My Favorite Logo of the Moment

The U + J logo. The subtlety of the U is so perfect, it cleverly represents the collaboration between Jil Sander and Uniqlo. It is harmonious and simply beautiful! I love the spring collection too!

It's Goot!

I like looking at Josh Goot's Spring 2010 Collection because it's like looking at cool graphics on ffffound. It's interesting to see how bold geometric graphics and bright colors are translated into apparel, I find them extremely appealing and cheerful, we all need some of that these days, don't we?! photos: style.com and ffffound.com

The Most Beautiful Stamps

In the past I've mentioned about how boring US stamp designs are, so I am really happy to discover these King and Queen of Hearts stamps that were released in May. The drawing is referenced from 18th Century French playing cards but the design is retro- circa 70's. There are so many things to love about these stamps, like the Queen's crown, the heart motifs on the King's costume, and the sweet little "love" hand-writing! I'm going to a book of these stamps this week, which leads me to wonder how many stamps do you use per month?
image: USPS

Gangpol - Mit

Saw this French graphic/music duo's performance last weekend, the only way to describe their music is 80's arcade game, and you can see how it goes really well with their fun (and sometimes violence, but humorous) graphics. Visual graphic plays a very important role at their concerts and they work very closely to create animations that sync with the music. Check out more of their work here and here. Great news for all of you cool parents out there, they also do music and animations for kids!photos: gangpol.free.fr and guillaumit.free.fr

Five Whats With Strath Shepard

Hi, it's Chad here, Christine asked me to write a little intro to this Five Whats with Strath. I met him about eight years ago through our friend Lily of sunshine and shadow. Being both record and design nerds we instantly became great friends. Strath is an amazing person, from owning a cult Hip-Hop record label in Seattle and touring with Mo' Wax greats, to stints at Martha and Visionaire, he has some amazing stories, and along the way has gained an incredible eye for design. In one effortless breath he can talk to you about Christain Louboutin or Rei Kawabuko, then move to the psych band July or the breaks on a Johnny Lewis record, and end with something about Antonioni's Blow-Up or any similar great movie meets great design and great soundtrack combo you can name. Obviously, we have had a few of these conversations, and on top of that he has a great since of humor, so on that note, here are his Five Whats:

What did you have for breakfast?
I had some egg whites with salt and Old Bay seasoning, and an English muffin. I have one of these Bay's English Muffins just about every day, they're really good toasted with nothing on them. And four cups of Cafe Bustelo coffee with half-and-half.

What do you like and dislike about freelancing?
I like it that I can set my own schedule, but that's also what I dislike about it, because I end up working 'round the clock a lot of the time. So it has its ups and downs. I've been really lucky to get some amazing projects though, so the work itself is generally really good.

What are your inspirations?
Ah jeez, there are so many, that's a tough question. Every designer has a laundry list of references (Brodovitch, Lubalin, Graphis annuals, old records...) and I do too, but it's really about the state of mind of just always observing things, always taking things in and looking for patterns, colors, typography, etc. I have these black books that I've been taping things into forever, just as a way to collect all that stuff as much as possible. Here are some of the pages: Aside from all that general inspiration, I'd say a couple other things that are constants:
PHOTOGRAPHY. That's really broad but as a designer I think it's a requirement, in that taking snapshots just hones the way you think about spacial relationships, balance, and what to include or not include. I find it to be sort of an exercise in minimalism—of trying to figure out the minimum you can include to convey what you're trying to capture. I also just love the history of photography and seeing what new current greats are doing (Sims, Sorrenti, et al). When I worked for Visionaire, we used to take little five minute breaks and all the designers would go on abebooks.com and look for cool photo books. We'd always be checking out new photographers and sharing them with each other—it was a really good exchange of information. MY WIFE EMILY. She is an amazing writer and thinker and definitely the most inspiring force in my life. She's a lawyer but could just as easily be a fashion designer or graphic designer or gallerist or genius librarian. She has good ideas at all times. This is one of my favorite pictures of her, at the Cube Houses in Rotterdam.

Can you suggest what we should do to enjoy staycationing?
I recommend spending a day in Red Hook—go to the ball fields for the best Mexican food in New York, or to Hope & Anchor for brunch; hang out on the docks, get some key lime pie from Steve's, get a beer at Bait & Tackle, and then end up at Sunny's (pictured). Also, it's fun to make a day of taking the train to Cold Spring—it's about an hour up the Hudson, and the whole town is in walking distance of the train station, right on the river. There are good junk stores, an antique toy store, and a respectable dive bar. On the way back, you can stop at the Oyster Bar saloon in Grand Central for drinks and snacks. Belmont is also really fun.
What are your plans for the rest of 2008?
Well, tons of stuff is still up in the air, but suffice it to say that the plan involves Emily and I taking the second most significant roadtrip of our lives this September—the first being our move from Seattle to NYC almost ten years ago. No matter what, it's going to be an adventure.
photos: Strath, thanks for your super-organized files!

