If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

The Love & Heart Of Design. Literally. The Work Of Robert Indiana & Alexandar Girard.

Above: Robert Indiana's Love Sculpture in Philadelphia, 1976 (just one of several)

Some of the most recognizable and respected icons of 'love' are those of Robert Indiana and Alexander Girard . Initially designed decades ago, these eternally hip symbols have found their way onto many different products, all of which make excellent Valentine's gifts for any designer.

Robert Indiana (b. 1928)

Above: Painter, Sculptor and designer, Robert Indiana with his famous Love image. photo by Stephen O. Muskie.

Robert Indiana's LOVE image is arguably one of the most recognizable icons of the latter half of the 20th century. With giant sculptures in many major cities, Robert Indiana is one of the first artists many think of when asked to define "pop" art. His love image has appeared on postage stamps for multiple countries, in various color formations as art and rugs and has been knocked off in almost every language.

Robert Indiana Authentic Love Items available:

Love Welcome Mats:

From the Whitney Museum store, available in the small size only Coir, 20" x 20" x 1.5"
Available for purchase here.

Above: The LOVE Rug is an original work of Art by Robert Indiana. It is a hand signed, limited edition, produced by the Artist in conjunction with master rug maker John Gilbert. Based on the 1964 MOMA Christmas card. Hand made with archival New Zealand wool. Each piece comes with a "Certificate of Authenticity" signed by the publisher. Sizes: 2'x 2' $125 or 6'x 6' $3,500
Buy it here from Lost City Arts.

Bird Fine Art gallery carries the rug in many color combination (only 4 of which are shown below) each is 6' x 6" and available for purchase and all are hand signed by the artist himself:

Above top: Love Enflame (Classic Love) edition: 150
size: 6 x 6 feet, 183 cm x 183 cm
Above bottom: Grisaille
edition: 30 in a Book of Love Portfolio Edition of 300
size: 6 x 6 feet, 183 cm x 183 cm

Above top: American Love
edition: 30 in a Book of Love Portfolio Edition of 300
size: 6 x 6 feet, 183 cm x 183 cm
Above bottom: Thirst
edition: 30 in a Book of Love Portfolio Edition of 300
size: 6 x 6 feet, 183 cm x 183 cm

Many museums now carry Robert Indiana's Love sculpture as an aluminum paperweight in various colors. They are available in several online museum stores in prices ranging from $48-$70.00, so avoid the numerous ebay dealers selling them at 100$ a piece.

Buy them here.
Or here.
Or here.

If you're lucky enough to find one of these vintage gold 1971 Love Rings, it'll run you around $900.00 USD. The rings were also made in sterling silver and brass and can often be found on ebay.

Buy this ring here.

Robert Indiana Inspired Items:

The mirror made by Seletti is available here.

The Cook worktop board by Joseph Joseph is available here.
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Alexander Girard (1907-1993)

Working in partnership with Charles Eames and George Nelson, Girard helped catapult Herman Miller to the forefront of modern design, creating furnishings, wallpaper, and brilliantly colored textiles rooted in the vibrant simplicity of folk art. Maharam re-issued Alexander Girard's Checker, Checker Split, Double Triangles, Jacobs Coat, Mikado, Millerstripe, Quatrefoil and Toostripe as part of the Textiles of the 20th Century Collection.

Authentic Alexander Girard Items Available:

Alexander Girard International Love Heart and his Love Heart are available on several items:

buy the Alexander Girard Love Welcome Mats here.

buy the pillows here.

The Japanese Bearbrick toy featuring Girard's International Loveheart was a collaboration between máXimo, Stitch Store in Tokyo and Medicom Toy. .Medicom Be@rbrick with Alexander Girard's International Love symbol, shown in both in 400% and 100% sizes

Above left: Alexander Girard International Love Be@rbrick available here.

Above Right: This Medicom Be@rbrick with the LOVE heart by Alexandre Girard is made especially for Colette. The box can be transformed into a card to write a love note.
Only available at Colette.

Modern seed exclusively carries Alexander Girard's designs on T-shirts for kids, his 2 heart designs are amongst them:

Buy them here.

Even notecards are available in packages of 20 featuring his heart and other designs:

Buy them here.

See other great valentine's day gift choices here.

If You're Hip, It's 15% Off

Above: the highest quality garnets and rose quartz available.

Some of you know, that in addition to being an art director, a blogger, a dog lover, soap-maker and art-lover, I also design and make fine high-end jewelry, which I sell online in an etsy store and an ebay store.

I have sold over 400 original pieces to date and have never received a negative feedback on ebay or etsy or from any of my customers. On the contrary, I have many repeat buyers. My jewelry is priced much lower than other artisan jewelers because I have no overhead, no staff and no designers to pay for things like logos, photography and web design!

For this year's Valentine's Day, I'm offering if It's Hip, It's Here readers a 15% discount on the following very special, one-of-a-kind Valentine's jewelry. Prices shown below are before the discount.

Above:
Peruvian Opal nuggets,
14k solid gold beads and toggle clasp
Natural 5mm white pearls
17" long
$475.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Above:
Real 6mm perfectly matched Tahitian Black Pearls with magenta lustre,
18k solid yellow gold floral caps
14k solid gold leverbacks
$270.00 (before discount)
Buy them here.

