unsolicited opinions on random things
Here’s a challenge – what can you create just by folding paper? I’m not talking about origami – I’m talking about the work of Simon Schubert, a German artist who creates by folding and creasing paper. I wonder what his process is… does he sketch out the layout first? Or does he just start folding and takes it from there?
[via Applied Arts Wire and LivingDesign]
The hand-lettering trend in typography is still going strong, and this typeface caught my eye. Called Strangelove Next, it’s inspired by Stanley Kubricks film “Dr Strangelove”, which featured hand-lettered type in the opening titles.
Strangelove Next features a narrow, wide, and mixed version. And it’s on sale – get all three fonts for $19. That’s a deal.
Over on Inspiredology is a roundup of good looking hotel and resort websites. Finally, two of my favourite things in one place – beautiful hotels and great web design. Drool.
Do you like to look at pretty pictures? I sure do. Here’s a showcase of beautiful photography from Smashing Magazine. Enjoy.
What a cool idea – cut up a book, leaving just the illustrations. These pieces are by German/British artist Alexander Korzer-Robinson.
From the artist: “The cut book art has been made by working through the books, page by page, cutting around some of the illustrations while removing others. The images seen in the finished work, are left standing in the place where they would appear in the complete book. As a final step the book is sealed around the cut, and can no longer be opened. As we remember the books from our own past, certain fragments remain with us while others fade away over time – phrases and passages, mental images we created, the way the stories made us feel and the thoughts they inspired.”
Makes me wanna get out my scissors. Bad idea.
[via Ready Made Editors Notes and Wooster Collective]
I don’t often design letterhead, but if I was going to, I’d check this site often. Letterheady is a roundup of cool letterhead. Most of it is vintage. Like the amazingly sparse letterhead of John Wayne, above.
Another design book to covet… Penguin Books’ longtime Art Director Paul Buckley has chosen 75 of the best Penguin book covers over the past 75 years. Here’s the book. Here’s an interview with Paul Buckley over at Design:Related. And if like me, you’re feeling so inspired by rad book cover design that you want to try your own hand at it, Uppercase Mag is doing a call for submissions. Design a book cover that represents you (are you a mystery? classic? romance?) and it might be featured in the Fall edition of the magazine.
Yesterday I received the MyFonts “Rising Stars” email newsletter for July. As usual, it was full of gorgeous typefaces. I guess that impulsive type purchases are not a normal thing, but in my world, it’s so hard to resist…
Two typefaces from the newsletter really stood out for me – one from Argentina called Lady Rene (it’s the top image above). Doesn’t it remind you of script from an Edward Gorey illustration? For the right project, this font could be really fun. It’s $59 though, and I wonder how much use I would get out of it. I think for now, I’ll take Lady Rene for inspiration – I’m going to try to do some hand lettering that’s similar.
The other typeface I noticed was Monarcha – a really versatile serif for lots of text (see picture above, of Monarcha in a book). The cool part is all the OpenType features – small caps, fractions, ligatures, etc. This would be a great typeface for a large project that needs a lot of options. But at $215 for the 8-font set, it’s gonna have to wait.
Like I need another design book. I can hardly get through the ones I already have! But this one sounds so good… printmaking, letterpress and graphic design. Amazing! Click here for info…
I love working from home. It’s my favourite part of my job. I exploit it to its maximum potential – I usually stay in my pyjamas until about 2pm, I occasionally watch TV in the middle of the day, and take breaks whenever I feel like it, to run errands, walk the dog, or just plain slack off. I know some freelancers that need an office outside their home in order to get anything done – they really need that physical separation of work space and home space. But not me – all I need is a separate room.
My office has been in the same configuration for 2 years, and I’m itching for a change. A few months ago I added a giant computer and a couch to the room. But something still feels off. I’m gonna think about it and see what I can come up with. In the meantime, I’m taking inspiration from this roundup of 25 awesome office spaces, featured on Design*Sponge.