sea power & change

Quiet, tight typography is powerful & wonderful when paired with monochromatic texture. I'm going to be thinking about this one for a long time.

(album art for Sea Power & Change)

the state bird of Kansas is the meadowlark

Like a good little Kansan, I've been waiting patiently for the fine folks at Dutch Door Press to release a meadowlark print ever since their state birds series got blog props (last year?).
In the meantime, I could definitely find a home for this screen print by bee things. I love the color palette, especially the moss green paper. bee things also has a very appealing gallery of all past work. 

(originally spotted on ffffound!)

+friends of type

(via friends of type)

making economics magical

mad appreciation for these digital Wall Street Journal by the ridiculously talented David Habben. 

(via HABBENINK on Behance)

+classy

(love you friends of type)

farm to city

Sometimes I feel a bit ridiculous trying to verbalize context for the things that I'm posting, because it's all essentially the same: I like it. Otherwise I wouldn't catalog it here, right?
And so it goes. design work life featured a beautiful project by Douglas Richard a few days ago for a Pennsylvania initiative to connect people with local farmer's markets and CSAs. Aside from being kind of a dream job, the results are wonderful.

yup, tis the season!

We're figuring out our family Christmas letter and listening to Sufjan Steven's Songs for Christmas.
(image via Apartment Therapy)

Vasel-what?

Sometime around sixth grade, I decided I wanted to be a food stylist when I grew up. I'm not sure where that idea came from, or where it went, but this article in defense of food stylists was interesting to me. Also, it's Thanksgiving, which makes this slightly more relevant.

(via seesaw)

typozon

I've got a big ole design crush on Cristian Vargas of Typozon, starting with his pretty web navigation and reaching near infatuation with the vibrant colors and clever typography. This kind of energy is contagious, and I'm super psyched about these business cards, among other things. I wanted to include everything, but isn't that the story of my life.

+appreciated.

(via design work life)

mmmm green.

(Christian Flatscher, via pitch)

Charles & Maxine

Sophie Blackall is the illustrator behind the sweet and spot-on Missed Connections. She's recently started selling the originals in her shop, and the past few days she's posted different/non-Missed Connections illustrations. I've really enjoyed them, particularly this pairing of "Charles" and "Maxine." I love the vibrancy of the yellow and found paper.

  

dr kennedy jones

So is it a problem if I just repost every thing featured on grain edit? They unearth some of the best stuff. Maybe we share a blog brain. Maybe.

Hollie Chastain is a "full-time found paper and collage artist." Best job description ever? I love these colors. So much. Her work is available for purchase on Etsy and poster cabaret. She's also got a very nice blog that I'll be picking through this afternoon.

(via grain edit, obviously)

let's build a pie chart.

My roommate loves quantitative data. She's one of those people. We've spent a lot of time talking about the beauty of the infographic and the wonder that is Nicholas Feltron (anybody else as jazzed for his 2010 annual report as these nerds?). When I saw this 2008 personal project by Gretchen Nash on Inspiration Lab, I knew this was right up our collective roommate alley.

Gretchen pulled all kinds of data from every letter she's ever received (!) and crafted these beautiful charts and graphs. I love that she even quantifies the number of papercuts she's received. 

just can't get enough

grain edit featured a few pieces by Áron Jancsó this morning and mentioned the possibility of becoming engrossed by his portfolio. Such truth. Áron describes his style as "a blend of modernism, street culture and callygraphy, but it is also very experimental." So difficult to select just a few pieces, the rest of his portfolio is viewable on his Behance, and his flickr appears to be frequently updated. Seriously. Check it ALL out.

IBM smarter planet

These IBM ads make me smile every time I pass them on the moving sidewalk at O'Hare. I love that these carry the spirit of Paul Rand's classic Eye-Bee-M while feeling very fresh.

More of this, please and thank you. 

(classy collaboration between Office and Ogilvy & Mather)

member these?

yup. still pretty.

(via dieline)

A little digging later found me at SEKKEI, with more organic shapes woven into powerful type. I like it.

I like this.

(via kitchen design notes)

ursa major

love love love this use of texture by PTARMAK for men's skincare line ursa major (p.s. love that ursa major's name is ursa major).

(via design work life)

vintage ITC

Sean Adams wrote recently about photoset ITC display fonts from the 80's.

These scans make me want to hole up in the library reaaaallll bad. I consider my obsession with Herb Lubalin's work to be fairly healthy.

I will find more of these, yes indeed.

me gusta

(via For the Love of Type)

Blue Nectar No.1 Ale

Designers have the best self promotions. Case and point? Blue Nectar No.1, a limited edition ale brewed and bottled by the folks at Blue Nectar Design. Apparently they use these like calling cards for prospective clients. Such a fantastic idea.
My family does a lot of root beer brewing...I WILL figure out a way to apply this in my life.

(via Lovely Package)