Monday, May 30, 2011
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
via bibliodyssey
Read the rest here, and see the fifty Rackham illustrations for ‘Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens’ from Harvard University Library here.
1940s NYC Destination Subway Scrolls
via accidental mysteries“These incredibly graphic New York City destination subway scrolls were used to direct subway commuters in the early 1940s. I love the way the fonts are condensed and expanded to fill the space— from the school of ‘make it fit!’
Read more here.
Seeing, Hearing, and Smelling Color: Synesthesia Pt. 2
via imprint“[Part II digs] into a hot-topic among scientists in recent years: is synesthesia useful to those who have it? What can studying it yield?
Read part two here.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Images of the Day: Glassfest
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| We loved the bright little spray painted runner on the course signs. |
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| Close-up of the spray runner wearing a double-brimmed hat. |
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| Interesting typography treatment for this jeweler’s sign. |
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| A restored Whizzer bike |
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| Mail slot in a darkened corner along Main Street in Corning, NY |
Andrea Stark Poster Series
via FPO“The things we place value on; the things we hold most beautiful, are of our own accord. This project reminds people to step back and consider every object or mark as an opportunity to create something new or improve upon the existing. This poster series was part of a wider research project exploring the value of decoration. The designs were created using everyday objects, residues and ephemera. Each A1 print is double-sided, with the original objects printed on the reverse of the decorative design that was created from them…”
Read the rest here.
Graphically Evoking Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”
“Our musical notation system follows a convention that dates back centuries. By reading it, musicians can get an aural sense of melody, tempo and all the other instructions on how the score should be played. But what if the notations were shown in graphically different colors and dot sizes? This is a study done by graphic designer Laia Clos of Mot Studio in Barcelona. Clos explains that the self-initiated project started with a woman in her studio who has a knowledge of music. From there, they created a new graphic musical notation system called “SisTeMu,” which translates a musical score into simple geometric forms and basic printing colors, exploring the rhythmic and melodic harmonies found in the musical composition. The system somewhat simplifies the complexity and mathematical structure, making it accessible to the viewer through a visual narrative. For their first translation, they used the musical data for the lead violin part of Antonio Vivaldi’s baroque concerto, The Four Seasons (or Lesquartrestacions)…”
Read more here and here.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Seeing Color (and Hearing, and Smelling It)
via imprint“The number 1, for example, is a brilliant and bright white, like someone shining a flashlight into my eyes. Five is a clap of thunder or the sound of waves crashing against rocks. Thirty-seven is lumpy like porridge, while 89 reminds me of falling snow…”
Read the rest here.
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Octothorpe, part 2 of 2
via shady characters“Bell Telephone Laboratories, one-time research subsidiary of American telecoms giant AT&T, has produced some of the 20th century’s most influential developments in the worlds of science and technology. It boasts seven Nobel Prizes in Physics awarded for, among other things, a demonstration of the wave nature of matter, the invention of the transistor and the discovery of background cosmic radiation. Other notable products of this storied research centre include the laser, radio astronomy, the first communications satellite and the UNIX operating system, which forms a key component of the internet and of modern computing in general.
Most relevant in terms of punctuation, though, is a small linguistic innovation which emerged in the wake of a much larger technological one. Engaged in the 1960s in reinventing the world’s aging telephone dialing system, one of the many Bell Labs engineers working on this mammoth task was almost certainly responsible for coining the term ‘octothorpe’. And though the octothorpe’s birthplace is well recorded, the question of exactly who created it is somewhat more contentious…”
Read the rest here.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Cinderella Stamps
via letterology“A Cinderella stamp is any non-postage stamp. The oft-neglected stepchild of the postage stamp, a Cinderella may look like a stamp, but it won't carry the mail. The category includes locals, labels, tax stamps, fiscals, poster stamps, charity seals, forgeries, fantasies, phantoms, revenues, etc. Some are more elaborately designed than the postage stamps they imitate. The hard-core philatelist scorns any stamp that didn't carry the mail, but others find these philatelic by-ways fascinating and rewarding. Philatelic Exhibition Seals are a popular sideline among stamp collectors. The heyday for Cinderellas in the U.S. was the 1920's and 1930's, when many beautifully designed engraved examples were produced…”
Read more on Cinderella stamps here and here.
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