Articles by Ethan

A Friend of Mine is Melbourne, Australia based design studio that is turning out some fancy work. This identity system for The Modern Flower Co. is so snappy — I love seeing the system work across multiple pieces. Plus, typography integrated into latticework is always exciting.

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I’ve always been impressed with Mark Weaver’s continuously fantastic collage series Make Something Cool Every Day. Firstly, making something like this every day is a great project — I love when designers make their personal work public. Secondly, these collages are an interesting mishmash of styles and images. Mark has a keen sense of knowing what types of images work well together.

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Funkadelic! There is some serious soul in this typeface from Bulgaria-based designer Mihail Mihaylov. I’m such a sucker for bold type — I love the juicy, drippy, saturated feel of these letters. I can’t quite tell if the type is sprouting, or three-dimensional, or both.

In addition to Funkadelic, Mihail’s other work shows a nice combination of experimentation and style. I love the textural, hands-on feel of the Quotes alphabet studies, and the subsequent large-scale “E” poster. Really fun work.

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Brooklyn-based Dan Cassaro is the front man, ring leader, and typographic skipper of Young Jerks — his no-nonsense moniker. Making your way throughout the aisles of Dan’s portfolio, you’ll notice typography gracing posters, logos, books, other printed materials, and a swath of motion graphics. Fancy typography, indeed. Mr. Cassaro has the knack for creating keen type that makes you smile. I urge you to head over and take a look.

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Are your initial caps lacking luster? Is your first letter feeling timid? We all know how tough it can be being a capital on the internet — so much pressure. But there’s good news! The Daily Drop Cap can really give your nervous caps a second wind.

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Very fun work from Brazilian illustrator Fernando Volken Togni. The color palettes for these illustrations are perfect — they draw me right in. I love Fernando’s simple, super graphic, super bold, and super tasty illustration style. That peacock is dying to be made into a print.

I’ve been a fan for a while now — can’t wait to see more.

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It’s great when you find that one designer that can wear various design hats. Such is the case with Philadelphia’s Mikey Burton. Looking through his portfolio, I’m impressed with the amount, style and conceptual range of his work. The edgy boldness of the letterpress prints is a nice balance to some of the quieter, more restrained logos.

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A while back we posted the first issue of Nobrow’s fabulous illustration zine, Gods & Monsters. Said the Computer to the Specialist continues in the Nobrow screenprinted zine tradition, with this conceptually dark body of work from Tom Rowe.

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This is the story of a brand new blog called Friends of Type. If you have friends and a healthy interest in type, this blog was made for you. A self described “sketchbook, archive and dialogue,” Friends of Type is the place to see typographic process, doodles, and finished work. I’m sure it will become a typographic who’s who in the near future.

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Tom Messenger, a designer and illustrator from London, makes one of the best t-shirt prints I’ve seen. I love his bold stripes, buttons, colors, and breast pocket details. Tom’s work has great texture and personality to it. His range of color accentuates his very flat, bold style nicely.

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Meet Ed Nacional. Recent New York Times intern, Parson’s design student, and all around purveyor of great design. Ed’s typographic style, sensibility and skills struck me right off the bat. I especially love the “Nita Nita” graphics and the “We Cab Double You” typography. Sweet stuff.

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I love the portfolio from Washington-based Eric Smith. Mr. Smith’s work seems to represent his friendly, optimistic personality quite well. Based on his monikor (I Draw All Day) and portfolio, one can assume that Eric does, indeed, draw all day.

Style wise, the overall simplicity, boldness, and use of color is very compelling. I’m particularly drawn to Eric’s hand-drawn typographic work and style. I love the way in which the letters are formed and put together.

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For the last week or so your trusty Grain Edit crew have been in the sunny city of Portland, Oregon. This city is great — the weather is perfect, the people are nice, and the design is spectacular.

A few of the highlights so far include the 12 hour drive up, hanging out with some amazing designers, Portland’s vast food cart cuisine, waffle sandwiches, vintage video games, and much more.

This Sunday we’ll be making the long trek back to the Bay Area. Be on the lookout for lots of fun goodies from our week long trip here.

These book covers from Australian designer Jenny Grigg are absolutely superb. I love how she uses texture and composition to make such playful and compelling work. I want to touch and feel these books as much as I want to read them.

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This second edition of Sing Statistics, “We Are the Friction” looks to be quite spectacular. I really, really can’t wait to get my hands on it.

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Way back in the olden days of computers, when the internet was still a small child, we highlighted some of our favorite designers using Twitter. As designers jumped on left and right, and Twitter exploded, our post evolved several times over.

Now, with well over fifty listings , we present another update to Designers On Twitter. There are lots of great designers on this latest update, including Hatch Design, Odopod, Julia Rothman, Sing Statistics, Ellen Lupton, Christopher Simmons, Hybrid Design, Brett MacFadden and Crew Design, among others.

Check out the list: Designers to Follow on Twitter.

We all love a good fixie. Clean lines, simple mechanics, and oh so trendy. And if you’ve been drooling over that Don Clark Nor Cal print below, this just may be your summer bicycling dream come true.

