colour theme test

colour theme test, originally uploaded by toxi.

A screenshot of something I don't entirely understand. I think it's quite beautiful though...

Frosty Patterns

IMG_5441.JPG, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

I've been neglecting my blogging a bit lately due to my job going COMPLETELY MENTAL but I'm back now.

Noticed these lovely ice patterns on my way to work this morning.

If You Could 2008

Print Series Catalogue 2008, originally uploaded by ifyoucouldflickr.

The full print series - available here for a bargainous £10.

Poladroid

IMG_5212b-pola01, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

An easy polaroid faker app available at poladroid.net. Pretty good I think!

Mibo Downloadable Calendar

A beautifully illustrated calendar is available to download for all subscribers to Mibo's mailing list right now. Check out the rest of their website for some lovely prints and gift ideas all featuring the distinctive Mibo illustrations.

Apak

Some psychedelic cuteness from Apak. Available to buy on Etsy. They're also featured on the, erm, charming, Charming Wall gallery.

Good Shape Design

Some nice posters available at Good Shape Design, the work of Wayne Pate. At $30 a pop for silkscreen prints I think they're pretty good value, even though they don't appear to be limited edition.

Via Design*Sponge.

Gocco for Sale

I'm selling my trusty gocco, if you're interested...

Callie Shell: Obama

© Callie Shell / Aurora for Time

Callie Shell first encountered Barack Obama when she was producing what turned out to be an award winning photo essay about John Kerry's presidential campaign. According to digitaljournalist.org, she ended up turning in more photographs of Obama than Kerry, saying "I just have a feeling about him. I think he will be important down the road."

The full photo essay.

Time Magazine's selection for Barack Obama: Portrait of a Candidate.

Today's The Day

Celebrate Change limited edition print by AngeliArndt


I'm not going to say a lot about the whole design + Obama thing, as plenty of other people have already posted much more eloquent points than I think I could squeeze into the last bit of my lunch hour (see below). But it has really struck me how everyone seems to be getting involved. Maybe it's more of an indicator of the design trends in general and the surge of designer/makers and craftspeople facilitated by things like etsy, folksy, dawanda. Whatever it is, it has to be good in terms of people actually getting out and voting, whoever they decide to vote for.



Hand printed lino cut by Jason Krekel at HandcrankedUSA
Wooden inlay pin at Obamastuff



Hope silkscreen by mmsuperstuff
Photograph © Marisa Allegra Williams



American Presidential Wrestling letterpress poster from YeeHaw


Just a couple of many more eloquent posts I mentioned;
Michael Johnson's Design Week/Thought For The Week article
Steven Heller

Typocalypse

Subliminal messages fonts give as you scroll down that list... They pretty much all made me smile. By Lars Willem Veldkampf.

Paul Catherall

I saw some of Paul Catherall's work, and an interesting short film about his linocut process, at the London Transport Museum this weekend. He has a really distinctive style and uses colours in an unusually poetic way that grabbed my attention - I remember seeing these out and around on the tube.
This particular series, Four Seasons, is available to buy at the Transport Museum Shop.

Beau Ideal Editions Calendar

A gorgeous new calendar from Beau Ideal just popped up on my reader. Hand screen printed in limited edition, it's slightly pricey at $48 plus delivery but there's obviously a lot of work and love gone into it. A simple idea that's been designed really consistently and effectively, with loads of yummy hand-drawn type. Yep yep.

Saw Your Face

Saw your face, originally uploaded by alistairh.

Something, somewhere in Amsterdam.
It made me smile.

Update: This work is by Marijn van Kreij and Alistair has more info on the exhibition here.

Wellcome Award Images

Lovely abstract stuff from the Wellcome Image Awards. All microscopic scientific imagery, some of it is surprisingly beautiful. The Silkworm Trachea above I thought was lovely, and the red blood cells are particularly arresting too.

Full gallery.

Lotta Bruhn

Lovely Christmas patterns from Lotta Bruhn. Those birds definitely have an edge of Charley Harper about them - no bad thing...

Schtock

Found an interesting site today via Veer put together by someone who works at a stock photography agency. Apparently they just want to share all this visual candyfloss with the world out of the goodness of their heart. Hmmm. Think I have to agree with The Denver Egotist's views on it's innocence, but it's interesting non-the-less. The main gallery part of the site is comprised of photo-montages using a variety of available stock, but the blog of what's 'just crossed the desk' is an interesting look too.

New from Recycle Club

originally uploaded by recycle club.

New characters on Flickr from the always brilliant Recycle Club. These images make me feel so happy!

