Image of the Day: Plankenhorn Stationers & Printers

Downtown Williamsport — I love the signage type treatment.

Glasses Case Project

Personalized glasses case

My previous black glasses case hinge broke, and my wife picked up a free case at Target, in red. Our one friend suggested personalizing with with a Sharpie®, and that gave me an idea. Drawing upon some letterboxing knowledge, I knew I could transfer laser prints with heat and with 100% acetone [nail polish remover] onto different materials. Since heat wasn’t an option, I was pretty sure the acetone method would work. I took a scan of a photo of me from August 1965 and converted it to pure black and white with a cutline filter. Because the acetone fumes are pretty nasty, I waited for a day that was decent outside. Yesterday was my day. I wrapped the laser print paper around the case, held it in place, then dipped Q-tips into the acetone. I applied a little pressure when rubbing the Q-tips on the back of the laser print, and was careful not to get any acetone on me. It worked perfectly, and the toner is not sticky at all. The only thing I would do different would be to not go back over an area that was previously rubbed — parts of the images got just a little smeary looking.

Ghost Signs: Coca-Cola and D. Bean

A few weeks ago, as we were traveling through Williamsport I thought I spotted a ghost sign. We were not able to stop at the time, but on a later date, made the time to explore the area.

Site of the demolition, which revealed the sign on the building to the far right.
Panorama shot by trueindigo.

Double ghost signs — top and bottom

Above the Coca-Cola sign

Coca-Cola

Click on the image to enlarge, and see the painted inscription
roughly in the center of the tarred area:
D BEAN
APR. 30  23

PSDSGNR Listserv Gathering

The first gathering of members of the PSDSGNR listserv met at Olde New York last evening. Twelve were able to make it to this informal way of putting faces to names, network, and talk about what we do outside of our work at Penn State. Lots a good ideas were shared, and plans are in the works for the next gathering.

Everyone got to choose from a selection from the
printers set of temporary tattoos from Tattly.

Images of the Day: The Electric Horse

Patiently waiting . . . 

with a sense of humor in its eyes.

Wood Type of the Month: Grecian

Read this month’s wood-type column to find out about a wood-type that uses only straight lines as edges for the letters.

You know you’ve raised a Font Snob when...

Today is the 12th anniversary of the listserv I host for the professional design community at Penn State. Below is a screen capture of a recent post by one of the 101 current members:

When asked in a later post, “How did the grub stack up to more sophisticated menu-ed establishments?”

The reply was: “Well, I wouldn’t rate it a Frutiger. But it was definitely up there with American Typewriter. (They were selling themselves short with Comic Sans.)”

Strawberry Square Butterflies

Image of the Day: On a Winter Walk

Image of the Day: Mercury Space Capsule Playground Slide

Most likely manufactured by Mexico Forge in the late 1960s to early 1970s.
This one is located in a school playground in Bellefonte, PA.
I wonder if the children crawling and sliding on this even know what it represents?

Image of the Twilight: Crows Off to Roost

When I left work a few days ago, a steady river of crows flew overhead from the Penn State Aboretum / Toftrees wooded area toward main campus. The birds just kept coming, and I believe that there were hundreds if not close to one thousand crows on their way to roost. I pulled out my camera, and took a shot with an extended exposure. When I opened it up in Photoshop later in the evening, I was amazed to see how they looked like flying pieces of paper. With a few adjustments to color and contrast, the results are above.

Pico Iyer: The Joy of Quiet

I really enjoyed reading Pico Iyer's article, The Joy of Quiet, in the New York Times. Ways that I personally find quiet and clarity in my life are early morning solitary 4 mile runs several times a week, making the time to take a 15 minute brisk walk at mid-morning while at work, and very often at least one day of a weekend making a conscious effort to not check email, blogs, and my standard web sites. What are the ways that you find and capture the “Joy of Quiet”?

Twelve Days of Holiday Travel

On the first day of travel, my true love said to me,
We better fill the tank with gas now.

On the second day of travel, my true love said to me,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.

On the third day of travel, my true love said to me,
Detour for construction,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.


On the fourth day of travel, my true love said to me,
Santa cut us off,
Construction,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.

On the fifth day of travel, my true love said to me,
I have to pee!
Santa cut us off,
Construction,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.

On the sixth day of travel, my true love said to me,
Hey we missed our exit,
I have to pee!
Santa cut us off,
Construction,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.


On the seventh day of travel, my true love said to me,
Sure is dark in Winter,
Hey we missed our exit,
I have to pee!
Santa cut us off,
Construction,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.

On the eighth day of travel, my true love said to me,
NPR is fading,
Sure is dark in Winter,
Hey we missed our exit,
I have to pee!
Santa cut us off,
Construction,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.

On the ninth day of travel, my true love said to me,
Wawa botched our order,
NPR is fading,
Sure is dark in Winter,
Hey we missed our exit,
I have to pee!
Santa cut us off,
Construction,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.


On the tenth day of travel, my true love said to me,
Let's stop for coffee,
Wawa botched our order,
NPR is fading,
Sure is dark in Winter,
Hey we missed our exit,
I have to pee!
Santa cut us off,
Construction,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.

On the eleventh day of travel, my true love said to me,
Hang on there's a pothole,
Let's stop for coffee,
Wawa botched our order,
NPR is fading,
Sure is dark in Winter,
Hey we missed our exit,
I have to pee!
Santa cut us off,
Construction,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.

On the twelfth day of travel, my true love said to me,
Wish we had a TomTom,
Hang on there's a pothole,
Let's stop for coffee,
Wawa botched our order,
NPR is fading,
Sure is dark in Winter,
Hey we missed our exit,
I have to pee!
Santa cut us off,
Construction,
Traffic is backed up,
And we better fill the tank with gas now.

(Are we there yet?)

The Wayward Wish

For as long as anyone could recall, the tradition of sending wishes aloft in luminaries always occurred at nightfall. Whether it was for something joyous, like celebrating a holiday or anniversary, or a more reflective time for healing the heart or body, this ritual was woven into the fabric of the land.

Artisans hand-crafted the hot air balloon-like luminarias so that they would remain floating long enough to travel to the Granters. Who the Granters were and where they lived were part of the charm and mystery tied into the community's folklore.

Whispered into the lantern before the paper fuel was lit, the wish was safe. As it rose into the darkness, town-folks would pause from their evening chores watching the lantern climb, becoming smaller and smaller until it seemed to blend with the stars themselves. Unseen, the flame would die out, the air inside the lantern cool, and the wish would slowly descend into the land of the Granters. Some mornings it would take them hours gathering the lanterns that had been sent to them, other times but a moment. Then their real work began, listening to the wish, carefully weighing its consequences, and deliberating the spiderweb of ramifications outward.

But what happens when a wish lands in your backyard? Does the responsibility of honoring the wish now become finder's? So began the next phase of the Wayward Wish; what happened next is another tale that is yet to be told...

A short piece of fiction inspired by finding what appeared to be a deflated snowman in our yard one evening.