What is it with British designers? I have been featuring one after the other lately. Mike Lemanski is a graphic designer who is fabulous with type. He works at Attik during the day. His website is full of cool ideas and wonderful executions.
This is such a nice idea for a business card. All of Alex Ostrowski's work is uplifting, no pun intended. I hope that he sees as much, if not more, good come his way as he produces.
This color scrapbook is a great example of how simple, vibrant color can make anything a work of art. They are beautiful.
Been thinking a lot about my family lately. Dad is supposed to come home soon. This card seemed appropriate.
All of Magnolia Moonlight's work is bold and colorful. I love the old school nature of it all.
I have sung the praises of Heads of State to many of you. I even think that their poster sales went up when I shared with their website with the Wilco fans in my old office.
Heads of State has a new website. And it is so much fun to see all of the work that they have been getting.
Ace Jet 170 did a series of Uncommon Knowledge last year and I wish so much that he had continued with it. In his words, it's "stuff I wish I'd known much, much earlier in my career." All of the tips are helpful in the craft of graphic design.
Jen Gotch has been all over the blogs with her Defaced Polaroids. But I have to speak to her super simple website. She is clearly very talented. I love how she sets up her photostrips. They tell a story. And her handwriting adds such a wonderful touch.
There are few places in the US that have as many amazing examples of type as Chi-town. I was always struck by the variety ... old school, new school, well designed, badly designed (so much so that it actually looks good). Montrose, Ashland and Western were some of my favorite roads to peruse for good type.
Shawn Hazen is a graphic designer out of Chicago. He has set up a website devoted entirely to the found type of the city. Enjoy.
I love it when I see graphic designers branching out with fine art. Or better yet, creating fine art that can be mass produced and sold. Petit Collage is the one woman company of Lorena Siminovich. All of her collages are done on natural wood. They are full of color and personality. For some reason they remind me of tea towels my mom had in the 70s. I also love her alphabet poster. It is different and simple, a great addition to any room.
So T and I did a campaign for Howies when we were students and we were honored to win a D&AD award. Awards in advertising mean nothing except to people in advertising, so we don't even have it on our resume. But we do love to sing the praises of Howies, the Patagonia of the UK ... but much more hip. Along with making super cool clothes, they are all about the environment and changing the way people think and making art a part of our everyday.
Similar to Patagonia, they have asked some very talented designers to create t-shirts. I stumbled upon Chris Gray's shirts on one of his blogs, The Amazing Shape. His designs are so colorful and fun. I love the roundness of his shapes. You can see more of Chris' work on his blog We Shall See.
It's all about video today.
T and I caught a few episodes of Mad Men last year. As depressing as the show is, it can be addictive. We are refreshed in knowing that the writers think little has changed in advertising in almost 50 years. It's still a man's world. They're still trying to sell the public lots of stuff that they don't need. There are still sordid affairs among staff (some co-workers even get married!). And my favorite ... the cocktail napkin is still the best place to write down concepts.
Imaginary Forces did the opening credits for he show. They are wonderfully retro. Saul Bass would be proud of his graphic design legacy.
I do not know this band at all ... but when I saw this video the song just stuck with me. I think the animation is simply beautiful. You may need to load it twice. My first viewing was a bit stilted.
Check out the rest of Sean Pecknold's work at his company site: Grandchildren.
White Winter Hymnal from Grandchildren on Vimeo.
Doug Wilson of On Paper Wings has a terrific set of Vernacular Typography Polaroids. I love that he has four to an image. It makes the presentation look that much cooler.
You don't even have to know Spanish to appreciate the beautiful type examples found here.
I just stumbled onto Tyler Lang's website. He is a super talented designer out of Sarasota, FL ... The Ringling School Design Center. Makes The Creative Circus seem like a normal school name.
T did a race in Leadville, CO on Saturday. No ... it was not the 100 miler. Just a marathon, starting at 10,200 feet and going up to 13,000 feet. The town is so high up that as Tom and I went to sleep on Friday night our hearts were racing (we thought we'd eaten too much pizza!). Babies born at that altitude have to be on oxygen for a month. As if the first month of parenthood isn't hard enough!
D and I explored Leadville and then got to hang out with some old and new friends. Being with people that live in small mountain towns always makes us think about making that jump ourselves. If only there was a way to make a good living because there isn't a huge need for advertising.
Below is our view from the Super 8. Above are some pics from the day.
I am slightly obsessed with Obama. We have taught D to listen out for his name, so whenever NPR is on we inevitably get a few "Obamas" out of him. There is a store on Obama's website and one of my favorite designers (along with Obey's Shepard Fairey) has created a poster for The Man. Scott Hansen of ISO50 has a fabulous style ... retro and full of color. Unfortunately his Obama poster is sold out, but you can buy many other cool posters and t-shirts on his site.
While blog hopping today I stumbled upon some eerie images on BibliOdyssey. Yesterday PeaCay featured lithographs of beached whales. The pictures got me thinking about how this must be how it feels to have a stroke. Helpless and out of your element, hoping for someone to pull you back to the life you knew.
And then I scroll down to Friday's post and discover "metoposcopia" a science of the 16th century where "an individual's specific pattern of forehead wrinkles was used to analyse their character and, when combined with astrological interpretations, helped a clairvoyant make predictions about the person's destiny".
If only our destinies could truly be predicted. Waiting is the hardest part. I can't get away from the brain.
We absolutely love our neighbors. There is a little bit of everything and even with all of the different personalities we feel a wonderful sense of community. Our street "mayor" is one of the reasons that we gel so well. She makes it a point to get us all together.
The so called "mayor" is also a Shar-pei lover. You know ... those really wrinkly dogs. The National Shar-pei Show is coming to Denver next year and we were hired to do the logo. And instead of picking one, they bought them all! What a boost to our confidence.
Posts
All Comments
