Mary Kate McDevitt has been creating a whole mess of Mini Goal chalkboards with amazing, hand-painted lettering. Her chalkboards leave space to put just two to-do's which is enough to make everyone feel as if they've accomplished something for the day without getting overwhelmed.
[More images on Flickr.]
Some fun reworked vintage china by trixie delicious on Etsy. Love how the type works well with the vintage china patterns.
A new book has just been release titled The Handy Book of Artistic Printing: Collection of Letterpress Examples with Specimens of Type, Ornament, Corner Fills, Borders, Twisters, Wrinklers, and other Freaks of Fancy
I love discovering new illustrators. This past week I stumbled upon the work of David Weidman and wondered why it took me so long to discover his work. Weidman created many of the backgrounds for Hanna Barbara cartoons in the 50s and branched out in 60s by going solo and his own iconic and whimsical artwork. You can check out and buy most of his illustrations, prints and posters can be seen his website or pick up a copy of his career retrospective book, The Whimsical Work of David Weidman.
I love the retro feel of these illustrations from Lab Partners.
[ via HouseMartin]
[original version of Futura]
[modified version of Futura]
One of the members of Typophile, Randy Jones of Aquatoad, has been working on a revision of Futura for a client. As he has been working, he's shared reference material and some screenshots of the work. Futura was originally designed by Paul Renner in the late 1920s but has been digitized many times by different font companies. It has been one of my favorite fonts though I can see issues that can arise from its overly geometric and monoweight design. I really like the sheared tail on the j and the tail on the t that Randy has done thus far.
[Photo by Matias Costa for The New York Times]
Who doesn't love beautiful paper? Personally, I love the texture, the design and even the smell of paper. I save sheets of paper for years squirreled away in boxes and folders so I can pull them out every so often to look at them. Might seem crazy, but I am not alone. The New York Times recently published an article about where to find amazing handcrafted art papers in Spain. Makes me sad I didn't know about these place when I was in Barcelona last year.
These are some of the beautiful digital illustrations by Spanish illustrator, Catalina Estrada. She integrates the colors of Latin America with modern sensibilities and has been featured in CA and Computer Arts and has worked with such clients as Coca-Cola, Microsoft Zune, Sony Music, Camper, Nike, Smart/Mercedes Benz, Motorola, and Chronicle Books.
[Thanks to Chris for the reminder!]
A small selection of vintage "beach read" book covers from SurfBooks. I actually own a copy of Gidget Goes Parisienne. I might take it on my beach vacation trip this summer!
1. sweet olive press business card, 2. b&b, 3. Mod Pulsar Recipe Cards Closeup, 4. IMG_5378.JPG
Work found in the Ladies of Letterpress group on Flickr devoted to featuring the letterpress craftsmanship of women who print. For more information, visit their blog.
Intersting TED video with photographer Miru Kim. Kim photographs herself nude against the stark industrial underground of New York and other cities to show "to bring these massive, dangerous, hidden spaces into sharp focus." The work is thoughtful, disturbing and beautiful. 
[Image from Engadget]
For all those relentlessly tied to their digital camera, cell phone camera or web-cam, it can come as no surprise that just as Polaroid killed their instant film line, Kodak would inevitably start to pare down its film offerings as fewer and fewer people use it. Even loyal film users had been lured away from Kodachrome by E100SW and E100VS which was faster and easier to process.
[© Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula, Afghan Girl, at Nasir Bagh refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, 1984.]
Steve McCurry, whose picture of a young Afghan girl captured the hearts of millions of people around the world as she peered hauntingly from the cover of National Geographic Magazine in 1985, offered these words:[Quote from Kodak's A Thousand Words]
"The early part of my career was dominated by KODACHROME, and I reached for that film to shoot some of my most memorable images," said McCurry. "While KODACHROME Film was very good to me, I have since moved on to other films and digital to create my images. In fact, when I returned to shoot the 'Afghan Girl' 17 years later, I used Kodak's E100VS film to create that image, rather than KODACHROME Film as with the original."
