HI + LOW

A NICE PAIR

Swiss publisher Nieves has collaborated with Printed Matter in an exhibit featuring a full retrospective of Nieves' zine program since 2004, and will include a selection of their books published since their founding. These guys are great. *[Opening: Sat, April 4, 5-7pm at Printed Matter, NYC.]

MEET HARVEY

This past February, my friends (Mara Papa, Katie Hatch) and I started HARVEY FAIRCLOTH, a fashion line which debuted at NYC's D&A with great response. The Fall 2009 collection is inspired by Alexey Brodovitch, Native American beading, The Seven Year Itch, Claire McCardell, and everything we've always loved to wear. Available in August. *[More here.]

FREE STORE

In the 1960s, a group called the Diggers opened numerous Free Stores in SF's Haight-Ashbury and NYC's East 10th Street in which all items were free for the taking or giving. Today, in NYC's Financial District we have the recently opened Free Store, started by two artists, where goods can be had by bartering. [*Check it out here.]

 

QUARTER BACK

My good friends, Mary & Matt, posted this on their blog and titled it "Business in the front, party in the back." NICE! They happened upon it digging for change while doing their laundry. More painted coins here, here, and here -- but not the same. *[Anyone know the story behind these coins?]

20 BUCKS

Jason Polan will be drawing pictures of things Saturday, March 14 from 11am to 6pm in the window of Partners & Spade. You can come get a drawing of almost anything you want or request a surprise and the artist will try as hard as he can to draw the thing you will like the most. *[Guaranteed fun! Drawings $20.]

SHOP + GALLERY

Last night was the opening of the new Partners & Spade space/gallery/store at 40 Great Jones Street. They invited gallery owners, designers, artists, and creatives to share their work and collections. These include Mike Mills, Maira Kalman, JP Williams, Jason Polan, Mary&Matt, Mister Mort, and me. *[Go and take a look.] Photos via The Scout.

GOLD LETTER

I bought a pack of these 1" high, gold, Helvetica Font, Peel & Stick Vinyl Uppercase Letters from Staples a few years back. They can be used for almost anything. And they stick to any surface, too. *[Use on paper, glass, metal, plastic].

3-PLY TIE

The Dress For Dinner Napkin, designed by Héctor Serrano, sure is clever. Tuck one of these napkins into your collar and instantly transform yourself from scruffy so-and-so to a prim and proper gentleman. *[Comes in 2 different stripes, solid, and polka dot; pack of 20.]

BLACK + WHITE

Some of these 1-color business cards have been sitting in a jar on a shelf for many years. A few of these businesses are no longer in NYC (AD HOC + Ordning & Reda). My favorite card, St. Luke's Thrift Shop, was passed along to me by my friend Erik. *[Thanks!]

GREY DAY

Winter is HERE. To lighten the mood and keep warm, pick-up a pair of these JACK SPADE, limited edition, moustache gloves featuring an American-style moustache on one hand and a French-style on the other hand. More colors available. *[Hold finger under your nose and ENJOY.]

P-L-A-Y

Songs I've had on heavy rotation in 2008: [1] New Schools: The Sea and Cake, [2] Official: Q-Tip, [3] Athene: Hercules and Love Affair, [4] I'm Still Waiting: Bob Marley, [5] Wait for the Summer: Yeasayer, [6] Baltimore: Nina Simone, [7] Onde Eu Nasci Passa Um Rio: Caetano Veloso, [8] Shake It Off: Kelly Makeda, [9] Move: CSS, [10] Tropical Island: Melpo Mene, [11] Do For The Others: Crosby, Stills & Nash, [12] Into Brooklyn, Early in the Morning: The Innocence Mission. *ENJOY!

HOLIDAY MATTER

From 1946 to 1966, Herbert Matter was a design consultant for Knoll where he designed the Knoll logo, numerous advertisements, posters, and catalogs. *[For Knoll's 60th birthday, NB:Studio came up with this version of the original logo for the 1998 Knoll Christmas card.]

NEON GREETINGS

Neon signs were developed by Georges Claude. The first public display of a neon sign was in December 1910 at the Paris Expo. In 1912, the first commercial sign was sold by Claude’s associate to a Paris barber. *Pick up a copy of the book "Let There Be Neon" [1980] or these holiday cards.

