“Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal.”
Just another reason why I love Steve Jobs.
The Death of the Boring Blog Post
An interesting article on the recent rise of the “blogazine” format made popular by Jason Santa Maria and others. While the blogs I read that do this are always exciting and consistently churn out great content and design, I don’t think this is for everyone and might not ever get full mainstream use.
Also, I love how Smashing Magazine designed a special “blogazine” type layout for this piece. Very well done.
Interview with David Pearson
Considering that I’ve recently been obsessed with the work of William Morris and the arts and crafts movement, I found this interview with Penguin Book designer David Pearson very inspiring. A lot of his work for Penguin is obviously inspired by the arts and crafts style and has a decidely Morris-influence.
The Place Where Designers Live Everyday
A terrific piece from Kara Pecknold:
In the meantime, I’m trying to live in the space between what I may not yet understand and that which I can imagine. Here, life gets interesting.
FPO had a feature this morning on Karl Herbert’s business card design for his studio Gold Lunchbox. A quick look through his portfolio shows some great work, all with a nice handmade, DIY feel. I especially love his personal work and this fascinating process of a logo documentation.
Jeanne-Claude dies at 74
From The New York Times:
Jeanne-Claude, who collaborated with her husband, Christo, on dozens of environmental art projects, notably the wrapping of the Pont Neuf in Paris and the Reichstag in Berlin and the installation of 7,503 vinyl gates with saffron-colored nylon panels in Central Park, died Wednesday in Manhattan, where she lived. She was 74.
I always loved The Gates and Running Fence. Be sure to look at the NYT slideshow retrospective.
This is a video of 3000+ photos documenting the process of making 35 intaglio and letterpress books during a two-month span. So amazing.
This is a MOMA video interview with Tim Burton to coincide with his new exhibition. It’s interesting to hear his thoughts on drawing and art making as well as the themes in his work and why he wears striped socks.
I’m currently enjoying the work of Australia-based Hofstede Design. Their work focuses on wayfinding signage and environmental graphics and features strong colors and typography. Their portfolio is worth spending some time with.
Abbott Miller and his team at Pentagram have designed an incredibly unique and creative signage system for the new Academic Building at Cooper Union. If the outside sign wasn’t enough, the wayfinding system is just great and they way they manipulated the typography is brilliant.
Hollywood’s Favorite Cowboy: An interview with Cormac McCarthy
My only experience with a Cormac McCarthy book is both reading the book and watching the movie No Country for Old Men, but I’m looking forward to seeing The Road and hopefully reading the book as well.
I loved what he had to say about aging and his work:
My perfect day is sitting in a room with some blank paper. That’s heaven. That’s gold and anything else is just a waste of time.
I don’t think there’s any rich period or fallow period. That’s just a perception you get from what’s published. Your busiest day might be watching some ants carrying bread crumbs. Someone asked Flannery O’Connor why she wrote, and she said, “Because I was good at it.” And I think that’s the right answer. If you’re good at something it’s very hard not to do it. In talking to older people who’ve had good lives, inevitably half of them will say, “The most significant thing in my life is that I’ve been extraordinarily lucky.” And when you hear that you know you’re hearing the truth. It doesn’t diminish their talent or industry. You can have all that and fail.
Ligature, Loop & Stem
Apparently it’s a typography-focused day. Scott Boms and Luke Dorny have launched a great shop selling typography-based products:
Ligature, Loop & Stem offers limited edition products created to delight those who love typography and design. Use them for inspiration or reference as you work… or play.LL&S products are original, exclusive and crafted for you with precision and care by fellow designers: the chaps at ButterLabel, of Toronto and California.
As each collection sells out, LL&S will release new original work. Consider this first batch a tease to, erm…stroke your serif.
I’m really excited about the offerings I see here so far and can’t wait to see each new product. Also, the site design is excellent—I love it!
Jessica Hische of Daily Drop Cap created this great little diagram on the fundametals of drawing letterforms. This is a great reference for any typographer-hopefuls like myself!
In conjunction with the new exhibition at the London Design Museum, Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams, this video interview is a great introduction to Rams’ philosophy and a small selection of his work. As you know, I’m a huge fan of Rams’ work so this was very, very inspiring.
Also, I would love to own one of those Braun SK 6 record players.
