Melted Crayon Art

via cmybacon
“Jessica Kerbawy, an artist and graphic designer from Michigan, has been making these unique works of art by lining up crayons on foam board and melting them with a heat gun.”
See more of her work here.

Dyslexie: Typeface for dyslectics

spotted via a friend
The University of Twente did research on the typeface Dyslexie. Watch a part of their conclusion here.

Bolder

via swissmiss
“Bolder is a site that helps people to trigger and discover experiences that make the world a little better, one action at a time. You can start a challenge yourself or browse through the challenge catalogue and do positive actions to earn rewards. Anyone can respond to a challenge and earn a reward. Every challenge is a unique creation started by businesses or people. Challenges pose a request for users to take action, have a little fun, and be part of something that drives positive change…”
Read the rest here, visit Bolder here.

Google Books includes new Penn State titles

via Penn State University Libraries Newswire 
“Each month new Penn State titles are added to Google Books. Sacred and legendary art, Applied motion study, Hopes and fears for art, The afterglow of European travel, The castle builders, Aliens or Americans and Memorials of prison life are a few of the books now available online...”
Read the full story on Live here. Among the books they have digitized is Instruction in photography (1905). You can find the updated listing of books here.

Rene Siegfried’s The Serif Fairy

via green chair press
“The Serif Fairy has lost her wing, keeping her from performing magic. This book follows her through an airy, immaculately designed typographic landscape as she hunts for it. Along the way, she makes friends and has adventures as she wanders through the Garamond Forest, visits Futura Town and eventually ends her quest at Shelley Lake.”
Order your copy here.

Fibonaccis Numbers: The Man Behind The Math

via npr
“Though generations of schoolchildren have cursed arithmetic, the world was a much more inconvenient place without it. Before the advent of modern arithmetic in the 13th century, basic calculations required a physical abacus. But then came a young Italian mathematician named Leonardo da Pisa — no relation to da Vinci — who, in 1202, published a book titled Liber Abaci. That’s Latin for Book of Calculation. And though it doesn't necessarily sound like an overnight best-seller, it was a smash hit. Liber Abaci introduced practical uses for the Arabic numerals 0 through 9 to Western Europe. The book revolutionized commerce, banking, science and technology and established the basis of modern arithmetic, algebra and other disciplines…”
Read the rest, and listen to the story, here.

19th Century Trade Cards and Advertisements

via letterology
“With so few marketing options available for shopkeepers in the 19th C, the trade card was considered an essential form of advertising. Designers were just as compelled to create sharp examples of typography and printing then as they are today—much of it hand lettered and illustrated to promote their skills. American cards were intended to be more colorful than some of the European cards and they soon became quite collectable. These ornate trade cards eventually evolved into the business card as we know it today…”
See more examples here, and here at Sheaff: Ephemera listed under The Printing Trades tab.

Wooden Nautical Flags

via bestmade
“The A to Z of the high seas! These bright, bold and graphic wooden flags are as eye-catching as they are functional. Based on the International Code of Signals, each flag represents a letter in the alphabet: hang just one or the entire set, spell out a coded message, or conjure up the evocative regimen of naval life. Each flag is hand-painted in the same method as our axes, in our New York City workshop, and the entire set of 26 comes securely packed in a pine storage box.”
Visit Best Made here, or at 368 Broadway, NYC

Connecting the Dots

via savage chickens
This just makes me smile!

Sir Kensington’s Gourmet Spiced Scooping Ketchup

via notcot
“Some things were thought to be unachievable. Gourmet spiced ketchup may now be crossed off such lists…”
Be sure to go to the notcot site here to read about the beginning of their introduction to Sir Kensington’s, and visit the playful Sir Kensington’s site itself here.

How Pittsburgh lost its ‘H’ and then got it back

H-less Pittsburg appears
under the Penn Station
rotunda Downtown.

via nor and the post gazette
“Richardson Clover had a problem, and a pretty good idea how to fix it. As assistant hydrographer in the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Navigation in 1889, Lt. Clover was in charge of producing its maps. He’d noticed that many place names were spelled several different ways, especially in Alaska, where there were 20 indigenous languages. He suggested to Thomas C. Mendenhall, superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, that the two offices work together on standardizing place names on government charts and other official publications. Thus was born, in 1890, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. One of its first acts, on June 2, 1891, was to take away Pittsburgh’s “H.” On Dec. 23, President Benjamin Harrison made it official. Merry Christmas, Pittsburg! Nothing personal, mind you. The board ruled that all cities and towns with name endings pronounced ‘berg’ should be spelled ‘burg.’... ”
Read the rest here.

Inside Out: A Global Arts Project

via photojojo
“The Banksy of the photo world wants you to be in his next project! 2011′s TED Prize winner JR is known for combating social inequalities with photography. He’s plastered massive 20 foot tall portraits from Paris to Brazil, Nairobi, and Cambodia. Inside Out is a photo project that asks anyone to upload their portrait with their personal story. After uploading, your photo’s then mailed to you as a poster that you can post in public. The goal? To give individuals a voice and unveil the untold stories of people around the world. Awareness and mutual respect are the aim!”
Visit the Photojojo site here, and the Inside Out site here.

