Liquid Treat

Tired of hunting through vast character sets or relying on the likes of Wingdings and Webdings to get the symbols you seek? Check out Symbolset, which uses plain-language keywords and Unicode instead of letter-mapping. So, for example, type "check" and the text instantly turns into a checkmark; "heart" becomes ♥ (just in time for Valentine's Day). The smart symbols are baked into the growing family of Symbolset fonts with OpenType, so they work in modern browsers. Among the newest is SS Social, a symbol font comprised of logos of Web-based services and products.

Here's your chance to brush up on Banksy. The highly secretive street art sensation and activist is the subject of a new book by reporter Will Ellsworth-Jones. Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall, out next week from St. Martin's Press, tries to piece together the story of Banksy, tracing his path from self-professed vandal to international art star and Oscar-nominated filmmaker, for the 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. “Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place," Banksy has said. "Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place."

Double letter score? Triple word score? The elusive "Z"? Everyone wins with this edible take on Scrabble. Andie's Specialty Sweets bakes up faux-woodgrain letter tiles and tile racks that are flavored with pure vanilla and real chocolate (a set is $115.99 on Etsy). Bring your own game board -- they also look great on cakes and make sweet placecards. So how do they T-A-S-T-E? Expect "kind of a mellow chocolate, with a punch of pure chocolate at the face of the letter," say the Dallas-based candymakers.

Ready to "make the world a better place with thoughtful communications"? Check out Lettrs, a New York-based startup that is bringing together modern technology with the art of slower communication in a new digital platform that caters to users who think before they write. "People don’t write letters anymore and we think that is sad -- and a problem," note the founders. "We have forgotten how to really write, see the personality in someone’s written word, and how to slow down the creation of deeper and better communication." Register now to gain free access to the beta version, which allows you to write letters using a variety of themes and fonts, and send them in digital or physical form (hand-addressed and mailed from Collinsville, Connecticut). Choose the "open letter" option to deliver your message to the world.

Try your hand at urban planning with postcards from Make City. Designed by Japanese "paper engineer" Keisuke Saka, each set of five cards can be cut and assembled into mini models of icons from six world cities. New York is represented by not only the Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge but also a bagel, while Amsterdam includes a row of canal houses, a windmill and a herring sandwich. But it's Tokyo, Saka's home turf, that takes the cake, with make-them-or-mail them vending machines, the Tokyo Tower (complete with monster) and, of course, sushi.

Long a staple text of designers and design students around the world, Michael Johnson's Problem Solved is now available in an updated and expanded second edition from Phaidon. Conceived as a primer in design, branding and communication, the book is organized as a series of problems -- such as avoiding repetition, reinventing a tired brand, using shock tactics -- that are presented and solved, drawing upon real-world examples. The newly added nineteenth chapter considers the craze for flexible and ever-changing logos. Notes Johnson, "Everyone is exploring the idea that perhaps an identity no longer needs to be static, and could change and modulate with time."