There's wisdom in these words and beauty in the type

I like these quotes, even more so with the type done by Pogo, a design/art boutique in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Free Yourself

I love this one too- especially to the new Adele song. It's empowering. Maybe next time I need motivation to work out, I'll just watch a couple Nike commercials!

Moleskine+Screen Printing

Moleskine Silk Screen Printing from Moleskine ® on Vimeo.

(Video by Alvise Tedesco, music by Kevin MacLeod.) More details on the process here.

Why Coke is dope:

Coca-Cola is taking it to the streets. Free happiness all around! (I love that they also give out random things amidst the bottles too.)

Brazil:

The Philippines:

Ireland is a separate country.

I'm glad this is explained. Let it be known that it is a grave misconception to regard Ireland as part of Great Britain or the United Kingdom. Also, the narrator of this video should rap if he has more rhythm.

The Blank Page

I don't usually read web comics, but Incidental Comics by Grant Snider is pretty cute.

Desiron Chalk Art from Dana Tanamachi on Vimeo.

Dana Tanamachi, a Brooklyn native designer, draws exquisite typography with chalk. (And I do believe that she likes to have a Coca-Cola close by when she creates too!)

Happy birthday, Kurt Cobain!

Kurt Cobain would have been 44 today.

"Enabling fine gentlemen to get messy"

We have had some gorgeous weather lately, and I'm actually starting to welcome sun, warmth, and summer (in the past, I have adamantly loved rain and storms). I sat outside the other day with iced peach tea in a handmade mug and wrote a letter. I'm taking daily walks to enjoy these days as best I can. I'm looking forward to that summer smell in the air and the lightning bugs dotting twilight.

Another great part of summer is grilling. Thomas Hayes designed this barbeque kit, Proper BBQ, featured on Lovely Package.

“Proper BBQ, enabling fine gentlemen to get messy. The range of products are essentials for the BBQ mad gentleman or the lavish messy hungry man, they were designed with a big bold punchy flavor in mind. Each product allows the user to get crazy and splash some charisma into their food, allowing each item to be generously applied."

The Johnny Cash Project

This global collective art project invites anyone to draw a frame to be submitted into a music video of "Ain't No Grave", Cash's last studio recording. The project will be completed in 1318 frames streamed together to make an animation by fans and contributors, directed by Chris Milk. Check it out, and contribute, if you want!

Menosunocerouno's Pepper branding

The guys at Menosunocerouno, a design agency based in Mexico, have really nice and simple designs. Most of their work is done in just black and white- uncomplicated, but expertly done. Here is a branding package done for Pepper, a kitchen+bar. It is reminiscent of Art Deco, but has an eye-catching modern twist. It's upscale and exquisite, but with a fun side too.

Menosunocerouno's branding for Basanti also caught my eye. You can see more on Behance as well.

Calligraphy is sexy.

Beautiful calligraphy from Frank Ortmann of Freies Graphik Design, designed for Max Goldt's L'Eglise des Crocodiles. Seeing his process is interesting and relaxing too. I enjoy elegant script, and I'm a bit afraid that the value of penmanship is fading.

The Waterhouse Gallery in Santa Monica, CA has a great exhibition (Great American Figurative Artists 2010) with a good variety of figure paintings. Here are a few of my favorites:

Fongwei Liu, "Black Bandana"

Stan Moeller, "The Pool"

Mark Lague, "Walking In Winter"

Jacquelyn Bischak, "Zephyrus"

Hain Yao Tseng, "Keira"

Tony Riff draws

I love watching someone draw (and the video is well-shot). This is Tony Riff, and he's got style.

Tony Riff from itdrewitself on Vimeo.

Greenville, SC- Represent!

Some interesting typography was done under D.A. Sanborn, a surveyor who compiled insurance maps. Find many more headings and letterforms cropped from the maps (1865-1920) at BibliOdyssey.

An outreach program that has me saying "Hallelujah!"

Stephen Powers, a.k.a. ESPO (Exterior Surface Painting Outreach) is producing a documentary film in collaboration with Joey Garfield and the Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia. The book was published not long ago. Powers' work was featured in the Venice and Liverpool Biennials, and the Deitch gallery in New York. In 2007, he won a Fulbright Program grant and used it to paint murals in Belfast and Dublin with local teenagers.

A Love Letter For You is a project by Stephen Powers with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and is sponsored by the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative (check out the murals). 50 walls were painted between 63rd and 45th on Market Street. Powers has also tackled a Love Letter to Syracuse.

In case you didn't get enough...

Lovely letterpress valentines by 9 Spot Monk:





and Wiley Valentine:

Love Against Hate

Nice book covers by the Great Paul Rand (my favorite is the last, Love Against Hate). Some enlightening essays and thoughts on design by Mr. Rand can be found here.

Love Potion No. 9

I always tried to picture how "Love Potion Number 9" (from the song released in 1959) would be packaged, and this is one variation. It turned into some odd kind of valentine card. I wanted to have fun drawing letters and doing some prints again. I loved it so much, I'm buying more linoleum and making more linocuts.

Happy Valentine's Day!