Matt Blease

More Fun for Friday: I'm enjoying the illustrations of Matt Blease. A good mix—ads, info graphics, hand-drawn type, outdoor installations... a bit of everything, and all of it infused with a nicely present wit and personality. Favorites: the work for Coca-Cola and the colorful fashionscapes.

100 Daily Monsters

Fun for Friday: check out Stefan G. Bucher's 100 Daily Monsters. For 100 days, Bucher filmed himself squirting ink onto paper and transforming the blob into a monster—the videos are awesome! Bucher is continuing the project on his blog (he's on 162 as of this writing). [via Boing Boing]

Rainha Shoe Ads

AdGoodness is showcasing these Rainha shoe advertisments done by the Talent agency of São Paulo. The colors, texture and photography are all engaging, and—as an unabashed 80s kid—I can't help but get behind the copy.

Making the Leap to Self-Employment

Mark Boulton has an interesting article up that details some of the ins and outs of starting your own business. Worth a read whether you're a freelancer looking to take things to the next level or a designer thinking about other business endeavors.

John Hawkes: Night Aerial Photography

File Magazine showcases the night aerial photography of John Hawkes, in which skylines and bird's eye views become infused with surreal colors and hazy shadows after dark. [via Coudal Partners]

Explaining Graphic Design to Kids

London-based design consultant Michael Johnson recently attempted to define graphic design for 300 ten-year olds—quite a challenge! As he tries to hold their ever-wavering attention, he finds himself falling into several of his own unintentional traps. Using products to explain design sells them on product design... using 3-d examples or motion graphics also becomes problematic. Then he presents the visual example of the FedEx logo: "The hall erupted with ooh’s and aaah’s as little fingers pointed out the arrow… [via Speak Up]

Garfield Minus Garfield

Currently buzzing around the internet, Garfield Minus Garfield. Underlining the idea that context is everything, the comic becomes an entirely different strip if you remove Garfield the cat, leaving his owner Jon isolated and monologuing. "The result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life."

What Is Graphic Design? Posters

Star blogger Veerle recently held a What Is Graphic Design? Poster Competition and the winning entries are available to view. The endeavor began with a blog post back in December in which Veerle invited commenters to define design. Perhaps somewhat inevitably, a visual challenge ensued—check out the range of styles and ideas. [thanks Alex!]

Design Melt Down: Drips & Splatters

Need a little mid-week mess? Design Melt Down is featuring websites that use drips and splatters. What's striking is how people seem to be generally starting to tone down this overused technique—colors are often minimal, elements are small and simple.

The Book of Other People

A new collection of character-focused stories called The Book of Other People is making fiction waves. Noteworthy for its cover art, which was done by leading graphic novelists like Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes and Charles Burns, the book also has an introduction written by editor Zadie Smith, who remarks on the varied typefaces she observed during the submission process. Americans apparently tend towards Courier, while the Brits favor Didot. From Boldtype: "One writer, Smith notes, even contributed a story in a long, slender magazine-style column. She must be referring to Jonathan Lethem, whose homunculus-like character Perkus Tooth rails against the New Yorker's typeface and transcribes the articles to read them unfettered from their typographical chains." Side note: if you haven't read Smith's White Teeth, get thee to a bookstore!

The Kara Walker Effect?

The Book Design Review blog has a case of seeing silhouettes—black and white silhouettes, specifically—and suggests that this "return to handicraft" be called the Kara Walker effect. Walker is one of my favorites (and has previously been featured here and here), but I'm not sure she deserves the credit here. Commenters on the post discuss the use of silhouette for the last few centuries (including Apple's millennial embrace) and recommend additional artists who work in silhouette, such as Rob Ryan and Nikki McClure.

Screenprinting the Octophant

Over at Signal vs. Noise, Phineas X. Jones examines the thought process and practice that went in to creating a four color screenprint he calls The Octophant.

New York Photo Awards

The New York Photo Awards are accepting submissions through April 14, 2008. The high-profile competition is a new international event launched in conjunction with the first New York Photo Festival, which will occur in May. [via Cool Hunting, who are co-sponsors of the festival]

Grant Hamilton's Polaroids

Don't miss the wonderful polaroids of photographer Grant Hamilton. Using a Polaroid camera from 1975, Hamilton snaps one-of-a-kind shots of found objects and colors. His portfolio is also on Flickr, where he has a legion of fans, including Badgurl, who creates painted versions of his work. [via swissmiss]

A further Polaroid note: Ironic Sans has had a great idea for a Polaroid digital photo frame, suggesting that this be the final product produced by Polaroid (who are discontinuing their instant film... sigh).

