Vera Wang on Weddings is now available in the App Store for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Groundbreaking in its design and content, the app leads brides through the wedding design process, taking the bride through the full creative process of organizing a wedding—from inspiration to research to planning—and provides solutions for all the challenges of executing the big event.

This was an ideal project for us, given our roots in fashion and lifestyle publishing, and in collaboration with a creative, adventurous client who was also fun to work with. We started our journey together with a discovery process that included extensive user and competitive research, then moved into the design and build phases including IA, product design, UX, and app development for both the iPad and the iPhone. As part of the project, we built some cool functionality, including inspiration boards, a customized calendar to-do list, and robust tools to track and store guest, vendor, and bridal party info and share inspiration and decision-making with groups throughout the planning cycle. These tools work seamlessly with the native iOS and iCal functionality.

Check out the app soon—it’s free for a few weeks, but soon will cost $9.99 (and worth every penny if we do say so ourselves). If you do use the app please do let us know what you think.

For more on our engagement with Vera Wang and the creation process, see our Case Study.
For more on Vera Wang and to get a feel for the app (if you’re not yet tethered to an iPad or iPhone), visit the information pages on her site.

“I would like a bride to take this app as a suggestion, as encouragement to find out who she really wants to be and how she wants to get married. And I hope that what I do, with everything I create, makes that job just a little more pleasurable and a little bit easier for the bride.” —Vera Wang

Or maybe we are.
Either way – we’re embarking on the 2012 edition of the FOUR32C Run Club.

Main Objectives
-Run. A lot.
-Keep our blood flowing. (Mainly to our brains, so we can keep creating!)
-Never give up (‘Even if you’re tired!’ as Justin’s 6-year-old niece points out)
-Challenge our limits.

With those in mind we’re already well on our way for the new year.

Races to Date for 2012
January 7 – NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K
February 5 – NYRR Gridiron Classic (4M)

Check us out!

BEFORE

AFTER

You can follow our runs via RunKeeper.  Justin & Mike

Also – Check out Lidia Bastianich’s posts on Chinese New Year
as part of Lidia Celebrates America on PBS.

Chinese American New Year with Shirly Fong-Torres
My Take on Chinese New Year

Eva Zeisel was a Hungarian-born master of industrial design known for her work with ceramics. Her often curvilinear forms evoke a natural pleasure and sense of purity. Zeisel was of great influence in the design world. She created the department of ceramic arts industrial design at Pratt in 1939 and taught there until 1952. In 1947 Zeisl’s china was presented in a one-woman show at MOMA. Work from throughout her career is can be seen in museum collections around the world.

From Emily Langer’s piece in The New York Times:

Eva Zeisel, who designed and produced stylish but simple lines of tableware that were credited with bringing a sense of serenity to American dinnertime, died Dec. 30 at her home in New City, N.Y.

“I search for beauty,” Mrs. Zeisel told The Washington Post in 2003. “I never wanted to do something grotesque. I never wanted to shock. I wanted my audience to be happy, to be kind.”

Our friends at KleinReid offer several of Zeisel’s designs. Visit their online store.

“When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”
- Buckminster Fuller  (1895-1983)

We hope everyone is enjoying some well deserved time off.
Here’s to an exciting New Year!

In this four-part series Lidia expands her culinary reach by entering into Mexican, Jewish, Chinese and Italian holiday traditions. Celebrity appearances abound!

Learn more and share your own holiday traditions at lidiacelebratesamerica.org

There is still one day left to donate to our team! DONATE HERE
Thanks to everyone who donated!

WEEK 4

DAY 1