Cruising Craigslist for bikes is great, but you never quite know what you’ll end up with. Urban Outfitters took out the guess work and teamed up with Aristotle Bikes, bringing you fancy fixies that you can customize on the web. Click the components and they magically change colors! Thanks for the awesome bikes, internet!

Get your cogs on at Urban Outfitters Bikes.

Public Works looks to be a sweet gallery show and speaker series. It’s happening in Chicago, and focuses on those designers who have contributed to the independent art and music scenes there. You can find it at the Andrew Rafacz Gallery, including the likes of Chris Eichenseer, Justin Fines, Cody Hudson, and Andy Mueller, among others.

Also check the AIGA Chicago for lectures by Delicious Design League, Harper Reed and Dawn Hancock.

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Upon viewing the work of Micah Smith, aka My Associate Cornelius, I 1) greatly enjoy the Bottle Rocket reference within the name, and 2) love the work.

One of the things i enjoy about Micah’s work is the range and personality found in it. There is a strong sense of playfulness throughout his portfolio; the work feels like it’s active and doing something.

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Examining some possible layouts.

We recently received news from long-time Grain Edit friends, MINE™, about their new book in the works, tentatively titled The Good Design Book. This book is aimed at those with a critical eye and an interest in how design can affect the greater good.

Combining essays from designers as well as showcasing approximately 70 projects, the book takes a current look this expanding movement, and offers resources for those looking to get involved.

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Cover illustration by Stuart Kolakovic

Nowbrow Press‘ recently sent over their spectacular first issue, Gods and Monsters. Twenty four talented illustrators and designers have been carefully selected to create work around a specific theme. I love all the pieces exhibited in the issue, and a few of my favorites come from Alex Spiro, Reuben Rude, Toby Leigh, Jordan Crane, and Sarah King.

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Like many, gig-posters provided my first introduction to graphic design. The images seemed to perfectly articulate the ideas and spirit of the bands I was so obsessed with. During a recent “Best of the Best of Poster Designers” conversation, I was reminded of Dirk Fowler’s work and it’s solid place in design history.

With the speed and ease of the Internet it’s easy to see design trendiness proliferate and to focus on the latest and greatest. In a time of gig-poster saturation, it can be nice to take a step back and see where a lot of current work gets it’s roots and inspirations.

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Si Scott’s Hunter

HypeForType is looking good. It’s a best of, it’s a who’s who, it’s a one stop typographic super shop featuring lots of inspired designers and typographers making great looking type.

Under the supervision of Alex Haigh (of Thinkdust), HypeForType brings together type designers and gives them a unique spot to showcase their work.

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Rodrigo Fuenzalida is a designer, illustrator, and typographer from Caracas, Venezuela. His work has a great balance between being nostalgic, experimental, and fun.

In addition to being super talented, Rodrigo is also generous. Upon the momentous occasion of his site reaching 5,000 hits, he is giving away three (3!) of his fonts. The three are quite awesome, and happen to be
GERD, K5 and LINE_A.

Thanks Rodrigo!

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This work from Italian designer/illustrator Jonathan Calugi is summed up nicely with his moniker Happy Lovers Town. Jonathan’s work is fun, friendly, quirky, and awesome — just like a town full of happy lovers.

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Free fonts are a dime a dozen — there are so many of them, and so many of them are bad. That’s why I was excited to run across Sessions, a beautiful face designed by John Skelton. John designed Sessions using FontStruct, FontShop’s online (and free) type construction tool.

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Jeff Canham’s typographic compositions are like tidal waves of cool; they’re like the Mavericks of type. His use of icons with a variety of type styles give the work excitement, depth, and sophistication. I love the sign painted feel and texture of the work, as well as the color palettes.

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What is this graph measuring? Stalagmite height? Point source density? Christmas tree farm growth? We don’t know, but they sure do look good. Chad Hagen has made a great collection of “Nonsense Info Graphics” and put them in a set on his Flickr.

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I’m really impressed with these typographic treatments from Paul Sych. Each one of them is totally sublime and refreshingly unique — they break out nicely from the common type trends going around. On one hand the work is very playful and expressive, but on the other hand also demonstrates a sophisticated knowledge and expertise of the letterforms.

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I remember getting Slinkys around the holidays and thinking “Awesome! I can’t wait to work the stairs with this!” Then, within an hour (without fail) the poor Slinky would be stepped on, kinked, and forever ruined. And the cycle would repeat a year later.

This sans-kink typeface, Slinkytype, from Paul Hollingworth brings me back to those exciting stairs-filled days. I love how the playfulness mixes with precise geometric details — the perfect combination of typography and nostalgia. And that white type on black is super snappy.

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Simon Cook (aka Cookie) is a designer, illustrator, sock monster maker, occasional traveler, and super hiker. His work is packed to the gills with fun. I love looking at a designer’s portfolio and seeing their personality and excitement evident in the work. You definitely get the feeling that he puts everything he has into whatever project he’s got in front of him.

