Today (I wrote this a few days ago) I hear the sad news that one of the ultimate original players in the Graffiti and Hip-hop world has kicked the bucket. “RAMM::ELL::ZEE” or Rammellzee as he was called died today [June 27, 2010] whilst, if the rumors are true, he was doing math equations in none other than his home town and city, Far Rockaway, Queens, New York. How unbelievably appropriate for one of the most mathematically sound wild-style artists of many generations. The first I ever heard of him, he was being described in the Graffiti documentary film “Style Wars,” his paintings of weapon-clad letters being shown by his pal Dondi, another king.

In humble celebration of the passing of Ram, I and we present to you a gallery of armored letters, operators that blow the lids off all that they encounter. Rest in peace, Zee.

“The letter is armed to stop all the phony formations, lies, and tricknowlegies placed upon its structure.” – RAM EL ZEE

Rammel is an enigma. An eternally complicated graffiti man who, according to wikipedia, revealed in an interview that his name meant heavy, heavy stuff – derived from “RAM” plus “‘M’ for ‘Magnitude’, ‘Sigma’ (Σ) the first summation operator, first ‘L’ – ‘longitude’, second ‘L’ – ‘latitude’, ‘Z’ – ‘z-bar’, Σ, Σ – ‘summation’.”

Dondi speaking about a work with Ram in a Style Wars “scene extra”:

And that’s just the tip of this metal, mental iceberg. Look for some videos of this crazy brilliant man if you dare. He’s wild. Above begins and below continues the gallery including a couple of works by Ram himself (above being a “B” by Ram owned by a private party), plus a bunch of paintings by adventurers that were inspired without a doubt by Ram’s life in one way or another. Have a feast on these giant masterpieces in his honor.

Where appropriate, the filenames of the letters in the gallery below will lead you to their sources. Due to the super-futuristic nature of Ramm Ell Zee, I expect you to know how to access that information. Internets, graffiti, letters with weapons. Activate!

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies lettering category.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey. The Greatest Show on Earth. Al G. Kelly and Miller Bros. 2nd Largest Circus. These are the dirt and mud spawning beds of some of the most fantastic poster design in the history of the world. I’m drawing a line in the sand here, a circus line. One that clowns honk their lives on. Lions and tigers, trapeze artists, acrobats, and everything else they could fit inside three rings and a whole mess of tent. This is a poster collection consisting of the Princeton University collection of American Circus posters PLUS a whole mess of additional posters as wrangled up from collections across the internet, including of course the US Library of Congress – our friends!

NOTE: On the copyright of these items: for the most part, anything from Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey are from the 1940′s and 50′s and are probably still within someone’s legal right to claim ownership over. MANY of the other items you’ll find here are from around the 1900′s, making them so old that they’re legally entered into the public domain. If you do not know what this mumbo jumbo is about, please take the time to read up on USA copyright before you start your own tshirt and poster business with these images.

With fabulousness such as this, it’s tempting, isn’t it? Hella tempting.

Now the following collection is hella diverse. You’re going to find posters from the previously mentioned Ringling Bros and Barnum & Baileys all the way down to Al G. Kelly and Miller Bros. 2nd Largest Circus and Circus Krone. That one, Krone, for example, is German, but for the most part, this collection stays in America.

What we’re searching for here is excellence. Pre-cursors to the maximus minimalist design of today, here’s the extravagance without getting the jumblance. True masters are at work here, truly masters in their fields. And what’s ironic about that? Many of these posters were probably designed in a field. All grassy and inky. Covered in elephant dung.

Super awesome!

To access details about many of these posters, please move your brain on over to a collective page here that’s got each poster listed with the information Princeton uncovered about date, accession, size, and even the drawer they’ve got it held in if you ever plan on going over to see these posters in real life. I bet they get even doozier.

Another excellent resource for more information on these images is Wikimedia Commons, where searching for Circus Posters is as simple as doing a double backflip, catching a lion along the way! — Now let’s take a look down here. In some cases I left the whole poster (most cases, I should say,) but then in a bunch of pictures I cut down posters for you to see some magnificent close-ups.

ALSO: Check out these sources for more magical poster power – V. Poster Works, Circus Museum, Vintage Rock and Roll, and the NYPL Gallery Library. Note that this gallery is considerably large in the “American Circus” category, but some other languages and attractions were allowed to slip in due to awesomeness. Example: Solomon the Man Monkey – this missing link goes to church on Sunday!

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies celebration category.

Below you’ll find the rest of the gallery. Feel free to click any tiny image here to bring up a larger version, then move back and forth through the gallery using the “Next Image” and “Previous Image” links. Then, if you’d like the entire set in their largest format, don’t hesitate to download a big fat .zip file of all the pictures: wfdj_circusposters.zip courtesy of the hardcore design collector family here at WFDJ.

Just incase you missed it, right here in this post is the entire set of clips from the Betty White / Mother’s Day episode of Saturday Night Live. You might be thinking “what in the world is going on here? WFDJ doesn’t show shows, that’s for tv!” But look, this was one of the greatest episodes of Saturday Night Live in recent times, and the bumper cards with Betty are fantastic! Look at that one with her holding a boombox! Utterly fantastic! So show some respect to your elder, get down and giggle with one of the head mothers of comedy Betty White and all the other chuckle mommies on this very special episode of SNL.

Show preview with a few words with Betty White on how nervous she is!

Lawrence Welk Show opening skit with all the ladies: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, and small-hands having Dooneese, aka Kristen Wiig.

The above-average kindly-worded monologue from Betty.

NPR Radio with Molly Shannon and Anna Gasteyer. How do you like my muffins?

The Manuel Ortiz Show.

Sally O’Malley & Dotty O’Donaghan on Weekend Update.

