Wovox – Are you curious to see the offices of Google, Facebook or other cool companies? Wovox is here to make workplaces transparent, meaning anyone can see other companies’ offices but also share their own. The idea is to be inspired by and share cool working environments. Although the big social network firms are the most popular here on Wovox, many international users have shared their offices for you to see. Here are both Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto, CA and the lesser known yet just as cool, Pearls and Caviar in Abu Dabi.
Klowdz – Remember the cloud game we used to play as kids? Imagining animals and other objects in the skies, in the form of clouds is all about that nostalgic childhood creativity. Now with Klowdz you can, for old times’ sake, tap into the cloud-form game and let your imagination run wild. Once you enter the site you’ll be asked to pick out a cloud (there are eight pages to choose from). Next you pick out your sketching tool and start drawing whatever you see ‘hiding’ in the cloud. Here’s my creation, titled Happy Worms.
Starting today, each Thursday we will bring you the Top 10 sites of an alternating area of interest. This time the spotlight is on style, just in time for spring! So where do you go to keep up with the latest fashion trends? Style.com? Cosmopolitan Magazine? Perhaps Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar? All these are decent choices, but if you’re looking for less obvious sources of fabulous style, here are the top 10 recommended sites and blogs.
1. Fashionista.com – This is perhaps one of the best fashion sites on the Web covering everything from runway collections and fashion weeks to model gossip, season trends and street fashion. It is beautifully written, it’s packed with great photos, and before you know it you’ll become a regular on this site.
2. The Coveted – This ‘fashion central’ blog by Jennine Jacob gives you all you could possible need to stay ahead of the style curve; large high quality photos, great fashion finds, the latest news from the catwalks, even links to other noteworthy fashion blogs. If you’re looking for an inspiring style blog that keeps on giving, The Coveted is your answer.
3. Refinery29 – What makes this site unique is its geo-location approach; Refinery29 offers local fashion news to selected US cities, namely NYC, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. In addition to their Coast-to-Coast content you will also find a comprehensive wealth of style info including fashion finds and deals, trends and relevant news. Refinery29 is filled with colorful images and engaging content which makes it a top style resources in my book.
4. The Blonde Salad – Meet the fashion obsessed blonde from Italy, Ciara Ferragni, who updates her blog on a daily basis with pictures of herself dressed in a different, super-stylish outfit each time. Each post includes large hi-res photos of Ciara, accompanied by a brief commentary and a shopping list to answer to those asking the ‘what are you wearing’ question.
5. Fashion Served – This site is brought to us by the Behance Network, a big design/creative network of sites and blogs. What makes Fashion Served unique are both its showcase presentation of the different posts, and also the unique creative fashion niches it drags into the spotlight.
6. Lookbook.nu – What a better way to learn about the latest fashion trends than by seeing what regular people are wearing? Lookbook is a place where users dress up, take a picture of themselves and submit it to the site. Once published, the Lookbook user community can vote on and share their favorite looks. This is a classic example of the fashion power of the people.
7. Street Peeper – Based on the same street style concept, Street Peeper gives us a daily dose of fashion trends from around the world. All photos are taken by the style scout Phil who, as I’m sure you’ll agree, does justice to beautifully dressed people. This a great source of style to check out.
8. The Budget Babe – Who doesn’t want to look amazing without spending ridiculous amounts of cash? Me neither. That’s why The Budget Babe is such a great blessing, making it possible to look like a million dollars without spending too much on clothes and accessories. One of the best things I like about The Budget Babe is the Dress By Numbers feature. This is where you can imitate the look of the stars by learning where to buy identical clothing at reasonable prices and still look like you just came out of a fashion spread.
9. Trendland’s fashion section – Trendland is a serious trend-forecaster website that covers the vast creative-visual world (art, design, culture and photography), but its fashion section is what makes it relevant to this Top 10 list. It’s the perfect place to stop by regularly to see what the next season will look like in terms of style and trends.
10. All My Faves Style page – This Mini Faves page on All My Faves offers a concentrated dose of the best style and fashion sites & blogs out there. You will find there -in addition to all the sites listed above- numerous additional resources all focused on great looks and inspiring fashion trends. Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Cupcakes and Cashmere – This delightful blog- a winning Weekly Blog here on All My Faves- combines sophisticated style with inspiring home decor tips and savory recipes. Yes, the top fashion-home-kitchen content is well represented in Cupcakes and Cashmere and Emily, the gorgeous woman behind it, does an excellent job at creating top quality content (that includes photography).
The style theme in Cupcakes and Cashmere consists of Emily’s regularly updated photos of herself, cleverly dressed in a different outfit each time. She also points to makeup and cosmetic must-haves, which is always a nice thing to have to keep up with the latest trends. Start exploring the wonders of Cupcakes and Cashmere, and be sure to check out the How-To page which I found extremely useful (thanks Emily!). Click on the images below to go to these favorite posts:
siteInspire – At first glance you won’t necessarily understand what this site is about, yet you will find yourself compelled to explore it nonetheless, and you’ll thank yourself for doing so. siteIsnpire is a “showcase and CSS gallery featuring the best web design today, designed, developed and curated by kulör.”
siteInspire brings you a visual survey of the latest advances, styles and talent in contemporary Web design. Even if you’re not a professional working in this industry you will appreciate the beauty and diversity of the siteIsnpire gallery. If you are a business owner, this site will be of particular use to you – find inspirations to create or upgrade your company’s website. Think your website is already a star? Submit it and perhaps siteIsnpire will feature it in their next update.
