Movieline, the late 20th century newsstand tome of Hollywood madness, has been reborn as an online onslaught of celebrity gossip, film news and an insiders look at the Hollywood machine. Led by former Gawker editors and dressed-to-kill by the mad skills of House of Pretty, this is the go-to site for the goings-on in entertainment industry.
Before&After is a print and online magazine that is full of honest-to-goodness tips for the layperson on building better design. Started in 1990, this site (and publication) helps put real world design tools into the hands of people who may have to design without ever been given the training like real estate agents and small business owners.
Individual articles are sold for $5 each and a subscription for PDFs is $24 for 32 articles. A print edition of the publication is also available as well as books. Each article is around 20 pages and many look like tips and tricks that might even help a seasoned designer rethink their approach to a design problem.
[Official White House Photos by Pete Souza ]
The Official White House photostream is a chance to see the first 100 days of President Obama's first term of office (I say hopefully) from the most intimate perspective. From quiet moments with his family to official functions, Pete Souza tells a moving story in pictures of a life lived in the public eye. Absolutely stunning portraits.
Design for Rian's upcoming book, Custom Lettering of the ’60s and ’70s]
My Fonts has a fun interview with designer, illustrator and type designer Rian Hughes. He talks about his upcoming book, Custom Lettering of the ’60s and ’70s, logo projects for various comics and tells you what he thinks of pop music, the Flintstones, bad movies and more.
The 17.05 issue of Wired Magazine, on newsstands now, is full of retro-inspired design, House Industries fonts used to their full potential and an a article on designers who have created ambigrams -- and that's just to name a few things! J.J. Abrams was the guest editor of this issue of Wired about all things mysterious, a subject in which he is pretty well-versed. Check out the whole issue online or hop over to your local newsstand and see it in its full printed glory.
[Screenshot from Tweetie]
I am oddly fascinated with Twitter. I like the global instant messaging quality. I like when people use it to delight, inform or entertain so I continue to use it. Now, however, I maintain (and I use that term loosely) two different Twitter accounts so I have been on the hunt for applications, plug-ins, etc that make it easy to post and read to both accounts.
Here's my short list:
Pica + Pixel's good friend and graphic designer extraordinaire Travis Cain just released his BFF line through Kidrobot where 9 cute and twisted 3-Inch Mini Figures show that true love is all about pain. 
I just wanted to share with you this awesome new project that I just finished with my husband.
The all-new i-wood is a reaction to everyone using their i-phones/blackberries/other electronic devices in the most irritating ways. We created our own version of these technological travesties to use when your friends/enemies/passing acquaintances are being jerks with their hand-held technology. You can read all about the i-wood and all of it's applications. If you really want one, you can but it for a mere $10.00.
It's also a totally guilt-free purchase too. We use environmentally sustainable Bamboo plywood, EarthFirst degradable bags for packaging and only water-based inks. So, you can not only make fun of you friends but, act eco-friendly and smug while doing it.
So tell all your friends and let us know what you think, we hope you all like it.
(Editor's Note: The i-wood 3B has been reported by such reputable internet sources as WiredNews, CNet and Gizmodo. Cool!)
We posted about Capacity.tv's rebrand of Cartoon Network back in January but I thought you'd enjoy seeing the video montage of all the interstitial clips. Watch it all the way through for cool Halloween and Jedi bits!
[Found on Facebook, originally from The White House Photo Blog.]
Even the President of the United States wants to document moments in his life. For those who care, he's shooting with a Canon SLR -- a digital Rebel, I believe a 5D to be exact.
Four minutes of stop-action brilliance about a papier mache wolf/man and a papier mache pig. Really, its amazing!
Mark Spurgeon of Preserve has been collecting and archiving images of hand-crafted signage found in New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere. The photography is beautiful and his site collects these delicate signs as they slowly fade and are replaced by electric, neon and machine-made pieces.
At the beginning of February, I attended an engaging, funny AIGA talk given by Paul Sahre where he lead us through the mistakes and uncertainties in his illustrative design career. I learned a ton and wished that I could share it with all of you and today, I found out I can. The AIGA has begun to release podcasts of various talks. At 95 minutes, it is a big long, but there are some great chunks of knowledge and advice scattered throughout.
Thanks to the fine folks over at Grain Edit, we have a list of 50 people (or companies) worth following on Twitter, from designers and illustrators to top industry blogs and miscellaneous fun.
Allow me to add a couple of my own:
Neil Gaiman, author extraordinaire.
KidRobot, vinyl toy mecca.
Ashton Kutcher, just because.
Inspiration Boards featured a peek into the work space and mind of J. Otto Siebold recently. Wildly creative and talented, its awesome to hear what inspires and drives his work. Check it out!
Yesterday, Hallmark Cards, Inc. announced an 8% reduction in its American workforce. This number works out to be about 750 people across its distribution, manufacturing and corporate headquarters. As one of the largest employers of creative talent, and my direct source of income, I will continue to report on this as information is made available. Fingers crossed, people.
The Type Directors Club hosts a great event on Thursday, April 23rd where Nancy Harris Rouemy explores the inspiration and the story behind many of her great typographic explorations for The New York Times Magazine and The Lives They Lived Issues. Don't forget to RSVP.
Since we have been so disdainful of the new Pepsi packaging, I thought it only fair to show off some soda packaging we actually like.
[This bottle cap actually features a cola nut tree.]
Culled from Roadsidepictures Soda Pop Collection.
Flickr and Getty join forces to bring Flickr photographers to the stock photography masses. Getty perused Flickr's archives finding their favorite photos and then contacted the photographers to see if they were willing to make the images available for licensing by Getty Images. These photos are now part of the Getty’s Flickr collection which contains rights-managed and royalty-free options at similar prices of Getty's other photos.
Using 4x5 print film, Richard Nicholson has, in warm, vivid light, documented the last remaining professional film darkrooms in London. A dying breed worth acknowledging what skill and craftsmanship they have brought to the art of photography.
[Kudos to Larry Friedman for bringing this to our attention]
Designer Martin Lorenz travels to different cities like Milan, Copenhagen or New York and collaborates a artist in each location to make a 48-page book in one weekend. The first 5 beautiful volumes have been gathered together in one book, The One Weekend Book Series. Grab one today at Amazon.
Great video by SilberStudios.Tv explaining how Ansel Adams' grandson, Matthew Adams, wants to move his grandfather's photography into the 20th century. He recognizes that there is a large market of people who love Adam's photography, but can't afford the steep cost for a print. To solve this problem, the Ansel Adams Gallery plans to start selling high-end digital prints of Adams' work and says the quality is virtually indistinguishable from the originals.
To view the current offerings in the Archival Replica collection, please www.anseladams.com and they are a steal at only $129 per print.
[Poster by Stefano Joker Lionetti]
Because Obama political humor + obscurist design references = solid gold
[Clockwise from top left: Betsy Walton, Blanca Gomez, Lisa Rupp and Kris Chau]
Chronicle Books collected some of their favorite illustrators at the moment into one post full of deliciousness. Very inspiring for such a grey day.
