small things

I'm going to be moving in a couple of months and am already tucking away little treasures for the new home. Here are a couple of things that will be making their way into my new kitchen. Looking at them just makes me happy!

top: LA CUCINA print. This old Italian saying translates to "A little kitchen makes a large home."

bottom: Christopher Stiles spinning salt and pepper shakers

this made me stop in my tracks

Occasionally, I'll see the work of another graphic designer and just think "Damn, I wish I had made that." Like, for instance, these vintage-style soccer posters by Zoran Ludic.

um, I was wondering...

via friends of type

Here's hoping this weekend brings us what's left of our dwindling summer.

from the desk of...

What happened to the good old days when people actually wrote letters to each other? And had impossibly stylish stationery to write those letters on? I've had enough of this texting and Facebook, this archive of interesting letterhead designs at Letterheady makes me want to design myself some fancy personal letterhead. Here are my favorites.

from top to bottom: Art Kane, date unknown; Muhammad Ali, 1975; Marlene Dietrich, date unknown; Michael Cooper, 1967

comic sans has it's day

It's no secret that Comic Sans is strongly detested within the design community. It has even spawned a grassroots movement calling for it's abolition.

Well, now the font everyone loves to hate is finally getting it's retribution, thanks to Mike Lacher's short imagined monologue over at McSweeney's. An excerpt follows, but for a good laugh head over and read the full version here.

"People love me. Why? Because I'm fun. I'm the life of the party. I bring levity to any situation. Need to soften the blow of a harsh message about restroom etiquette? SLAM. There I am. Need to spice up the directions to your graduation party? WHAM. There again. Need to convey your fun-loving, approachable nature on your business' website? SMACK. Like daffodils in motherfucking spring.

When people need to kick back, have fun, and party, I will be there, unlike your pathetic fonts. While Gotham is at the science fair, I'm banging the prom queen behind the woodshop. While Avenir is practicing the clarinet, I'm shredding "Reign In Blood" on my double-necked Stratocaster. While Univers is refilling his allergy prescriptions, I'm racing my tricked-out, nitrous-laden Honda Civic against Tokyo gangsters who'll kill me if I don't cross the finish line first. I am a sans serif Superman and my only kryptonite is pretentious buzzkills like you."

(shirt pictured above available from Veer)