Weekend Update: Really?!? With Seth, Amy, and Tina!

Tina Fey is a census taker with the US census bureau finding not Christopher Walken, but Betty White. Betty White pronounced BLAAARRRFENGARRR.

Bronx Beat with Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph. Pool noodles! Pool noodles. It’s leather weather. She’s ya mutha! Delichus delichus.

Scared Straight. Ass.

Gingey: she’s a lesbian.

Debbie Downer at the lingerie party. Debbie reveals the source of her downer ways – HINT – it’s Betty White… in the past!

MacGruber rocks through several episodes with his Grandma MacGruber.

PLUS PLUS here’s a “web exclusive” clip called Joyologist. I love it I love it I LLLOVE IT.

And if you’re in to watching the entire episode at once, here’s that too.

Jay-Z was also in this episode and did a pretty neat job and dedicated his set to Betty White which was very honorable and fabulous. And of course there was this really really really wild digital short where the cast of SNL sang the Golden Girls theme song to Betty to which she responded with a hardcore version, complete with blood, backflips, and a kind “Happy Mother’s Day Mother******s.” Yay!

Note: this last video seems to be travelling around virally in a weirdly underground way because it doesn’t seem to appear on the NBC website. The only way we have it here is because we didn’t label it on our super sekret youtube channel. Sekretz! The quality is shitty. The content is gold. Enjoy!

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies Celebritarianism category.

Welcome to this ring. This post is all about it. It’s a Hell’s Angels ring, and it’s not about to kneel down to anyone but God. From the weirdest places on Earth, that’s where this is, that’s where it came from! Below have a hack at looking at it, inside of it, on both sides, upside down and rightside up. But you can’t have it. That’s the law. Also forgive me if there’s any references to hate or violence on this thing, I appreciate it for it’s aesthetics and craft, I’m not fully in on the symbols and their magical meanings.

I’ll tell you right now I’m not going to give a link to where I found this because while it’s for sale, and I support commerce of this kind for sure, it DOES have links to inappropriate content that I and we refuse to have anything to do with. But this ring is rad. Just look at it. In the blockquote here you can see all the text offered by the owner:

HELLS ANGELS HA AFFA 81 BRM SUPPORT OUTLAW MC CLUB BIKER RING

OUTLAW BIKER RING MOTORCYCLE JEWELRY FOR SALE UNIQUE & VERY RARE ~ ONE OF A KIND RING GOLD COLOR … BELIEVE IT TO BE BRONZE VERY HEAVY, MASSIVE RING SIZE 12 ~ WILL RESIZE AT NO CHARGE (WITHIN REASON) ENGRAVED “HANDGEMACHT HA 666″ = HAND MADE IN GERMANY

NOT NUMBERED … NO NAMES

THIS RING HAS SOME SIGNS OF WEAR & USE, WHICH ADDS TO ITS CHARACTER. IF IT COULD ONLY TALK! GOLD COLOR, WEIGHS ~ 30 GRAMS … BELIEVE IT TO BE BRONZE. CAN BE POLISHED UP, BUT IN OUR OPINION, IT LOOKS BETTER THE WAY IT IS. IF YOU BUY IT, WE’LL POLISH IT UP FOR YOU UNLESS YOU WANT TO KEEP IT IN ITS CURRENT “STREET USE” CONDITION. NEEDLESS TO SAY, NEVER SEEN ONE BEFORE … PROBABLY THE ONLY ONE OUT THERE AVAILABLE!

Did you read that? Did you see the most important part? The part that makes it incredibly bad ass, totally amazing, and utterly hell-bent? NOT NUMBERED … NO NAMES. How much more elite can you get? You fucking can’t. That’s how much.

It would be fantastic to be able to smelt one’s own rings in their own image. Anyone reading this do that? Get in contact with me, we could make wonderful things!

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies Custom Culture category.

Ever wondered what it was like to chill out in Zimbabwe? Or maybe you’ve been there, but you were wondering how things are turning out these days? Well check it out here a little bit – tomorrow, at the MCAD, there’s a viewing of this stunning film by the name SHUNGU, as filmed, directed, and narrated by the founder of ZIVA, the Zimbabwe Institute for Vigital Arts in Harare, Saki Mafundikwa. This most excellent teacher Saki Mafundikwa will be at the MCAD telling a bit about the film and promoting it as it’s also a film to be distributed on DVD and, and, and! there’s a poster!

I’m sure you’re aware that every project has the potential to produce a poster, or so says design magician Kevin Wade Shaw. This one is one of those ones. This SHUNGU has a poster produced by MCAD student and postermaker extraordinaire Ted Guerrero.

Read now these words from design professor Erik Brandt, then visit his site with more information below this box:

We are honored and delighted to be welcoming Saki Mafundikwa to our campus next week for the academic premiere of his inspiring film about life in contemporary Zimbabwe.

Directed, filmed and movingly narrated by Saki himself, Shungu will humble and inspire. Saki is the founder and director of ZIVA, the Zimbabwe Institute for Vigital Arts in Harare. ZIVA is already more than an inspiration to design educators and students worldwide, and Shungu will only extend Saki’s reputation as one of the most generous, selfless, and enlightened teachers working in our field today.

“Shungu is a compelling narrative of the strategies ordinary people use to survive in Zimbabwe today. Lyrically photographed, the filmmaker takes us on a personal journey offering a rare, intimate insight as the country experiences political turmoil, economic meltdown and health care collapse. ”

Shungu has premiered at the IDFA in Amsterdam, Holland (November, 2009), and recently at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greece (March, 2010).

Please join us in welcoming Saki to MCAD!
The premiere is free and open to the public.
MCAD April 8, 2010. Auditorium 150, 1PM.

View the facebook event, the Geotypografika post on the film, the film’s official website, and the making of the poster (pictures from which are also included above and below.