Rakka: Suspect and Fugitive

The Suspect and Fugitive project finds Seattle-based artist Rakka creating an item a day out of suspect (questionable) and fugitive (nonarchival) materials. Recreating typographic forms in, say, peanut butter or cough syrup would certainly be an interesting and effective exercise for starter design students—had I been forced to sculpt letters out of spaghetti or electrical tape I'd certainly have retained more from Type 101. Note: if you'd like photos and artist commentary, check out her blog. [via HOW]

The Pelican Project

Things Magazine's Pelican Project showcases a range of covers put out by Pelican Books (Penguin's educational imprint) from the 1930s-1980s. An interesting look at cover art evolution—unsurprisingly, there is a dramatic departure from the classic once the 60s roll around. There is also a related Pelican photoset on trusty Flickr. [Things Magazine link via Murketing]

Sahre Victoire Wilker NYC Design Workshop

Paul Sahre, James Victore and Jan Wilker are currently filling slots for an intensive 6-day summer graphic design workshop. Never heard of them? Jan Wilker is half of karlssonwilker inc., the design firm that chronicled their first two years of business in the book Tellmewhy. Workshop details are available on the Sahre Victoire Wilker site, which is unusual as far as structure and presentation of info—if you like what you find there (I've heard a range of responses already), you'll likely enjoy a week with this trio of design brains.

Frank Chimero

Fun for Friday: check out some of the projects of designer/illustrator Frank Chimero. His Small Print book is a self-published volume of tiny designs meant to be reproduced no larger than 6x6". And showcased on Flickr is his 50 states project, a growing set of illustrations that reinterpret the shapes of American states as other objects.

Susan Bradley

British design blog Thunder Chunky has an interview with film title designer Susan Bradley, who was manager for Disney's Title Graphics Department for many years, has worked on several big live action hits, and most recently created a custom typeface for the title sequence of Pixar's Ratatouille. [via Drawn!]

Folded Paper Font

Recent Yale grad Daniella Spinat is making waves with her folded paper font experiment. As one gushing online writer blurbed after sifting through a number of graduate portfolios: "It’s a refreshing standout in a landscape of Photoshop collage collision madness."
[via Craftzine—thanks *g!]

Graphis Annual '57/58

The Nonist has a running series highlighting vintage Graphis Annuals, and the 1957-58 edition is available to view. A quote from the edition's intro: “The public is demanding more pictures and fewer words." Featuring some wonderful illustration and posters, the 22 images posted were chosen because they forecast the iconic ad styles of the 60s. "It’s an interesting year because you can see the past and future jostling for position," says the Nonist (aka Jaime Morrison). Compare this edition to the 1971-72 edition—quite a visual shift, especially from Olivetti (featured in both editions). [via Jason Santa Maria]

Arcor Bubble Gum Ad

The Cool Hunter showcases this fun and surprisingly simple Arcor bubble gum ad created by Leo Burnett São Paulo.

Pilo

Recently showcased by Veer, the Pilo typeface. "Pilo is a bold, single weight OpenType face featuring subtle inline detailing and a solid sporting aesthetic. It feels both hard and soft, decorative and stoic, vintage and modern." Let's be honest—I couldn't pass up the chance to showcase a visual that combined typography with roller skates. Though, detail nerd that I am, I can't help but wonder if Veer is having a laugh by featuring quad skates when advertising "inline" detailing...

See What's Possible Cut&Paste Adobe Challenge

Adobe and live design tournament grandmasters Cut&Paste are running a "See What's Possible" animation/motion graphic video challenge. Videos must be 15 seconds or less. All submissions will be publicly showcased online (for the eyes of "fellow designers, fans, recruiters, and potential clients") and the winning work may be used in Adobe's Photoshop marketing campaign. The Grand Prize is $20,000 and the Adobe CS3 Master Collection. Submission deadline: March 15, 2008.

Matchbox Labels on Flickr

This vintage matchbox labels photoset on Flickr showcases page after page of simple imagery and type created for a small canvas. The overall color palette and the range of illustrative styles are especially wonderful. [via 37signals]

Fluorescent Hill

More Fun for Friday: check out the wonderfully imaginative animated videos and ads created by Montreal-based production company Fluorescent Hill. Shown above: a still from their Burger King BK Stackers ad. [via Drawn!, who have a link to a hi-res version of the hair-centric Myriad Harbour video]

The Wiz

Fun for Friday: While revisiting The Wiz, the 1978 Motown adaptation of The Wizard of Oz starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson (a warped classic from my childhood), I couldn't help but gawk at the splendidly awful sparkling gold type used during the title sequence. There is gradient, there is gloss—in a way, we've almost returned to this, especially on the web. Interesting to consider a cyclical nature of graphic trends as we learn from/laugh at the past...

Kate Spade: BMine

As far as online valentines go, the BMine section of the Kate Spade site is one of the coolest options around. Options range from syrupy to cynical and come in a range of visual formats from illustrations to short films, all designed by the Spade team of savvy-yet-fun designers (a team that includes some ADC Young Guns). Worth a look!

Window Shopping for Type

Over at Subtraction, Khoi Vinh recently went window shopping for new typefaces, filling his psychological shopping cart with over $600 worth of letterformed goodness. Take a look at what he chose, and why—and don't miss further type splurge recommendations from readers in the comments.

Taschen: Design Now!

