Tea Rex Teahouse Letterhead

Fresh Ideas in Letterhead and Business Card Design, p.102
Gail Deibler Finke

I found this in the "budget design" chapter of the Fresh Ideas in Letterhead and Business Card Design book. It is simple, yes, but it is also effective. The typography is clear and the brown ink and cream-colored paper are an effective color nod to tea. It's hard to make out in the picture, but the tea house's logo is very cute. A T-Rex Teapot!

Monokuro Boo

New Packaging Design, p.180
Janice Kirkpatrick / Graven Images

Monokuro is the Japanese word for monochromatic and "Boo" is Japanese for "oink", so Monokuro Boo translates to Monochromatic Oink?  Whatever it means, it is adorable.

I've heard that a big reason for Hello Kitty's popularity is that, without a mouth, her expression is up to the interpretation of the viewer. Are you sad? Hello Kitty is sympathetic. Are you happy? Hello Kitty is happy with you. Etc. The Monokuro mascots seem to follow a similar principle. Depending on your mindset, the piggies could look mischievous, playful, conspiratorial, or anything else. Personally, right now, the black one's hollow white eyes are kind of creeping me out, but maybe I've been staring at these two too long.

Purex

Communication Arts, 2007 Sept/Oct Interactive Annual; p.93

This ad makes my skin crawl. It looks so icky, like some sort of particularly nasty skin condition. Still, for that very reason, it is very effective at what it's selling. Looking at it certainly makes me want to wash up. Ick.