Liquid Treat

When is a magazine not a magazine? When it's The Thing, a periodical in the form of an object. Each year, editors Jonn Herschend and Will Rogan invite four artists, writers, musicians or filmmakers to create a useful object that somehow incorporates text. That object is then reproduced, hand-wrapped and mailed to subscribers. Past issues of the quirky quarterly have included Trevor Paglen's alien-emblazoned coffee mug and a shower curtain printed with "a monologue told to Dave Eggers by his shower curtain." Subscribe now: $240 will get you four upcoming issues by artists David Shrigley and Tauba Auerbach, author Ben Marcus and the big finish: John Baldessari, who has signed on for issue #22.

Now you can have your Instagram photos and eat them too, with Cocoagraph. The Northern California-based company prints edible Polaroid-style photographs onto artisanal chocolate bars: Choose from milk, white, dark or organic dark varieties along with a rotating line-up of flavorful additions such as dried strawberries and sea salt. The Willy Wonka of this operation is Rae Vittorelli, who earned a BFA from Moore College of Art & Design before trying her hand at sugar arts. Less than a year after launching Cocoagraph, she's already earned major design world street cred, having created mod chocolates for Knoll.

How do I find new clients? How much should I charge for my design work? When should I say no to a client? Answers to all of these questions and more can be found in Work for Money, Design for Love (New Riders), David Airey's handy-dandy guide to starting and running a successful design business, from finding your niche and naming your brand to navigating issues of "legalities, integrity and morality" and dealing with difficult clients. "This is the book I wanted to read when I became a self-employed graphic designer," writes Airey in the book's introduction. "It's the advice I'd give my younger self -- teachings that would have put me years ahead of where I am now."

Architecture has gone to the dogs. Among the most popular attractions last month at Design Miami was a showcase of 13 doghouses developed by leading architects and designers such as Shigeru Ban, Konstantin Grcic and Kazuyo Sejima. The exhibition marked the debut of Architecture for Dogs, a company founded by Japanese design star Kenya Hara with Imprint Venture Lab. "It's an extremely sincere collection of architecture and a new medium, which make dogs and their people happy," says Hara. "By looking at the diagrams or pictures or watching the videos, people all over the world can make these themselves." Blueprints of the structures in the collection, each designed for a different breed of dog, are available to download for free from the Architecture for Dogs website.

Mark your calendar for February 22. On that Friday, at noon Eastern Standard Time, thousands of people around the world will pause to snap photos of their food for The Meal 2013, an ambitiously kooky initiative -- part global art project, part hunger awareness campaign -- of the Sketchbook Project. "Our aim is to inspire a feeling of community across geographic and cultural boundaries," say the organizers, who have put out the call for snacky self-portraits (yourself and your meal on 2/22) and will post them online in a digital collage that's bound to be delicious.

Fifty years ago, Chicago newlyweds Gordon and Carole Segal channeled their love for contemporary, affordable housewares (discovered on their European honeymoon) into a retail venture named after the bare-bones fixtures they used to display imported merch in a former elevator factory. Today Crate & Barrel has more than 100 stores, and is celebrating the big 5-0 with a series of creative takes on its Arzberg teapot. Artists and illustrators including Paola Navone, Elvis Swift and Nomoco were invited to customize the Bauhaus-inspired classic, and each month, a new teapot design will go on sale in a limited edition of 200. Mark your calendar for February 1 to grab the next edition, designed by Portland, Oregon-based artist Yellena James.