 

A BEAUTY

With days as cold as today, man, I wish I had one of these. This "MISS NEW YORK" scarf (and for the west coast gals, a "MISS CALIFORNIA" one in green) is available in kate spade stores. *This was a project I worked on in my last days as a member of the kate spade creative team.

LINKED

The paper chain's history began in England during the reign Queen Victoria from 1837-1901. Victorian children made ornaments, such as stars and doves, from paper or foil and festive colored chains from strips of paper as their contribution to the family's Christmas decorating. *[More paper art ideas here.]

HOLIDAY STRIPES

This Marimekko striped textile was designed by Maija & Kristina Isola from the Winter 2008/2009 fabric collection. Pattern: Aino (1979). Material: 100% cotton velvet [Stripes do not repeat]. Priced and sold by the yard @ $68/yd.

3D TO 2D

Salvor is a graphic project which first began about 3 years ago in a basement studio below the sidewalk on Prince Street right off the Bowery. They printed all kinds of things from wall treatments to t-shirts to yukata to doll-like sculptures. *[Sample Sale Dec. 6th | 13 Essex Street, NYC!]

 

DRAW-A-THON

Jason Polan is nice and he loves to draw. His most recent project is Thrilla in Manila: Jane Mount vs. Jason Polan -- a no holds barred draw-a-thon at Jen Bekman Gallery. Drawing Hours: 12/03/08 - 12/06/08, Noon - 6pm. *Swing by.

MINI SHOP

Andy Beach of REF­ER­ENCE LIBRARY will bring his blog into the 3rd dimen­sion with a 10-day-long shop at KIOSK that opens on Friday. *[A few booklets of patriotic, vintage stamps I put together will be available in the shop.]

PIE CHARTS

Finally, a way to really fudge the numbers. The Chocolate Pie Chart is a candy chart made of 70% milk, 20% dark and 10% white chocolate. It's a completely new way to digest the numbers. Unless you eat it in one sitting. *Now for sale in Mary & Matt's General Store.

HI-FIVE

My friends over at kate spade have been busy designing clever, new, soft goods -- all handcrafted by women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Buy a pair and "directly support a woman as she rebuilds her life, family, and community." Wonderful.

PEN + PAPER

Below are a few illustrations I have done for Madewell over the past months. It has been nice to be able to work, every now and then, with just pen and paper. You should try it.

BEATRIX

These stamps are from this online collection featuring the work of 19 designers. They depict the Dutch Queen Beatrix [1981]. Design by Peter Struycken. Letters and numbers by Gerard Unger.

VANS II

From the Vans Fall/Winter 2008 Collection now at Colette. Colored soles and double pairs of laces. Color: Ripstop Blue. *[Check out Colette's guest blogs here -- nice to see a friend, Chad Buri, posting his finds.]

 

NEWS

Every month I design a new issue of Madewell Musings, a monthly newspaper and calendar put out by the J.Crew owned store, Madewell. There're always fun events going on in their NYC store. [Take a look.]

ANIME

This beautiful, dimensional typography was created by Filip Tydén as a catalogue cover for the Animation Dept. at the Royal College of Art, 2007. Filip is also looking for a job.

LOVE, DAD

Exhibition designer Robert Guest has been getting up at dawn every school day for the past 15 years to write a note to each of his two children, Joanna and Theo. Here are some of the thousands of letters he wrote. [Esopus, Spring 2008]

FOR HIRE

These 1- and 2-color business cards were at one point left tucked into the front door of our apartment building here in Brooklyn. This kind of everyday design makes me smile :) [And I L-O-V-E the hearts.]

STUFF

My friend Gillian designed this poster when we were both working at Kate and Jack Spade. A great collection of objects -- some of which were Gillian's own -- all of which collectively capture the brand's aesthetic. [Nice stuff.]

PKGNG

This is the packaging for the brand new figure set designed by French artist Genevieve Gauckler. It was created to celebrate her last exhibition in Japan called "Tokyo 41% Paris 59%". [Limited Edition]

CAFETERIA

I remember when I paid 10 cents at school for a small carton of milk. Those were the days. [“Hamburger, Popsicle, Price” by Claes Oldenburg, 1962. Materials: Enamel paint on canvas stuffed with kapok.]

Speaking of school, a new 'university' was launched in London, led by a group of artists, writers and intellectuals in a small shop in Bloomsbury. "The School of Life" was designed to help busy people appreciate the finer things in life, like art, books and travel. Take a look.

