An Amazing Photo of Inaugural Address

This photo is crazy cool of President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address by David Bergman. This photo is made up of 220 Canon G10 images and the file is 59,783 X 24,658 pixels or 1,474 megapixels. It took more than six and a half hours for the Gigapan software to put together all of the images and the completed TIF file is almost 2 gigabytes. You can zoom in and see President Bush with a great expression and watch Justice Thomas catching what looks like a nap. Click here to view and zoom into this image. To learn more about this process go to Gigapan.

Engraving at Crain Paper

Ever wonder just how paper engraving happens? View this film to learn more about the process. To order your own visit Crane.

Museum of Letters - Berlin

Since May 2005, the Buchstabenmuseum (German: Museum of Letters) organization has been rescuing typographic icons of our time. Today, the Buchstabenmuseum preserves an immense collection of historical letters from all over Berlin and beyond. Core 77 has put up a display of 48 images from the museum that can be seen here. Click here to visit the Buchstabenmuseum site.

(via Core 77)

The Art of The Little - Thomas Doyle

I stumbled upon Thomas Doyle's art and love it. Doyle uses a twisted world of the small to express his artwork. The "little displays" are compelling and fascinating to view. The art is complex and thought provoking in the world of miniature. To view his many works of art go to his site at this link.
Thomas Doyle states the following on his website-

"My work mines the debris of memory through the creation of intricate worlds sculpted in 1:43 scale and smaller. Often sealed under glass, the works depict the remnants of things past—whether major, transformational experiences, or the quieter moments that resonate loudly throughout a life. In much the way the mind recalls events through the fog of time, the works distort reality through a warped and dreamlike lens.

The pieces’ radically reduced scales evoke feelings of omnipotence—as well as the visceral sensation of unbidden memory recall. Hovering above the glass, the viewer approaches these worlds as an all-seeing eye, looking down upon landscapes that dwarf and threaten the figures within.

Conversely, the private intensity of moments rendered in such a small scale draws the viewer in, allowing for the intimacy one might feel peering into a museum display case or dollhouse. Though surrounded by chaos, hazard, and longing, the figures’ faces betray little emotion, inviting viewers to lose themselves in these crucibles—and in the jumble of feelings and memories they elicit.

The glass itself contains and compresses the world within it, seeming to suspend time itself—with all its accompanying anguish, fear, and bliss. By sealing the works in this fashion, I hope to distill the debris of human experience down to single, fragile moments. Like blackboxes bobbing in the flotsam, these works wait for discovery, each an indelible record of human memory."

I'm a Designer and .....

Add your comments on being a designer at I'm a Designer and ...

Mid-Century Design

Looking for an interesting article about Mid-Century design about the masters George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames and Jens Risom? Check out this link to Lushpad for a reprint of an article published in Playboy from 1961. It is a fascinating read.

Life is Beautiful Office Max Ad

This well done ad for Office Max has been seen lately on TV using great graphics and design.

Now We Call Him Mr. President

Barach Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America.
Images from ABC broadcast earlier today.

Inaugural Souvenirs

It seems D.C. is going crazy with souvenir shops popping up faster then the DNC can pack up Bush's boxes. Look at this photo gallery over at Yahoo! to view all the treasures. All this excitement will make my next trip to Washington fun. I will be on the look out for an Obama Snowglobe for my collection.

Inaugural Invites for Obama

Precise Continental, a printing company in Brooklyn, NY, was asked to print a million invites to Obama's Inaugural on Tuesday.

"They’re engraved on Neenah's CLASSIC CREST® Papers Recycled 100 Natural White. The finished size of the invitation is 8 ½ X 11. The text is fully copper-plate engraved in the deepest black ink. The inaugural seal is engraved in gold and then the gold is multi-level embossed with a hand-crafted die. "

To read more check out this article at HOW magazine.

(via HOW magazine)

Help Bush Pack

Only a few more days until President Bush leaves the White House. You can help him pack up at this website. "Texas or Bust" was seen on the bumper of a U-haul driving around D.C. I am told.

London Tap Water Glass Carafe

The City of London in an effort to promote the consumption of tap water developed a contest to design a new water carafe for use in restaurants. The winning entry was completed by Neil Barron. Neil Barron’s design with its four pouring spouts is ‘drip-free’ and helps to trap ice when pouring. Neil describes his carafe as: “tall, tapered and elegant, yet contemporary like an inverted rocket.”

