cutting edge… err… ok that was cheesy

enjoyed looking at this poster that christopher from mine sent over. paper cut out illustration by yulia brodskya.

art directors club paper expo 2010

i know it’s hard to convey the true feel of an event through a blog post, but i was super-geeked when i arrived at the adc paper expo. i loaded up on new paper sample books and all kinds of other printed goodies. there’s a few more pictures here.

urban outfitters print shop

ya know, for all of the grief that UO gets for stealing people’s artwork, it’s super cool of them to use their clout to promote artists in this way. way to be, urban outfitters.

something to be said for print

the demise of print is topic that has had at least somewhat broad discussion among graphic designers since the web continues to grow and grow. yes, print is shrinking/will shrink more in it’s use, but it’s not going away, and i think we may even see a digital “backlash” to a certain extent. following are several reasons i take this position;

print is tactile, and this will actually become more valuable the less common print is. this is not to be confused with “touchable,” at least as i’m defining the terms. the iphone and ipad are touchable, but they lack the texture, the feel of smooth, or linen, matte or glossy that print gives.

print is now visually unexpected and delightful, looking at the reflected light of print rather than the projected light of digital. i noticed this about myself even recently when i got a final printed piece back from the vendor. i had been working a lot on the computer, and the matte, reflected light of the postcard surprised me. the quality of it made me actively think.

print also exists in physical space. i guess so does your computer or mobile device, but the content doesn’t. i think this give print a feeling of groundedness that digital lacks.

print is not being replaced by digital, but taking on a different role. true, it will no longer be the primary source of content delivery, but rather is/will be used to evoke certain emotions and engage senses that digital cannot. really to give a feeling that digital cannot.

so, couple the best things about print with the best things about digital to to create enjoyable experiences, and to foster connectedness and increased interactivity between humans beings. it’s how your using mediums to help people that matters.

unpublished work that needs some air

here are a couple of pieces i’ve been wanting to show for while but are unpublished as of right now anyway. you can go see ‘em nice and big and read about ‘em on flickr.

fine fine fine work

from alex varanese

jessica franks ›› june bug felts/prints ›› adopting a child ›› awesome

our dear friends jessica and bill franks are in the process of adopting a child from russia. to raise money for the process, jessica has created and is selling a series of prints called “hobby hazard” in her etsy store. we do wholeheartedly support the franks’s and their desire to bring a child out of abject poverty into their own home, so we are featuring them on this blog (we also like the prints too).

bklyn designs

this is the final design for the bklyn designs 2010 poster. this motif will be applied to all of the bklyn designs materials. i’m particularly excited about the website. i’ll be posting about that when it is complete. click on the image above to go to the flickr page and view a large version.

pray for scotland cards

live from bklyn had the honor of designing materials for nathan and krystal young, missionaries to scotland. you can view more more samples in the lfb portfolio.

brooklyn chamber of commerce 2008 annual report

live from bklyn is pleased to announce the completion of the brooklyn chamber of commerce’s 2008 annual report. visit the live from bklyn portfolio page to view more samples of the project.

new live from bklyn business cards

i like to call these “the greenest business cards in the universe.” perhaps they’re not, but they’re pretty close. they’re printed on the backs of cereal boxes, so it’s greener than recycled paper, it’s re-purposed paper. and terms of creativity, i think having the cereal box snippets on the back provide an interesting element, and overall, the cards are a great conversation starter.

thank you card concept

live from bklyn would like to know your take on this thank you card design that we are working on. cool? lame? let us know what you think.

live from bklyn “thinking of u” postcards

the live from bklyn “thinking of u” postcards are finished and available for purchase. we will be opening our own live from bklyn design shop very soon, but for now, visit livefrombklyn.etsy.com

mcallister wedding poster

last weekend i attended the wedding of melissa and brannon mcallister. as a gift for the guests, they had these fine, fine letterpress posters created by hatch show print.

live from bklyn etsy shop launched

friends of live from bklyn, i’m pleased to announce that we have opened a live from bklyn etsy shop (livefrombklyn.etsy.com). you can purchase fine art friday prints, as well as other prints of buildings in williamsburg, brooklyn and ornamental letterforms.

happy hanukkah, now stand clear of the closing doors please.

so i came across this greeting card and had to post. very clever.

hello health advert

a dandy of an ad from our good friends over at hello health. it needs no explanation. and, if you live in the nyc area and are sans health insurance, do look into hello health. they are truly the future of health care.

design bureau of amerika

tdba has updated with a site re-design and some fine new work. be sure to check out “superman vs. darth vader.” shut-upsicle. . . brilliant.

shelby county, tennessee marriage license

i’m always a tad jealous of this guy and all of the awesome vintage design pieces that he possesses, but i’m getting a turn now.

