So there’s this lady whose name is Erin C that lives in Troy, New York. A few weeks ago she was riding her bike down a hill, and a person in a car had their eyes closed probably because they pulled out in front of her and she basically nearly died smashing into and over it. Now she’s a fabulously talented photographer and stylist, and being the sort of person that people demand more in one season than the others, is in a bit of trouble, this being the top season for the things she does.

So!

What do we do? We have a FUNDRAISER. Not just any kind of fundraiser, a bicycle-ride fundraiser. So jump up. And do it.

The photo above is taken by Erin, and it’s a photo of her two little baaabies, Betsey and Riley. And you know what’s super fun? They’re going to be my nieces very soon! I’m marrying Erin’s sister Elizabeth in less than 2 months from now. Fun yes?

So that means Erin basically my sister-in-law, and she’s in trouble. So you’d better effing help her out or I’m gonna get so pissed.

Here’s some official info from TIGHT KNIT!, the Craft and Art organization that’s running the fundraiser and bike ride and all that fun stuff:

Dear friends,

Erin Colligan, a beloved member of the Troy community, avid cyclist and talented stylist at Indigo Organic Salon on River Street, was struck by a motorist on May 24 while riding her bike through the intersection of Hoosick St. and 6th Ave.

Erin suffered serious injuries including 4 broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade, 2 fractured spinal processes and a broken clavicle which required a steel plate to surgically repair the bone, found to have snapped out her neck, protruding the skin. Thankfully, Erin was wearing her helmet – found to have cracked in half when her head hit the pavement – which saved her life.

Erin is the mother and primary caregiver of her 2 daughters, Betsey – age 3 and Riley – 8 mos. As a result of these injuries, Erin will not be able to care for her children for 8+ weeks while she recovers. She will also not be able to return to work as a stylist during her busiest season of the year given this recovery time. The financial toll on this family will be immense.

WAYS TO HELP:

- Donate Money: Tight Knit has set up a donation link for friends and fellow community members to contribute funds in support of Erin during this tremendously difficult time. Erin has a mortgage to pay and children to feed and with no income, life is truly very hard right now. Please give in any amount you can – all donations made through the link below will go directly to Erin and her children.

- Raise Awareness: A bike ride en masse is currently being organized and will take place in the streets of Troy later this summer. Please stay tuned for details on time, location and how to sign up. “Share the Road” t-shirts, designed by Don Naylor Art & Design, will be sold during our Saturday market to raise additional funds for Erin.

- Share the Road: If you are a motorist, please be conscious and respectful of cyclists on the road. The same laws that apply to drivers of motor vehicles also apply to riders of bicycles in New York State. Reduce speed when encountering cyclists. Don’t tailgate, especially in bad weather. Give cyclists space and yield to them when they have the right of way. Pass with care. Have respect. BICYCLES ARE VEHICLES. SHARE THE ROAD. Had a motorist not taken the right of way from Erin, she would never have been hit.

THANK YOU!!!

Here’s the button for you to donate:

Or you can go over to the Tight Knit site and donate there. Same thing. Same button. All goes to the same place. Donate all your money. All of it. And keep checking with Tight Knit for more information on the ride.

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

The image you see above of a rather epic looking Neil Young with guitar is the latest in a series of famous persons portraits by modern artist Shepard Fairey. These images were all had their debut at the May Day show that took place on May 5, 2010. There’s been a wild cross section, boy howdy. This is the first landscape style to be released. Neil Young. Musician and political activist and one classy looking mother.

Some words from Shepard Fairey on his Neil Young image reference’s original photographer, rock and roll photo taker Henry Diltz, the magic man:

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL PHOTOGRAPHER – HENRY DILTZ

Henry Diltz has been one of the most important photographers in rock ‘n’ roll for almost half a century, shooting rock icons from Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain. I met him through Henry Rollins when he was working as a still photographer on The Henry Rollins Show, and have been a fan ever since I first saw his work.