Taschen's Design Now! is an in-depth look at contemporary product design with a sustainable focus. The new book is described as "essential for anyone interested in design and the road towards a greener future" and features an introductory essay outlining the main issues facing designers, manufacturers and consumers as they work towards more sustainable approach to design.

Ketchup & Mustard Lorem Ipsum

Trusty dummy text Lorem Ipsum gets an unusual treatment over at Threadless this week: Ketchup & Mustard spells out Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet in condiments.

Crap Hound 7: Church and State

Issue 7 of the beloved clip art zine Crap Hound is now available, featuring nearly 100 pages of black and white images with a highly current 'Church and State' theme. Reading Frenzy press made a splash when they started reprinting old issues of Crap Hound from its 90s heyday (issue 6 came out in late 2006), and issue 7 marks the first all new issue of Crap Hound in eight years. Creator and editor Sean Tejaratchi gathers his high-contrast clip art from vintage catalogs, advertising, obscure books, and found ephemera—check out Boing Boing for a peek at a few interior pages. [thanks Leslie!]

Rob Laro: Sketches

Fun for Friday: check out the wonderful sketches of Rob Laro. The above is a zoom on one of the young Liverpudlian's signature full page doodles, which are intense jumbles of fascinating figures (including lots of "knicker girls" and the occasional rocketman). View his pages as thumbs (the above link takes you to his Flickr photostream) for a unique landscape, or visit his blog Larolaro for more measured doses.
[via Drawn!]

Print Fetish

If you love magazines, check out R&S Media's Print Fetish blog. The site focuses (sometimes with welcome snark and wit) on the world of print media, describing itself as devoted to "News, information, reviews and history on the subjects of beautiful magazines, self-published 'zines, handmade books, small press, comix, art books and miscellaneous printed ephemera."

Flozo

The Flozo ornamental typeface ($14) from MyFonts features a range of botanic shapes that are more realistic and less idealized than most decorative florals. Created by Brazilian designer Gustavo Lassala, the shapes are great for layering or using for subtle effect.

Eames Stamps Coming Summer 2008

The US Postal Service has unveiled their 2008 lineup of stamp designs, and among them is a sheet of Eames stamps! Excerpt from the official blurb: "In recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, manufacturing and photographic arts, designers Charles and Ray Eames will be honored next summer with a pane of 16 stamps designed by Derry Noyes of Washington, DC. Their extraordinary body of creative work—which reflected the nation’s youthful and inventive outlook after World War II—also included architecture, films and exhibits."

UPDATE 6/26: The stamps have arrived and are available to order online.

PRINT Regional Design Annual Call for Entries

PRINT magazine is now accepting entries for the 2008 Regional Design Annual, which will hit shelves in November/December. Entry deadline is March 3, 2008, and winners will be notified in August. Bonus: this year you can register your entries online.

Pantone Fall 08 Color Report

Pantone's Fall 2008 Color Report is out, full of cool but bright colors that are a twist on the usual subdued autumn palette. The lineup isn't a dramatic departure from current color favorites—it will be interesting to see how these colors continue to play out online, in fashion and in technology trends. [via HOW (who have a redesigned website!)]

Tara Donovan at the Met

On now through April 27th, the work of Tara Donovan in the Modern Art wing of the Metropolitan Museum. Donovan, who finds inspiration in everyday materials like Styrofoam cups and drinking straws, has used of loops of Mylar tape to create a wall-installation that resembles some sort of frost-covered landscape. "It's not like I'm trying to simulate nature," Donovan has said. "It's more a mimicking of the way of nature, the way things actually grow." The Fabulously Green blog has more shots of Donovan's work and links to an interview with the artist.

Freelancers Union Survey & Focus Group

The Freelancers Union is working to create a way to offer income protection to freelancers, who are "subject to the feast-or-famine cycle of freelancing" and currently ineligible for government-sponsored unemployment insurance. They're collecting info and stories about freelancers' needs and unemployment/underemployment experiences in a survey and during a focus group in NYC on February 21st (take the survey to register).

Twenty-Six Types of Animals

Fun for Friday: Jeremy Pettis has rendered an A-Z of Twenty-Six Types of Animals in custom typography (scroll right). [via Drawn!]

Sweet Talk Helvetica Chocolates

It is February, after all, and a walk down any city block proclaims the looming presence of Valentine's Day. This year, Cool Hunting has spotted a sweet treat made for design nerds and those that love them: Baska-Jon Sweet Talk chocolates, which come in a range of minimally-packaged, Helvetica-printed wrappers. (Note: delivery is international and will take about 10 days, so snap to it if you're aiming for V-Day).

UPDATE: Due to overwhelming response, the Sweet Talk range is basically sold out until after Valentine's Day, alas. But san-serifed messages of affection are appropriate on any day of the year, wouldn't you say?

Sagmeister: Things I Have Learned...

Stefan Sagmeister's new interactive exhibition entitled Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far is now on at Soho's Deitch Projects through February 23rd. The exhibition, and the new book that goes with it, surveys Sagmeister’s career as one of today's most innovate and influential design stars.