Somehow I missed that at the end of June the USPS issued a set of Forever stamps called the Pioneers of American Industrial Design which feature 12 objects designed by the "nation's most important and influential industrial designers," as chosen b...
Monday Digest: Album Design Goes Small; Fairey on Copenhagen; Hipster Ipsum
??? The NYT asks album cover designers whether the small size of art used on iTunes, iPods and other digital devices influences their design choices. While some musicians still want complex covers, the industry seems to agree that how well an album ...
Postcardly : The Digital Savior of Snail Mail?
Postcardly (currently in beta) is a new digital service that will convert an email with an attached photo into a postcard (email content on back, photo on front) and send it to your designated recipient via the US Postal Service. Promoted as a way...
Postcards from Torrey Pines State Park, CA
Design Crush: Jessica Hische
will hereby begin peppering this blog with designer/illustrator Jessica Hische's awesome Daily Drop Cap. Begun in 2009, she pledged to design a drop cap a day until she'd completed 12 alphabets. It now being 2011, the goal has been met but her let...
Stop-Motion Magic
I can't get enough of stop-motion animation. For me, it taps into that same feeling of creative transformation that comes from art like that by Tara Donovan: the magical payoff of tedious, minute and disciplined repetition. To this end, here's a p...
PBS webseries: Off Book
I have been neglecting this blog for the past couple of months however the diversions have cleared so regular posts will begin again shortly. In the meantime, check out this quick video on typography, part of Off Book, an arts-focused web series o...
Man as Industrial Palace
When I'm in Philly next month I'm hoping to catch an exhibit of vintage medical posters currently on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The posters are part of a donated collection assembled by William H. Helfand (father of Jessica Helfand). ...
All of the Bacon & Eggs
via http://www.meatbeerbabes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/7wRoO.jpg
OUT With the Pyramid, IN With the Plate
Required Reading : Designers, Just Say No to 'Scientism'
In a collaboration with The Atlantic, the blog design mind (from Frog) has posted a series of essays about the power of design. A recent entry discusses the way research, in its collection and analysis, has shifted from its rigorous origins in sci...
File Under : Love is the Best Inspiration
As a surprise for his wife, a friend of mine's brother created this video, which he played at their recent wedding. (Background: As a child, she acted out an imaginary show called "That's Corky.") Watch to see how a betrothed brought the youthful ...
Historical Colours: The Original Swatch Book
I recently came into possession of the paint swatch book Historical Colours, published in 1934 by the (now defunct, I believe) British paint manufacturer Thomas Parsons & Sons. The book belonged to a British step-great aunt. A graphics aficionado ...
Ralph Steadman
Ever want to watch the process by which Ralph Steadman creates his inky typography? Check out this video, posted by the Criterion Collection, of Steadman creating a title treatment for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Postcards From Knoxville, TN
MOCA-latte's Red Sticker Campaign
As part of the on-going discussion of street art and its relationship to curatorial practice, as sparked by the controversy surrounding MOCA's soon-to-open exhibit "Art in the Streets," the group MOCA-latte has introduced a project intended to "pr...
RIP Flip Camera
Two years after buying the Flip from Pure Digital, Cisco has announced the little camera that could will soon be making videos of the big party in the sky. I was surprised to hear today that the Flip is finished, and after listening to analysis as...
Shop Talk : Globe Poster
Over the weekend I caught a NPR story about the 80-year evolution of Baltimore's Globe Poster from "poorman's advertising" to the go-to print shop for mid-Atlantic area concerts. The company closed its doors last year but I was happy to learn that the print department at the Maryland Institute College of Art, encouraged by support from students, is in the process of purchasing the Globe's archive of printed material.
Quick Pics : Printed Wikipedia & Tara Donovan Does T
Currently making the rounds: Photographer Rob Matthew's printed and bound compendium of Wikipedia's featured articles, which is smaller than I would have imagined. Each issue of the NYT's T Magazine features an creative illustration of the letter ...
Baldessari App : In Still Life
John Baldessari, working with the LA-based e-newsletter ForYourArt, created an app called In Still Life for the iPhone that allows you to rearrange the composition of the 1667 painting Banquet Still Life. The exercise is based on a similar interac...