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Holy twit! It doesn’t stop! Designers seem to be jumping on Twitter left and right. It’s turning out to be an awesome community of designers. If you haven’t made the Twitter jump yet, then here’s a little more incentive. And if you’re already up on Twitter, here are some new faces.

Some of the new people on the list include House Industries, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Ministry of Type, Monocle, Chris Glass, Jason Munn, and Kid Robot among others.

Check it out. Follow your favorites. Tweet it up!

50+ Designers on Twitter: Our favorites to follow.

Advice to Sink in Slowly is a great idea. It’s an ongoing series of posters designed by recent graduates aimed at helping and inspiring first year students. All incoming students at participating Universities receive one of the posters.

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I’m really impressed by this work from Richard Perez. His typographic and illustration work is super fancy. He seems to have no problem navigating styles as well as tackling a variety of design projects — his work ranges from hand drawn type and illustration, to identity and traditional design. All of his work is direct, and compelling with great execution and color palettes.

It’s really refreshing to see the enthusiasm and personality in all of Richard’s work. It’s also nice to see that we share a few things in common, including VHS tapes, Lincoln, and kittens.

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Welcome to the latest addition to the Grain Edit interview series. But wait, there’s a twist! We sneaked a book review into the mix as well. I know, very tricky.

Our latest interviewees are Andre Andreev and Dan Covert. They’re from New York City, and they’re known as Dress Code. They recently published a book entitled Never Sleep, which details their experience and transition from design students to design professionals. Never Sleep is a practical and vital guide for design graduates wondering what to do after school.

At the combined age of (roughly) 50 Andre and Dan’s work has been recognized by I.D., CommArts, Print, Graphis, Metropolis, The Type Directors Club, The Art Directors Club, CMYK, HOW, Adobe, Steps Field Guide to Emerging Talent and Young Guns. They met while studying graphic design at California College of the Arts and worked at MTV before starting Dress Code.

OK, so get your game on already:

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Very happy to run across the work of Kevin Dart this morning — he has some serious talent going on. His rough textures and sketchy illustration style combine so nicely with the clean 60’s style graphics and type. His work feels like a perfect fit for Seijun Suzuki’s gangster movies. And I love an airplane with a swoosh. I also want that suitcase. So yummy.

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Holy tweet! Designers and Twitter seem to go great together. Since we posted our 50 (or so) favorites last month we’ve seen a lot of new designers popping up on Twitter, and we forgot to mention some designers as well. We decided an update was in order.

Some of the new faces on the list include ISO50, Invisible Creature, Design Sponge, Okay Great, The Dieline, Wink, and more.

Check it out. Follow your favorites. Tweet it up!

50+ Designers on Twitter: Our favorites to follow.

Wow! Super snappy new work from Wink. Wink is always on-point design-wise, and this is no different. Their latest work is for Rebel Green, a new aesthetically conscious and eco-friendly company with products aimed at reducing and reusing.

I love the illustration and typographic work throughout the product line — it harkens back to a simpler and more honest time. I’ll admit I’m not the best at washing before ingesting fruit, so this very well might be what I need. How about them apples!

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ANDREW HOLDER AT SUBTEXT GALLERY

More Andrew Holder! Here at Grain Edit we love Andrew’s work, and it’s awesome to see him popping up in more shows and galleries. We just want to see his work up here in the Bay Area! I guess we’ll have to wait. But if you are down south, be sure to check out Andrew’s show in San Diego at Subtext Gallery & Design Bookstore. It’s going on until April 26th.

Press release from Subtext Gallery: Andrew Holder is a recent graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and his talent has earned him shows in Australia, San Francisco, and now in his home away from home, San Diego. Andrew has already built up a steady flow of clientele, including Roxy, Poketo, National Geographic, The Toronto Times, and Arkitip Magazine. He was born in St. Augustine, Florida, but spent most of his youth growing up in San Diego. His work has a hint of Scandinavian folk-art with a modern-day twist. Sleepy seaside towns and country landscapes are prominent in his pieces, made up of simple geometric shapes and organic line work. Andrew’s pieces are memorable, distinct, and beautifully engaging.

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CHARLES HARPER EXHIBITION

Charley Harper fans rejoice! The Public Trust is currently running an exhibition of Mr. Harper’s works throughout April. That massive Charley Harper book is amazing, but man, wouldn’t it be great to see the actual paintings in person? If you’re in the Dallas, TX area and happen to go, let us know how it is!

Thanks to James for passing this along!

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THE PRACTICE SESSIONS APRIL 2 - 4 2009

The Practice Sessions is a workshop and panel discussion by Antonio Carusone, Frank Chimero, Duane King and Matt Owens taking place at the National Student Show & Conference in Dallas, Texas. The Practice Sessions was created by Thinking for a Living, an ever-growing platform dedicated to the concept of open source design education. Through a network of topic specific design sites with a focus on education and resources, we share our thoughts, inspirations, critical analysis, design histories and individual experiences relating to a career in design.

