It’s in! After a few long months of guessing, our Fontbook finally arrived. Now we can peruse the many useful (and many more useless) fonts of the world. In all honesty, this will be a really large asset when trying to come up with new type combinations for our clients, be it rebranding, publication design or otherwise. An added bonus – we get exposed to new font names, such as Wolfdance.
I have been following Nicholas Felton for a few years now. His unique ability to organize information, nevermind catalogue it, often leaves me speechless. I’ve purchased one of his Annual Reports before, but his newest report is something else entirely. Already sold out (in advance of printing of course) this Annual Report is printed on French Durotone paper and letterpressed by Swayspace (Brooklyn, NYC). The report was limited to 2000 copies, but have no fear, you can sign up to be notified when this item is back in stock.
It’s been all quiet on the blogging front for a couple weeks now. We’ve been in limbo for a week or so as we prepare to move into our new space and without access to email and internet for a little too much of that time. We’re now realizing exactly how much we rely on technology to continue the flow of business. Hmmm, perhaps we should remedy that. In the meantime, check out a little clip of the days that were. Can anyone spot the antiquated Beta tape?
Editors note: While we technically moved out of our old space for a day, we are back temporarily. 704-70 Arthur Street. Home sweet home. Only another 7-ish sleeps before we move into our new, permanent residence (just don’t quote me on that timeline). We will send out a notification of our new address once we are firmly in place.
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.
In a follow up to Friday’s blog posting of new tunes, I’d like to provide a few links and a couple thoughts on some of my favourite bands. First of all, the line-up for Bonnaroo has been posted, and is outstanding once again. This past month saw amazing releases from The Dead Weather, The Black Keys and LCD Soundsystem among others (see Hold Steady, New Pornographers) which would make going to Bonnaroo for the first time – to me – heaven. Throw in Blitzen Trapper, She & Him and The xx and then sprinkle some hilarity on top with Conan O’Brien and Aziz Ansari and you’ve pretty much achieved perfection. Now, if you’re not convinced, check out the absolutely amazing (HD) performances featured at From The Basement, a favourite site of mine dedicated to the the performances of a talented group of musicians. If you’re still not sold, then watch this video. If that doesn’t work, nothing will.
Well, this week in music for me anyway. It’s been a pretty good spring, CD-release wise. Unfortunately, if you still buy authentic copies of albums like myself, it’s not so good on the pocketbook. Either way, here’s a couple favourites from this weeks purchases.
As LOST draws to a close, we Losties are left struggling to find a purpose. I mean, what will I do with myself? Ok, I’m being (a tad) dramatic. But anyone who has devoted hundreds of hours over the past 6 years to LOST as we Neuhausians have can relate to the forthcoming feeling of loss. Here is a great little video and subsequent photoshoot with some of our favourite LOST characters from the past 6 seasons who met their demise along the way. We have a feeling that after Sunday’s series finale this list will be a wee bit longer.
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.”
I came across this article a few weeks ago and I am still in wonderment at the accuracy and relevancy of it over 100 years later. Inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla made the following predictions in 1909 about the invention of mobile devices (see: iPhone, Blackberry). If this astounds you – and you’re into the ideas of tomorrow – then perhaps you should read about the World Expo currently taking place in Shanghai, or poke around at PopSci for awhile and see what news you can find. Our industry is forever evolving, and the achievements in technology which are happening all around us are opening up new opportunities (as well as creating many new challenges) for graphic design everyday.
