Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens

Over the weekend, I finally had the chance to visit Isaiah Zagar’s sprawling artistic wonderland, tucked away along South Street. I have known about Zagar’s work for a while now, and have seen it on buildings, in stairwells, and out in the open in the rest of the city - but never visited the Magic Gardens themselves until Saturday.

You could spend hours (days, really) scoping out all of the hidden parts of the space.  We spent some time exploring inside, then spent the majority of the time outside, working our way through the labyrinth of tunnels, caves, walkways, and gardens. 

Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens | 1020 South Street, Philadelphia PA 19147 | http://www.phillymagicgardens.org/

Paper Critter, v2.0

Unfortunately, I don’t remember exactly what my first Paper Critter looked like, but I was excited to take a stab at it, many years after the first attempt.  I took the second opportunity to add in some of my design work, and some of my personal branding to this edition of my paper critter.

I wanted the paper critter to be a mix of myself and my inspiration: color, simplicity, nature, my deer screen print, and geometric shapes.

HOW WE DID IT — SNL TITLE SEQUENCE

Woah.  I always love seeing new title sequences (or adjustments to existing ones) - so I was interested to see the revamped style for Season 40 of SNL.

In Alex’s post, he goes through much of the team’s process to create new images and the technology used to do so.

My jaw dropped when I saw how they achieved this… it’s mind-boggling to think about the contraption/calculations needed to create the flashing light mechanism which ends up light-writing the show’s title.

A real treat to peak behind the curtain.

At The New Yorker’s Midtown offices, a wall of covers arranged in chronological order shows a distinct change in tone. Today, the magazine’s covers, which have been drawn or painted by artists each week since its founding in 1925, frequently reflect, or subvert, the news.

The turning point is around Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Remnick said, when The New Yorker ran a black cover with a black silhouette of the twin towers, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Art Spiegelman, who has long collaborated with his wife and the magazine’s art editor, Françoise Mouly.

A great article about magazine cover design, illustration, and process. 

prettycolors:

#0a5157

bookcovrs:

Eiko Ojala

This cover for The Lovely Bones is a fantastic reimagining of the original cover from 12 years ago. I like the continuation of the same general color palette, and think the use of (simulated?) cut paper is extremely effective and playful.  While I think the cover would probably work with just the cloud and text, I am happy the designer referenced the main character and a key plot location for the book.

I wonder if the cut paper is simulated or if it was cut by laser…..or even better, by hand!

Type Safari with James Victore

This is really fun and feels very relatable.  James and his driver are clearly driving around REAL parts of a city (in this case Brooklyn and Queens) - seeing that wonderful mix of big name brands and smaller outfits, with both beautiful and sometimes unimagined design.  

I’d love to do this in Philadelphia. *starts thinking*

Found via The Casual Optimist

Album Art / CD Cover Designs

In choosing these 10 album covers, I tried to select 10 that would ultimately catch my eye if I saw them in a store or advertised online or in person. Many of the covers feature photography and typography working simultaneously to create one final composition.  In these covers, I wanted examples of the typography adding to the cover, and not looking like an afterthought.

With the more experimental and illustrative covers, I tried to select different styles - all which feel very appropriate to the tone/genre of the music. With the Grizzly Bear and the Shins albums in particular, the illustration styles are geometric and experimental.  These two album covers also utilize the famous rule-of-thirds. 

Björk always manages to produce absolutely vivid, striking, and bizarre covers that often come off looking as if they belong in a high-fashion editorial magazine. For some other examples of her artwork, click here and here.

jedavu:

Fashion illustrations from Dadu Shin

Found this set of illustrations this morning on Behance and really responded to Dadu’s sense of whimsy and form in these illustrations.  I enjoy how weird, geometric, and energetic they are.  The color/print/texture really jump off the page.

lamski:

BEAUTIFUL PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN POSTERS.

For a poster series illustrating ten principles of great design, these are - appropriately - beautifully designed. Otherwise it would have been a bit awkward.

Created by Turkish graphic designer Efil Türk using only paper cuttings, these explore the concepts of hierarchy, rhythm, balance, pattern, proportions, space, emphasis, contrast, movement and unity in stunning fashion.

Admire, and learn, below and visit Efil’s Behance page for more great work.

I love these posters so much.  The posters are playful and really capture each of the principles.  I’m drawn to the cut paper look, and admire Efil’s stunning craft. 

My favorite posters are “Pattern” and “Emphasis”. 

TONE | Trent Jaklitsch

Interesting (and oddly erotic) video shows the complex beauty of mixing paint. I love the editing of the video - the way the music is timed perfectly with the dynamic and vibrant shots of the up close paint. 

Airbnb Rebrands

This is a phenomenal example of the rebrand upgrade.  The thought, creativity, design, and ingenuity established in the mark is followed through in the full rebrand.  

