I know I made an Urban Ears post before that got deleted but Urban Ears have come out with a new website so I think they deserve a new post. Their old website was sleek and minimal but a bit too minimal. Their new website is complete with more information and best of all more press pictures! Yes more beautifully photographed pictures of their beautiful products. How does a product come to such aesthetic perfection?

picturedbelow are the three styles available

Medis in Ocean

Tanto in Light Blue

Plattan in Purple

And I still have yet to own a pair

I picked up this mini travel edition set of DKNY Delicious fragrances in the airport with the Taiwan dollars I had left. The Be Delicious scent with its signature apple shaped bottle has been around since 2004 but this was the first time I saw the travel set of the delicious scents in the airport. Its a great way to sample the different fragrances and you get four cute little apple bottles. The design of the bottles are fun yet sophisticated and are the perfect size for travel.

The downside of the travel editions is that they have twist and pull cap making a spill more likely to happen. However this can be forgiven because they in fact do smell very delicious. I’m not a huge fan of DKNY Delicious Night but the other three scents definitely make up for it.

Saw these Kanro candies at a 7-Eleven in Taiwan and was drawn to their packaging. With their fun and colorful graphics I wasn’t really concerned with how they tasted. The Japanese candy company had me buying more than a few packs.

The package to the right with an international theme is my favorite. The pack has 5 countries represented containing 5 desserts.

in order that they appear below the flavors are cheese cake from Switzerland, Tiramisu from Italy, Strawberry mille-feuille from France, Apple Pie from the United States, and Mango Pudding from China.

Inside the candies are individually wrapped with little characters wearing the traditional clothes and holding the dessert of their country. They are almost too cute to eat!… almost. They are DELICIOUS! I finally brought myself to tear the little swiss girl in half and indulge in a little piece of cheesecake.

The idea of this worldly treat is great but only 3 continents are represented. It would be awesome if more countries are added to the collection. What I love most about the graphics is that they remind of the “It’s a small world” ride  in disneyland. It definitely adds to the happy effect.

The other pack I got is “Teddy Pop Candy” which contains 6 unique flavors. They include China Blue, Lime & Honey, Banana Yogurt, Blood Orange Soda, Pink Lemonade, and Mango & Apple.

I’d have to say the packaging is cuter than the actual candies appear. The bear features aren’t very clear but it does have the general shape. In the pack there was a card with a nice inspirational message. Mine said “keep going”. It’s kind of an odd message to put on a card found candy but I guess it is positive.

Teddy bears and world peace. what more could could you ask for?

As a fairly new blogger with my first ever website, i have had basically no experience in web design other than a few of the basic html  tags. If it weren’t for the “WordPress Theme Generator” I would not have this very theme i am using now. As the website claims there is no need for “HTML, JS, PHP, or CSS knowledge” and it is completely free. Although the themes that can be created are pretty basic, there are a good number of customizable features making it possible to create a wide range of designs.

Original Graphics made in photoshop or other programs can easily be incorporated into a theme.

The site is very simple, clear and easy to use. I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to get their own customized blog up and running without paying for an original design or learning the ins and outs of web design.

So I would just like to say thank you “WordPress Theme Generator” for making my life easier

While waiting in line to take the elevator up to the observation deck of Taipei 101, large graphics of these creatures called “damper babies” along the walls immediately caught my eye. I knew by the end of the day, I would have a little damper baby to take home and call my own. After taking in the views on the 89th floor in the indoor observatory, I headed over to the gift shop and sure enough  They were there neatly stacked waiting for me.

So what exactly is a damper baby you ask?

Damper babies are the mascots of Taipei 101 which are based on the huge wind damper suspended in the building which can be seen inside the indoor observatory. The damper weighs 660 metric tons and spans 5.5 meters in diameter making it the largest wind damper in the world. It prevents swaying in the building caused by the wind.

There are 4 different types of damper babies to choose from. I went with “Smart Silver” with its bright and shiny finish partly because it reminded me of  Jeff Koons.

the other damper babies are “Lucky Red “, “Rich Gold”, and “Cool Black”. Their profiles can be found here.

The bodies of the baby dampers are striped resembling the appearance of the actual wind damper. Also if you haven’t noticed, the eyes and mouth of the damper babies  form the number 101! how clevah.

These mascots really are a great way to sell souvenirs.  The gift shop was full of damper baby goods. The little guys even willed me into buying a t-shirt.

As of January 4, 2010 Taipei 101 officially became the second tallest building in the world, but that doesn’t take away the fact that it’s a really, really, really tall building.

Taipei 101 was the first attraction I visited on my trip to Taiwan but unfortunately, I lost the pictures! aaaahhh! don’t ask how it happened. It’s unfortunate because the views of Taipei weren’t the only thing to look at up there. The observatory has a lot of interesting graphic art covering the walls. Inside the staircases between the indoor observatory and outdoor observatory there were bright and colorful graphic depictions of the world’s major cities. The outdoor observatory had colorful cut-out/collage graphics around the building of fun nature/random silhuettes.

I do have one graphic goody to give a little taste of the art that can be found at the top of the building and to prove that I actually went there. To the left is a picture of my observatory entrance ticket. The Taipei 101 building with its one hundred and one floors is the blue and yellow building towering over  gray architectural feats of other great cities such as the Chrysler building at the bottom right. The style of the ticket kind of makes me think Art Deco. They really played around with the dimensions layering the the flat 2d buildings which can’t be seen as well in the photo. The moon might be a bit much but that’s just my opinion. Other than it’s a lovely ticket I’ll be keeping.

I hope it’s not too odd I might have enjoyed Taipei 101′s graphics a little more than the views. In my defense it was a bit cloudy that day.

Hello World Wide Web! With this first post I have decided to venture into the world of blogging. I’ve found great pleasure in surfing through design blogs and I suddenly got the crazy idea to start one of my own. Your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated and I hope you enjoy these visual treats! I am still in the process of putting this site together so I apologize if it is quite unsightly at the moment.