Richard March Hoe Stamp

Detail of a letterbox stamp that will be placed near Printer's Park, NYC.
I am very pleased with how my carving of Richard March Hoe's portrait turned out.

Image of the Day: Read

Spotted on a lamp post in the Upper West Side of NYC on 104th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave. Something about this just cracks me up a bit.

Image of the Day: Oldest and Newest Business Cards

My oldest business card, most likely circa 1880s that I discovered with other S. Cooke Ingraham ephemera,  and the newest addition picked up by my son in NYC.

Image of the Day: Hook & Ladder

Another version of this can be found here; love the way the ampersand overlaps itself.

Image of the Day: Friends with a Lock

Pantone: On Sale and Knocked Off

Pantone iPhone covers on sale in NYC . . . 

and the knockoff ‘RickyColor’ Pantone-inspired design.

Bird by Will Ryman

via designboom
From now until March 24th, the 515 W 27th Street space in NYC boasts Will Ryman’s monumental sculpture ‘Bird,’ inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's poem, ‘The Raven.’
See more images of it here.

Mapersand!

My daughter-in-law knows my love of ampersands and sent me the link to this recently:
“From one design capital to another: This month the Amsterdam-based interior design magazine Eigen Huis & Interieur published a special ‘New York Design Guide’ issue that highlights landmarks of the New York City design scene. Pentagram’s Luke Hayman and his team recently redesigned EH&I and established the masthead’s ampersand as an icon of the brand. Each month a different designer is invited to interpret the ampersand for the opening of the ‘Interieur’ section, and for the New York issue, Hayman created an ampersand inspired by Massimo Vignelli’s classic 1972 map of the New York City subway system. In the new version, the lines of the ampersand playfully connect contemporary and historic New York designers, agencies and institutions, from Milton Glaser, George Lois, Ruth Ansel and the Museum of Modern Art to Karlssonwilker, Local Projects, Dror and Pentagram (of course).”
Learn more about it here, and download a PDF of the map here. Thanks, Amy!

Image of the Day: Peaceful Rest

Located on West 74th Street near Columbus

One of the many highlights of visiting my daughter-in-law and son in NYC is spotting old architectural details. As we make our way to a thrift shop or restaurant on foot, I am often simply amazed at the diversity of artistry that went into making buildings individual and unique in sometimes subtle and even humorous manners. Time and the elements have taken their toll on many, but a few, like this one, continue on gracefully. 

A big thank you to trueindigo for snapping this image through a gate for me.

Dan Piraro, Creative Processes, and Constraints

Meeting Dan Piraro at MoCCA.

One of the many highlights during the two hour talk given by Dan Piraro at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) was his reflection and discussion on the creative process with Mort Gerberg. I found it affirming to the way I approach creating publications during my workday.

In Wired, I had recently come across an article about creative constraints and their role in the process. In my job, I define it as parameters, which usually are the deadline, the budget, the method of reproducing the publication, prior design branding, color, etc. These constraints,, though limiting in nature, allow for the best that I can give creatively and try to push to get the most out of what I have to work with. Sometimes, it takes just slogging through the design and knowing that the groove will [hopefully] come with going through the process of formatting the text, working with the images, etc.; other times it takes putting the entire project aside for a few hours, or even a day and let it percolate unconsciously in my mind before I begin working on it. No tried and true formula, but the process is one that works for me. It was good hearing the personal insights of Dan Piraro.

After the talk, he generously took time to chat a bit with members of the audience and sign copies of his most recent book, Bizarro Heros. An unexpected bonus was this ampersand (here).

So, even though it was a miserable cold rain-filled evening outside, his honesty, humor, and candor had us forget that for a couple of hours, and hopefully we were a welcome distraction for him as well.

Time Shutter New York

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via cultofmac
“Time Shutter New York, a new iPhone app, transports you to the streets of Manhattan at the dawn of the 20th century, allowing users to see and experience the city exactly as real New Yorkers did a hundred years ago. Time Shutter New York contains 170 photographs of Manhattan landmarks, skylines and street scenes taken between 1900 and 1925. The app guides users to exact locations where the shots were taken, and with an opacity adjustment slider, allows you to seamlessly overlay what it looked like then with what it looks like now...”
Visit Time Shuttter here.

Miquel Barcelo’s Gran Elefandret

via designboom

“Sitting on a traffic island in New York's Union Square, the 9-meter tall sculpture depicts a balancing elephant that is holding itself up by the tip of its trunk...”

Photo taken today by Arron Scott

No. 101-0655: Manhattan's Last Single-Space Parking Meter

via dna.infp
“As the crew from the Department of Transportation surrounded the street in front of meter No. 101-0655 with orange cones, the end of an era was drawing nearer. A few minutes later DOT worker Dennis Weber pulled the mechanical innards out from the single-space meter on Frederick Douglass Boulevard between 125th and 126th streets. Next came the jackhammer as his partner Kemraj Bowani worked his way around the base of the metal pole holding the 80 pound meter in place. Twenty minutes later it was all over. Guy Agostino hoisted the last working parking meter in Manhattan into the back of a DOT truck…”
Read the rest here, more at npr, and the Gothamist. Interestingly, in the New York Times, it noted that the parking meter made its Manhattan debut on Sept. 19, 1951, at a formal ceremony in Harlem that attracted the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. 

Film Biz Recycling

via swissmiss
Film Biz Recycling a fantastic Brooklyn-based non-profit keeping furniture and props from film sets out of the trash.

Image of the Day: Gracie’s Corner

trueindigo captured this image.
More ampersands from the Upper East Side can be found here.

Image of the Day: Gloom

Thanks to trueindigo for capturing this image

Images of the Day: Green Men

Thanks to trueindigoo for capturing these images

Image of the Day: Psychic

Thanks to trueindigo for capturing this for me.

Typographic Transit Maps

via a two winged fairy
“TRNSPRTNATION” is a series of typographic transit maps by Fadeout Design. The transit lines are made up of strings of text that list the stations of the transit system. Prints are available for sale on the website of Boston, Chicago, London, NYC, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
Visit the site here.

Images of the Day: Trompe l'oeil

A& A showed us this mural at the corner of 83rd and York

Note the sewing machine  in “the window”

Stairs flanked by friendly creatures.