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies blessings category.

AKA the “Dark Lens” series by Cédric Delsaux. What you’re about to see is a series of photographs of Star Wars characters and ships placed in a real Earth world. There has been a bit of confusion over these photos in the past, especially since they’re so hype-worthy and easily spread without accreditation. There are approximately 3 releases of these photos, each with a few new images added. The first came in 2005, the next sometime before 2007, and now the newest one in 2010. It’s a fascinating set of photos in which after the shock and awe of realizing that that’s a Jawa I see stealing my speeder parts, there comes a sense of fascination, a real new sense of “it’s all true, isn’t it?”

Master advertisement photographer Cédric Delsaux has been working on this series for some time now, having started out clicking droids, Jedi, and spaceshipmobiles without any intent of stopping all those years (5) ago. But now the completion has come! Having taken his final of three sets in Dubai, now dubbing the entire series Dark Lens, Delsaux reports that the circle is now complete.

The first set of photos (2005) is all in France, in the suburbs of Paris. In this series you’ll mostly see a single character standing in amongst daily life, pretty much just working on the oddity of the situation. This set of photos called “Star Wars on Earth” and won the Kodak prize for landscapes and architecture that year.

The second series which was photographed between 2005 and 2007 was taken in Lille, France, and also went under the name “Star Wars on Earth.” This series was displayed with a set of landscape portraits at Project4Gallery in Washington DC from September 15 – October 20, 2007. In it were 10 new photos plus a few from the first set.

This newest (and final?) installment’s images were just released within the past week (it’s 2/24/2010 when I write this), but there was a show displaying them in a gallery – The Empty Quarter Fine Art Photography Gallery from December 8th-31st in 2009. This is the “Dark Lens” series and it’s all photographed in Dubai. This set is where the subject matter sort of changes. In these Dubai photos, Delsaux revels in the new world we live in, saying how wild it is to live in a world where science fiction pales in comparison. Delsaux mentions in an interview on Amusement Magazine that in the same way the epic Science Fiction / Futurism film Blade Runner reflected the state of Los Angeles, so too does Dark Lens reflect Dubai, which in turn represents the dreamy, magical, industrialismic world of modern architecture.

The way Cédric Delsaux created these lovely amalgamations was to photograph a location first, then to set up action figures and models to be placed, finishing by combining the two with some fabulous computer magic. Not too difficult, yes?

Gallery Organization:
1-16 are photographed in the suburbs of Paris and is called “Star Wars on Earth”
17-28 are photograped in Lille, France and is also part of the extended SWoE set
29 on are from the Dubai set

Each of these images exist also in print form, generally a C-Print 27 inches wide. What a magnificent site they must be to behold, so says I.

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies custom culture category.

Oh my goodness I thought the age was complete! I say now nay! The Gorillaz continue on! Five years after their last LP album comes this thing called Plastic Beach, in reference to the terrifying pollution-made floating islands in the ocean. Hope you know about those. Today’s the day the first song gets leaked to the internets. This first single song is called “Stylo” and features the same lead singer as before*, featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack. Pump it on up! See below and above for the music you set your eyes to!

The album releases March 9th. This track’s released by Murdoc himself (one of the fictional characters in the band and the band’s official soundman.) It’s always a lovely thing when Mos Def sings, but it’s a fantastic present from the music gods that Bobby Womack decided to grace the world with his voice again!

Everyone should own both the albums below, I say without having heard the Gorillaz one. The other is an album by Womack called “Communication.” Go to a flea market or a record store and find it for a dollar and own it forever.

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies blessings category.

Yes, from outer space. The inner part of outer space. Our friend Santa and in many cases, helpers aplenty, deliver gifts to all of the childrens of the earth. On space rockets. The debate should be settled by this post on weather Santa and his crew used such devices to access the entire world in a night – rockets are shown being used here quite clearly.

Thank you, Russia. Thank you for this.

Feel free to discuss the loveliness of Russian Christmas rockets in space below, meanwhile enjoy the fabulousness of the paint and ink that went into the designs on every excellent card. Hail to thee, oh you Russian postcard and holiday card design experts!

IT SHOULD BE NOTED: That in some reports, reports that I cannot verify, Christmas was officially banned in the USSR for a period of about 20 years after 1917: “After the Revolution of 1917, Christmas was officially banned, with the prohibition lasting until about 1935.” Crazy! Also note that many of these cards are New Years cards, having little to do with Christmas in fact.

This collection is harvested and curated by World Famous Design Junkies from the following sources: Jassy 50, Christine-Christine, John P Gelety, Brian Cantrell, Apple Min, Orchard Lake, Hidemitakadi, Dave the Game, Unrepentant Communist, Desert Pete, Baltic Merchant, Martin Klasch, Alternative Comix, Computer Stamps, Yana Postcards and Stamps, and especially Mazaika, who made a contribution not because they were aiming to collect post cards, but because they needed fodder for their photo mozaic software machine. Totally wicked wild wacky craziness and coolness!

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies OUTER SPACE category!

You’re going to have quite a time looking through these majestic works of fantastic fortitude. They’ve got so many colors in them your eyeballs will explode on site. They’re made not only of oil paints and canvas, but also of purest magic and Hawaiian sun-power. He’s currently living on Maui, painting both t-shirts and large scale fine art works for sale. The following is a collection of his most recent works.

These works were supplied to us from a nameless supporter of the arts. The following example of dimensions and such is of the above painting. The rest in the gallery below are very similar.

