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Recently Collected Graphical Ephemera

Art — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:38:25 +0000

For your viewing pleasure:

Fruity and Nutty Typeface from the 1970s

Art — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:32:31 +0000

Noted without comment:

Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie

Art — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 20:58:45 +0000

Ready for another visually and intellectually stimulating time suck? Look no further than the wonderfully rambling blog Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie where said junkie Lew Jaffe shows off his personal collection of bookplates—which go way beyond those timid Papyrus “ex libris” stickers—as well as other related bits of graphical ephemera and goes on wild hare tangents that both inform and amuse. Seriously, any fans of spot color printing, woodcut, engraving and etching, hand-lettering, illustration and graphic design in general will find this otherwise modest blog to be pure design inspiration.

The Lustigs: A Cover Story – Exhibition at AIGA National Design Center

Art — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 20:06:36 +0000

If ever I yearned to be in New York City in the winter it was now. On display now through February 15 the AIGA National Design Center in New York hosts The Lustigs: A Cover Story, described by AIGA as “an encyclopedic exhibition of the Lustigs’ design work.” Lovers of visual junk already know I’m a fan of the Lustigs’ work and so my excitement about this should come as no surprise. Their individual graphical styles seemed to complement each other’s, which one might expect in a husband and wife dynamic. However, both Elaine’s and Alvin’s work stand strongly as individual bodies in and of themselves.

What makes this particular exhibition shine is that many of the works are presented in final form — meaning that, in addition to the usual framed, precious-objects-behind-glass, many works appear as vintage printed books mounted to the walls (see inset). Such a presentation makes a world of difference; like seeing the actual Mona Lisa rather than a picture in a book — no matter how beautifully it was reproduced. See you in New York!

New Bock Beer Labels – Cult of the Goat

Art — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:18:54 +0000

I’ve just added some new label scans to the Cult of the Goat bock beer labels gallery. It’s now up to 74 gruesome, goofy, and plain old weird looking goat-adorned labels from American breweries—like the one here from Fort Pitt Brewery, which resembles something out of a ’70s Salem witch trials movie. Enjoy!

Alex Steinweiss Cover Art – Morton Gould for Columbia Records

Art — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 22:36:55 +0000

Here’s a beauty that came to me via a friend and fellow 45 collector—an Alex Steinweiss cover for a box of Morton Gould 7-inch records on Columbia. Here’s the wonderful Steinweiss script we’ve come to love contrasted against some microscopic Futura type amid some rather basic geometric line art. Simple and beautiful and a great example of Steinweiss’ thin-line, slightly jittery, script lettering. Enjoy!

Alex Steinweiss Album Covers (in the wild)

Art — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:20:26 +0000

I found these two Alex Steinweiss-designed and illustrated album covers gathering dust in a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in South Austin. None of his beautiful, signature, curly script, but still fun nonetheless. They’re still there, so go grab ‘em!

Texas Tray Postcard

Art — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:19:34 +0000

Here’s one of the stranger items I’ve stumbled upon in my dustbin diving. Apparently, you used to be able to stick a stamp on just about anything and mail it—including this aluminum Tray Postcard adorned with all of the highlights one could handle on their trip to the Lone Star State. There’s no indication of when this was created nor whether any were actually mailed or delivered to their intended recipients. Just a slice of potential postal history that managed to survive relatively unscathed. Seen one in the wild? Or, even better, received one?

Robert J. Lang Origami Bugs

Art — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 21:59:35 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of seeing an exhibit of Robert J. Lang’s exquisite origami at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. If you’re not familiar with Mr. Lang’s work do yourself a favor and check out the wonderful documentary Between the Folds, which aired on PBS a while back and featured numerous other origami artists such as the master himself, Akira Yoshizawa. Robert J. Lang also has a TED talk where he discusses his process in greater detail. There are differing opinions on what origami should or should not be about. Some are more theoretical and technical while others are more esoteric and aesthetic. Lang clearly skates a line between the traditional and the contemporary, but, being a physicist, you can tell which way he might lean. I personally have no opinion and, regardless of which camp you tend to run with, there’s no denying the beauty in Lang’s work…or his process, which is a single uncut square sheet of paper merely creased and folded. Again and again.

What caught my particular fancy in this exhibit were both his printed fold and crease patterns and his bugs. Creepy crawlers are incredibly well suited origami subjects as you can see in these photos I snapped below. Enjoy.

baia Instamount Photo Cube

Art — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:23:37 +0000

I’m a sucker for 1950s color advertising photography, with its over-saturated colors and idyllic subjects and scenery. The packaging for the baia Instamount Photo Cube was no let down in this respect. Looking like scenes from bygone family-oriented TV shows the sides of this box, which held a once ubiquitous acrylic photo cube, wreak of family values and WASPy middle American life. The eye-catcher for me, though, was the simple 3-color baia logo set in a bold, slightly extended version of Clarendon. It feels rather modern for such a classic and commonly used typeface perhaps due to the even/odd interplay of the flipped words’ alternating characters. I owned a baia 8mm film editor some time ago and never paid much mind to the faded, black logo on it. I’d surely have kept the thing if the logo had appeared like this.