One of my latest inspirations has been the Steampunk movement, an aesthetic combining Victorian sensibility with modern innovations. I find myself drawn to the amazing jewelry being created, most often out of found objects, deconstructed watch parts, mechanical detritus and antique bric-a-brac.
But lately, I've been running across all kinds of other delightful consumer accessories incorporating the Steampunk aesthetic. Check out this fabulously tounge-in-cheek iPod skin:
And I thought this was just brilliant: a portable USB drive, with antique brass gears and wheels, which is, I'm sure, how people transported data in days of yore. The predecessor to our modern, streamlined external hard drives. This just makes me smile:
But the favorite object I've found so far has to be this absolutely breathtaking computer mod, by Steampunk engineer Jake von Slatt. I doubt the computer itself is kerosene-powered, but the monitor is encased in an ornate brass frame, and the each of the keys on the keyboard has been lovingly replaced with antique typewriter keys. I just imagine how much more productive i could be with a computer like this:
Besides the fact that antiquated scientific ephemera is a particular soft spot of mine, I just find this kind of creativity so inspiring. The world as we'd like it to be is most often not the one we were born into. I find it so invigorating to see people who think beyond the aesthetic boundaries they inherited and feel free to re-construct their worlds as they see fit.
I'm off to design my day, I hope you do the same!
--gillian
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