“The Guardian”
Oil on Canvas by Richard Fields
© Richard Fields
Dimensions inside the frame 29 x 39 inches
Dimensions outside the frame 38 x 48 inches

Richard lives on Maui were he began his career by painting t-shirts at a t-shirt factory. He became so skillfull that this led him to painting on canvas – where his love of beauty, fantasy, and the Hawaiian islands came into full bloom. His paintings are a blend of the mystical with the awesome nature beauty of Hawaii. His images are currently for sale from a private collection on Maui, and available as museum-grade archival limited-edition giclee prints, and large-canvas original paintings. Seeing many of these paintings all at once, from this private collection on Maui, induces the “feeling” of a “temple-museum.”

So that you can fully understand and appreciate the excellence of the artworks and the realness of the feelings that are trying their hardest to be portrayed, look upon the following. This is a real picture of the artist:

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies outer space category.

Hoootah! Our hero and friend super-designer Erik Brandt is in Bolivia! And you know what that means – lots of typographically amazing photos! Typography is a specialty of the eyes for Herr Brandt, and his camera helps him help us to understand the lovliness of his environment. Explore with me, and him, if you will, a collection of 120+ photographs of graphic design and lettering lovliness from the city of La Paz, Bolivia!

Point of special interest: while you’re browsing, take special care to see the manhole covers, sewer covers that are spread throughout the set. They’re all just splendid. Then of course let your eyeballs taste the broken and perfect sets of letters from all around the city.

From the fantastic blog of mister Brandt:

This coming week, I am delighted to be traveling to La Paz, Bolivia to attend the BICeBé 2009, Bienal Internacional del Cartel Bolivia. Organized by Susana Machiado and David Criado, it promises and amazing array of international speakers, workshops, and exhibitions.

And so here we are, the main set of lovely photos. I cannot express enough how much of an influence Erik Brandt has had on everything you see here. Everything as in World Famous Design Junkies and your everloving-publisher, me, Chris Burns. Erik Brandt is a professor at my Alma Mater the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. There he spreads the knowledge that only a world-traveled typography collector can teach.

Indulge in the following set, and do not forget to visit Brandt’s news feed http://geotypografika.com/ often as possible. Click the heck out of it and learn yourself some typographic mathematics!

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies street signs category.

This post is a collection of hundreds of Star Wars photos from the set, of the movies, and from the promotional shots of the 70′s and 80′s. Doesn’t matter how you feel about Star Wars, it’s affected the way you work. The world you live in today is the world you live in today because of Star Wars. You’d better believe that. Its basically like this: Luke Skywalker: New York, Princess Leia: Los Angeles, Han Solo and Darth Vader: Minneapolis.

These have been scrounged from all over the internets. If you are one of the photographers of these phantastic photos, shoot me an email or a comment here. If you’d like to take credit for bringing an image here to the internet, I give you a hearty thank you and internet hand shake. If you’ve got photos you’d like to add to the collection, feel free to also contact!

This post is composed of photos from the movies, (the original trilogy,) making-of photos, a few posters, products, and advertisements. MOSTLY it’s photos from cut scenes and promotional photos. Everything is super amazing and very wild.

Star Wars: one of, if not the greatest non-Jesus brands in history.

UPDATE: There is now another Rare Star Wars Photos post by the name of More Star Wars Rarities. More on-set, behind the scenes, during shots, and good time havin by the crew.

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies outer space category.

What do you know, marriage isn’t so bad! Apparently now you get a nice shag carpet / fuzzy covered ball instead of the normal 1 ton! That’s what I like to hear. This and several other items also included in this post are sculptures put together and constructed by designer Karin Nilsson who goes under the “Crafts” banner at HDK design school in Göteborg, Sweden. Love the deconstructions!

Above: “Ball and Chain” Karin Nilsson 2009

These objects were certainly constructed to destroy or make fun of social amalgamations created to keep businessmen in business and consumers shopping. The ball and chain in pink is of course my favorite, but the carved “diamonds” and the soft version of Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountian” are not to be missed!

Karin Nilsson – Applied Art – BA Level – Grade 1
Crafts – Ceramics karin.son@hotmail.com

Just what we were looking for in the World Famous Design Junkies 3D collection.

Above: “Greetings to Marcel” Below: “Forever”

Set your eyes on this expanded look at the cover of the new CLONE magazine designed and fully illustrated by Grzegorz Domaradzki aka GABZ. It fills me with love for yellow and purple. Or violet. Whatever you want to call it. I’ve never seen faces illustrated with such grace in the color purple. I love them so much I can barely believe it. I’ve read CLONE magazine only a couple times, I think they were sitting in the waiting area at Rhymesayers. The inside’s pretty interesting, but the cover is where it’s at.

Below you’ll find a bunch of pictures, close and far, of the CLONE cover in question here. Of course, what are you going to ask about it though? Not much. It’s pretty much all there right in front of your now wet-tongued eyeballs.

I’m gonna look for some more colored penciled subject matters right about now. Some new contents with colored pencils like THIS. Because that’s what’s up today.

HELLO I’AM GABZ / LET’S TALK

Mobile +48 604 52 95 97

Email grzegorz.domaradzki@gmail.com

Address ul. Królewska 19 / 11 60 – 685 Poznań / Poland

See further works of GABZ’s and hire him too because he’s freelance as hell. Also I don’t know who’s illustrated there on the cover. They look nice though.

Noone can resist that title. This is a project by one Emanuele Nardoni, a photographer from Milan who likes to hit the road and the airplane and basically go on the photo outings that you WISH you could go on. This one’s set in Tokyo and I believe in the surrounding areas, and it is titled, yes, “Made in Japan.” And it’s lovely. Just fantastical. My favorite photo is the one above “This is My Art” because although it’s sort of totally self-referential, juvenile, silly, goofy, I think it’s right on cue. I wonder if it’s tile, sticker, wood, or what?

The rest of the set can be found below, in all it’s glory, click on the link connected to Nardoni’s name up there to find him on twitter! This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies architecture category. Didn’t see that one coming, did ya? The rest of the categories it’s in are listed above the title up there. Click them all for a treat!