a couple of weeks ago, my grandmother, the indomitable marguerite dailey (evans) crafton (from whom my name comes), passed away after complications from hip surgery. she left a legacy of stalwartness, and a vast treasure trove of antique wonders. my brother and i were able to look through her possessions, to see if there was anything that we might like to have. . . and how.

i came away with multiple sculpted glass bowls and dishes, small ephemera like assorted pins, jewelry and cuff-links, and, as pertains to the live from bklyn blog, this 1913 marriage license from shelby co, tennessee (of which memphis is the county seat). i think it’s just beautiful.

pleaseletmedesign |malibu stacy album packaging

and what better way to package then with packing tape? brilliant album packaging from brussels’ pleaseletmedesign.

paste magazine new-music sampler

paste magazine has a hot design for their new-music sampler this issue.

jim hargreaves | casenet event invitation

another beauty from jim hargreaves. jim is currently working as a graphic designer at barnhart communications in denver, co.

writes jim about this invitation, “this project was done in the spring on behalf of studio pattern, also in denver. the invitation was for a VIP champagne party hosted by casenet at the bubble lounge, san fran’s premier champagne bar.

the client’s only request was that it should reference champagne labels. instead of a literal translation, i created a hybrid between classic labels and modern invitation designs. i wanted the invitation to have a clean, metropolitan feel. the dot patterns were influenced by much of the city’s history of art deco, and they were also meant to resemble the tiny bubbles that are characteristic of champagne. the finishing touch was the the trolley seal, which was modeled after a mark found on an old trolley ticket.”

chris koelle, speed round

christopher koelle, or “chris,” as his close friends call him, has a fine piece of art-parrel for sale right this very moment at teefury.com. but you must hurry if you want one of your very own. for you see, at the time of this posting, there are only 14:52:59 left before the t-shirt is no longer available, and the link above will no longer link to chris’ tee, but to some, no doubt, much less dashingly handsome artist’s work (dashingly handsome, in this case, modifying the possessive noun “artist’s,” not the noun “work”). so no procrastinating on this one.

orangebeautiful calendar

my friend christin sends tidings of this (orange)beautiful calendar. sweet idea to have the perforations to be able to save the typography as an art print. check out the rest of orangebeautiful’s offerings while you’re on their etsy page. the holiday card is just magnificent.

mark wagner

mark wagner is making his money work for him. check out his extensive collection of dollar bill cut and paste art. he’s also got some other great art mixed in. like this booklyn chapbook cover design. i just got that new york city poems book a week or so ago, and had planned on making a post about it. it’s kinda strange that i stumbled across the book’s artist at random.

lucky brand. . . something or other

when you order chinese food from new hong kong kitchen on grand st. in williamsburg, they put little pieces of cardboard from sliced up boxes between the food, presumably so that your sweet and sour chicken container does not crush your sesame chicken container. and i appreciate that.

last night as i was descending upon my sesame chicken and vegetable lo mein, i discovered this gem. there are three shots, so make sure to click through all of them.

it’s kinda funny to me, because that lettering looks like something that lucky brand jeans would do, and i can see them using chinese characters on a t-shirt or something. still, i’m led to believe that there is also a lucky brand chinese restaurant supply from whence this cardboard came.

at any rate, the lettering and the logo are really quite nice graphically. and i dig how the texture from the cardboard fibers shows through the ink. delicious.

starbucks perfect oatmeal

oh starbucks, what a quandary you’ve put me in. so many reasons to hate you (like your quest for coffee hegemony), so many reasons to love you. like this tub that your perfect oatmeal comes in. simple, yet ornate. modern in design, classic in production. not only are the ornaments perfect in execution, but you also achieved press ink texture and a thickened ink edge without using mr. retro’s permanent press filters. you did it purely. a luxury that so many of us dream of, but alas, have no budget for. the oatmeal was right tasty too. curse you starbucks! and bless you too. i’m so torn.

howling monkey

this is cool. i am lazy. the end.

gileah and the ghost train

so i’m bending my own rules a bit to discuss some great new music that i came across, but they are my rules, so i suppose i can do what i want with them.

so gileah and the ghost train. if i had to sum up gileah’s music with one word, it would be haunting. but it’s like gileah is haunted by a holy ghost rather than an evil spirit, if you get my drift. it’s like she’s headed down a road that leads to misery, but there’s a a presence she can’t shake who’s goal it is to keep her from that.

gileah also conveys a good deal of urgency in most of the songs she writes, imploring us to listen and take action.

i don’t want to give everything away. i do want to say do yourselves a favor and buy this self-titled masterpiece by gileah and the ghost train.

glieah also has some killer floral illustration on her myspace page, so there’s a little design chat for you too.

brezinka blog

wayne brezinka, who’s work has appeared on this blog before, has started a blog where he posts his current works and studies in illustration and design. wayne makes super duper use of traditional media in his work, so for some fine examples, be sure to pay a visit.