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Fontfabric is an awesome independent type foundry run by Svetoslav Simov. All of the faces have great concepts and personality to them. I like the balance between experimentation with dimension and geometry and the playfulness of the faces. Each one is so unique and specific, they seem to be the perfect fit for that “one project.”

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Alright, so Twitter is the hot thing right now. Somewhere in-between blogging and instant messaging, it’s a super addicting way to see what the design community is up to. Frank Chimero just ate a muffin? It’s crepe day at Chronicle Books? @gogograce just blipped The Style Council? I’m in!

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Love, love love! this work from Spain-based Borja Bonaque. I’m a huge fan of city-scape illustration (à la Evan Hecox and Andrew Holder) — so I was pretty enamored with Borja’s work to say the least. The texture, composition, and (superb!) color choice all work together to give these illustrations that heavy punch. That city above reminds me a little of Sin City, and those other comic book-to film adaptations.
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I’m very excited about our next addition to the Grain Edit interview series. When the gigantic Grain Edit interview arrow landed on Springfield, MO we knew just who to call: Frank Chimero.

You’ve likely seen Frank’s designs and illustrations making the rounds on the design blog circuit lately. And with good reason; Frank’s work effortlessly combines humor, wit, and style with a fresh and honest point of view.

Frank opens up and shares some of his thoughts and insights regarding his design background, his influences and teaching experiences, and of course his famed process. If you’re a fan of the States’ series, then there’s also a super surprise waiting for you further down in the interview.

OK, enough. Here we go:

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I’m really excited to show this new typeface from long time Grain Edit friend and design-champ Steve Mehallo. Jeanno Moderno consists of nine faces, and bridges over two centuries of type history. Plus, it has some of the spiciest italics you’ve ever seen.

MyFonts is having a great sale on the family right now: For a limited time, save 25% on any single font from the Jeanne Moderno family. This is going on until April 19th. (Perfect idea for my birthday on the 14th). Or you can pick up the entire family for $99.

Get more details here

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Loving this work from design-champ Ben Barry. The design and format of the piece work together nicely to capture that spirit of 1950’s residential.
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Every laptop needs a home. Sadly for most laptops, home is just a generic black sleeve. How glum! But thanks to Steven Harrington and Arkitip, laptops around the globe are smiling and cheering.

The “Curated by Arkitip” project aims to get sweet designs on your Apple products. Steven has also designed an iPhone slider for the project as well.

In addition to the goods, there is a nice video interview with Mr. Harrington himself. In it he talks about the project, his process, and caffeine-free tea.

Curated by Arkitip with Steven Harrington. Video link is in the middle of the page.

My first reaction upon being greeted by the above images was to smile. These are two pieces from Toykyo, the rad Belgian-based firm. They seem to wear many design-hats, and have work on an interesting variety of projects. Their personality definitely remains visible throughout their work. I love the the stylized shapes, simplicity, and bold use of color. Plus, major points for working in a Pacman ghost next to an elephant!

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This illustration spent some quality time as the desktop background on my laptop, and was the subject of many rave comments. London based illustrator/designer Jean Jullien did the illustration for Kitsune Noir’s very cool desktop wallpaper project. I really love these dimensional illustrations, very bright, playful and quirky.

Love the pattern and texture in this awesome illustration from Max Dalton. Max is a Buenos Aires (by way of Barcelona, Paris, and New York), based illustrator and animator. His work reflects his diverse background nicely. I love how he’s able to capture the feeling and aesthetic of a certain time, and make it his own. And his type is super snappy.

Check his site, and his blog.

My #1 resolution for 2009 was to post a new 2009 calendar. Thank you to Airside for making it happen! Their sweet type-befriends-bird ‘09 calendar is a real beauty. I love how each month is displayed and presented. It includes 27 illustrations, and is printed on recycled paper made from 100% post-consumer waste using bio-vegetable-oil-based inks. Not too shabby.

Order it! Airside blog! Airside!

Via Ilike.

Love the variety from Kansas City designer/illustrator Tad Carpenter. His character illustrations are super imaginative and unique. It’s nice to see the range of his work as well: traditional design, installations, posters, identity, packaging, painting, and more. Lots of fun type poking out here and there as well.

In addition to his personal work Tad ropes steers at Design Ranch during the day, and co-runs Vahalla Studios, a screen printing super shop.

Vahalla recently had a gallery show. See the highlights video on Tad’s blog.

Really, really into these lovely illustrations from Andrew Bannecker. Definitely the best beer and shoe prints I’ve seen in a long time. I love how he mixes flat graphics with intricate details. His work has a nice depth to it as well, thanks in part to those great rough textures.

A few (we want more!) of his prints are available from Charming Wall.

Wow. I’m really impressed with Scotty Reifsnyder’s work. He has great variety and a nice range of projects up on his site. His use of type and texture is really effective — lots of little details to soak up. Scotty is a recent Tyler School of Art MFA graduate, and works at Headcase Design by day.

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Helen Dardik’s bird patterns make me happy. All of her work makes me happy, in fact. Helen is an Ottawa (by way of Israel, Siberia, and Ukraine) based illustrator/designer/painter/toy maker. Her work is a nice combination of type, color, texture, and pattern. I love her loose, whimsical style.

