House Blend

"If used safely, responsibly, and with utmost care—for yourself, your fellow man, and the environment—an axe will be your best friend," particularly if the axe happens to be a beautiful object designed by Peter Buchanan-Smith. The Grammy award-winning graphic designer and author teamed with his old camp buddy, Graeme Cameron, an outdoorsman and environmental entrepreneur, to found Best Made, a New York-based company that is doing a brisk business in made-to-order axes. Even those averse to chopping will be seduced by the sturdy tools, which feature Tennessee hickory handles hand-painted in your choice of vibrant patterns—we like the white, red, and black combo that Buchanan-Smith has rather ominously dubbed "Hush Now."

Make a new year's resolution to add more color to your life with 500 colored pencils, delivered to your door in groups of 25 over the course of 20 months and tucked inside a lovely graphic box. The pencil pushers? Social Designer, which makes the pencils to order in creatively named hues that range from the evocative (Hawaiian Sky, French Mustard) to the mysterious (Cousin Clara, Secret Past). Billed as "the only set in the world that matches the span and wonder of human creativity," the pencils can double as artwork when tucked inside wall-mounted acrylic cases.

Bored by the likes of Neapolitan, Rocky Road, and Mint Chocolate Chip? Design your own ice cream, gelato, or sorbet without stepping foot in a kitchen. Omaha-based eCreamery seeks to bring out the inner ice cream artist in everyone with its “Create Your Own” program. Head to the company’s colorful website and choose among base types, flavors (for the adventurous, there’s avocado, egg nog, and black licorice), and mix-ins such as flavor swirls and crumbled cookies. Finally, name your flavor (in 25 characters or less) and choose one of three package designs. Submit your creation and within five to ten business days, you’ll be savoring your custom flavor.

Turn your next cocktail party or holiday gathering into an illuminating group psychology session with a set of Psycho Diagnostik coasters, new from Paris-based Atypyk. The set of coasters is printed with the original ten inkblots used in Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach’s namesake test. Distribute the coasters with a round of drinks and ask guests what they see—a bat? a lobster? an elf peering into a mirror?—and what makes it that way. Just don’t be surprised if the responses change based on cocktail consumption.

Add some graphic punch to your bathroom with the Pictobath shower curtain from CB2, Crate & Barrel’s hipper and more economically minded little brother. The PVC-free vinyl curtain is printed with a checkerboard of black-and-white symbols for cleanliness-themed things such as soap, bubbles, and toothpaste. It’s just the thing to help start your day with a careful consideration of positive and negative space, and priced at $14.95, it won’t create much negative space in your wallet.

Here’s one for your holiday wish list: Alex Steinweiss: Creator of the Modern Album Cover. Out next week from Taschen, this lushly illustrated coffee table book celebrates the career of Steinweiss, now 92, who revolutionized the way music was packaged and marketed. As Columbia Records’ first art director, he created colorful, whimsical combinations of illustration and typography that helped to boost album sales for the likes of Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, and Henny Goodman, while breathing new life into the works of classical composers with albums covers he approached like vibrant miniature posters. In addition to Steinweiss’ personal recollections and previously unpublished work, the book includes an essay by design historian Steven Heller and a foreword by Grammy Award-winning art director Kevin Reagan.