JRF for Obey Clothing/Artist Series

JRF x OBEY from OBEY CLOTHING on Vimeo.

PLINC Catalog

I'm a huge fan of the boys (and girls) over at House Industries in Yorklyn, Delaware. Their latest project, the digitization of the overwhelming Photo-Lettering (PLINC) archives, has been online for a few months now. If you're a designer, be sure to go check it out...and be sure to sign up for their new printed PLINC catalog.

Above images House Industries © 2011

REFERENCE LIBRARY/Taliban Don't Surf PT. 2

My previous post, below, showed some of the content and concept of the Taliban Don't Surf print. Above are a few aspects of the craft of the design; from first thumbnail sketch (dated 2/21/11) and notes, to illustrating type specimens and creating other analog elements for use in the collage. After a few dozen digital comps, films are ripped, screens are coated and burned, inks mixed, paper trimmed and registered and squeegees pulled.

The final product, a two color, 18" x 24" screenprint, on 100# archival, black stock is available now (6/30/11) via 1xRun.com.

New Bohemia Signs

Typophiles in search of inspiration should check out some of the beautifully crafted specimens from New Bohemia Signs in San Francisco, CA. This kind of signage is a obviously a rare thing these days and really add some visual spice to the pedestrian/bicycle-friendly neighborhoods in SF.

New Bohemia Signs and Steve Powers (ESPO) have an upcoming exhibition at Guerrero Gallery and their Flickr set is worth a look, too. Photos via Juxtapoz.

The History of American Graffiti

New on my bookshelf this week is the recently released The History of American Graffiti, a comprehensive survey compiled by Roger Gastman and Caleb Neelon. It's a hefty, 400 page hardcover that represents years of extensive research, rare photos, ephemera and interviews. Gastman and Neelon were interviewed about the book on the PBS NewsHour, and you can watch that segment here.

Gastman writes: "On April 5, HarperCollins released our book The History of American Graffiti, which traces graffiti's evolution from its early freight-train days to it's big-city boom on the streets of New York and Philadelphia and to its modern-day influences. The book features behind-the-scenes stories and profiles gleaned from more than four years' worth of interviews with more than 1,000 photographs. If that's not enough reason to purchase the book, here's what a few more people had to say:

Roger Gastman and Caleb Neelon have written the definitive history of the origins of the graffiti styles that emerged in Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles in the early 1970s and inspired young artists around the world. - Jeffrey Deitch, director, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art

The History of American Graffiti is the first truly comprehensive history of graffiti's secretive, illegal culture. - Shepard Fairey, artist

On a side note, I designed the above endpapers for the book using Gastman's vast personal collection of anti-graffiti pamphlets, propaganda and ephemera as source material.

PLINC / Photo Lettering Launch

Attention designers, type nerds, illustrators and related creative people:

The folks at House Industries (along with a few, dedicated associates), have finally brought the long lost tradition of the analog typesetting service into the 21st century with the online launch/archive of PhotoLettering.com. There's so much research, history, craft, preparation and process involved with the PLINC legacy that I suggest reading some of it for yourself...

I'd also like to say thanks to Photo Lettering for allowing me to be part of their Beta testing team for the past 18 months!

NINKYO at Mister Freedom

A beautiful, hand-crafted tee from the folks at Mister Freedom to benefit Japan and the Red Cross. Fortunately (but unfortunately), the shirts are sold out (as have the first ones).

Tools of Criminal Mischief

A selection from the cabinet of Roger Gastman's personal collection of Tools of Criminal Mischief, courtesy of the LA Times.

ROGER GASTMAN/NY TIMES

I seem to be on a trend of pointing my finger at others achievements in the last few posts, so why should this one be any different? Roger Gastman (RRockEnterprises) got a nice little interview in the NY Times the other day. Roger and I have worked on dozens of projects over the past few years and I'm happy that he's officially part of the crew curating/producing/assembling the upcoming MOCA/Art in the Streets show, set to open in April 2011.

REVOLUTIONS/SHEPARD FAIREY

Opening this Saturday night, March 12, 2011 at the Robert Berman Gallery, Revolutions: The Album Cover Art of Shepard Fairey. He and his crew have been working hard to finish a lot of new prints and related material for the exhibit. It's a great homage that celebrates the ability of music to influence and inspire.

“Long before I knew about art galleries or even street art, I was excited about album cover art, if only because it was the visual counterpart to the music on the records I loved. Album covers conjured a euphoric association with the listening experience. Most of my earliest home-made tee shirts were stencils based on punk album covers. I’ve had some very moving encounters with art in my life, especially in the street, but almost nothing can compare with the first time I heard the boots marching and first chord of the Sex Pistols’ Holidays in the Sun, or the air raid sirens leading into “too black, too strong” on the intro to Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, or the opening guitar scream of Black Flag’s Rise Above. Those songs did, and still do, make my arm hairs stand up. Music is visceral and accessible, but also has the additional powerful layers of the lyrics, with their content and politics, and the style,politics, and personalities of the musicians themselves. No matter how much I love art, or try to convince myself of its relevance in society, the fact remains that music is a lot cooler and way more able to reach people’s hearts and minds… but I’m a populist and I look at this way: I may not play an instrument, but I’m gonna rock it hard as nails anyway. With my art I try to capture the same energy and spirit that makes music so powerful and democratic. REVOLUTIONS is a celebration of all the great music and accompanying art that has inspired me over the years.”
- Shepard

Photos courtesy of Obey Giant and Obey Clothing.

JEREMY DEAN

For the past few years, Jeremy Dean has been one of my favorite designers out there. He's a fellow East Coast kid, still intoxicated with the youthful influences of DIY culture, skateboarding and underground hardcore. He seems to effortlessly balance the syntax of the digital and analog worlds, countered with the right dose of humor and middle fingers. Among other things, he's responsible for Hardcore Archaeologist, the always popular Flyer Fonts and heavily-photocopied and crusty, Bad Neighborhood. Follow him on the Twitters.

Oh, and he's a great pen pal. Thanks for all the inspiration, JD!