Ace Jet 170

Block Head

I couldn't explain the unsettling feeling that I was being watched.

Totally Clips

  

In a seemingly off-the-cuff remark last week, Daniel-binkythedoormat-Gray mentioned that "You can never have enough bulldog clips..." Damn right I thought. I've got 83, so far. Although strictly speaking mine are actually Boston Clips, the Bulldog being it's slightly duller father.

Light Work

 

Via today and tomorrow, Picasso's light drawings from Life Magazine.

Hopeless drunk will work to stay that way!!!!?

  

Oh how I love it when an unexpected package arrives. And when it's got a Pentagram address in the corner the pulse rate quickens. I feel very privileged. Signs is the 39th edition of the Pentagram Papers, this time conceived and designed by DJ Stout. You can read all about it on the Pentablog.

         

Go Give (again)

If you didn't know already, David's going to walk about a bit for charity. And all you need 

to do is pop over here and make a small donation. I mean, he's doing all the hard work, 

you don't even have to leave your seat.

OK, so there appears to have been a technical problem over on David's donation mechanism so if you've already tried - of course you have! - and been unsuccessful, please try again. Actually, try right now - I've just been over there to check and it seems to be fixed now but if it still doesn't work, don't give up. You can guarantee David won't be giving, he's got 20km to do and all the blisters and arse chaffing that goes with that. Put it in your diary, "Must give lots of money to David" and mark it as "Most extremely urgent".

Plot Watch: Lush

 

Warm and wet = Flourishing crop

Found Type Friday #74

Christian "Mozzling" Morris has some superb...no sorry, I mean loads of superb images on Flickr. There's this superb image of garages and I love this dilapidated tiling. Then, of course, there's "Shetland". Thanks for getting in touch Christian.

TypeHype

A year in development, Alex from Thinkdust has just launched HypeForType, a new independent type foundry set up to champion "original and completely new typefaces". And what's more, he lives in Beeston, where me'old mate Pete used to live...whatever happended to Pete?...

...anyway, new fonts. Find out more here.

 

Abraham's Games

 

More superb sporting stamps from Israel. See them bigger and better on Flickr.

The Wellington

Self-proclaimed anti-homogenists, The Bureau is Belfast's finest purveyor of gentleman's apparel. It's a splendid place selling attire well out of my humble pocket but doubtless worth every penny. No 44 Wellington Street is the little shop next door that they'd had lovingly restored from a sad and shabby news agent back to it's beautiful former glory - a 1920's tobacconists. Now, the lease is up and they're not keeping it on. Check out more pics on their blog.

Plot Watch: Chard Times

  

It's the Helvetica of the leafy veg. world. Boldly chopped, cooked over a Regular heat and Lightly dressed.

Maagfest

So, on Wednesday night Bruno Maag made a return appearance at UU as part of the Art and Design Fest linked to the Degree Shows. Particularly pleased to see him (I couldn't make it last time) off I trotted and what a treat it was; Bruno's infectious enthusiasm and opinionations make for a fascinating and entertaining talk.

Now, being a bloke and only able to do one thing at a time I didn't take notes, choosing to take photos instead so although this might be a bit disjointed what I thought I'd do here is provide annotations for some of the pics and just hope that the points are interesting enough. I doubt it will do justice to a vibrant and funny talk, and it will certainly skirt around some crucial points Bruno made to the largely student audience about the importance of craft and attention to detail. 

The talk didn't kick off with that picture of Adolf et al having a knees-up in their lederhosen but it's a corker isn't it? The future Führer doesn't look too happy with his flower arrangement. Bruno used it to accompany a point about the Nazis mastery of branding.

Other Maagisms included: Why does Subway insist on telling you who they are three times? If that restaurant can't be bothered to include the crucial full point in their price, what can you expect from their food? Helvetica is not Johnston. Never trust a bank that uses VAG. And, one hour's work makes the Jonathon Saunders logotype 100 times better. Those weird diagrams, that look like something from Archigram, show letterforms being hinted (which I still don't understand) and (thank God!) Southampton is considerably more legible than it used to be.

      

Future Print

Genii at work on FPO.

Je ne vous imposerai plus de famine

Israeli Freedom From Hunger stamp from 1963: 

'The Freedom from Hunger Campaign was a focus for cooperation of international organizations, governments, and various citizens' groups. This effort to create informed and active awareness culminated in the World Food Congress in Washington DC, held in 1963 under FAO auspices. This stamp was issued in 1963 in commemoration of the World Freedom from Hunger Campaign. A symbolic picture depicts an outstretched hand offering food to a small bird. The Hebrew inscription reads: "No more hunger" and on the tab Yehezkel 36:29 is quoted: "...And I will not burden you with famine.".'

Distant Memories

  

I know, I shouldn't knock it. Getting anything published in my world is pretty cool. It can be surprisingly useful too. A considerable number of years ago I had a notion I wanted to work in New York and with a little help from two periodicals of the day that had printed my name alongside some bits of work I was (amazingly) awarded a visa. Not your usual common-or-garden visa either; one for "an artist of outstanding ability" or something like that. Don't ask me how I managed it but I did and having work in print helped.

So, like I said, I shouldn't knock it. And in fact, even though it's been a long time coming, the new book about blogs has turned out well. Only problem is, and I know from Twitter that at least a few bloggers have also acknowledged this, it's taken so long and the blogosphere moves so fast that the book seems somewhat contrary to the nature of the blog, highlighting a flaw in the idea of publishing a book about blogs. The grabs on my spread, for example, are almost exactly two years old and some bloggers have completely re-skinned their pages (a number of times) since the call for entries.

But I really shouldn't knock it. It's still very flattering to appear in print. Even if you're in amongst another 200, it really is still nice and at least for me, Ace Jet's not changed that much and the entries featured are good ones. That Neon entry is one of my favourites and those big Clarendon letters are still up on the restaurant around the corner from us and that atlas is still brought out regularly at home to show the boys which cloud formations are floating about.

So no, I'm not knocking it. I'm in print. Cool. Whoo Hoo!

Wow and Flutter

 

"It was an incredibly accurate process relying on maths and geometry to create new compositions with sound – (much like grids and typography for us designers)."

There's a brilliant article on Design Assembly about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop anniversary reformation two weeks ago. Only wish I'd been there.

Effra

Design Week readers will probably have found one of these dropping out of last week's edition. Now with the recent addition of a full set of italics (not featured on the specimen but detailed online) Effra feels, to me at least, to be kind of Gotham-esque but perhaps a little warmer/less perfect (in a good way). Anyway, it's timely because the Maagster returns to Belfast this week to talk at UU again, as part of the Ulster Festival of Art and Design. I missed him last time so I'm really looking forward to it. He's on at 7pm, I presume in the usual place and it's a mere £4 to get in.