Above:
9.5 mm natural silver grey pearls
14k solid white and yellow gold bead set with .o4 points of real diamonds.
Clasp is 14k yellow gold.
18" long
$420.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Above:
Real 5mm Tahitian Black pearls with pink lustre,
faceted ruby gemstones,
18k yellow gold leverbacks
natural coin pearls embedded with pink sapphires in 18k gold bezels on both sides.
$380.00 (before discount)
Buy them here.

Above:
A very special all genuine ruby necklace totaling over 40 carats.
Briolettes and faceted rondelles
14k solid yellow gold ball clasp.
18" long.
$399.00 (before discount)
Buy it here

Above:
Grade AA tanzanite faceted rondelles
sapphire embedded blue chalcedony briolette
14k solid yellow gold lobster clasp.
17" long.
$175.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Above:
An adjustable 15"- 20" long necklace with sterling silver chain and heart dangle.
Very fine AAA quality deep rosy pink faceted garnets
A large polished natural rose quartz pendant weighing over 40 carats that measures over an inch long.
$160.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Above:
16" length choker/necklace
deep ruby reddish pink faceted garnet briolettes and rondelles.
14k solid yellow gold clasp.
$69.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Above:
A modernist style type necklace made with 99.9% matte finish white sterling silver
An 18k yellow gold hexagonal bead detail.
16" long.
$75.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Yes, I carry several other less expensive pieces as well.
And yes, you can get 15% off anything I have for sale, just e-mail me first and tell me you saw it on If It's Hip, It's Here.
Click here to purchase any of the items.

To see more than just jewelry for sale, visit my ebay store, In Good Taste, here.

If You've Looked Up An Old Flame On The Internet, You're Not Alone

Source: Classmates Online, Inc.
Poll Results Revealed for Valentine's Day; Over 90 Percent of Respondents Thought About or Want to be Contacted by Past Loves

RENTON, Wash., Jan. 29, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Valentine's Day is fast approaching along with thoughts of current romance, but also past loves. Classmates.com, a leading online social networking service, polled its community of more than 40 million members and found that more than 90% of respondents either thought of their first love or high school sweetheart in the last year or would like to be contacted by an old flame.

But even if that old spark has burnt out, the flame of curiosity is still strong. Fifty-six percent (56%) of poll respondents said they have used the Internet to look up an old boyfriend or girlfriend, and 65% did so because they were curious as to what their ex was doing today.

And how did they break the ice with their old flame? "It's been a while, how are you?" was the favorite opener with 48% of respondents.

Differences between men and women were revealed in their answers to the question "What would you most like to receive on Valentine's Day?" The number one answer for 23% of male respondents was "a kiss." But "flowers" was the number one answer for 16% of female respondents, followed by 15% hoping for jewelry while 10% would be content with "a kiss."

Classmates.com 2008 Romance Poll results include:

-- 55% of respondents thought of their first love or high school sweetheart in the last year.
-- 43% of respondents said they would like to be contacted by an old flame.
-- 34% of respondents said they have been contacted by an old flame in the past five years.
-- 53% of respondents would go out on a first date on Valentine's Day.
-- 27% of respondents think Valentine's Day is a time to think about loved ones.
-- 27% of respondents think Valentine's Day is romantic.
-- 20% of respondents had met their true love in school (K-12).
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Super Bowl Rings, The Bling For The Past 44 Years

above: The most recent addition to the years of superbowl bling is the 2009 ring above awarded to the New Orleans Saints for their victory over the Indianapolis Colts from Super Bowl XLIV on feb 10, 2010 photo by Derick Hinkle

This post has been updated to include the rings from 2007, 2008 and 2009, so now that's 44 rings.

Original post:
I honor of yesterday's 42nd Super Bowl, I thought I'd share with you the Super Bowl Championship Rings, awarded to each member of the winning team as well as the coaches, from 1966-2006. The majority were manufactured by Jostens (you know, the college class ring people?), and the rings have varied quite a bit over the years.

Above: the final score of the 42nd Super Bowl

The rings almost always include the team's name, logo, and Super Bowl number (usually in Roman numerals). Most of the rings also have larger diamonds or diamonds made into the shape of the trophy, that represent the number of Super Bowls that franchise has won (e.g, Pittsburgh's 2005 ring has five trophies, representing the five Super Bowls they have won).

I don't know how much the total carat weight varies year to year or the value, but here are some little facts about the rings (courtesy of Wikipedia):

•The NFL pays up to $5,000.00 per ring, with up to 150 rings per team. If the rings are over the $5,000 limit, the team owners must make up the difference.
•Recent rings have been appraised in excess of $20,000 but manufacturers keep this information confidential.
•The rings are made by the company of the winning team's choosing. Many Super Bowl rings have been manufactured by Jostens in Denton, Texas. The Indianapolis Colts' •Super Bowl rings were manufactured by Herff Jones (based in Indianapolis), at their Warwick, Rhode Island ring plant.
•Austin, TX based Balfour Company has manufactured numerous Super Bowl Rings

Tasteful? No. Impressive? Yep.

All the Superbowl rings to date: