For some reason, one of my browsers decided to be the recipient of a Google redesign today. It looks like they haven’t rolled this out to everyone, but for what it’s worth, here’s how my internet pipes now look.

Above is the homepage. The recent AJAX resolve still applies, but the whole design has had a refresh. It was sparse to begin with, but it now seems even whiter, with flashy new buttons.

There's also a new logo. No longer anchored to the site by it's former drop shadow, it now pops off the page right into your lap.

But wait! There's more!

The blogger over at The Daily Nail has challenged herself to paint her nails with a new color or design every day for the next 365 days.  Why?  She purchased over 50 nail polishes in less than 2 months and decided "...if I buy them, I must use them."  She's very early on into her challenge (started on October 1, 2009), so, hopefully she can keep the creative juices flowing for a little over 300 more days.  Good luck!  Link

[pictured above, Home Now, 5101 Market Street]

Love Letter is a project by Stephen "ESPO" Powers with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program where 50 walls along a section of the Market Street corridor in Philadelphia were painted with love letters by 40 local and international artists. 

The project will encompass 50 painted walls between 63rd and 45th street on Market Street, a documentary film with scripted elements, a sign school and shop that will provide training for area youth and free signage for businesses on the market street corridor, and 2 books documenting the project. One of the books will be a small paperback that will be distributed to area businesses free of charge, for them to sell to visitors. The other book will be a larger hardcover book that will document not only the artwork, but the neighborhood and the inspirations of the Love Letter Project.

I love this project and wouldn't mind seeing something like this in struggling Minneapolis neighborhoods.

List of completed murals, titles and where they are located - Link

Related Links:
City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (official website) - Link
Steve Powers official website - Link
Steve Powers [wiki] - Link
aloveletter4u on Twitter - Link

Even before my sons were born, I have been collecting children's books.  So, as I was browsing my Twitterfeed this morning and feasted my eyes on the newly designed There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly book, I knew straight away that I need this book on my shelf.

Jeremy Holmes, with some guidance from Chronicle Books, designed and illustrated this visually and texturally stunning book and gave the classic story a fresh look. 

I can't wait to get my hands on this must-have!

Link [via The Foundation]

Although the 2009 Sasquatch! Music Festival is long gone, we can still appreciate Invisible Creature's poster series made for the festival.  Link [via grain edit]

If my oldest son wasn't so into Transformers right now I would totally decorate his room with these Nintendo Wall Decals!  You can choose from Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and New Super Mario Bros.  Link (Thanks, starnami!)

Graphic designer Megan Deal is packing up and heading out to Greensboro, Alabama to help with the M Lab.  Planning to pack one bag, Megan is selling much of her stuff:

On June 1st, 2009 I'll be packing a single bag and moving to Greensboro, Alabama. Over the course of one year, I'll be involved with the operation of M Lab, a permanent Design Lab built by the 2008 Project M crew. Situated on the HERO campus, the Lab is equipped to house passionate young designers who are interested in using the space to work on meaningful projects in Hale County. A primary focus at the lab will be on creating systems, structures and programs that build capacity for the community. HERO (Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organziation) supports sustainable housing development and positive change for over 400 families a year in impoverished Hale County.

In preparation for total immersion into the Greensboro community, I am selling everything that I own. Below is a detailed archive of my personal belongings. Move your cursor over each image to obtain a brief description of the item. When you stumble upon a treasure you can't live without (i.e. neon pipe-cleaners) click on the item for further instruction. If you wish, you may select to make a donation in the amount of your choosing. All items not sold will be given to the Crossover Ministries of Flint, Michigan. Any revenue generated from the sale of these goods will be directed towards my travel and living expenses for the next 14 months.

goodbyewafflemaker (Megan's sale site) - Link (via Neatorama)

Zeus Jones Phizzpop SXSW Finale from Zeus Jones on Vimeo.

Minneapolis based Zeus Jones wins the Phizzpop Design Challenge at SXSW. Here is a video of their presentation. Congratulations!

Related:
Zeus Jones Holiday Gift Guide

We launched paintthatshitgold.com today to coincide with the release of Atmosphere's new album, "When Life Give You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold".

The site allows you capture and tag your favorite corners of the web (or your least favorite, if you're the glass half empty type) all while listening to songs from the album. Check it out, you'll find an audio player with a legit equalizer (finally!), and a realtime web capture utility.

My sad attempt to be a graffiti artist is pictured above. I'm pretty sure that you folks will be able to do better.

To make the web capture stuff work, we had to build a little internet rendering farm to tap into the pipes and process all those juicy slices of interweb that people are sending in. I've literally got one of fifteen or so machines sitting on my desk right now that's sole purpose in life is to load up web pages and screen capture them for Atmosphere fans. How cool is that?

Linkses:

• Paint That Shit Gold
• Grab the album here - if you dig the music on the site, which you will
• Atmosphere's Myspace page

Freelance designer Jonathon Yule designed these very cool font bots using Akzidenz Grotesk, Helvetica, and Futura.  Link.