Helen is represented by Lilla Rogers, and has an orange blog!

Late start today. We’ve been as busy as a bunch of mid-century bees over here. Gettin’ that bees milk.

The Post Family is a design and cool people collective based collectively in Chicago, the largest city in Illinois. Their collection of prints for sale is really wonderful — I want every one of them. Love that flat, bold, sketchy illustration style. Each of the seven Family members contributes to their blog, and they’ve just started a monthly Studio Tour feature that looks like fun.

But in my opinon, the best feature of the site are the family member bios. I read and chuckled at each one.

The above image with the yummy type was snagged from their Flickr page.

Fun! Prizes! Things! Anorak has to be one of the coolest kids magazines around. Aimed squarely at five to nine year-olds, Anorak is way more creative and engaging than the Highlights dentist fare I grew up with. In each issue they have original stories written and illustrated by contemporary authors, fashion and style for kids, and new children’s products. I’m definitely sold.

And some of the illustrators include Adrian Johnson, Steven Harrington, and Damien Correll among others.

Gavin Potenza, aka the Portland Stamp Champ, has some recent and awesome stamp activity going on. Awhile back we posted on his Homage to the Stamp, and now he has something new entitled A Field Guide To: The Stamps of the World. Commissioned by Tiny Showcase, this print takes inspiration from the cultures of various countries (including old favorites such as Brazil, Canada, France, and Mexico), and assembles them in a lovely 21″ x 29″ print.

In addition to this, Gavin’s Homage to the Stamp was available as a letterpress print. (But is now sold-out, sadly.)

See more info, or purchase Stamps of the World for yourself or for your loved ones or for me.

Really love this pattern-filled type by Andrew Townsend, done for Nottingham Trent University’s Art and Design book. Andrew is the art director over at Un.titled, and the purveyor of many fine typographic and design projects on his own site.

His Sports Brand type experiments are well worth checking out, as is Previous/Next.

Toronto-based Doublenaut sent over some prints recently, including this Wolf Parade gem. I’m loving their type, texture, illustration, and color combinations. Bonus points for a great gargoyle as well!

Also, I believe that ‘R’ belongs in my personal collection.

Check out their shop, and blog.

Love, love, love these cover illustrations by Cristóbal Schmal! So good. All of his work has this same great texture and quality to it. Makes me want to touch everything! His type is super snappy as well, and integrates nicely with the illustrations. Check his site out, he’s got lots interesting projects and experiments going on.

Blog, Flickr, fun!

Via the never-let-you-down Ffffound.

Brian Roettinger is the L.A. based designer and typographic song-and-dance man behind Hand Held Heart. He created the above work while traveling with Liars and No Age, making individual 7″ covers for each city on the tour.

A lot of Brian’s work has this same focus and attention to detail. Every little piece is thought-out and considered. The work feels experimental and unique, and at the same time deliberate, intentional, and confident.

Check out his Theremin Sans, a typeface made while playing the theramin.

I absolutely love this book cover by Erwin Bauer. Great mix of type and architectural elements. The inside design has some really yummy type details. I love finding work like this, it feels so effortless.

Erwin Bauer is a man, and a design studio based in Vienna, Austria. They work on a wide range of projects, from architecture, traditional graphic design, and type design.

I like their “Rejected” section, which I assume compiles their unused designs. It would be fun to see this from more firms.

Last week we had the chance to hang out with the crew from San Francisco design studio MINE. Under the direction of Christopher Simmons, MINE is a small and versatile design shop. We got the low-down, talked graphic design, told some jokes, and saw lots of cool work.

The office is a little nook in Bernal Heights. Very intimate, and accommodates the three designers nicely. You know you’re there when you see the funky doorbell, the Eames furniture, a bright orange bean bag chair, and the distinguishing sign on the door that reads “this is our office.”

I’m always impressed with the quantity and diversity in the projects they’re working on. They’re driven by concepts, not by a certain style. The work doesn’t look like it was “designed by MINE.” Instead, it makes sense, has personality, and definitely communicates a point of view.

Thanks again to MINE for opening up the studio, and letting us snap these photos.

Enjoy the tour!

Voting for the People’s Design Award ends today at 6:00 P.M. Eastern. Our friends at Mine are nominated for Everything is OK, their experimental call to action.

You still have time to vote!

Argh! The swashbuckling design crew Office worked on the above branding for 826 Valencia’s new pirate supply store. They designed the store’s identity, posters and nearly 50 new products, like Decent Peg Leg Oil, Scurvy BeGone pills and Captain Blackbeard’s Beard Extensions. If you’d benefit from any of these products, or to help out 826 Valencia, cruise by the shop.

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Hello to London based designer Nick Dart. Mr. Dart has a nice collection of CD packaging, poster and print work over on his site. Besides this design for the number two, I was really impressed by his great typeface and logo designs. Definitely one of the top numeral designers out there, for sure.

