Gocco replacement?

Ana and I were saddened over a year ago when it was announced that Gocco silkscreen devices wouldn't be made any more. Both of us own and love Goccos so we were devastated when we heard the news. I didn't think anything could fill the Gocco void until I saw the Yudu. The Yudu looks pretty amazing and seems to improve upon the Gocco. I like that the Yudu process mirrors the real process of silkscreen printing. I'd love to get my hands on one and try it out, but I'll have to wait since it's $300 price tag will keep it out of my reach.

Eye Candy: TypeCon Photo Pool

[1. Craig Malmrose, 2. See y’all in LA for TypeCon 2010!, 3. Drive And Walk, 4. Unfinished work, 5. Fat Matt's Rib shack, 6. Practicing my ABC's, 7. Pointing out the obvious, 8. lucid optic lab stencil screen print, 9. mskin8.1]

TypeCon 2009 has passed but it will take you the better part of a year to go through all the 5000+ photos in the TypeCon 2009 pool. If that won't get you psyched for the 2010 TypeCon, then nothing will.

Nonsek, random t-shirt generator

[Randomly generated with Leigh Wells images on Nonsek]

The Nonsek random t-shirt generator is divided into "artist channels" that creates random mash-ups of imagery to be printed on a t-shirt. Don't like a particular design? Hit Remix and try a new mash-up. The site features the artwork of celebrity designers and illustrators like Charles Wilkin, Art Chantry, Decoder Ring, Aesthetic Apparatus and Leigh Wells, to name a few. T-shirts sell for about $20 each and are indiviual printed using a digital printing method.


[Randomly generated with Aesthetic Apparatus images on Nonsek]

Comic-Con 2009 Field Notes by Mr. Walters

[all images © 2009 Mr. Walters, Nerfect.com]

Mr. Walters of Nerfect.com fame put a Field Notes pocket notebook to the test by filling it with doodles and drawings at San Diego Comic-Con this year. Every page is chock full of characters and observations in Mr. Walter's signature style. The detail makes me feel as if I was actually there!

Eye Candy: Creative Holly Color

Creative Holly Color is a collection of color palettes created by artists and designers and hosted in one convenient location for inspiration.



[Link thanks to Erin Mills via the work email tree]

Illustrator: Johnny Yanok

I love the retro vibe, bright colors and twisted, yet cute nature of Johnny Yanok's illustration. The Ohio-based illustrator has worked for everyone from Target to Cartoon Network to Hallmark and works in 2D and 3D mediums.

National Design Policy?

Today the New York Times had a interesting article by Allison Arieff on how a national design policy would help "save time, money and one’s sanity." She argues that a little design intervention on everything from our currency to mortgage loan applications to health care benefits would improve the economy, make us more competitive in the world economony and generally make life better over all.

Mini Goals Chalkboards

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.]

Forget diamonds…

Jewerly only a designer could love from plastique.

Eye Candy: Laura Barnard

[Buy Second Hand, Print by Laura Barnard. Available on Etsy.]

I love when my dishes talk dirty to me

Some fun reworked vintage china by trixie delicious on Etsy. Love how the type works well with the vintage china patterns.

Elevating the ornament

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. This book is filled with history of the heyday of letterpress printing for commercial purposes as well as samples of decorative excesses. What's not to like?

Illustrator: David Weidman

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.

Eye Candy: Lab Partners

I love the retro feel of these illustrations from Lab Partners.

[ via HouseMartin]

Fixing Futura

[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.

Spain's Handmade Art Papers

[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.

Illustrator: Catalina Estrada

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!]

Eye Candy: Vintage Beach Reads

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!

Eye Candy: Ladies of Letterpress

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.