I’m having a serious case of life envy right now.  No, not in the Single White Female kind of way – more in line with admiration and inspiration.  It’s all for Rosie Brown, a Scottish designer and stylist.  I read about her on Design*Sponge in 3 different posts (which also define why I think she’s the coolest and kind of want her life):

1. Sneak Peak into Rosie Brown’s gorgeous home in Edinburgh

2. Sneak Peak into Rosie Brown’s gorgeous home in rural Scotland, where they moved to after leaving Edinburgh

3. A recent feature on Papa Stour, an online shop run by Brown, featuring the best of Scottish contemporary design.  Just look at these awesome Scottish items. I love the posters with taglines from Scottish treats, like “Taking Over Teatime” from Tunnock’s Teacakes.  Or “It’s the National Treat” from Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers.

Oh, and while perusing the Papa Stour website, I noticed this – they’re renting out their holiday cottage in the Highlands.  I’ve seen this cottage before – I keep coming across it when I’m daydreaming of trips to Scotland.  Could this be a sign?  Am I supposed to rent this cottage in Scotland?  I just might have to…

aken directly from her website,  “Jessica Hische’s work combines equal parts design, typography, illustration, brown sugar, and heavy cream.”

I like her illustrations and her design work, but what really blows me away is Jessica Hische’s hand lettering. Hand lettering is a big trend right now, but this girl seriously does it the best. Just look at her ribbon type.  Or check out her Daily Drop Cap project, where she does a new illustration of a letter every day. That probably sounded like a good idea at first, but keeping that up every day, after 6 months? That takes serious skill. (those are her letters up there, and the “T” over there at the left came from Daily Drop Cap)

Her blog is great (especially this post about why you shouldn’t hire non-web designers to design websites, and also this guide to twitter that’s gone viral).   I really like Jessica Hische’s irreverent writing style on her blog and website. She’s not too stuffy with her professional writing – her personality shines through. Obviously it’s working for her – she’s only 25 years old and has a portfolio and client list that much older designers would kill for.

I was just catching up on my reading, and came across this sneak peak of designer Jen Bilik’s home on Design*Sponge.  Jen Bilik is the force behind Knock Knock – you know, those cool, witty, and slightly irreverent notepads and stuff that you can get at Chapters and fancy paper stores?

I love Knock Knock.  I have the “To Do” notepad on my desk, and the “All Out Of” grocery list pad on my fridge.  After seeing the photos of Jen Bilik’s home, I think I love her, and by extension, Knock Knock, even more.  She has an Airstream trailer as a lawn ornament.  And she has a really cool shed/studio.  I have always wanted a separate building for my office, but in Canada, the shed/studio thing doesn’t work so well.  I can dream though… and drool on my keyboard looking at these photos…

Before I became a print & web designer, I worked in the Toronto theatre industry.  When I tell people that, they usually say, “oh, that’s interesting” or “how did you make that transition?” or “what a unique career path”.  But I’m not alone!  There’s another theatre-administrator-turned-designer in town… Blair Francey of BFdesign.

Blair is a great designer.  Especially logos – he really excels at brand identity.  So I have a lot of respect for him, because creating logos is not my strong suit. And I admire Blair’s restraint in his designs – his layouts are always clean, simple, and elegant.

Blair is super-cool, fun to hang out with, generous with his advice, and he laughs at my stupid jokes.  So he’s a-okay in my books!

Kelly Hogan is awesome.  Smart, fun, and stylish too. Kelly runs a design studio called Freshly Hatched, and she makes gorgeous websites and business identities.  I met Kelly through Ladies Who Launch (where I met Stephanie too) and I have often relied on her for advice.  She’s kind of like my web-design-big-sister.  I admire and respect Kelly a lot, and hope my little one-lady design studio can one day be as successful as hers.

Jason Santa Maria kicks ass.  I love how he uses typography on the web.