What designer / filmmaker Kurt Ralske has done is to create a program which searches two full-length films and finds the two frames which are most similar, one from each. The programs compares only shapes within the image, yielding wild results the naked eye might never have glued together. Most excellent! This post contains all 8 published examples of the machine in action, starting with Joan of Arc / 2001 : A Space Odyssey (above.)

It’s in the numbers. Fate and probability reign.

The Inevitable
Video, duration 4:00
Edition of 5

“The Inevitable” was created with custom software written by the artist: the program searches through a database of movie files, comparing each frame with every other frame, looking for pairs of frames that resemble each other the most. “The Inevitable” presents the run-up to these pairs of matching frames. The program compares only shapes within the image (not color or content), leading to some pairings that resonate in unexpected ways. In the end, the inevitable twinned conclusion, regardless of genre, age, or nationality, is not simply a delightful coincidence: instead it has the claustrophobic and humbling quality of less-pleasant inevitabilities, like death and taxes.

“The Inevitable” was made possible in part by The Media Arts Fellowships (a program of Tribeca Film Institute, founded and supported by the Rockefeller Foundation) and The Experimental Television Center’s Finishing Funds program (supported by the Electronic Media and Film Program at the New York State Council on the Arts).

This post is from the World Famous Design Junkies found category.

The 39 Steps / 2001 : A Space Odyssey

One Flew Over The Cukoo’s Nest / Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Paris, Texas / The Golem

Breakfast at Tiffany’s / The 7th Seal

Valley of the Dolls / 2001 : A Space Odyssey

A Clockwork Orange / Rashomon

Taxi Driver / Superfly

Ryan McLennan is an artist who uses graphite and acrylic on canvas. The show these paintings are from is called “The Strain of Inheritance” and it opens very soon up at Joshua Linger Gallery. The centerpiece is shown above: a 52″ x 68″ giant called “Departure.” This piece features a giant tree trunk intertwined with bones, bears, and bison, it reminds a fellow of some of the oddest passages from the book “Ender’s Game” – where a giant’s been slain, his carcass having become home to animals and humans galore.

All’s recycled, all’s used.

Widness the severe sharpness and depressing eyeballs of the animals here. Look also for the bears made of leaves draped over the living animals. And the bones. And the vines. What a set of lovely connections.

Ryan McLennan
The Strain of Inheritance
October 17–November 14, 2009
Opening reception, Gallery II: Saturday, October 17, 6–9 PM
http://joshualinergallery.com/

Joshua Liner Gallery
548 W. 28th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10001
For more information, please visit www.joshualinergallery.com, or contact Tim Strazza at 212.244.7415 or
tim@joshualinergallery.com.

Some examples of sizes:

Work Ethic Acrylic and graphite on paper 47 x 54 in. 2009 (Moose circling a tree) - The Storyteller Acrylic and graphite on paper 30 x 22 in. 2009 (Single moose missing leg) - The Widower Acrylic and graphite on paper 30 x 22 in. 2009 (Ox and single skull)

This post was placed most effectively in the World Famous Design Junkies environment category. Tell all your friends to go out and give a little bit of bread to a squirrel today!

Hooray for photographer Landry A! It’s a fabulously graphic-minded photo-taker who covers both au-natural photographs AND unnatural design. I jest, of course, as all good design is natural as the grass. What L.A. has done here is to keep a photo series going of all the excellence in the several countries Landry is able to visit on a regular (and irregular) basis. The set you’re about to peek and flip through is out of Africa. Black and white and color are two separate sets, I’m sure you’ll be able to tell which is which.

The photos you’re about to see are from Niger, Africa, and surrounding areas (I think some from Chad and Mali maybe too.) The collection we’ve got here are mostly the signage and graphic-natured photographs from the set. The extended set you can see on Landry A’s full portfolio site.

“PHOTOGRAPHS” by Landry A.
Based in Barcelona
contact email landry@mydogispolite.com

After you have a flip through this ongoing set, take a look at the rest of Landry A’s works for a treat: Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Aragon, and more Africa! This particular post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies Public Space and Street Signs categories.

Dear Swedish artist who has made the collection of dead fly artworks you’ll see in this post right here. I would love to hear from you. I would like to give you credit for the greatest dead fly artworks that I have ever seen. I would like to compliment your use of bee and moth carcasses also. Let me know who you are! And let the internet have more of your utterly wondrous grotesque brilliance. Thank you!

These photos were found on several sites having just posted within the past month with no source or credit to the artist (so they ain’t gettin no link from me, either!) If you are, or if you know of, the artist, let use know! We’d love some more carcasses in our lives! Here at the office, we’re mostly into living nature, like flowers and kitties and bunnies and such, but the occasional dead rat has been known to pass past our doorstep.

This post is torn limb from limb from the dead body of the World Famous Design Junkies Grotesque category, screaming, and in utter agony. Without mercy.

EDIT: CONTEST OVER. Winners will be chosen soon and sent messages over twitter or email. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Hello and welcome, design world, to the first ever World Famous Design Junkies sticker giveaway! You see those stickers in the photo there? The ones that say a little something about Obama on a certain Unicorn? Yes. That is what we are giving away. You, yes YOU! could be the lucky winner of a 12pack of World Famous Design Junkies “Obama Ona Unicorn” stickers courtesy of our new best friend in the world, Sticker Robot!

So here’s the deal. Sticker Robot is running this competition thang where you think of a clever saying and submit it, hoping that it’s chosen, at which point you’ll win 500 stickers with that saying on them. WELL guess what happened? Writer Chris Burns (that’s me) of World Famous Design Junkies won on the very first week the competition was open!

And now we’re passing the savings on to you!