In the midst of Grain Edit’s one year anniversary, we’re super excited to bring you this interview with Adrian Johnson. Mr. Johnson is a UK-based designer/illustrator whose work spans editorial, print, motion, and his own self-initiated projects. He has designed for Mastercard, Giant Robot, Vodafone, and Stussy, to name a few. In the interview, Adrian talks about his background, inspirations, creative process, and of course, zeitgeist.

A lot of work nowadays is stylish, and fun, and cool, but can ultimately become irrelevant due to poorly executed ideas, or lack of decent concepts. I see Adrian’s work as a nice balance between kick-butt graphics and style, and smart ideas that get through to people.

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San Francisco design champ Christopher Simmons wants you to get involved. Christopher is a former AIGA SF president and the owner/operator of Mine, an SF design studio. Everything is OK is a social experiment, equal parts activism, commentary, and a call to action to fight complacency. So get off your butt already!

EIOK is a nominee at the People’s Design Awards! Vote, vote, vote.

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While sifting through Geoff’s site today, it was very hard to find that one thing to show, because it’s all so good. Lots of fun stuff, with lots of personality. I totally love that medicine cabinet print. By day Geoff works for Chronicle Books; by night I don’t know what he does. Sleep, maybe? Anyhow, he is a master at taking various ideas and making them look terrific.

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Gothenburg, Sweden’s own Sandra Juto has a great collection of work up on her site. Her work is a mix of illustration, collage, crochet, and design. I love her illustration style; simplistic with nice details, and some cool type!

She also has a shop, a blog, and a flickr. Her “At home” flickr set it pretty fun.

I love this image of Morten Iveland’s new typeface, Bolda. Apparently it’s inspired by 1970’s tennis, dart, and ping-pong fashion — a grossly under-represented field of design, in my opinion. Morten lives in Oslo, Norway, where he is a designer at Apt. I was immediately drawn to the design of his site, and his mad photo skills.

Check out Bolda in action.

Stan Van Steendam is a pretty rad designer out of Belgium, with a pretty cool name. His style is hard to pin down exactly, but I would say it’s bright, vivid, colorful, playful, and compelling. His typography skills are great; you get a good feel for the amount of typographic experimentation going on over there.

Check out his design-your-own-font game, too.

The New Year is the one man super-shop run by Sasha Barr. Sasha illustrates, designs, and prints lots and lots of posters (among other things). I’m really impressed by the amount of work, and the variety of ideas and execution. His work is a nice combination of rough textures, type, hand-drawn and found images, and fun, quirky ideas.

I was in New York a few weeks back and had a chance to stop by the studio of design champ collective Rad Mountain. Rad Mountain is the Brooklyn based collaboration of Damien Correll, Justin Fines, Wyeth Hansen, Garrett Morin, and Ryan Waller. You’ve seen their work in/for Good Magazine, Swindle, Nike, Urban Outfitters, MTV, and the AIGA to name a few. Overall, their work feels very hand-crafted, with lots of illustration and hand-drawn type. They really stand out due to their super attention to detail, which gives the work real personality and makes it so much more interesting.

The studio space is split in two; half design office, half screenprinting studio. It’s open and airy, and complements the Rad Mountain hands-on aesthetic really well. Highlights of the visit included seeing some new prints from Justin and Wyeth, and being introduced to Rambo, the design super cat.

Thanks again to the Rad Mountain crew for opening up their studio, and letting me snap some photos.

I love these patterns from Telegramme, a London based design and illustration super duo. They have a nice way of mixing old, worn illustration and imagery into their work. Besides patterns and posters they also specialize in web, identity, print, and redesigning playing cards.

All around design champ Jez Burrows of It’s Nice That, Evening Tweed, and that cool Destroyer poster you’ve been seeing around is at it again. He and Lizzy Stewart are Sing Statistics, and have just put out a wonderful new book called “I Am The Friction.” The book is a combination of short fiction by Jez, and illustration by Lizzy. It reads front to back, and back to front. So the end is in the middle!

See, buy, or read an excerpt of the book at Sing Statistics.

We’re really fond of Wayne Pate’s work over here, and were very excited when he sent over a bundle of prints, including the above “Love Saves the Day” piece. In all of his work Wayne really nails it with simple patterns, bold shapes, and perfect colors.

He combines a nice mix of flat organic shapes with textured images and illustrations really well. On his site there’s a nice range between collage work and more simple graphic work. A lot of the elements feels like they could be found in nature, or translated from found objects.

Thanks again Wayne for sending these are way. Keep an eye on the prints section of his site, as Wayne will be releasing some new prints.

You may have seen these colorful blocks and the accompanying video where they move, running around on the web lately. It’s the work of Evan Geltosky, a recent Long Beach State graduate. On his site he has some nice typographic work, and a sweet poster/illustration of Mike Tyson!

German Shepherds and Ham Radio! My two favorite things together at last! Matthew Bowers, purveyor of such fine imagery and juicy type, is a Portland, OR based designer. In addition to his regular work, he also publishes the art book series, Downy Bird Art Kingdom.