Diltz started out as a folk musician, playing with the Modern Folk Quartet, and bought his first camera while on tour with them. He started hanging out with The Monkees and taking photos of them, and shot an album cover—the first of over eighty he would go on to shoot—for The Lovin’ Spoonful. He immersed himself in the rock scene and became the go-to photographer for bands like The Doors and Crosby, Stills and Nash, and was the official photographer for Woodstock and the Monterey Music Festival. He transcended the hippie generation and continued to shoot an extremely impressive roster of artists too long to list here. The reference photo of Neil Young for this piece was taken in 1969 and my all time favorite photo of Neil.

Thanks for collaborating Henry.

-Shepard Fairey

Also included below is a collection of other fabulous faces from the May Day set, each of them having been released to the internets world over the past few weeks, continuing through when this post is posted. Peek at them.

Neil Young 18 x 24″ Screen Print, Signed by Shepard Fairey and Henry Diltz. Numbered Edition of 450 Nico 18 x 24″ Screen Print, Signed and Numbered Edition of 450 Joe Strummer 18 x 24″ Screen Print, Signed by Shepard Fairey and Kate Simon. Numbered Edition of 450 Jean-Michel Basquiat 18 x 24″ Screen Print, Signed and Numbered Edition of 450 Keith Haring 18 x 24″ Screen Print, Signed and Numbered Edition of 450 (also a separate “green” edition of 450) Muhammad Ali 18 x 24″ Screen Print, Signed and Numbered Edition of 450 Debbie Harry 18 x 24″ Screen Print, Signed and Numbered Edition of 450

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

So. The internets hath provided the world with some nicely-produced movie footage of a Mortal Kombat story in short-film format. It’s meant to be spread virally, which I’m sure it’ll do, and is doing, and it’s meant to create EXCITEMENT – which it IS doing. The clip you’re about to see is made by a … dance video director?! Kevin Tancharoen, who, because he was tentatively signed on to do a “caught in pre-pre-production limbo” Mortal Kombat, decided to make his own short, teaser version of what the film might look like. This is that. Many/most of the people in the short donated their time (maybe to get the chance to be in the final version), and the entire thing cost $7,500. And it’s gruesome. Totally gruesome.

It’s gonna be like a police movie!

Or maybe like a kung fu… gore… MORTAL KOMBAT.

Now the MOST and MOST FACTUAL information on this situation you’re going to get, you’re going to get from an interview done the day after this clip was released between the entertainment news source Collider and mister Tancharoen.

In that interview, Tancharoen begins:

KT: No. They [the studio, or anybody involved with the video game] did not [know about the mini-movie]. (Laughs) This was something I did completely on my own. However, there is a little bit of a tie-in, because I happen to be friends with Oren Uziel. And since we’re friends, I just called him up and said “Listen, I want to do this. This is what I have in mind. I want it to be contained, because I am not a studio with endless amounts of cash.” Then we started storyboarding from there, and started calling my friends, and started pulling as many favors as I possibly could. And I was thrilled that they all said yes. (Laughs)

Collider notes that Oren Uziel wrote the short. He’s currently listed on IMDb to write the next Mortal Kombat movie at Warner Bros. Tancharoen continues:

Now like I said, because I am such a fan of the Mortal Kombat series, I know there’s a lot of concern about the mysticism and the special powers and all that kind of stuff. Well, like I said, this is really designed — the short so far is really designed like a prologue to the movie. Now, in a movie version, I am going to have that mysticism there, but it has to be done in a very tasteful way. I wouldn’t like it too campy or too cheesy. I know this is a weird analogy, but it’s the best one I can think of right now. It’s kind of like when in Harry Potter, there’s two universes that coexist with each other. There’s the real world, and then you get on the train and then you go to Hogwart’s, and that’s where all the magic is.

That’s all I needed to hear. Make it AVP quality (low) or better, and I’d even go so far as to see it in the theater! All I need is a tiny bag of popcorn and one of those GIANT GULPS of soda they have at the theater now, one free refill!

