Another week and another preview of our Spring 2012 line. We all want to do what we can for the environment and our new porcelain travel mugs boldly save trees with a true French Bull flair. These travel mugs are perfect for hot and cold liquids, are dishwasher and microwave safe, and feature silicone spill proof lids and bands to keep your hands cool. We’ll be launching 6 patterns in a few days and can’t wait to send them out into the world, the colors could be the most spectacular we’ve ever been able to produce and we know you’ll spot them from a mile away.

Check OUR WEBSTORE soon for availability.

Show season has officially kicked off and we’re introducing several new items and a new collection called Ziggy pictured above. We’ll be posting previews of other items here and on our Twitter and Facebook pages but we’d love to see you in person. Here’s a full list of where we’ll be showing :

2012 Show Dates

Atlanta – January 11-15, 2012

Atlanta Gift Mart
Simblist Group
230 Spring Street #1621
Atlanta GA 30303

Seattle – January 11- 17, 2012
Bettencourt
501 S Lucile St Ste 102
Seattle WA 98108

Los Angeles – January 18-24, 2012
Kregger
1933 South Broadway
Suite 855
Los Angeles, CA 90007

Dallas – January 18 – 24, 2012
Dallas Market
William M. Lamont Showroom
2100 N Stemmons Freeway
2400 Trade Mart
Dallas, Texas 75207

New York – January 29 – February 2, 2012
Booth # 3773
New York International Gift Fair
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
655 West 34th Street (12th Avenue & 39th Street)
New York, NY 10001

Chicago – March 10 – 13, 2012
Booth S3869
International Home + Housewares Show
McCormick Place
2301 S Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60616

Yayoi Kusama has a thing for polka dots and it’s an inspiration we both share. The feelings she creates with the simple design element is dreamy, surreal, and rooted in pop art. Her interpretation is a true expression of her personality and sharply constrats Damien Hirst and his straight forward use of dots.

The Multidot Pattern has been a French Bull staple for years and has graced so many different items in our line. You can see a great section of them here including the Multidot Cake Stand which is one of my personal favorites.

In 2012 we’re going to be ending an era, the Multidot Plate collection will give way to some exciting new patterns but will remain etched in French Bull history. Don’t miss your chance to own the pattern that really put us on the map and lead to our world of color.

Food Trucks and Carts are staples of New York City. The coffee cup pictured above is absolutely iconic though this design is rapidly being replaced by branded cups with advertising. Still, the coffee cart is one of the few mobile food vehicles I’ll visit aside from a few newer gourmet food trucks who have totally changed the perception of the industry. Morning coffee can make or break your day, there’s nothing as deflating as a sip of coffee mixed with some grounds. The coffee is instantly ruined and the worst is when you discover said grounds a few blocks from the point of purchase. There’s no turning back and you’re out a few dollars and you’re somehow more cranky.

After I pick up my iced coffee from the cart on 60th Street each morning I often wonder just what owning a cart entails, how long they work, how much they make, and where do these carts end up every night. Once I’m at my desk the questions fade and I’m suddenly in a world of swirls, melamine, emails, and all things French Bull.

Apparently someone at the Village Voice had a thirst for coffee and knowledge and did this profile with Mohammed Eladl, a coffee cart vendor. It’s a fantastic quick read and a real slice of New York.

We’ve been experimenting with some new ideas here and all I can say is that they have a lot of “depth”. So with some big ideas brewing and seeing things in a new light why not try to make your own 3-D glasses, think of the home made gifts and cards you could give this holiday season? Here’s the step-by-step taken from WIRED.

The results will take you back to kitschy 3-D movies of years past and old comic books where red and blue cellophane lenses suddenly make flat surfaces come to life. Let your imagination run wild and take a look at this FLICKR feed of 3-D images to see if you pulled it off!

We were contacted by Kimberley Clayton Blaine, executive producer of the all new branded entertainment show www.MommytoMommy.TV & about being featured on her Holiday Savings television segment and were absolutely enthralled to hear about her love for French Bull and our affordable price points.

You can watch the full segment here featuring our spreaders and astrology mugs.

Right now we’re running a promotion in our webstore for the holidays as our way to say thank you and to offer some relief on your wallet.
Simply enter the code SAVE10 during check out and save $10.00 on orders over $60.00

Thank you to all friends and family of French Bull as well as Kimberley Clayton Blaine for the fabulous mention.

You might not be familiar with the name Michael Manoogian but there’s a very good chance you’d recognize his work. The fantastic blog So Much Pile Up posted an outstanding interview with him that is not only a great source of inspiration but worth a click just for the visuals alone. Seeing his process is so exciting that it actually makes Eddie Rabbit interesting which is no small feat.

Here is a link to the interview and an additional gallery of his sketches.

I remember the panic in the art community when it became clear that computers were going to take over art and design. Suddenly design was flooded with over Photoshopped images, distorted typefaces, and it was all too doctored to look realistic but the results weren’t interesting or whimsical enough. It’s comical to think that there was even such a worry about art becoming computerized, I think it was solely based on every art student suddenly having to shell out for a PowerMac, which was an expensive machine in the early 1990s.

Fast forward to the present, these concerns are gone as we’re all more tech savvy and learn to use the tools around us daily. From smart phone photographs, websites, blogs, Photoshop, InDesign, these are all things that are part of our daily lives that expose many to art where they might have never even dabbled.

Artist Takeshi Murata is a brilliant artist with a deep knowledge of color who uses computers exclusively to create vibrant works:

Takeshi Murata produces extraordinary digital works that refigure the experience of animation. His innovative practice and evolving processes range from intricate computer-aided, hand-drawn animations to exacting manipulations of the flaws, defects and broken code in digital video technology. Whether altering appropriated footage from cinema (B movies, vintage horror films), or creating Rorschach-like fields of seething color, form and motion, Murata produces astonishing visions that appear at once seductively organic and totally digital.

I wonder how his work would have been received 20 years ago?

One of New York City’s proudest traditions is the Village Halloween Parade. It’s such a spectacle that the thought of it is intimidating, even if I started thinking now I doubt I’d have a costume as elaborate or clever as these paraders. I’ve grabbed a few of my favorites, they’ve been trickling in since Monday on various sites. You’ll notice I’m not one for gory costumes, a “zombie” version of something doesn’t cut it for me despite some of them being absolutely incredible and intricate. So take a look at some of my highlights below :

What New Yorker isn’t obsessed with restaurant ratings?  I hope she doesn’t get a “C”.

No one can stay off Facebook apparently.

Ron has his own take on this classic, perhaps he’ll guest blog his top costumes of years past.

So good he should get royalties.

Is that our Collage pattern?

No there it is!

Here’s a great slideshow of some of the grossest Halloween candy out there this season. Above you’ll see three of my favorites, I have to say that the bloody bandage has to be the absolute worst. Perhaps that one jumps out at me because there is nothing worse to me than seeing a used bandage stuck somewhere on the subway, a real life terror. Candy has really stepped up it’s gross-out game since I was a kid. Candy corn and wax lips have given way to gummy creations that have no boundaries. I’m not quite sure what the connection is with the body part sushi but Halloween doesn’t always have to make sense, it just needs to be creepy. Mission accomplished!