Yesterday we looked at paintings by Miguel Ornia-Blanco, and today we have some illustrations, having been completely bowled over by the Striped Stress Snacker. As Migy puts it, "This big old bird has a stressful job selling insurance. People in the office are always buying cookies and muffins and this bird just can't say no." All too recognizable. Bus Number 253 to Hackney might also be recognizable, but perhaps to fewer people. And face it, we've all enjoyed our own favorite Voodoo Jazz outfits.

Artist: Miguel Ornia-Blanco
+ migy.com

Miguel Ornia-Blanco's London paintings bring out a palette rarely associated with rainy London. Soft blues, pinks, mauves wash away the typical grey that we expect, warming the urban landscape and softening its edges. The artist succeeds in portraying an intimacy accessible to those who thrive in big city life, while also reflecting the harshness of such an environment. There are many stories and emotions as there are people; big cities are home to endless colourful narratives.

Artist: Miguel Ornia-Blanco
+ miguel-painting.com

I Am Plastic: The Designer Toy Explosion by Paul Budnitz, founder and creative director of Kidrobot, is a visual history of vinyl toys in their incarnation as collectible urban cute. The operative word here is visual: there is very little text, so the details readers may be craving are simply not there. But as a compendium of vinyl from all over the world, this is a good way to collect without the mysteries of the blind box. It is the perfect book for any vinyl collectors, but also a good visual introduction for anyone curious about this modern art phenomenon.

Hardcover, 368 pages. Harry N. Abrams, 2006. $26.40 at Amazon.

+ I Am Plastic at Amazon

We just discovered the delightful work of Matte Stephens at Design*Sponge, light-hearted prints of girls cycling, pipe-smoking foxes and campervans on the road.

Michael Swaney creates scenic collages out of scraps of found paper that he paints. Work from a new exhibition via Cool Hunting.

Andrea Mettler takes on menstrual hacking as a way of defying the taboos of menstruation. By adding an element of luxury to the design of objects that evoke feelings that range from embarrassment to disgust, Mettler created three conceptual projects that can open up discussion of how the topic of menstruation is oft hidden away while referencing boundaries in design. Concept aside, the lipstick holder tampon case, Kosmetik, is an excellent idea, as our society is still waiting for the day when tampons and other such facts of life do not have to be concealed.

Artist: Andrea Mettler
+ andreamettler.ch

Staffan Holm's Precious project is about the patina of sentimental objects. Personal artefacts often increase in emotional value, so when they break, the effect can be quite disheartening. Holm suggests that repairs be made with material worthy of the artefact, in line with its new value. The relationship with the object has not ended, but a new chapter has begun. The nautilus shell that marks the travels of a loved one is repaired with silver; all that is left of a Chinese vase is the repair material and one last shard of porcelain; a favorite wooden chair welcomes pewter to take it further; and porcelain pieces take on new life with the addition of gold plating.

+ staffanholm.com

Maya Ben David is an industrial designer from Israel whose recent works in ceramic include elements of textiles. Ben David was inspired by travels to India, and the results are quietly elegant vessels that practically beg to be touched.

+ flickr.com

Ohio design collective Non Fiction just finished a three-week residency at the Dresdner Porzellan factory in Dresden, Germany. While there, they were able to combine historic molds and local porcelain slip with their own rapid prototyped taxidermy scans to produce marvellous creatures that are a mixture of three hundred years of tradition and some very modern mindsets. It is a veritable menagerie of pugs, rats, swans and roosters. In addition to the photos after the jump, there are more great images on the Non Fiction studio blog.

+ nonfictiondesigncollective.com
+ nonfictiongroup.blogspot.com

Influenced by Victorian Sentimental jewellery and the idea of preserving memories as keepsakes, Claire Johnston has made the Tooth Fairy series by using castings of her daughter's baby teeth. Johnston's larger ceramic pieces are very bold, as she uses larger-than-life slip cast porcelain in necklaces and rings, adding details such as gold lustre or stringing the teeth on human hair. Life-sized silver or gold cast teeth are barely recognizable when linked together to form earrings, brooches and necklaces.

+ clairefjohnston.blogspot.com

The Agile Rabbit Visual Dictionary of Fruit from Pepin Press is one of a series of books loaded with excellent images that can be used as a resource for artists of any type. As well as acting as inspiration, the images can be downloaded from the accompanying CD-ROM for a variety of design uses. The photographs are sharp, colourful and depict the fruit from inside and out. Of equal quality and usefulness is The Agile Rabbit Visual Dictionary of Vegetables.

Paperback, 224 pages. Pepin Press, 2006. $18.24 at Amazon.
Paperback, 248 pages. Pepin Press, 2006. $19.99 at Amazon.

+ Visual Dictionary of Fruit at Amazon
+ Visual Dictionary of Vegetables at Amazon

The Keep Calm Gallery is an on-line gallery of limited edition prints such as the Game by Alyson Fox and The End II by Richard Roberts. The gallery was established in January 2007 by Lucas Lepola and Hayley Thwaites as a result of a passion for typography in poster design, British heritage and the medium of screen printing.

Viewville is another on-line gallery, this time with photography prints from a wide variety of artists. Shown here are pieces by Michael Jensen (Boy and Tree) and Paul Crosby (Canal Boat).