Oh and… and…

This clip features the following actors and actresses: Michael Jai White who I knew played “Gambol” in the Dark Knight, remembered played SPAWN in that one movie called SPAWN, but had no idea was in The Toxic Avenger Part II – wowie!, Jeri Ryan whom you MUST know as “7 of 9″ from the Star Trek series Voyager, plus about a million TV shows, martial artists Lateef Crowder who is going to be in a 2010 movie about the other hugely popular fighting game TEKKEN, Ian Anthony Dale also in TEKKEN, and Matt Mullins who has done lots of great stuff, but whose proudest moment should be, I think, having been an actor in the 1996 video game AREA 51.

So peek at the clip and peek at this gallery clipped out of the clip and clip your clip with a clip and GET OVER HERE and clip clop clip. Yay Mortal Kombat!

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

So graphic design and poster printing team Aesthetic Apparatus is ten years old. …wait a second, weren’t they ten years old LAST YEAR? Yes, yes they were. That’s why there’s an exhibition at the MCAD gallery here in Minneapolis that’s going by the name “AAXI: A DECADE OF AESTHETIC APPARATUS, ONE YEAR LATE.” View MCAD-approved photos of the opening night below.

Words from AA/MCAD about what’s going on here:

The distinctive, hand-printed concert posters of Aesthetic Apparatus duo Dan Ibarra and Michael Byzewski have garnered international acclaim since 1998. In 2002, Aesthetic Apparatus became a full-fledged, award-winning studio, completing a spectrum of design projects in addition to the posters they loved to produce. “Aesthetic Apparatus: 10 Years, 1 Year Late” showcases their many treasured “artifacts” from the past 10 years as well as a collection of their acclaimed work.

Ibarra and Byzewsk have created for such clients as Blue Q, Stella Artois, Harper Collins, The Economist, and Criterion Collection and for such bands as Cake, Frank Black, Spoon, The Hold Steady, The New Pornographers, Dinosaur Jr., and Grizzly Bear. Their work has been featured in Print, Step Into Design, Communication Arts, Creative Review, HOW, Rolling Stone, Swindle, Jane, and ReadyMade Magazine, along with heavy handfuls of design book publications and the rock poster bible The Art of Modern Rock.

Start Time: Friday, May 28, 2010 at 6:00pm
End Time: Sunday, June 27, 2010 at 6:00pm
Location: Minneapolis College of Art And Design – Main Gallery
Street: 2501 Stevens Avenue
City/Town: Minneapolis, MN

Ohh and there’s an audio guide! I wish there were an audio guide for every big (and tiny) event I attend in my life. Think of the possibilities!

AAXI: Ten Years of Aesthetic Apparatus audio tour available for download here: www.aestheticapparatus.com/AAXI.zip

Slap it onto yer MP3 player and bring it to the event!

OR

Call 612.435.3316 to listen to the audio at the event!

OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY MAY 28TH 2010 • 6PM • MCAD MAIN GALLERY

Below you’ll find a small collection of photos taken by MCAD photographer Amalia Nicholson on the night of the opening. Highlights: the big moosey, original hand-written business plan (not pictured), and the big huge GIANT wall of prints – one that goes up several stories into the school.

Go cheque it out!

BONUS: Also included below (first in the gallery) is the postcard used to call the city in to have a nice opening party. It uses a nice photo of the fellows also shown in the show.

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

This is a print collaboration pre-drawing by two masters of weirdness. Designer / artist / illustrator the both of them. First there’s Stefan Super A, a sculptor and painter also who makes great big giant things that you’ll be seeing in the gallery below, too. Then there’s Emilski, whose got a knack for drawing, and whose drawings in the gallery below I’m sure you’ll be able to identify. Together these titans have creating this masterful work of fabulous bullets and bombs all aimed right at your face! This image (seen above) goes by the name “NO HOPE” and will be a print sometime in the near future (2010 I hope!)