I suggest going straight to Browse (you can choose between style, theme, hype, view in random, or see the very best). Here a few of my top favorites:
What Money Cannot Buy – At first glance this blog seems trivial; sharing simple, cherished moments of life. But as you start browsing the entries here, you will find a most inspiring collection of “life’s greatest simple pleasures and priceless moments.” Brought to us by the creators of Makes Me Think, this, too, is an online gem.
In our capitalist-driven era it’s refreshing to stumble upon an inspirational blog that offers generous riches for the soul free of charge. After reading this blog I honestly feel life is wonderful! Read the two entries below to see what money simply cannot buy:
Laughing hysterically with your friends, then pausing momentarily, looking at each other, and then laughing hysterically again. July 30, 2010 by Azooz.
Hearing a new song you really like and then downloading it and listening to it over and over and over. August 15, 2010 by dee.
To submit your very own priceless life moment, click the Submit button on the top of the page.
They Draw & Cook – Brother and sister Nate and Salli are a wonderful talented team of design and illustration. What started out as an effort to recreate a tasty dish they had during a vacation soon sprung into Nate and Salli’s amazingly creative illustrated recipe blog, They Draw & Cook. Text based recipes are fine if you are already familiar with the dish. If you’re a first timer however, the text-only list of ingredients and how-to is downright boring and lacks that pizazz I’m often relying on to get me into the cooking groove.
They Draw & Cook is all about putting lots of color and good vibes into cooking, as the blog’s recipe collection offers illustrated recipes that take the cooking experience to a whole new level. Here are a few examples (click the image to see the full recipe in larger size):
Can’t get enough? Find another recipe. Is one of your kids an avid kitchen helper? Try out the Kids Draw & Cook. To submit your own recipe and artowrk, click here.
KNSTRCT – This fabulous digital magazine is a beautifully created ‘design central’ both industry professionals and casual observers will appreciate. KNSTRCT aims to be “a global hub of design and innovation, an online destination for art, interiors, architecture, fashion, travel and all other limitless definitions of ‘design’.” Does it live up to its mission statement? You bet. Their very homepage screams aesthetics in every possible way:
The homepage is made up of a collage of photos, each representing a separate article with a different artist or project in focus. Simply hover your mouse over one of them and it will become highlighted. If you prefer the more straight-forward way, simply use the menu on the top right and browse the KNSTRCT magazine by picking design type, industry, or use their open search.
The two photos below represent a couple of amazing articles I found here on KNSTRCT and wanted to share. The first is Lang Baumann Paints the Streets of Vercorin, and the second is The Gardens of Marqueyssac. Click the images below to see the full posts and hi-res photos.
Earbits – This super cool website offers an innovative way to consume music freely online, and discover new artists along the way. What starts out as a simple-looking page with 13 music genres to choose from (there’s also a ‘shuffle all’ option) soon turns into a most rewarding experience that not only looks amazing, but also provides high quality music sounds.
To give you the perfect example of what Earbits is about, see the image below, the listening page for Blues. The most eye-grabbing part here is the image of the artist himself (in this case Boo Boo Davis). The name of the artist will show on the bottom left side of the page, and clicking “view more” will pull you down to an informative bio and discography section of the artist you’re listening to.
In addition, Earbits have worked hard to make sure the social aspect of this service is as best as it can be; you can give each song a thumbs up or down, and when connected to the site via Facebook you can share whole songs with your friends, even tweet the track you’re listening to! Now that’s socially rewarding.
Craftaholics Anonymous – Linda, a sweet creative woman and a mother of two, created this blog as her means of channeling her obsession with crafts. This is her Web space for sharing her ideas, inviting others to do the same, and providing readers with an abundance of inspiring craftology activities. This is one of the Weekly Blog winners of course. Click the images below to see what posts I enjoyed the most on Craftaholics Anonymous.
Philips Wake-Up Light – Living in extreme northern latitudes means going through several long months of complete darkness each year. That’s right, people go to sleep and wake up to what seems like night time, day in day out. Studies have shown that prolonged polar night can lead to depression in humans, and affects their day-time energy since the alarm clock is their only indication that a new day has come.
Philips have studied the effects of the polar night on people and initiated a fascinating experiment; the company handed out free Wake-Up Lights to the community of Longyearbyen, an arctic town in Norway living in a polar night of 11 weeks each year. This special light imitates gradual sunlight in the morning. This means a gradual wake up process rather than an abrupt (and rude) awakening from deep sleep with an alarm clock. What do you think happened? See the experiment video of the below to learn more. Amazing!
Vandalog – This beautiful street art blog celebrates urban creativity and street artists all over the world and in fact, it was a Weekly Blog here at All My Faves back in November.
There’s no better way to discover the wonders of Vandalog than by simply diving right in. Here are a couple of photos I found interesting, showing the art of Ian Francis (the post: Ian Francis at Joshua Liner Gallery).
Photos by Lois Stavsky