How to Eat Your Way Through San Francisco: A Visual Diary

[L to R] - all taken with iPhone, more SF photographs taken with real camera to come!

In-N-Out Burger | 333 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94133
Well, my first real (layovers don’t count) trip to California, wouldn’t be complete without a visit to In-N-Out.  I was pleased to find out that the one In-N-Out location outside of Southern California, was in the heart of the tourist area of San Francisco, where my friends and I spent most of our first day.  The burger was quite good - juicy, flavorful, and meaty. The fries were salty and delicious.  I can’t decide whether I prefer In-N-Out or Shake Shack.  (I guess i have to settle on Shake Shack for my proximity.)

Balompie Café | 3349 18th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
San Francisco is a sprawling, diverse, exciting food city.  My friend Joe said that we had to try a pupusa (traditional Salvadorian dish) while we were visiting. This delicious combination of cornmeal dough and filling (chorizo + cheese, mixed bean + cheese in my case) was so flavorful and so simple.  Handmade and served with rice and the most incredible beans I’ve ever had, this was the perfect late lunch after an exhausting hike through Muir Woods.

Dear Mom (S+M Vegan Chefs brunch pop-up) | 2700 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
My friends and I headed to Dear Mom (around the corner from where I was staying) for brunch on Saturday.  Unbeknownst to us, Dear Mom does not serve brunch on their own - instead, they feature a rotation of pop-up brunch menus prepared by local chefs and restaurants.  During our visit brunch was being served by S+M Vegan Chefs.  I ordered this beautiful creation: avocado toast with a hash made from roasted potatoes and peppers.  The gravy over top was dark and flavorful (possibly utilizing coffee? I can’t exactly remember.) Plus, those avocado slices! *swoon*

Nopalita | 1224 9th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122
Described as a ‘sustainable organic Mexican kitchen’, Nopalita sits right outside of Golden Gate Park, and served as the perfect lunch spot after we spent a few hours wandering the de Young Museum in the park (go see the Modernist exhibit!) I ordered the Torta Pambazo, a chili-dipped sandwich with chorizo, potatoes, avocados, cabbage, queso fresco, crema and salsa escabeche.  This incredible sandwich was served with hand-cut, house-made Kennebec potato chips.  The chips were thick, crispy, and salty.  The sandwich was balanced and had a nice blend of the spice from the chili and chorizo, paired with the creaminess of the avocado and queso fresco. Not pictured: the best popsicle I’ve ever had: a house-made dark chocolate + cinnamon popsicle. 

Outerlands | 4001 Judah St, San Francisco, CA 94122
The four of us stopped here for brunch before driving up to Muir Woods.  The menu isn’t overloaded with options, but instead opts for classics, like my fried eggs + bacon, and a mix of house-made breads/sweets/pastries (see below.) My fried eggs and bacon were placed on a huge piece of toast, which was crispy, and worked nicely with the salty bacon.  The dijon vinaigrette on the greens was a great touch as well. 

Woodhouse Fish Co. | 2073 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94114
Admission: I’ve never had a lobster roll before. I’ve seen the light and I’m not looking back.  This lobster roll (a favorite of my friend, Joe) was meaty, buttery, loaded with bright flavors, and flat out incredibly delicious.  The fries are super salty, but the real star of the show is the lobster roll.  (This was the “small” lobster roll on the menu.  While I am sure I could have eaten the “large” I am happy I opted for the small - I don’t know if I would function properly after that much butter and mayonnaise.)

Outerlands | 4001 Judah St, San Francisco, CA 94122
Because my friends Joe & John were raving about their breads/sweets/pastries, I spotted the 'Soft Pretzel’ option from a mile away and didn’t think twice.  Being from Philadelphia, I take soft pretzels very seriously.  This was a loose interpretation of a Philadelphia-flavored soft pretzel, but was in the right ballpark.  It appears more like a croissant, but is filled with cheese and bacon.  

Susan Kare, Iconographer (EG8)

Terrific presentation by Susan Kare on her icon design career and process.  Truly inspiring to see how such memorable and ubiquitous images were created, from concept to use.

escapekit:

Papers for Characters

Spanish design studio Atipo has created a collection of minimalistic movie posters that are made from paper. 

Awesome. 

via yoko-art

This is so cool.

The Best of Vertical Gardening via Apartment Therapy

casaltaxavier:

The entire collection of “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” made with 0.10mm - 0.35mm - 0.70mm dots.

This collection was made for a workshop and a conference that I held in the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point during the NowHere conference, an annual event organized by the UWSP-AIGA chapter.

More  details on Behance

Limited edition prints are available - Store

Casalta Xavier
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I am blown away at this.  If I am ever 5% as talented, patient, and dedicated as Casalta Xavier…

Little: Ephemera

Design goals.

via DesignWorkLife

Font Men - SXSW 2014 Official Selection