It’s got so many bullets. So many bombs. Look at the mass amount of death heading toward the heavens. Peek and see them all out, see each of the little men and ladies in this purely black and white masterpiece here, and awe at it.

Guns and faces! They’re all aimed and ready. They’re also all maddened or joyous, all ready to die or kill for the fun of it! Hang loose!

Glance at this image and the magnifications, then browse the rest of the gallery below for more works done by both artists. There’s two paintings that show the stylistic approach of Emilski, then there’s a bunch of sculpturistic paintings and sculptures as designed by Super A colors, application, eyeballs, every bit of it fabulous. Love it.

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

Holy carp. I would eat anything off this menu just to say I did. Look at the starkness! Designed by design duo “The Empty Page” aka Ross Teperek and Paul Robinson, this menu is made for a Leeds-based bar by the name of Nation Of Shopkeepers. Seems like an alright place to eat, yes? I do love being surrounded by artworks when I’m chowing down, that’s for sure. Design works are even better when they’re not overbearing. And if this menu is any indication, they’re not. They’re friggin fantastic and perfect all at the same time. Red. White. Bright. Lovin it.

Also included below are a couple more pages out of this menu the boys’ve designed, plus a small set of posters and etcetera they’ve got under their belt as well. They’ve got a nice sense to them, ay? I think they certainly do. They are based in Leeds in the UK, just incase you’re the type of person who likes to work in person with their designers and live right on over there amongst the gorillaz and sheep for shearing.

If you want to get in contact with team, email them at paul@theemptypage.co.uk or ross@theemptypage.co.uk and tell them you’ve got a wad of money just sitting around that you’d love to give them in exchange for their priceless design skills. I think they’ll be apt to keep some contact going, yes?

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

Shepard Fairey is in New York. Everybody knows it. Two gigantic murals up, paste-ups galore, a show called MAY DAY on the way. Both of those murals? They are right here, in daredevil fashion. All photos presented by COPE2 who you can see in the photos, he’s the guy with the black shirt spraying COPE everywhere. First in the post here you’re going to see photos of the Deitch mural, made in most direct response/preparation for the May Day show, with one photo of Shepard Fairey and COPE2 together smashing brains about what they’re going to execute, when they collaborate, then the rest of the gallery is the second mural. The second mural is half Shepard Fairey and half COPE2. I don’t think anyone will have a problem distinguishing between the styles.

For those of you who wish to continue understanding the power that is the axe-swinging barb COPE2, you can view his epic blog over at 12ozprophet. For everyone who wants to follow Shepard Fairey – good luck.

These are the best photos I’ve seen of this new Shepard Fairey Bowery & Houston mural – there’s more making-of photos out there from other friends of Fairey, also there’s this video from Animal NY where he talks about what’s going on and what’s going to go on during his goings on in New York:

And this video from the MAN Glen E Friedman, best photographer ever:

So now all that’s left, other than looking at these prints, is to wait for the show!

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

Let’s talk about copying for a moment. Ripping off someone else’s hard work, and using it as one’s own. Let’s start by me saying that I basically have a hard time taking anyone seriously who says they’ve not been properly credited in these modern times. I don’t believe for a moment that any one person is qualified enough to explore a single idea to the fullest. I believe in the sharing and free distribution of ideas, and the idea that once an idea is freed into the world, it is free. For the betterment of the idea. The following set of images (and the one above) were found and set up by designer / artist / internet person / retired design professor Bob Caruthers.

Above: Nikolay Petrovich Prusakov (1929); Elizabeth Ackerman (1999)

Step back naw yall, things might be getting messy. What’s the great thing about this internet age? The open market, one where you can get your works made into wonderful creations like prints, computer cases, shoes, stickers, carvings, hamburger stamps, basically anything! What’s the bad thing? It’s a lot easier for your ideas to be released before you want them to be. And then you know what happens. Tumblr, ffffound, and dropular.

