Retro Graphics Archive
Plan 59 is an archive of retro graphics including ads, labels and more. I spent quite a bit of time browsing the artwork and wow is it inspirational! With categories like Cars, Trucks, Wagons, Old Ads and Decor, who could resist? Not me. And you can also purchase prints or order High-Res images of what they have online with simple inquiry. Personally, I prefer the more industrial type of imagery and they have quite a few. This one above is great, reminding me of International-style posters. To see more visit Plan 59, the Museum of Mid-Century Illustration.
2009 Typographic Posters
I love these 2009 Typographic Calendar posters seen on typographicposters.com. I’m not sure if I would commit it’s function to a calendar more than a piece of artwork, but it still looks great. Above, 2009 poster by This Studio. Below, calendar two thousand nine by silnt. The close-ups of the one below make me happy. There’s a lot more to browse on the site besides calendars, take a look around!
Live Now
I came across this site today while perusing TypeNeu, a great site for all type-related posts. Live Now is a collective of “quotes, thoughts, stories, lyrics, creations and other various mediums pursuing the idea of living now and inspiring us all to grow, live meaningful lives & be happy.” The creator was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease and after feeling bad for some time decided to flip his perspective to live in the now. “Our lives are only in the moments right in front of us.” You too can get involved by connecting with the creator by submitting your idea or design for the project.
Twelve Gifts
Twelve gifts for Christmas; a list of things that I would like to receive for Christmas. Pencil Case from Sailor Jerry $20 A silver locket, preferrably vintage (the photo at top right). Rug by Thomas Paul This bed setup Book; Posters for the People, Art of the WPA $50 Book; Letterpress by David Jury $30 Book; Dangerous Curves by Doyald Young $100 Eames Lounge Chair in White Jorine Osterhoff Mad Hatter set Fuji Instax Camera, $130. Is this the replacement for Polaroid? I want one!!! Vandercook Workshop at The Arm NYC, $125 Moleksine Art Books
Typeface
Typeface is a documentary bringing perseverance to the forefront for the printing industry. It focuses on a midwestern museum and print shop where artists meet craftsmen and modern design meets traditional technique. The film is brought to you be Kartemquin Films Justine Nagan and features The Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Wisconsin that houses over 1.5 million wood letterforms (heaven!!!). All of that inspiration inside of one building, I can’t handle it! According to the official Typeface website, the documentary is in progress but there have been screenings with good review. Maybe it will end up on iTunes, so that I can download it?
Student Game
This is an amazing re-design of a family-favorite, Monopoly. The redesign was created by Andy Mangold, a sophomore studying Graphic Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art. I would immediately grab one of these off of the shelves at any store. The new shape refreshes the box to start (how would this size work on store shelves?) and the band adds a spark of color to the simple color scheme. Inside, Andy created compartmentalized boxes for each of the game’s components. A fabulous job and if the folks in charge of Monopoly don’t monetize on this, they are crazy. These would sell like hot cakes!!! And not to mention it would give an up…
Home Improvements
So my husband and I took on our official first D.I.Y. project to completion. This weekend we purchased and installed hardwood flooring in our entry way to our home. We had to break and remove the tile that was there (seen in the before photo above) and then a very nice friend who’s in the flooring business came over for the day and installed the flooring with my husband. The cost? We only had to pay for the flooring which was under $100!!!! We went to Lumber Liquidators, bought flooring that matched our railing (a huge focal point on our main level), which happened to be Antique Cherry and installed it the next day! A…
Amazing Posters
I stumbled upon a great resource for mid-century European posters on the website of Bob Staake, an illustrator and artist. When you view his work, you are immediately aware of where he draws much of his inspiration from, you guessed it … European posters from the mid-century! He has dedicated a portion of his site calling it Totally Amazing Posters and is a collective of those posters. His most recent book The Donut Chef, especially draws the mid-century poster art to mind and makes me want to buy the book for my son if not for the illustrations alone! Bob is a great talent and I’m glad to have found his site today. How neat!
Meet the Press
Meet the company who won the bid to print the invitations for the inauguration of President Elect, Barack Obama. Precise Continental, a 26-year old printing company has won the bid to produce one million gold and black engraved invitations. How exciting! Courtesy of The New York Times.
Nothing In Common
Nothing in Common is a great 80′s film featuring Jackie Gleason and Tom Hanks as a Creative Director. Above is the teaser trailer for it, unfortunately I can’t find my favorite part by itself but you see a bit of it around 0:42 seconds where his creative team is presenting him with different ideas. It’s really a great movie and I never saw it until last week. If you’re one of those whose life revolves around work, watch this and it may make you change your ways. Oh and if Anne Hathaway isn’t the new Sela Ward (seen on the right in the photo above), I don’t know who is.