Letterpress Fun

I took a letterpress workshop at The Arm in Williamsburg over the weekend and I am now hooked. I may not want to own a letterpress but I can go to The Arm and use their Vandercook letterpress for $15 per hour. Here are a couple of prints that I made, they're simple but I just love the impression it made. The hardest part was to typeset with the wooden and metal printing blocks, it's an art form on its own and would take a long time to master it, but thankfully we can now print with polymer plates which would save a LOT of time! I think I will go back there for my first art project very soon.top photo: the arm's flickr page

I Am In Heaven!

Here is a site with a lot of vintage Brazilian album covers that will sure inspire you! via: cpluv.com, photos: sabadabada.com

A Cool Print for the Guys

I'm often inspired by boyish graphics like this poster by Frankenstyles. I've been eyeing it for a while now and it still looks so awesome. I'm obsessed with looking at buildings in New York and imagine them as people with faces, perhaps that's why I love this print. Good job, Stephen!!!
photo: frankenstyles

French Sample Room

I purchase almost all of my paper from French Paper . They have really good prices, the prettiest colors and paper quality, plus it's a family-run company, how cool is that?! They have a blog where fans and customers submit their designs printed on French Paper, it is a quick way for people to see paper samples if they can't wait to get the swatch book in the mail!photos: frenchsampleroom

Portable Silk Screen Machine

Don't get me wrong, I love my Gocco, but I find this Elshopo portable silk screen machine very intriguing, it uses the same screen-printing supplies that you could find at your local art store. Like a Gocco, this machine also exposes screens (using sun light), makes prints, and it has a foam pad to keep the paper or T-shirt from sliding. The unit is shaped to perfectly fit your t-shirt for silk-screening. I also like the packaging- a box with casters and cute graphic, how convenient! It is a special edition with a Japanese design crew Loworks. Now I just wish that it is not 1200 Euro (whoa that is steep!), guess I'll stick with Gocco.photos: computer love, elshopo

Area 2

Got the book and love it!!! Here are some of my faves.

Five Whats with Mike Davis

Hi ya'll, Chad here (wonting's hubby), I'm introducing this weeks Five Whats. I have known Mike Davis for quite a while now, oddly enough, never in our shared hometown of Nashville. Under his moniker, Mike 2600, he is a super talented dj and graphic designer/artist with his crew Burlesque in Minneapolis. He is also a major record head (one of our continuing friendship builders), a great photographer, and one of the best amateur comedians I know.
Please to enjoy...
What items do you always carry in your bag?
It changes on a regular basis, so let me check for the five most interesting things in there right now...
Laptop computer + cables + emergency startup disk which I've had to use too many times
Digital camera
Map / brochure from the Milwaukee Art Museum
Spa menu from the Standard Hotel in Miami
Terrible rap lyrics I found written on a sheet of paper at a club where I was DJing last weekend
What is your favorite thing that you have ever designed?
Either the "Got to Get it Right" 12" for DJ Day or the Alphabet poster I designed for my niece Hailey.What are your inspirations?
Toys, cartoons, album and magazine artwork, posters, food and product packaging and other commercial graphics from the 1960s-1970s, travel, weird stuff from Japan, good music, art museums.

What were your favorite TV shows growing up?
Thundarr the Barbarian, Spiderman (the 1967 cartoon version (I actually left my own 5 year old birthday party to walk downstairs and watch it)), Saturday Night's Main Event (WWF special that would come on every now and then), Yo! MTV Raps, Rap City, and Out of Control.

I know that you DJ quite a lot at clubs across the country, what kind of music do you spin? What are you listening to these days?
I started off spinning hip hop and then got really interested in the music where hip hop came from - funk, disco, funky rock, soul, etc. Since then I've been expanding off of that idea as well as getting into some of more action-packed electronic and club music coming out lately. Here are some recent things and artists I've listened to...
SebastiAn "Motor" EP, Lil' Wayne & Juelz Santana, DJ Blaqstarr, DJ Guilty Pleasures, Top Billin', White Girl Lust, James Brown, Eddie Kendricks, P.O.S

bonus What: What are you working on right now?
Just finished the label design for a new EP on Melting Pot Music for a group called Circle Research and I'll be doing the 12" jacket artwork probably tomorrow. Today I'm gonna finish wrapping up the cover of issue 51 of Mass Appeal magazine and then continuing to work to promote the giant dance party our crew (Burlesque of North America) is promoting called Do it To it!images: Mike Davis, thanks!

Jean Julien

Really cute work by Jean Julien from London. I love the use of hand-made art and typography in graphic design these days.