So to make a long story short (too late) all you’ve got to do is tweet! Get yourself a twitter if you don’t already have one, make sure you don’t lose access to that account incase you win, and just CLICK AND TWEET

Once you click that link, you’ll have the following entered into your twitter tweeter:

RT @design_junkies @stickerobot http://tinyurl.com/ykyfb2u Win a 12pack of Obama Unicorns from WFDJ!

Tweet that and you’ll be automatically entered! Easy as that.

If you’re chosen, you win 12 stickers, no strings attached, sent straight to your door!

END OF CONTEST IS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 AT NOON, winners are chosen at random, 12 packs of 12 will be given away, one pack can be won per person, shipping is free. If you’ve got any questions, ask them below. If not, get tweeting!

So I went forward into the year 2000. Forward into the FUTURE. And I found this amazing bit of jewelry made only for the future. You will never see this kind of fashion again! Or you might see it again if we ever get to the year 2000. Maybe then. I’ll tell you how much I bought it for, too. I bought it for one Future dollar. From the future. Believe it.

When I was in the future, I found this particular bug pin in the greatest future store in the world. That store is Ax Man Surplus and Future Supplies. You should check that out too if you’re in to amazing things and whatnot.

Meanwhile, let’s discuss this amazing object! It could change the world. It was made in China. That means it’s quality product (from the future). It’s © Weingeroff Enterprises. You know what that means. Quality. And what kind of bug is that, exactly? It’s a beetle. I don’t know much about beetles, but I know this one is gold, and was probably worshiped in ancient Egypt. But now it’s the future, so it’s got a computer chip on it.

AND THAT IS FASHION.

This post is picked by hand from the World Famous Design Junkies Accessories category! You know you need accessories if you are going to be part of the fashion scene…

OF TOMORROW!

Luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton is more than just a clothing line. It is a social manifestation whose tendrils twist and turn into our mind-grapes. Louis Vuitton is an oddity whose effects on the world are uncontrollable mark-mutants: guns, tattoos, paintings, wild things! The LV brand is not just a bag, not just a brand, nay! It is a very real metaphor for the desire of the western world to become a class it is not, a class lost, classless.

On the other hand, the products made in the process are priceless. Behold the World Famous Design Junkies Louis Vuitton Obsession Collection.

The LV Bullet by 21-19 is part of a campaign kit for director Bita Hairdarian’s autobiographical documentary Finding Bibi; which explores her unique identity as an American born Iranian. This bullet is one of probably less than 5 prototypes made specifically for the photo shoot for the press release material for the film. P.s. can’t wait!

Designer Gas Masks by Diddo Velema (only the LV mask is shown, it is part of a set of three designer masks). This project is known especially for its high rate of misconception. AKA lots and lots of people believed these were “real.”

LV Electric Chair and Chainsaw, part of an exhibition of such objects by the name of “The Revolution Will Be Fabulous: A Weapons of Mass Designer Show.” This show was made entirely by artist Peter Gronquist – this exhibition was photographed by Jean Aw of Notcot fame for, what else, Notcot.

The Louis Vuitton skateboard case and skateboard. Seems pretty amazing, and hot, right? That’s because it’s real. It cost $8250 and was sold at the SOHO, New York location official LV store early 2009. The difference between most art pieces working with the LV and the real deal LV is the quality. A lot of the ideas on both the real and unreal side are good and terrible, but almost all the time, the quality is exclusively real.

LOUIS VUITTON graffiti in big orange letters on a real Louis Vuitton store. Like writing a name on a nametag that was already labeled, right? Real. 116 Greene St. (between Prince St & Spring St) New York, NY 10012 An actual official LV facade early September, 2009, photographed by Sang Bleu. The painting was part of preparations for a Stephen Sprouse Collection released early 2009. Stephen Sprouse “was a fashion designer and artist credited with pioneering the 1980s mix of “uptown sophistication in clothing with a downtown punk and pop sensibility.”

Then there’s this painting by graffiti artist SKAM for Louis Vuitton Toronto. This one’s photographed by Think Contra.

Then there’s this extremely unofficial painting on the other hand. Spanish fashion site Hazme el Chingado Favor stole the pics from a Facebook profile they aren’t giving up the name of. But the house is somewhere in Mexico. It’s the real deal, as in it exists, painted by the owners in a show of brand power.

Whoa shei if I didn’t know the location of both I’d think this car belonged to the custom-LV house owner. This is a car sitting in Echo Park, Los Angeles, photographed by Victoria Bernal, who at the time was basically just rollin on a stroll.

In a slightly more “LV Acceptable” manner, tricked out car shop Detroit Customs was contracted to do this 1962 Cadillac Louis Vuitton’ Custom Convertible. It sold for 5k less than the starting price at a recent auction, going for 35k instead. Find out more at ICollector.

“Recently constructed by Detroit Customs, this 1962 Cadillac convertible is unlike any other. The most outstanding feature is the liberal use of Louis Vuitton fabric design throughout the car; including the folding top, upholstery, soft boot and dash insert.”

One of Prince Marcus von Anhalt‘s 26 luxury cars und autos. He is rich on account of he was adopted by Zsa Zsa Gabor and her ninth husband Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, who is, incidentally, the owner of 20+ brothels and nightclubs in Germany. This car is driven to promote von Anhalt’s “Royal Race.” It’s a fact: you don’t have to be poor to want to make yourself look like a fool for want of an LV mark.

A simply super acrylic painting by photographer designer painter Danny Schissler. This guy usually does photography, primarily. He takes pics of all the lovely wonderful things in the world and suddenly he makes these guns in a painting. Fun!

This terrifying amalgamation is called “LV Child.” It’s a screenprint (one of several different versions, plus a couple sculptures, all pictured below) designed by graffiti artist Beejoir. He explains on his now-defunct blog that he was inspired by real beggars sitting in front of the LV store just down the street from where he lives.