Einstein once said, “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”

The pairs of images in this set are similar in one way or another. Some are more similar than others and some are just SIMILAR without being influenced by the other.

They are presented for no other reason than to shed some light on the creative process.

-BCaruthers

Catuthers has also been so kind as to put all of these images up on flickr so that you might interact with them that way if you wish. I’m certain I’ll be throwing several of these up on the WFDJ tumblr too, spread the love!

IMPORTANT NOTE: this post and its contents are being discussed heavily over at GigPosters.com – I encourage everyone to join in.

And while you do it, think about how far away these similarities are from one another, then think about how far they are from the obvious go-tos like Andy Warhol and Shepard Fairey (who, incidentally, is on this list already,) then think about if the cave dude who first wrote on the wall with dung “HEY, that is MY idea, don’t you DARE write on the wall with dung.”

Bang. No modern world.

BONUS: if you look carefully, you’ll notice several works here from designer Paul Gardener of Flora Fauna, whom we covered in [March on Thru, Flora Fauna]

Movie Poster (1965); Concert Poster (2010)

Designer Unknown (c. 1940s); Music Promotion (2008)

Space Stamp (1961); Concert Poster (2010)

Chinese Propaganda Poster (ND); Concert Poster (2010)

Stamp (1960); Concert Poster (2010)

Concert Posters (2007); (2009)

Halftonedef.com (2007); Jonathan Harper (2008)

Frederick George Cooper (1918); Concert Poster (2009);

Pelican Ink Ad Art (ND); Biking Poster (2009)

Otto Treumann (1962); Political Poster (2008)

Yusaku Kamekura (c.1975); Concert Poster (2009)

Lanny Sommese (1987); Ignition Print (2009)

R. Deutch (nd); Felix Sockwell (2009)

Concert Poster (2009); Stefan Kanchev’s Operetta State Theater Logo (1969)

Ellen McFadden (1968); Designer Unknown (2007)

Jim Datz (nd); Concert Poster (2009)

Concert Poster (2009); Advertisement (1965)

Bob Gill (1962); Concert Poster (2009)

Robert Lachenmann (1937); Concert Poster (2009)

Solve Sundsbo (2008); Concert Poster (2009)

Josef Muller-Brockmann (1960); Shepard Fairey (2006)

Czechoslovakian Matchbox Label (1950s-60s); Concert Poster (2009)

Hatch Show Print (1944); Concert Poster (2008)

Abram Games Poster (1956); Concert Poster (2008)

Saul Bass Movie Poster (1965); A Concert Poster (2003)

Le Chat Noir Poster (1880s); A Concert Poster (1996)

Russian Anti-Drinking Poster (left); A Concert Poster (2008)

Idea Magazine (1955); Concert Poster (2008)

Maurin Quina Poster (1920); Concert Poster (2002)

Two Ben Shahn Illustrations (c. 1950s); A Hurricane Katrina Poster by Wink (2005)

Two Zwicky Cats by Donald Brun (1950); Concert Poster (2004)

Clockers (1995); Movie Poster by Saul Bass (1959)

Original Ward Schumaker Illustration (date unknown); Concert Poster (2005)

A Pearl Jam Concert Poster (2006); Two E. McKnight Kauffer Posters (c.1919)

Aldo Calabresi’s Original Ad (1960); A Polish Poster (ND)

Lanny Sommese Poster (1987); Two Variations on the Theme (N/A)

Mad Magazine Cover (1974); Concert Flyer (1996)

Robert Miles Runyon Illustration (1961); Concert Poster (2003)

Ikko Tanaka Poster (1958); Concert Poster (1998)

Concert Poster (2007); Goscie Poster (1973)

Japan Air (1924); Concert Poster (2001)

Jerry Smath Illustration (1961); Concert Poster (2008)

Waldemar Swierzy Poster (1973); Concert Poster (2001)

Funny Girl Playbill (c. 1964); Concert Poster (2008)

Tadashi Ohashi Exhibition Poster (1970s); Concert Poster (2001)

Faustino Perez Poster (1968); Arab League Poster (2007)

“Ruth the Acrobat Carnival” Poster (1941); and a Concert Poster (2008)

At the bottom here I’d like to once again mention that these matchups (most of them, all of them) were researched and connected by Bob Caruthers. This very cool man is a retired Professor of Graphic Design at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. Born and raised in Greenwood, Mississippi.