NUMBERS

For lovers of Clarendon, a slab-serif typeface created by Robert Besley in 1845, is this new Clock by Lemnos, design by Riki Watanabe (designed when he was 92 years old). 12.2 cm x 7.2 cm. 85 Euros.

REAL ESTATE

This is a detail from a double-page illustration I did for the New York Times Magazine's April 6th real estate issue. The feature was titled, "The Tightwad's Legacy." As always, it was great fun to do [Thanks Jeff].

LIBERTY

"Let spring blossom on the tip of your toes with this pair of Nike Dunk liberty printed." Dunk Hi Liberty Wiltshire and Pepper. Only 40 women's pairs available at colette. Limited edition: 185 pairs. Available May 3rd.

I * PARIS

This t-shirt (inspired by Milton Glaser's NY version) is for sale at the Paris based store colette. The t-shirt was imagined by La Clique from Le Paris Paris, Le Baron and La Johnson. I LOVE it. 35 Euros.

PRISON

The Sterling Ruby: CHRON exhibition ended a few weeks ago at The Drawing Center in NYC -- collage from show (below). Prison (detail), 2004. Collage and pencil on paper, size: 31.5" x 23.75".

F-R-E-S-H

Last August, I snapped these photos at the Saanich Fair in British Columbia. Along the same lines the typeface "Safe," is also made from Styrofoam -- take a look. And in honor of Easter eggs and such, check out my friend's tutorial on natural egg dyeing.

MR. MORT

My friend, Mordechai Rubinstein, was recently featured in Time Out New York for his sartorial sense...read more about him here. (A fashionable lady I know from Madewell, Gigi Guerra, is also featured in the issue.)

RENOVATE

I have been looking at a lot of interiors books lately because at some point we are going to be moving (baby due in June) to a larger space. *[Speaking of spaces, last week Design*Sponge did a post on my current apartment. Take a look.]

AIRMAIL

A letter sent via airmail may be called an aerogramme, aerogram, air letter or simply airmail letter. Here are a few examples (new + old):

MADEWELL

Below is a project I did for the new J.Crew brand, Madewell. The NYC store opened on February 20th (a fun party). Each month there will be a new issue of Madewell Musings (March issue will be in stores soon).

OLD + NEW

Below are two sets of wooden blocks I came across recently: [01] Community Workers Blocks I found at a local Brooklyn thrift store and [02] Babel Blocks for sale at the NYC design store, Moss (each "block character" has its own MySpace page). Times have changed.

A-B-C-D

"abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" is a film by Roel & Job Wouters. Job and his nephew Gradus (4 yrs. old) are very ambitious with letters. Spontanious jam sessions in their studio inspired them to make this video. Directed by his brother Roel.

B*MINE

My friends over at kate spade have pooled together their favorite designers and had them make handmade valentines to share with you. Send one of these to someone you like. Happy Valentine's Day.

S-W-E-E-T

This was waiting for me in the mail when I returned home from the holidays. Mary & Matt are good friends of mine and each year they make something homemade as a holiday gift. This is my favorite, the chocolate scrabble bar. Now for sale online in their General Store.

PROF.

A friend and mentor, JP Williams (who was a student and close friend of Rand's), pointed me to the new book, Paul Rand: Conversations with Students. Rand once shared this with former student Jessica Helfand, "You will learn most things by looking," "but reading gives understanding. Reading will make you free." He was a brilliant man.

IDEAS

This was a full-page illustration I did for the New York Times Magazine Ideas issue (included in last week's Sunday Times). One of my favorite magazines (next to World of Interiors), it is always a great read along with having wonderful photography and art direction.

CYRANO

Below is an illustration assignment I did for New York Magazine's Culture pages. The title was Nose Job, a write-up on the play Cyrano de Bergerac. I have loved working with them over the past months on a few other collages. [Materials: Construction paper, scissors, tape]

KID O

Below is a newsletter I designed for Kid O, the NYC children's store. Kid O is unique in its dedication to enriching the play and learning experiences of preschool children at home. [*Speaking of kids, I am expecting my first in June 2008!]

HOLIDAY

This wrapping paper arrived in my mailbox last week from the creative bunch at kate spade. The artwork is from one of my collages in the 2007 kate spade agenda, tiled and repeated into a lovely sheet of wrapping paper.