Philippe Apeloig runs his own studio, Apeloig, in Paris, France. Not only does Philippe have a lot of work his site, but it’s very well documented and photographed. You can get a sense of the amount of experimentation and playing that goes on in his work.

Process colors! Animal illustrations! The fantastic pop stylings of Black Kids! Michael Fusco and Co. did a great job of mixing the band’s outgoing, addictive hooks with their literate lyrical side.

In addition to the posters, MFD can also handle your book cover, identity, CD packaging, and wedding invite needs.

Our good friend and design champ Jason Munn designed the above bag for book publishing champs Chronicle Books. Chronicle wanted to create and encourage a non-wasteful, reusable bag solution, and Jason had the perfect caterpillar turns butterfly idea.

For more info, visit Chronicle.

Many thanks to Hannah for posting the mock ups!

Evening Tweed is a Brighton based design collective, formed by four students at the University of Brighton. If the above image is any indication, all the work from these four is great. As a whole, the work is nicely varied and shows strong directions from each member. Lots of personality and experimentation going on.

Check out their class site. More talent there as well.

Tears of joy! It’s The Little Friends of Printmaking, Wisconsin’s #1 husband/wife design team super duo. LFoP are a Milwaukee based design studio whose work is really exciting and inventive. Each piece has a great story/narrative (and typography) that pulls you in. You can really tell that there is a lot of experimentation going on over there. I would love to see them get into motion graphics, a lot of this work is aching to be animated.

Their website is great too; it’s as engaging as the work. Lot’s of little things to look at and click at.

They also have a store and a blog.

Mar Hernández aka Malota aka really cool designer living and working in Valencia, Spain, offers an extremely fun and inspiring collection of work for our viewing pleasure. Mar’s style is really bold and graphic, but very detailed and complex at the same time. She has a nice range of work — from very flat, computer drawn images, to a sketchier, looser, hand drawn style.

Check out the video entitled “Greenville.” Very cool motion graphics.

Marcus Walters, a designer and illustrator from the UK, loves washing machines. A lot of his work is similar to the above image — which reminds me of putting felt onto a feltboard as a kid. They have that very flat, semi-dimensional quality to them which I love.

Marcus is also a part of New Future Graphic, which is more graphic design-oriented (posters, ad’s, books, etc).

Wayne Pate runs GoodShapeDesign, a Brooklyn, NY based design shop and all around fun place. I’m really into his “Flock” series — if you’re a fan of our feathered friends, now you can have 18 on a single poster!

Also check out his artwork section for some really inspiring collages.

Mike Krol designs for musical bands, sandwiches, accordions, gorillas, light bulbs, and maple syrup, among many other things. He has a very good sense of humor, wit, and typography. I love finding work where the designer’s personality shines through. Especially if that includes heavy metal and Eskimos.

Check out the walking backwards to school video. I loved that!

Frank Chimero is having a great time, apparently. His portfolio is full of super fun, exciting work. As a design student, it’s always thrilling to see work that is equal parts vision, humor, inspiration, and a snappy idea.

He also has a cool blog, and a flickr.

Frank Chimero is having a great time, apparently. His portfolio is full of super fun, exciting work. As a design student, it’s always thrilling to see work that is equal parts vision, humor, inspiration, and a snappy idea.

He also has a cool blog, and a flickr.

The Futile Vignette is a design studio run by Mick Marston, out of Sheffield, UK. Mick’s work is a fun combo of contemporary and vintage illustration styles. Lots of rabbits, cats, girls with pig noses, hands holding things, and 2 George Saunders book covers! (Anyone know if those are in print?)

Bonus points for an interesting website, too!

Leonardo Hss comes to us all the way from Flickr. I couldn’t find any info on him other than what is on his Flickr page. Lots of different styles represented here. Corporate, logo, and some more playful graphic work (like the above image).

Be sure to check out his experimental work as well.

Hello Freaks are based in Paris, and led by one Jerome Castro (who has a cool blog, in French.) Their illustration work is really impressive, and includes lots of mouth-watering type. Be sure to check the motion work as well. It’s a nice departure from the standard motion reels we’re used to seeing all over.

Thanks to Sharon for the heads up on Hello Freaks.

Cover illustration/typography for the Yale University Art Gallery spring catalog

Garrett Morin does great work. He draws lots of type and makes people happy. You may have seen his works in the likes of Mike Perry’s Hand Job book. If you click on over to his site, you’ll find lots of happy characters, t-shirt graphics, corn-cob pipes, animated GIFs, skateboard graphics, magazine covers, and a great animated spot for Death Cab for Cutie / MTV.

Garrett’s also a member of the Rad Mountain collective, which recently did some yummy illustrations for Good Magazine. Check it.

Jesse Kaczmarek is a one-man, super-clean design shop located in NYC. His clients include BMW, Sony, Pepsi, HBO, and on and on. The work remains consistently clean, sophisticated and fun — all at once! Just look at those happy families in their Hertz rental cars!

Also, bonus points for a super slick website.

