I Need All the Help I Can Get

So I'm a very bad blogger, honestly. I have no good excuses for why I haven't been posting just my apologies. However, on a happier note, my other blog Sans Socks - very - recently underwent a redesign and I need all the help I can get with it. I've had a great deal of issues with my past designs for this blog and for that reason I'm asking you my faithful readership for your help. It's really quite simple all you have to do is go to Sans Socks and play around with the site and then leave a comment on this post with any problems. Usability, aesthetics, anything that you see as being a problem I would like to know about it. In turn, I am holding a drawing for a $25 gift card to J. Crew for your efforts. Simply leave a comment before October 1 to be entered into the drawing.

Thank you for your help,

bran

And the Winner is...

I first would like to thank everyone for participating, and also announce that Recognizing the Need will be holding at least one giveaway per month from now on. Now for the moment you've all been waiting for, the winner of The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture is Spence. Congratulations to Spencer, who is the blogger over at Nostalgia Revisited. Let's hope that winning this might light a fire under his ass and he'll get back to posting after his few week hiatus. Please email me Spencer to let me know what would be the best way for you to receive your prize. Thanks again to everyone who participated and check back regularly because you never know when I might get a wild hair and decided to hold another giveaway.

The winner of this giveaway was drawn at random out of my destroyed straw fedora by the mysterious girl who has been sleeping on my roommates couch for the past month and a half.

It's Not too Late

It's not too late to enter the giveaway for this wonderful book from Phaidon. Well, not exactly this wonderful book from Phaidon, but one very similar to it but smaller - you would not believe how difficult it is to find a decent photo of the travel edition of this book. But I digress. Take a look at the photos below, these are just some of the wonderful photos that you will be able to look at whenever you want, if you win today's giveaway. I will be writing all of the names down and putting them in a hat at 5 PM (MST) this evening, and will then proceed to find and recruit someone at random to pick a name from the aforementioned hat. I will announce the winner at 6 PM (MST) so check back to see if you are the proud owner of a brand new copy of The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture (Travel Edition).

As always, thanks for reading,
bran

{photos via Phaidon}

p.s. A special thanks to 3 Dainty Delights and Opinuendo for their advertising of this little giveaway of mine. And if you aren't already avid readers it's never to late to start.

Sincere Apologies + A Giveaway

So I wasn't able to accomplish what I set out to accomplish this weekend, and sitting in Oakland International Airport right now, I'm feeling pretty bad about it. So my secret project is going to have to wait to be debuted until the next time I find myself in either the bay area, the greater Los Angeles Area, or Phoenix - hintity, hint, hint. However, because of my betrayal to you, my wonderful readers, it is giveaway time. In light of my previous post about Phaidon publishing, I will be giving away a copy of the Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture (Travel Edition). To be entered into the contest just leave a comment on this post sometime before next sunday at 4:00 PM Pacific time. I apologize again for my failure, and thank you for your continued support.

Thanks again,
bran

rtn. in the East Bay

I'm in the bay area this weekend, partly on a social visit and partly on assignment. I flew into Oakland this afternoon, and it was a fairly eventful day. At nine o'clock this evening a mild 4.2 magnitude earthquake hit and rattled everyone's cages a little bit. The earthquake's epicenter was located just a few miles east of Alamo California. I am staying with some family in a town just a few miles outside of Danville California. As you can see from my somewhat crude illustration of the earthquake's path, the epicenter was very near my current location. Aside from that, the day was rather uneventful. Sorry to disappoint. I do have some big plans to take care of for rtn. while I'm here, so check back regularly for updates. I promise it will be worth it.

The Swag Leg Desk

While researching for that last post I had to constantly tell myself that I did not need to talk about my personal favorite Nelson™ design. I finally broke, what can I say, the Nelson™ Swag Leg Desk is beautiful. It's simple and playful, yet retains a certain level of refinement. Not to mention the plethora of details that went into making the desk completely user-friendly. From its easily collapsible construction, to its multiple dividers and almost hidden pull-out drawers. It is as brilliant today as it was when it was introduced in 1958.

{photo of Nelson™ Swag Leg Desk & Eames® Armchair via Hive}

I Really Don't Want to be an Architect

I saw this classic draftsman stool over at BLTD. a week or so ago and have been stewing over it ever since. From the time that I first started erecting towers out of wooden blocks, I had wanted to be an architect. When I hit high school I started plotting my attack on the world of architecture, taking summer courses, taking classes in school, essentially focusing my entire life on architecture. It was that intense focus on becoming an architect that ultimately convinced me that it wasn't for me. I've since plotted my life towards a proffession more befitting the things that I truly enjoy doing. However, it's things like this stool and the MoMA sponsored annual Young Architects Program that make me seriously question my judgement. Fortunately, I have a friend who consistently supports my decisions and provides evidence to the fact that I really don't want to be an architect.


p.s. If you happen to be in New York City sometime between now and October 20 - and don't mind shuffling through hundreds of people in a peculiarly laid out museum - visit the MoMA and check out their Home Delivery exhibit - a survey of the past, present, and future of prefabricated homes. Or better yet, save yourself the headache and visit the online exhibit here.

A New Venture

I've been running Sans Socks - actively - for a few months now, and while I love discussing style and finding new things related to the world of fashion that is really only one passion of mine. For that reason I decided to create this blog as a place to discuss all things design related, be they industrial, architectural, graphical, web based, etc. I hope you enjoy the site, and thank you for your support.

thank you,
bran

{pictured above: Eames House Bird via Hive Modern}