The town of Rupert lies about 8 miles south of here: west of the Taconics, nestled between the Vermont hills and the New York border. image courtesy of Jane DaviesWith less than a thousand residents, just about anyone would call it one of the smallest towns you’re likely to find — unless, of course, you live around here. In Rupert, you’ll find open farm fields, a general store, the U.S. post office, and an extremely unique...

The M.I. Hummel brand has been a staple in the world of collectibles and artwork since the early 1930s, when the illustrations of Berta Hummel (aka Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel) were reproduced as “art cards” by a German publisher to astounding commercial success. The original illustrations were soon licensed to a porcelain company which began manufacturing the the collectible figurines. The new site, HummelGifts.com, offers a wide...

So here’s a brand whose message is fun, funny, a little edgy, at times almost dark — and still somehow uplifting. Life Is Crap offers an unusual take on the mostly little mishaps that grace everyone’s existence at one point or another. There’s a light-hearted quality to the simple illustrations that highlight a wide range of life’s “crappier” moments, from painful (mountain bike face plant) to...

Among the slew of analysts looking back to the 2008 holiday season, comScore has estimated that online sales from November 1 through December 23 were actually down 3% from the year before. Apparel was one of the bright spots, with an online increase of 4%, compared to a 19-21% decrease in the category overall sales. Other hot online performers included Sports & Fitness (up 21%) and Video Gaming (+14%). Another interesting note: online...

At first I thought ElasticPath’s post “Should Your Use Large Images on Category Pages?” would shed light on the size of thumbnails, but the discussion is about the importance of testing big-footprint lifestyle imagery. Does a large banner above the thumbnails add a sense of place to the page, similar to display banners in the retail environment? Or is there a sense of redundancy, pushing the products below the fold? A few...