This is what inspired the LV, its just up the road from where we live, I’d just got back from the UK and was walking home from the supermarket with bags of shopping, when I passed these two beggars, guilt stuck I gave them a few coins and carried on, that night I remembered seeing Mantas’s iNeed stencil in Shorditch, and being struck by the same feeling of utter guilt.

The next day the stencil was cut, and sprayed across the city.

This print was sold (out) at Souled Out Studios.

Oh the dirtiness of the culture! These are piggies. These little piggies (and one more, pictured below) are tattooed with the LV, the whole flower pattern, and a few embellishments by Belgian tattoo artist Wim Delvoye (if you click that link, find the tattoo shop sort of in the middle if you’d like to see more of his tattoo art.) These pigs were supposed to be shown at the 2009 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, but were not allowed because they were considered “outside the categories of display.” BONUS check that link for more info on a tattoo Delvoye sold right off a man’s back!

Another gun for those in the luxury death business. “LOUIS VUITTON AK-47 7.62x39mm” from the entirely lovely armory of the “ARM•ME” project.

Justin Melnicks “ARM•ME” Project “Justin Melnick is an avid photographer, digital artist, and has spent time oversees in the Middle East. All of these influences have come together in his latest project, titled ARM•ME Melnick imagines — quite vividly — what Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Pucci, and Chanel would add to standard ammunition. The exhibition starts September 2nd at Gallery 385 in New York City. The outcome is a compelling statement that questions how we — individually and as a nation — spend our money, contrasting the abundance of weaponry with the scarcity of high-end luxury goods and some pretty amazing imagery.”

Made by Justin Melnick. In the gallery you’ll find several weapons from this project, including the TIFFANY & CO. M-67 HAND GRENADE, the LOUIS VUITTON RPD 7.62x39mm, the YVES SAINT LAURENT .380ACP, and of course, the MARC by MARC JACOBS MORTAR (all these are sitting there below.)

From the wild piggy heart and hands of artist Meryl Smith, who specializes in paper mache animal creations. More pics below.

Materials: metal screen, paper mache, leather, gold paint, zipper I made “excessory baggage” for a group exhibition at The Honey Space, where 5 curators asked artists to create sculptures that fit the measurement requirements for international carry-on luggage. – Meryl Smith

Supreme is a skateboard / streetwear brand that’s got a history of big time hype. This particular “collaboration” is a parody of the LV pattern used on several “box” t-shirts and the stickers you see above.

Tasty! Artist photographer Massimo Gammucurta makes “Sweet Fashion – lick your way to success” set of candy pops, lollypops, luxurypops I’d call em. Gammucurta‘s got amazing eyeballs and a good clicking finger, too.

Artist Michael Levy takes a total left turn bringing the history of luxury brands into the light with this LV menorah. Concept for the sake of eye opening.

The worlds of haute couture and religion have a long history that too often gets ignored. The papal rings, sacramental wine chalices, torah yads, and a whole assortment of robes, sashes and head dressings have littered the landscape of western religion for as long as it has existed. This Louis Vuitton menorah brings that intersection to the forefront. Let’s not give a wink and a nod anymore, let’s put it all out in the open. We already have torah yads (the pointers used to touch the torah so as not to damage it) made of silver, why can’t they be Tiffany’s?

Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction had been rockin and rollin using a faux Louis Vuitton guitar strap up until June 18, 2008 when he received a cease-and-desist notification from the brand’s lawyer squad.

In probably the cutest and best-made counterfeit of them all, doggy-toy makers Huate Diggity Dog made this combo bag set for puppies… and was also thustly sued by LV. They were inside the law though, and are still producing!

Another LV Piggie! This one’s sprayed by OZI! Ozi is a Brazil-based street artist spraying a campaign called “Glamour for All”. – thanks Ozi!! I love this concept indeed!

This post is, of course, from the World Famous Design Junkies Bad Taste category.

Behold! The greatest place to buy do-hickeys in the entire world. You betcha. This post contains a patented MINI TOUR® of Ax-Man Surplus Store in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It’s cool, it’s punk, it’s just basically pretty awesome. Take note of the setup, really basic, but especially take note of the signs: all hand-made, all amazing. Find this particular store at 639 University Ave W, St Paul, MN – (651) 646-8653‎. Drive there, I dare you!

Feast your eyes! The official mission statement of Ax-Man Surplus stores! Every store should have a manifesto like this one, typed up and stapled to the wall by the door.

There’s No Place Like This on Earth!

Just what is Ax-Man Surplus, do you ask? We simply defy a simple description. For over thirty years we have been serving the creative and practical needs of the Twin Cities community. Simple to say, there aren’t any stores around simply like this!

Imagine going to one store and finding yards and yards of different materials, all kinds of wierd hardware parts, porcelain and plastic body parts, bizarre millitary odds ‘n’ ends like gas masks and dummy rounds, capacitors and power supplies, art materials, office products, and coffee pots- All in the same place!

Usually when people hear the word “surplus”, the words “used” and “defective” also come to mind. THIS IS A MYTH!When we say surplus, we mean merchandise that is new and in fine working order, but someone just had more on hand than needed, or items whose intended application just didn’t do it justice…

…Which is where you come in. Our business thrives on our customers’ imagination. We have scores of merchandise waiting for creative people to find new uses for them. Using a fly trap as a minnow catcher, for instance. Or using weight resistance bands as boat mooring lines. Or building a computer or amplifier with our bins and bins of electromechanical stuff. The possibilities are endless!