Environmental campaigner, Tony Juniper, said: “This is a beautiful design. It will serve as an attractive and durable reminder to Londoners that we have a perfectly good source of water flowing through our taps, and how by drinking this instead of bottled water, we can cut down on waste and greenhouse gas emissions.”

Tap Top will be mass manufactured in England in January, ready to sell to the capital’s thousands of restaurants, bars and cafes in Spring 2009.

To read more go to the London on Tap website.

National Theatre UK Posters

The National Theatre located in London has put up a website that explores theatre posters used to promote their shows. The collection contains over 650 posters from the 1960's until today. The theatre posters are a wonderful examples of design for public events and how styles have developed for the last 40 years. This period represents a time with major advances in design, illustration and photography transpired. Click here to view the National Theatre poster collection. Enjoy this great accumulation of posters and save me a seat for the show.

(via aisleone)

Olympic Poster Collection

I know the Olympics where a few months back and the Winter Games will not be until next year but I had to pass along this great resource. The collection of Olympic Posters and Advertising starts with the 1896 games and goes until today. The vast collection of over 3,100 works is easy to navigate and explore with great images. The site is a great resource to see the ever changing design of posters for over a hundred years. To view the collection visit the Olympic Poster Collection here.

Celebration of Martin Luther King

Today we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968). Rev. King was fundamental in the civil rights development of our country. It was his vision that has helped our country to advance to where we are today; a country that will next week welcome in the first African America as President. It is only through the works of Rev. King and many others that we are finally becoming not a civilization made up on many colors but a civilization made up of the human race.

Today, I challenge all designers to put their skills to work and create a work that exemplifies the thought of coming together as one race, the human race. Together we can use our craft and passion to continue the forward progress that Martin Luther King Jr. started those many years ago. This is my example above to get us going.

May Martin Luther King’s dream of peace, equality, hope, and love become a part of our everyday life.

2008 Feltron Annual Report

The 2008 Feltron Annual Report in now available. The report now in it's fourth year tells of the daily life of NICHOLAS FELTON. If you are looking for great information graphics this is the guy to learn from. Make sure you click on the images to enlarge to see the details. Seems like Nicholas' travel miles where down this year. His work is fabulous and can be view at fetron.com and megafone. The prior annual reports are also available on the website. Congratulations to Nicholas for keeping track of all these details. So how much time does it take to write it all down Nicholas?

Even More Like the Pepsi Logo

I have blogged about the "new" Pepsi logo in the past here and how it is like the Korean Air logo but I have a new twist. I was looking around the net and found this logo for Rotana TV which is even closer to the "new" Pepsi logo. The difference is even more remarkable then the Korean Air logo. Above are two versions of the Rotana TV logo that I was able to find. I have to wonder how much time and money was actually spend on this "new" Pepsi logo. I know for what Pepsi must have spend on this "new" branding a better solution should be found. Maybe next time they should give me a call. And if Coke is thinking of changing, give me a call and I will tell you not to change at all for a small consulting fee.

Pimp My Laptop

iamhuman has released these great add ons for your laptops. They range in price from $30 to $45. On the website they state:

Each iamhuman cover is tailored to fit your mac's specific model and size. We craft each piece from quality fabrics and authentic wood veneers. Professional grade 3M adhesive adheres the cover to your laptop and allow you to remove it whenever you are ready to change it up without leaving a sticky residue.

The covers are made with wood veneers and fabrics and come in several options and fit for your laptop. Love to get a sample of the walnut for a MacBook Pro 15"and show it off at the college I teach at. It would make "cool". To see the complete line go to this link.

Like X-ray Glasses - Transparent Gadgets

Love these transparent gadgets found at Toxel.com. The refrigerator is cool. (pun intended).

(via Toxel.com)

Travel Graphics 20's and 30's

This is a wonderful travel graphics collection put together by David Levine at TravelBrochureGraphics.com. The collection is full of scans from travel brochures, maps, luggage labels, time tables for trains and airlines, and advertising. The vast majority of this collection comes from the 1920's and 1930's. This site is well worth the time to look around, be inspired, and refill your passion for design. Enjoy and dream of that long European vacation at this link.