Liquid Treat

A laconic text message ("wish u were here!") is no match for a good postcard. Relive the golden age of postcard art at AmericanPostcardArt.com, a vast collection of images from more than 100,000 vintage postcards assembled by ubercollector Liz Coursen. Enlarged for optimal viewing, the postcards include the so-called "private mailing cards" of the late 19th century, linen postcards (including those exuberant "Greetings from..." various states and cities), and hand-tinted photo cards. If you find a favorite (and you will), consider ordering a print, available in a range of sizes and media. They start at $39 -- a small price to pay for a memorable image discovered in categories such as Train Depots, Mermaids, and Art Nouveau Pigeons.

Craving more creative control over your chocolate? Trade that boring Hershey bar for a customized treat from Chocomize, the brainchild of three chocolate-loving Columbia University grads. Begin by selecting a chocolate bark base (dark, milk, or white) and then add up to five of 90 ingredients, which range from the conventional (nuts and dried fruit) to the deliciously ridiculous (rose petals, bacon, 23-karat gold flakes). All those options make for more than 30 billion possible combinations. "In other words, if every citizen of New York City ate one different chocolate bar a day, it would take over three years until two people had exactly the same chocolate bar," note the founders. Further distinguish your creation by adding an image or message. Then, pay up (bars start at $3.85 each) and await the treat-bearing postal carrier. Insulating ice packs ensure the summer heat won't leave a bad taste in your mouth.

It's hard to believe that a decade has elapsed since the birth of Threadless, the wildly popular t-shirt company with an ongoing, open call for design submissions. They're celebrating with the Threadless Everywhere Tour, a three-month, cross-country whirl of art parties, craft fairs, and community meetups that kicked off yesterday in San Francisco. Look for the company's distinctive Airstream trailer/art studio and spray-painted van tooling around your town or rally a Facebook group to convince them to stop by on the tour's third crowdsourced leg. Expect graphically intense birthday cake and plenty of t-shirts, including relaunched versions of some favorite designs from the last ten years.

Whether you're relaxing on the beach or just trying to escape the company picnic, our pick for a stimulating summer read is Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today? (Princeton Architectural Press), an illustrated chronicle of Kate Bingaman-Burt's purchases over three years. With her doodly ink drawings divided into groupings such as "From a Shelter Dog to a Black Cardigan," the Portland-based designer makes everything from $8 shoes ("Target rejects, size 10") to a pack of dust masks ($5, "makes sanding totally tolerable") look appealing, while inciting you to wonder why you've never thought to acquire a set of fake mustaches (99 cents) or plastic fangs ("just for wearing around the house"). "I love documenting the mundane," writes Bingaman-Burt in the book's introduction, "and, in turn, putting a personal face on something that is mass-produced."

For the first three years of their relationship, Jamie Atherton and Jeremy Lin did the long-distance thing, bonding remotely through letters and mix tapes sent by snail mail. Now they live together in East London making stationery that tells a story. Eager to spread the art and music mix, the pair created a series of notecards accompanied by recordable CDs—both illustrated with their signature whimsical images and captions. They supply the decoration, you supply the music. Among the designs is "Across the Sea," featuring boats rendered in dreamy watercolors, and "Summer Hits," which shows a radio attracting a swarm of candy-colored insects. "Characters (too shy to show their faces) correspond with each other through small phrases and elaborate drawings," note Atherton and Lin. "Maybe the images remind you of someone you know."

Go west, young designer! That's the message of the latest offering from Emigre. The digital type foundry and publisher continues to redefine the concept of a catalog with lushly printed "type specimen booklets" that beckon you to read them cover to cover. The latest one, entitled Historia, looks to the old west by mixing unexpected type combinations with a series of photographs of battlefield sites from the U.S.-Mexican war of 1846-1848 (from the Incident at Gavilán Peak to the Battle of La Mesa). The result is a feast for the eyes, with pages resembling antique bond certificates and California orange crate labels alongside musings on typography, topography, and photography.