Karakuri, Japan’s Ancient Robots

via make
“Japan has always been on the forefront of cutting edge robotics. Its roots can be traced back 200-300 years during the Edo period when skilled craftsmen created automata (self-operating machines). Using nothing more than pulleys and weights they were able to make the Karakuri (Japanese automata) perform amazing tasks. Today Hideki Higashino is one of the few remaining craftsmen who is determined to keep the history and tradition of Japanese Karakuri alive…”
Watch the video here.

Pantone Metal Storage Boxes

via creativepro
“Each 4"×12"×9" box costs $19.99. In addition to Macaw Green 377 to the right, there’s Pastel Lavender 672, Royal Purple 268, Ruby Red 186, Mimosa 14-0848, Turquoise 15-5519, Vitamin C 165, Cool Gray 10, Surf 286, and Honeysuckle 18-2120.”
See more about them here.

Snail Mail My Email

via creativity
Fall back in love with letters. Ivan Cash created Snail Mail My Email, a a month-long art project aimed at inspiring people to rediscover the lost art of letter writing. You simply go to the site and send in an email of up to 200 words, which you can customize with one item (for example, a doodle, petal, lipstick kiss or your own graphic). The service will then transform your email into a handwritten letter physically mailed to your recipient, free of charge. The letters written will be showcased on the site, which is live until August 15th.”
Find out more here.

Union Square: 1910

via shorpy
New York circa 1910. “Union Square.” The Met Life tower presides over this panoramic view, a composite of four 8x10 glass negatives. Looking up Broadway, you can just see the block that where American Ballet Theatre’s home is today at 890.
View the full size here.

Bacon is NOT an Herb

Artichoke meal from
Bacon is NOT an Herb

Be sure to bookmark or subscribe to the blog Bacon is NOT an Herb — Exploring Vegetarianism in PA Dutch Country. It is filled with a growing list of well-written posts chocked with useful information for foodies, even if you are not a vegetarian. The recipes are spot-on, restaurant reviews are insightful and entertaining to read, and the rants expose the honesty of the writer’s soul. Join her as she shares, “what I am learning as I eat my way along the quest to find a personal balance, challenge the earth’s collective imagination & true indigo.”
Visit the blog here.

Women’s World Cup Final

Watch Japan’s goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori save
the ball during the final match, here.

I spent most of the afternoon at a local establishment watching the thrilling final game of the Women’s World Cup between the U.S. and Japan. How utterly heartbreaking it was to watch the reaction of some of the patrons there upon the loss by the U.S. team. With their “us versus them” outlook and middle finger retorts, they ultimately disgraced themselves while giving Americans — as well as all men — a bad name with their poor sportsmanship and misogynistic attitude.

. . .

Please take a few moments to read the expertly written post by Ray Curren; Women’s World Cup – Things We Learned: Final Edition As Japan Is Crowned on the women’s soccer fan site All White Kit (AWK):

“The rules of athletics (at least knockout style) dictate that there has to be a winner and there has to be a loser.

Expert commentary, I know.

But (and I realize not everyone reading this is a United States fan, and I love that about AWK, so keep visiting) if you can take yourself out of your rooting shoes (or jersey) for a second and take the game you watched on Sunday for what it was.

A brilliant advertisement for women’s soccer, which saw the best the game has to offer. An underdog that everyone could root for, coming off an unspeakable tragedy in their home country, playing an attractive style of soccer, and exuding pure class and sportsmanship at just about every turn.

Of course, the rub is that this great story of Japan comes at the expense of the U.S., who lost the game in heartbreaking fashion, leading both in normal time and extra time before losing in penalties. It’s hard to imagine losing in a more painful fashion, actually.

But, perhaps the biggest lesson I try to get across to both the players I coach and students I teach is the ‘put yourself in someone else’s shoes’ lesson.

Can you be happy for someone else even if it comes at your expense? Can you put aside your pride to congratulate an opponent or adversary on a job well done?…”
Read the rest of this well written post here.

Paper Passion Fragrance

via green chair press
“The book-aholic has found the cure for everyone who misses the smell of paper in these digital times: a perfume that smells of books, thanks to a ‘fatty’ olfactory mark.” Karl Lagerfeld took his inspiration from the smell of both printed and unprinted paper...”
Read the rest here and here.  Another paper-inspired fragrance is Demeter’s Paperback. I wonder if they will ever come out with a Printer’s Ink & Toner Fragrance, which I already smell of most weekdays after 5:00 p.m.

Bike Type

via HOW
Scott Kirkwood creates T-shirts featuring bikes built of type.
Visit his Cranky Threads shop here.