Luke Williams is a third year graphic design student at the Maryland Institute College of Art. While making sweet calendar-meets-packaging cubes, he is also working for Abbott Miller/Pentagram in Baltimore. From magazine and book layouts to posters and self-initiated work, Luke’s work is fresh. It’s nice to see a large body of work with this much variety, attention to detail, and experimentation with other mediums.

Christopher David Ryan is a “Brooklyn-based graphic artist, daydreamer, pseudo-scientist, wanna-be astronaut and untrained intellectual.” His work shows a similar range of experimentation — photography, collage, illustration, found images, etc. Why! He even makes pillows! On his personal website, Ryan is posting at least one image of his work per day for every day of the year. Busy, busy.

Damien Correll is a Brooklyn, NY based “designer/maker/illustrator.” I first came across his work in the fabulous book Hand Job, by Mike Perry. I really love seeing the intersection of graphic design with his DIY hand-drawn aesthetic. This work is difficult to pin down, but it’s quirky and full of personality.

Spike Press is the monikor for one John Solimine, a Chicago based designer. In a world overrun by gig-poster designers, it’s refreshing to see someone with a little originality and illustration sense. These posters are fun, whimsical, and full of narrative — each poster has a very engaging mini-story that will pull you and your wallet right in. Enjoy!

Woot! Aesthetic Apparatus is a member of my weekly design web site “do they have any new work up yet?” visiting rituals. So I was happy to find not only new work, but a new web site too! There are plenty of new posters, some new test prints, and if you have not yet seen their “doom” series, it’s worth a look. Very fun.

You can scream along with Dan and Michael on YouTube as they show you how to silkscreen a poster.
Coudal has a nice interview with Aesthetic Apparatus as well.

I’ve always been told that when designing a film festival poster to “NEVER use a camera!” in the imagery. Well, Jesse Kirsch just did it, and I’d say it turned out pretty awesome. While he was at it, he also designed a map of Manhattan as a leaf, and a Beatles poster using only hair! What a rule breaker!

My favorite thing about Jose Rodriguez is not his great work, nice type, or his motion reels. It’s his URL: HeyJose.com! It’s probably the hottest domain name on the web right now. Anyway, the work is definitely on par with the URL. That’s right, solid gold! From the long-suited men of “beginning” to the technical-but-beautiful diagrammatic analysis of FF-Meta, this Sarasota, FL, designer is making some really great images. Go over and check out Hey Jose!

I have a very special place in my heart for poster design. Especially poster design that incorporates type in an interesting, fresh way. I mean, how do they do that? It looks too easy! Andrio Abero, the man behind the poster and design studio 33rpm, is a master at “type and image integration.” This is one of the first firms that kick started my obsession with the poster, way back in the early 2000’s.

Non-Format are a twin-continent based award winning design firm. They also happen to be the kings of super thick and chunky left justified type. They posses the unique ability to seamlessly integrate their big type with organic illustrative elements, with very nice results. In addition to running their studio, they also design Varoom, a journal of illustration and made images, art directed by Adrian Shaughnessy. In addition, they just released a book.

Now in its 4th year, Personal Views is a unique series of conferences that brings together an unparalleled group of designers, writers and educators from the world of graphic design. Coordinated by Andrew Howard, and taking place at the Escola Superior de Artes e Design in Matosinhos, Portugal, the series aims to examine contemporary definitions of graphic design by asking these professionals to talk about the values and objectives that have value for them. It is an attempt to explore where the boundaries of contemporary practice lie, to discuss what we might expect of ourselves, and to examine what social and cultural objectives we seek to fulfill.

Available online are lectures by Experimental Jetset, Ellen Lupton, Erik Spiekermann, Wim Crouwel, Steven Heller and Neville Brody among others.

We’re really diggin the online portfolio of Bo Lundberg. He draws influence from modern antiques, objects and patterns that he stumbles across in everyday life.

If you like experimental typography, art, Moby Dick, and the letter ‘E’ this is the exhibit for you. Hailing from the midwest, Justin Quinn makes fascinating typographic compositions based on Herman Melville’s epic. Using only the letter ‘E’ and graphite, Quinn recounts entire chapters from Moby Dick. For example, the above piece is entitled “Moby Dick Chapter 55 or 9200 times E.” That’s a lot of E’s. If you’re in the mood for more typography a la concrete poetry, please see Justin’s work at MM Galeries.

Self described as “Wayne and Garth meets Chermayeff & Geismar,” Post Typography, from Baltimore MD, was originally conceived and founded in 2001 as an avant garde anti-design movement by Nolen Strals and Bruce Willen. They specialize in graphic design, conceptual typography, and custom lettering/illustration with additional forays into art, apparel, music, curatorial work, design theory, and vandalism.

Self described as “Wayne and Garth meets Chermayeff & Geismar,” Post Typography, from Baltimore MD, was originally conceived and founded in 2001 as an avant garde anti-design movement by Nolen Strals and Bruce Willen. They specialize in graphic design, conceptual typography, and custom lettering/illustration with additional forays into art, apparel, music, curatorial work, design theory, and vandalism.