEJ-featured products.

Nothing says you care like a warm greeting card sent from someone special. An expression of love, an offer of congratulations, or just a simple thank you – if some ecards aren’t enough, a card is a timeless gesture (whether giving or receiving) that anyone can take pleasure in.

Intricately detailed homemade cards with that little something extra are what Lynn Pratt’s creations are all about. Her artistic skills and endless imagination lead her to design these inspirational specialty cards that are as unique as they are stunning.

Using an array of delicate materials and accents (think personal monograms and photos) her ongoing projects transform any occasion with a personal touch. Through each cardâ€s design the artist explores the intimate and indulgent experiences they create.

Interested in getting your own creative juices flowing? Follow Lynnâ€s step-by-step video tutorials and purchase occasion-specific templates to start creating your own works of art. Who knows what feelings you can inspire if you just play (or design!) your cards right.

Everyone knows Iman for her success as an international supermodel and cosmetics company founder. The inspiration for Yves Saint Laurent’s “Africa Queen” collection, for fourteen years the singularly named beauty graced the runways of the world’s most renowned fashion designers. Before Tyra, Heidi Klum and the other model moguls we know today, Iman was one of the first to capitalize on her modeling background with an entry into business via Iman Cosmetics.

Launched in 1994, the company focuses on products designed for women of color. In addition to her cosmetics line, Iman has also added accessories designer and TV host to her resume via stints at HSN (Home Shopping Network) and Project Runway Canada respectively. Today Iman is broadening her reach even further collaborating with Design Consultant, Carlos Mota on a new home fabrics line called IMAN Home.

Scheduled for its debut at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Iman had this to say about the project being showcased at such an event.

“I am so excited to partner with Mercedes-Benz on this project. We have worked tirelessly in preparation for the launch of IMAN Home and to have this forum, at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, is a great way to unveil the collection.” {Talking Makeup}

Obviously Fashion Week is a great time to introduce something new because the audience is so broad. People look up to Iman for her fashion sense so it seems likely to be a hit. Look out for the new line sometime late September.

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