Monday, May 9, 2011
DIY Platen Press
via letterology
“Built with steel, oak, bamboo, cork, rope, ink, a small barrel and a great deal of ingenuity by Oakland artist and craftsman Shawn HibmaCronan. Commissioned by Compass Books, The Press will sit in their bookstore at Terminal 2 in the San Francisco Airport until 2021.”Read more about it here, and here.
91 Visual Phenomena & Optical Illusions
via oliver sacks“These pages demonstrate visual phenomena, and optical or visual illusions. The latter is more appropriate, because most effects have their basis in the visual pathway, not in the optics of the eye…”
Discover them here.
Developer Trays
via swissmissA series of photographs by John Cyr documenting photographer’s developer trays is simply beautiful.
See more on the project here.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
We Are All Cylons
via wired“Sci-fi franchises from Star Trek to Stargate have inspired legions of rabid fans over the years, but in new indie documentary We Are All Cylons, some fans’ love of Battlestar Galactica goes further than simple devotion to a TV show. The documentary, which premiered Monday at the Sci-Fi-London film festival, shows how Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series actually has the ability to transform some fans’ identities….”
Read the rest here.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Grotesk Love Affair Posters
via design you trust“So to all the people that voted for their favourite Grotesk font, the results are now out and on the posters, along with all the names of the people that voted.
These posters are available for down load here.
A Matter of Perspective
The design above is from a work in progress of a rubber stamp I was going to carve, but lost both steam and motivation to finish it. I still like the concept, though the ambigram of the word perspective is tough to read, and the half full / half empty glass artwork doesn’t looks correct when the artwork is above of the word.
. . .
It is sometimes very hard to stay motivated and believe in what you are doing when those around you — at work, within a group you are / were a part of, friends, former friends, acquaintances, total strangers, newspaper and radio headlines, talking heads on TV, etc. — are stressing the negatives of life constantly and continually. In fact, they celebrate and revel in the negatives.
I have a pretty good life. I feel very fortunate that I do have a job, and it is one that I love doing. It has changed over the years, but that isn’t a bad thing. The key is to find a balance, and if there isn’t one, then create one somehow.
. . .
Below are some quotes from A. A. Milne’s character Eyore:“Oh bother, what does it matter they are going to do what they want anyways.”
”Eeyore,” said Owl, “Christopher Robin is giving a party.”
“Very interesting,” said Eeyore. “I suppose they will be sending me down the odd bits which got trodden on. Kind and Thoughtful. Not at all, don't mention it.”
“Good morning, Pooh Bear,” said Eeyore gloomily. “If it is a good morning,” he said. “Which I doubt,” said he.
“Why, what's the matter?”
“Nothing, Pooh Bear, nothing. We can't all, and some of us don't. That's all there is to it.”
“Can't all what?” said Pooh, rubbing his nose.
“Gaiety. Song-and-dance. Here we go round the mulberry bush.”
. . .
So how does one handle oneself around people that feel that they absolutely deserve and entitled to something just for being, and not that they need to make positive events happen for themselves, but rather complain and gossip to everyone they come in contact with, and take no personal responsibility?
How does one maintain the perspective that your glass is never half empty?
. . .
A few days after I started this post, I came across this identity by Helms Workshop. Very simply, nicely handled.
. . .
Dance Writer
via the dailyheller“Typotheque, a type foundry and design studio run by Peter and Johanna Biľak, has released Dance Writer as an iPhone/ iPad app that converts text into a choreographed sequence of poses based on the shapes of the letters, enabling users to send animated messages to their friends via email, or just enjoy the graceful movement in full Retina-quality resolution on their own displays…”
Read the rest here. For more about this and other Typotheque projects go here. For the typeface, "Body Type," which turns bodies into a usable type system, go here.
Marge Piercy’s The Tao of Touch
What magic does touch create
that we crave it so. That babies
do not thrive without it. That
the nurse who cuts tough nails
and sands calluses on the elderly
tells me sometimes men weep
as she rubs lotion on their feet.
Yet the touch of a stranger
the bumping or predatory thrust
in the subway is like a slap.
We long for the familiar, the open
palm of love, its tender fingers.
It is our hands that tamed cats
into pets, not our food.
The widow looks in the mirror
thinking, no one will ever touch
me again, never. Not hold me.
Not caress the softness of my
breasts, my inner thighs, the swell
of my belly. Do I still live
if no one knows my body?
We touch each other so many
ways, in curiosity, in anger,
to command attention, to soothe,
to quiet, to rouse, to cure.
Touch is our first language
and often, our last as the breath
ebbs and a hand closes our eyes.
"The tao of touch" by Marge Piercy, from The Hunger Moon: New & Selected Poems, 1980-2010. (c) Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Homage to New York’s Subway Signage
via imprint“For decades the School of Visual Arts in New York City has been famous for the unstinting excellence of its promotional efforts. The most visible of these works have been subway posters notable for their blend of memorable copywriting and arresting imagery. The latest example is an eye-catching simulation of the mosaics that are virtually synonymous with the subway and thus with the city itself. The poster is the work of Louise Fili Ltd. Louise Fili not only designed it but also wrote its copy.
Fili chose to base the letters of the poster on those of the oldest portion of the subway system, the IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit) lines. Although IRT stations—which date as far back as 1904—have mosaic sans serif as well as serif letters she felt that the seriffed capitals were “much more classical and elegant, especially in light of how much copy there was.” To the non-New Yorker, they are definitely more recognizable as the letters of the subway. But they are also more complicated to replicate…”
Read the rest here.
Americhrome
via imprint“Did you know the United States has an official color palette? True story. It does. There’s a swatch system representing every irritating, boring color you see in official capacity, from the brown of a rest area to the green of a street sign to the brown of the military uniforms.
Read more at the Morning News.
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