We don’t believe in UPC codes- the apocalyptic “mark of the beast” for the Nineties. We believe customers like to touch merchandise that’s not wrapped in bubble packs and laminated cardstock. When you come into our stores, we encourage you to browse around, read our signs, dig through our leather scraps bin, hunt for a vacuum tube for that old radio, and just have a good time! So if you’re in for a shopping experience, or just in the Twin Cities, pay us a visit!

This post is straight out of the World Famous Design Junkies rummage sale category. This isn’t a rummage sale in the same way a garage sale is a rummage sale, or the same way a flea market is a rummage sale, nay, this is a store. Generally the only place you find rummage at a store-like location is at a “secondhand” store like Good Will or Unique. This is not those, I say to you, nay again! This is Ax-Man Surplus.

This is the truly one-of-a-kind.

Here’s the new book cover for Sarah Palin’s sort of autobiography? Or whatever it is. I like the elephant and the bones the most. This cover was designed by A Tiny City Printing Press for Sarah Palin and Todd, who has retired from his job because he saw this cover and decided it was so good that he’d never harvest oil so good ever again. Goodness!

Check out also this analyzation of the font used:

“And, finally, one of the most important features of any book cover is the font. As typophiles know, the font sends an important message about the quality and type of publication. While we might have expected Palin to choose a bold and unadorned font like Impact (or perhaps Comic Sans), Palin’s team went instead with Linotype Didot. According to Typedia, the Didot family of fonts comes from the Didot family, who lived and worked in Paris in the 19th Century. While Pierre Didot published books and prints, Firmin Didot designed the typefaces. Linotype Didot was added much later, drawn by Adrian Frutiger in 1991. Typedia informs us that this font, with its vertical emphasis and bold strokes, is the “right choice for elegant book and magazine designs, as well as advertising with a classic touch.” However, as Anna notes, for all its elegance, Didot is only one “i” away from idiot. And you’d think that is one association she’d rather avoid.” — Intern Katy of Jezebel

BONUS now there’s a book coming out the same day as the original called “Going Rogue: An American Nightmare” written by senior editors of The Nation – Richard Kim and Betsy Reed and it’ll be sold through http://orbooks.com/ – see the cover below (the storm clouds one.)

This post from the World Famous Design Junkies books category.

Tigers are a rather iconic species if I do say so myself. Their lovely stripes and ferocious yet collected disposition makes for a totally awesome beast-form to strive for. In my search for the perfect image of a tiger to reflect on during my daily meditation time I happened upon this fabulous “Korean Tiger” print by artist Nancy Reed*. I thought wowie, that’s fantastic – it’s so full of majesty, so full of excellence!

Und so the tiger icon collection began. Across the entire internets of the world I scoured and found the greatest. And a couple of the least, just for larfs.

*We’re on the hunt for more images from Nancy Reed. If you’ve got any info on this artist / designer, send a shout! Love to have a chat wit her!

The following collection is made of tigers from the following contributors: HelloGiants, Female First, Tashi Mannox (tattoo artist), Tigers Hawks Snakes Tattoo Design (book), Yoso Tattoo studio (blog), 彫倭 Akilla a.k.a. Horiyamato, Robert Pesina (artist), Dejavu Tattoo Studio Chiangmai Thailand, Proud to be Sober, Hughbone, Mod Complex, Heaven’s Tattoo, Braunschweig, Melanie Favreau, Rob Merrill Tattoo, augrust, Full Moon Tattoo, Pimpstress Pnai, Jon Mirro (artist), Rock Monkey, Justin Dion, KP Tattoo, Anthony at Dee Why Tattoo in Sydney Australia, Dug Grave, Relborn, Francis Tattoo, Uber Sleuth, and Tony Da Tiger. Then of course there’s Jakuchu (artist), Keith Diffenderfer (artist), and Xiaobaosg Singapore.

This post rips through the flesh of the World Famous Design Junkies ancient category for the tiger is the oldest of creatures! Iconized since the beginning of iconization. Below you’ll find first four or so photos of the Nancy Reed print, then a mini collection of tiger tattoos (because that’s where it becomes serious business with tigers) and a couple paintings and illustrations. Peek around and fear naught! For these are only on the internets.

So basically this record shop has my very favorite “standard size” business card ever. The shop goes by the title Music Saves and they’re located in Cleveland. They have a black cat, yes, a real live one, named Vinyl. That’s amazing by itself. But these cards, oh! These cards. Just look at them.

These cards were designed by one Mikey Burton. Below you’ll find more examples of fantastic design done for the record shop, some of it done by designers who aren’t Burton. But that’s just find, if I do say so myself.

Who ARE you?
We are TEAM MUSIC SAVES…owners Melanie and Kevin, and a black cat named Vinyl.

WHAT are you?
An independent record store specializing in indie rock and it’s extended family.

WHERE are you?
Cleveland Ohio, next to the Beachland Ballroom.
To be exact: 15801 Waterloo Road, Cleveland OH 44110

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies black and orange category.

Who is the dude or lady who gets to design the iconography that covers the graveyard? Who gets to set the type on the stones? Designers who design for the dead. That’s what I wanna know about. For now, check out this very lovely and very real bed for the dead by designer Robert Stadler for his father. See below for a nice collection of images of it and some info, or if you’d like to see it in real life, just visit DÖbling Cemetary in Vienna. Simple!

This is a very special project, namely the design of my family grave, devised on the death of my father. Despite the inoffensive nature of the proposition, it demanded long negotiations in order to obtain the necessary authorizations. The idea is simple: a granite bed, white marble pillows and a blanket of greenery. The project contrasts with traditional graves by its color and its horizontal form.

Project assistant : Anne Roussel / studio RS

Designer For The Dead, that’s what I want to be. My former professor Piotr Szyhalski once had an idea for a digital graveyard where people could “bury” their loved ones with the option to leave comments or seal them tight! I’d like to be designing the granite stones.

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies installation category.