If you ever need a shot of random type from the street you should check out Flickr's Typography and Lettering Pool. A little bit of everything, it is definitely an example of art in the everyday. The above is k.james' alphabet set. And below is from k.james' collection of the ABC's illustrated by Joseph Cellini.
D is way into coloring these days. He loves the blank page and asking me to draw a tow truck, a garbage truck, a pick-up truck or a car. Then he scribbles and asks me to draw another. I would like to think that I could make 300 copies of these vehicles, but it's my undivided attention that he really wants. We bought his first Crayola 64 pack yesterday and he loves it.
The ColorSchemer Blog has a list of both RGB and Hex code for all 120 of the Crayola 120 pack. The designer's job hasn't risen much farther than first grade art class.
We are finishing up a project for a film company out of Chicago. Sam and John got in touch with us through the blog. Makes this web world seem really small.
Here are their final choices for logos and web looks. I love how they pushed me and where we all ended up. I will post some of the trashed stuff in later days, just so y'all can see some of the process.
I picked up Barbara Kingsolver's book Small Wonder while in Santa Fe. I am eating it up. Most of the essays in the book were written right after 9/11, but are just as relevant almost seven years later. Makes me realize how much hasn't changed since those months following September, 2001. Some of my favorite essays have to do with a sense of place and nature and how we are losing touch with both.
I am starting a vegetable garden in the backyard. Nothing fancy. But it makes me so happy to know that we can watch things grow in the backyard and get in touch with what we really need. Watching it grow from nothing to something that we can put on our table. A small wonder.
There is a Flickr group of 344 people who collect Penguin Paperbacks. Until recently, I had no idea that these little guys carried such weight in the graphic design world. And I now understand why ... they are all so classic and symbolic.
Enjoy browsing.
T and I took a little trip down to Santa Fe this week. It had been years since I had been and T & D made their maiden voyage. Once you see past all of the tourist traps, it is really beautiful. Sometimes I feel like I have stepped into another country when I'm there.
In light of yesterday, I put together a color palette for Santa Fe.
And we took a side-trip up to Chimayo, a tiny little town just north of SF. The chapel is rustic and stunning in everything that it doesn't have. At Easter time hundreds of people walk to the chapel on their knees to thank God for being cured.
{picture courtesy of Tom Haymes}
Marc Johns is an artist and illustrator. He doesn't take himself too seriously, although he does do serious drawings. His drawings are filled with humor and dry wit. Please read about him here, because I cannot begin to write like he does.
He has a Flickr set of his Post-it note drawings. They are awesome.
Just a couple of dingbats that I am liking today. Both from Urban Fonts.
{Oil Crisis ... how fitting!}
{Wm Insects}
For Mother's Day I received the new Maira Kalman book, The Principles of Uncertainty (pictures above). It is such a treasure. A yearlong journal and column for The New York Times, Maira's meanderings sound a lot like Milan Kundera's philosophy ... all comments are food for thought.
And then there are two books that I am wanting. What It Is (pictures above) by Lynda Barry was reviewed this past Sunday in The New York Times. It looks amazing. Lynda takes us through her creative methods. It looks like one of those books that you could sit with for hours. The other book is Sometimes I Think, Sometimes I Am (pictures below). Illustrated by Sara Fanelli, with copy by Steven Heller and Marina Warner. It is poetry and art all in one.
I have a few secrets that I can tell. Shambhala Press has a set of books that I could not live without. Old etchings and line art, gorgeous in their imperfection. The books are part of the Agile Rabbit Editions and most are out of print, so the Amazon used section is key. Some come with a free CD-ROM, so that you don't have to scan a thing. I use both whole pictures or pieces. The possibilities are endless!
The pictures above and below are from Graphic Frames.
{above from Civil War Posters set}
I cannot do any amount of justice to the wonderful sets that Alberto has gathered in one place. All I can say is that you must go there and look at all of his cool stuff.
{above from 19thc Shipping Clipper Cards set}
(above from Lettering set}
Uppercase Gallery has a "Type Tuesday" on their blog. This week they pay tribute to the "dry transfer" (also known as Letraset). There are some great images. It SO reminds me of my mom as she painstakingly sat over the light table.
If it is anything like the website, this exhibition should be well worth the visit. Color Chart: Reinventing Color takes its point of view from the commercial color chart and focuses on 1950 through today. Instead of seeking an ideal, many of the featured artists viewed art as "straight out of the can". The exhibit ends next week so, if you are anywhere near NYC, check it out.
The Nonist has posted some images from old Graphis Annuals (mostly late 50s and early 70s) and they are stunning to look at. I am so drawn to commercial art. It's too bad that it has ruined one too many landscapes. If only the art remained.
Since Mondays are "craft" day I thought it would be fitting to share Meg Mateo Ilasco. She is (among MANY other things) the author of Craft, Inc., a fabulous book about taking what you do for fun and turning it into something you do for money. Meg is also an artist, a designer and the owner of a multi-faceted company that shares her name, Mateo Ilasco. Her paper collections are beautiful. And her illustration style is both graphic and friendly. She has two other company divisions. Mixed is a collection of paper goods by independent designers. And Modern Economy is a home & lifestyle sales event for design enthusiasts.
This lady does it ALL.
Because I missed posting on Friday I wanted to share Roadside Pictures today. Allen's sets include both gorgeous photography and amazing Americana, most of it out of the desert West. I am particularly drawn to the old sign type, advertising and old soda packaging.
It is amazing what you can find nowadays online. Duke and Princeton and I am sure many many other universities have massive digital collections. All I think about is that someone had to scan ALL of those images. Student workers, no doubt.
Duke has a beautiful group of historic sheet music. The type treatments are exquisite.
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