Big props to him, and I hope this project is continued both for those people who consider it a crime AND those who consider it part of the building process.

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

Minus book. Photos from a really dudical collector of projects from his prolific brain, designer / artist Vitor Cesar. V.C. takes on this face-covered-up photo shot snaps with photographer Wanessa Malta. It’s called “Retrato Paisagem” aka “Portrait Landscape.” I bet you can tell the similarities between the photos. It’s rather a faced sort of situation.

Let’s discuss the merit in this project – how much? It’s an exploration. I dare you to take a collection of photos of a person doing each and every little thing. One of a man holding his shoe while wearing two different, un-matched shoes. One of a lady who is always facing away from the camera, wearing sweatpants and that’s it! One of a Scottish man always passed out in very inappropriate locations. Sounds perfect!

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

If you’ve got some amazing idea, or pop culture crush, or fantastic set of images that you’ve just GOT to apply to as many mediums as possible, consider this: cookie cutters. Especially around and in the holidays, these are always going to be big sellers, even the lesser-holidays love cookies! I believe today that designer Beverly Hsu’s hit a bit of a jackpot, provided she slides through the font-ownership rules like a breeze, with these cutters made to produce cookies in perfect Helvetica letterforms!

About hand sized, made of metal, produced in limited quantities. For more information on when these will be produced again, contact Beverly Hsu through her webpage link next.

Designed by : Beverly Hsu
Produced by : Greg Saul
Photographed by : Drew

These remind me of the “A” cookies that were given away to hungry mouths free at that one Aesthetic Apparatus super big music and poster party when they first opened their new shop (see below, the pic with only “A” cookies.)

Dew wawnt!

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

Go Nigo Go Nigo Go! Go, go, go, go! Nigo, Nigo, rappala, Nigo, Nigo, hook fashion addict. Go! Go! Go! Go! — A Bathing Ape brand has the fishy smarts behind it. Those people know exactly what they’re doing when they bait this hook. What you see above (and below) is their new collaboration with Daiwa (fishing gear brand) – fishing lures with Bape camouflage graphics. Not just to further your total Bape lifestyle, but for the irony of the lure culture!

I must first mention that Bape, being the design conscious folks that they are, hooked up with a pretty magical brand here. Look no further than the official Daiwa mark (logo) and see how serious they are about their brand intelligence.

Now Bape, aka A Bathing Ape, grew then exploded all over the world using several extremely simple business concepts:

1. Limited Editions (Ignore cost of only producing a few hundred, push that bill on to the consumer, who will not only pay it, but will gladly pay it in order to be a special part of this subculture brand.)

2. Pretend to be Hidden (The original store, and still a bunch of stores today that sell Bape, were called “Nowhere” and had no marks on the outside of the building. You had to be “in the know,” making this brand not just a subculture brand, but a subculture in and of itself.)

3. Once the brand is “discovered”, strike the iron with celebrities and music personalities and music, brand collaborations, expansion to other products (like this lure.)

Nigo is the face of Bape. He is a personality, one of the original folks to conceive of the brand, and now the head promoter. In this lure is the brand-culture culture encapsulated.

It’s a lure to catch the fish who would gladly live in Nigo’s special brand fishtank.

Do want.

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

Let me show you this tiny off-the-wall project by some rather intelligent folks who usually make it their business to build the insides of webpages. Designers at Tatiret Compagnie Ouverte have created this small set of collages called “Animaux.” There’ll be one part of an animal, then there’ll be another. Why they are that way, I do not know! But I like what I see.