French Found Type

In-keeping with my French mood at the moment, I found the fantastic Jules Vernacular blog full of French found type today. There's some lovely stuff on there.

Wanderlust Map

There's a really nice interactive map featuring famous routes on the Good Magazine website. It's a little light on information once you get into it but it could be really interesting if/as it grows. (And why haven't Google maps done this already?)

Chateau Sign

IMG_4523, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

Spotted this sign while I was in France - lovely. A bit Rob Ryan I thought - the people remind me a bit of the Crooked Man on this book cover.

What's my line?

What's my line?, originally uploaded by litherland.

Some lovely type in The New York Times Magazine. Swooshy.

IBM 1975 - The Future

These images of a 1975 IBM presentation have survived to become part of the enormous Square America collection. Besides the obvious intrigue of the future in the past (if you know what I mean), I think the design stands up pretty well 33 years later.

I bet it was done on a Mac.

cajmq2, originally uploaded by pinkfloyd99.

Click through and see it at a readable size.
Via VSL.

Faber Finds

The new service from publisher Faber & Faber looks really interesting - as digital printing becomes ever cheaper it's now viable for them to re-produce out of print books to order. Faber Finds is also unique (I think) in it's use of a "design machine" (as they call it) to generate a unique cover for each and every book ordered. What a great way to make a book really special, as well as a great solution to making print on demand accessible and well designed. The talents of Marian Bantjes for the border design (elements shown below), who has some more lovely examples if you follow that link, Karsten Schmidt for the technical bits and Michael C. Place for the custom typeface have been brought together fantastically well.

Giovanni Pintori

Giovanni Pintori, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

Some colourful inspiration.

Marian Bantjes - Love Stories

Marian Bantjes has just published a set of fantastic personal work in the latest Monograph (available to Creative Review subscribers only). Luckily the Creative Review blog also has a bit of information about it, and you can see lovely big images of all the work on Marian's website. Each of the beautiful pieces is the story of someone she loves, and you really get a sense of the people behind these.

American Craft Magazine

Another interesting guest post on design*sponge about American Craft's move towards more hands-on typography. Some lovely images. I'm going to try and hunt a copy of this down.

Ray Fenwick - Magic Tricks

Magic Tricks, originally uploaded by Ray Fenwick.

More lovely stuff. I recommend a good look through his Flickr, it's all fantastic.

Chicago Type

In a refreshing change in tone, there's an interesting guest post over on design*sponge all about type. It led me on to chicagotype.com, an archive of found type in and around Chicago; some good, some bad, some just interesting. No tranquilizers.

Linzie Hunter

abcd3f, originally uploaded by Linzie Hunter.

So simple and so lovely!

Casey O'Connell

There's a great interview with Casey O'Connell over on Josh Spear at the moment. An interesting read and some beautiful work.

from Francis Bacon's 'Detritus'

from Francis Bacon's 'Detritus', originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

Blood on Paper

Banners, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

Great banners at the entrance to the Blood on Paper exhibition at the V&A.

Douglas Wilson

All You Need Is Love, originally uploaded by onpaperwings.

Sometimes this internet thing just really works, doesn't it? onpaperwings added me as a contact on Flickr, so I had a look at his lovely letterpress work, and found his gallery, website and blog. All worth a look.

Little Factory

The perfect scarf to hang up next to your new 'hello' doormat! Buy them here in black or white. There's also uppercase and lowercase letters available, but they seem to be having some trouble keeping up with the demand.

John Pour Home

Lovely bright felt typographic rugs from John Pour Home.

I told you so.

I said it all along. Never work with someone who resists a Jammie Dodger.

Ubiki - Rawr!

I just found this great print after Holly mentioned his work. According to Ubuki "Rawr!" is what monsters say when they're hungry/want a hug. I couldn't agree more!
There are more gorgeous images on Ubiki's Etsy shop.

I Want to be a Coal Miner

I Want to be a Coal Miner - pg 13, originally uploaded by gentlepurespace.

Some lovely illustrations from I Want to be a Coal Miner.

Beautiful Book

I Am The Friction is a collaboration between Jez Burrows and Lizzy Stewart of the Evening Tweed collective. It looks like a beautiful book - printed dos-à-dos with the help of a trusty gocco printer. (I can only aspire to this kind of quality, my prints are still turning out pretty rough. But it's inspiring to know someone has produced covers this fantastic with one!) One half of the book is composed of short stories inspired by illustrations, while the other contains illustrations inspired by short stories. I wonder if they know each others work so well that they will turn out to be pretty similar though? Apparently they will be available soon, watchthis space.

Spotted thanks to the lovely Freshly Blended