I don't know why this bothers me so much, maybe because I'm in the military where we use (inverted) chevron insignia for our ranks, but it does indeed make me crazy. So, I did a little diagram to illustrate the difference between the chevron and the zig zag.

We ffffound these tremendously illustrated Jules Verne books earlier today, ironically Mr. Verne's 183rd birthday, and can't stop looking at them. They were created by Jim Tierney, whom we recognized from this past month's How Magazine, as his senior thesis while studying Illustration at the University of the Arts in Pennsylvania. This series is incredibly detailed, not to mention consistent, and we found a detailed look at his process at Faceout Books which takes us from start, to wonderful time-consuming finish. Great work Mr. Tierney.

I'm always somewhat surprised, yet incredibly happy, to find a talented artist whom I have never heard of. Olly Moss fits that bill. His work is extremely clever, filled with fantastic use of positive/negative space and his ability to simplify is astounding to me. Artists such as this (see: Jason Munn) make it look all to easy to find a clever juxtaposition when the rest of us are left scratching our heads for hours trying to come up with something so effective. In fact, I find myself browsing through his Flickr page slapping my forehead saying, "of course!"
Give him a look if you haven't already.

Most designers need to sketch. Whether it's just scribbles to organize random thoughts on a post-it, or elaborate drawings in a sketchbook, it becomes an essential part of you as a creative person. If you're like me and can't leave the house without your sketchbook, then The Sketchbook Project may peak your interest. They describe the project as "A concert tour, but with sketchbooks".  I describe it as "Awesome". All you need to do to be included in the tour is purchase a sketchbook for $20 from here, choose a (loose) theme, and sketch away until January 15, 2011 when all of the books must be returned to the Library. In March, the tour will take the thousands of sketchbooks that they receive on an Art Gallery tour. You will receive email/text updates when someone takes out your book, so that at any point in the tour you will know where it is and who is reading it. You also have an option to get your book digitized for the Brooklyn Art Library website. Sign me up!

While perusing the aisle at the local liquor store this past weekend I stopped dead in my tracks at this excellently packaged Dark Rum. This bottle literally had my name all over it. I am a Dark Rum drinker and a fan/collector of unique glass bottles and jars. The label uses a pen and ink style illustration and a varied type palette prominently featuring Neutraface, which combine to form an elegant tongue-in-cheek design. In a rare instance of getting completely sold by a product's packaging, I marched immediately to the till, pulled out my plastic gold and sealed the fate of my night to come. Suffice to say, I was not disappointed. Upon further research I now realize this particular brand of rum has a highly imaginative story, featured on it's one-of-a-kind website. Full of motion graphics and witty dialogue you have to see it to appreciate it. Furthermore, it has been featured on Lovely Package and is but one of many bottle and label designs from a company called Stranger & Stranger. Now, if this studio doesn't have one of the greatest client bases I could ever imagine, then call me Kraken.

There is something to be said for doing things by hand. Whether you're talking about silkscreening, thumbnailing, inking, painting or operating a letterpress, there is always that feeling of getting lost in your work. That feeling that what you're doing is the most important thing in the world, that feeling of being fully absorbed. Our industry is a very fast-paced one, and perhaps the quickest evolving industry on the planet. Sometimes it's good for us to take a step back and revisit what led us into this field in the first place. This little documentary was floating about the office today, and it captures the spirit of sign painting in an absolutely honest and poignant fashion. You can literally see the worry lines on the faces of these artists as they struggle to find relevancy in a digital world. In Winnipeg, more specifically the Exchange District, we are particularly lucky to have remnants of these hand painted signs littering the walls all around us. This film was a welcome breath of fresh air, and for me, this line from the film sums it up perfectly. "They print in little dots, blue and yellow make green. But we paint green."

[vimeo 11175747]

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Angela and I signed up for Martha Street's DIY Show Posters class. It was a "crash course in screen printing" that was 10 hours long spread out over a weekend. This was my first time going to Martha Street, and I'm very disappointed I didn't know about them a couple of years ago when I was in school - I would have had the coolest posters in town! I spent the first day of the class sketching and inking an image that I wanted to print, and day 2 was spent printing and trying out different techniques. I have to say, I have a lot of respect for screen printing artists - there is a lot of work that goes into a print and I don't think you can truly appreciate it until you attempt it yourself. That being said, it was also a lot of fun! I definitely want to go back to try out a few other posters.

If you missed this spring's sign up, don't fret! They offer fall classes as well. I think my next attempt will be letterpress...

Love these simplified vintage-inspired posters from Milk for Match Cup Sweden. From what I can tell, it is a sailing event held in Sweden... obvious? Maybe. But Sweden to English translators aren't very helpful.

Remember this post? I've found a cheaper alternative - All Posters. While they're not the original, they are a more practical and affordable solution for those of us who can't afford the real thing. Here are a few of my favourites; Firenze, Blumenfest, Parfums Djemil, Anisetta Evangelisti, and Cognac Monnet.

First of all, I love all things vintage. Vintage packaging, however, is my absolute achilles heel. I find it rather serendipitous that I stumbled onto a fantastic collection of vintage European matchbooks this morning a few months in advance of our journey to Europe this fall. My fiance and I are already small time collectors of matchbooks (among other things) and I find myself constantly amazed at the simple solutions artists and designers alike are able to fit on such a small amount of real estate. Truly graphic design in its purest form. If you like matchbooks, here's a little video by Navigators I found sometime late last week which fits nicely into the "match" theme.



[video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qxrN93Xbpg]