These peeps claim to fame that I knew them from instantly: Indexhibit. They, along with Daniel Eatock designed and programmed both the Indexhibit cms and website. These animals, as far as I can tell, are only very generally attached to that project.

Tatiret Compagnie Ouverte

Tatiret c.o. is Eloisa Astudillo (Architect) and Jeffery Vaska (Designcodiste).

Located in Brussels, Belgium and founded in 2006, Tatiret Compagnie Ouverte (‘open company’) strives to create a place where ‘all the other’ projects can come to life. Tatiret desires to promote the idea that design is a conversation where everybody can participate.

Our experiences run from working within corporate environments, participating in cultural projects, to building and project management.

Not exclusively devoted to cultural or collaborative projects, we appreciate working with local small business when we share similar values.

Email: bonjour [at] tatiret [dot] com

Please do not email us with support questions for Indexhibit – there is a forum on the Indexhibit website for such purposes. Thank you.

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

Hello all you ninjas in training. I want to tell you of my support for all of your hard work and my congratulations on choosing such a lofty goal. This is my sister and I in one of our earlier sparring sessions when we were just beginning with orange and green ninja belts. It’s some time in the early 90′s, probably 1991, Halloween. Check the colors! The combos!

Explore the intricacies of this singular photographic evidence of our young elite skill and aesthetic understanding.

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies fashion category, not to mention it being an obvious part of the World Famous Design Junkies pizza party.

Yes there are some times when its appropriate to draw sports figures, believe it or not! The golden, romantic age of sports heros is over – Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson do not play sports anymore. But here’s a couple of women who love sports men so much they draw them with felt pens & markers to this day! These illustrators are named Sandra & Annika and they go by the team name YAWN.

YAWN means YEAH! AWESOME! WOW! NICE! What a weird thing. Yawn is like a yawn, boring, crappy, tired, but then it means something amazing here.

It’s just totally clever, isn’t it?! It is!

An ongoing project. There are times when we tend to like certain stuff and then draw it almost obsessively. This is obviously a time when we liked sports guys. It all started when Annika wanted to get a football helmet…

Look around! Find a few sports figures! My favorite drawing is of the USA swimmers from the Beijing winter olympics MICHAEL PHELPS FOREVER.

This post is from the World Famous Design Junkies pizza party category.

This aint no Paul and Mike, this is Herrjaapmans vision for a more colorful world ala Jenny Lane’s song “Say Say Say.” Take a lovely little trot with your half-heels around the fun in the sun in this video and let loose your eyeballs at the cross-light of the stills.

Herrjaapmans and crew continue to spearhead my favorite trend basically ever in music videos, that being toned down 90% and bright explosion 10%. Every scene here is basically in the mid-low range of color with one or more colorsplosions in the lips, on the backdrop, on the paint jacket. Watch especially the first 10 seconds for a microcosm of the rest.

This trend started about a year ago with what I’d call “Hipster Brightness” – the same thing I just described having really blown up when the music video for L.E.S. Artistes blew up – (by everyone’s favorite super-hipster Santigold.)

And it’s still on fire!

This post is straight out the World Famous Design Junkies color files.

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

Ohhh! So you like stuff made by Aesthetic Apparatus, huh? Is that what’s this is all about? Well! Then I guess we’ll just have to talk to The Decemberists, Tapes & Tapes, and Andrew Bird about this. Wont we? Yes. We will talk to them about how Aesthetic Apparatus is making stuff that’s just TOO GOOD for the public. Burn em up. All the 18×24 posters. All of em.

All of these are new poster prints from Minneapolis design duo Aesthetic Apparatus. We love them. WE LOVE THEM. And then they get posted by us. That’s what’s up.

THE DECEMBERISTS
w/Laura Veirs & The Hall of Flames

Another Decemberists poster, this time for a show in Minneapolis. Much like our previous offering , the imagery loosely references the band’s current album- Hazards of Love. Chock full of anguished lovers and fawn antlers! It’s sure to be a hit at your next poster viewing party! What are you waiting for? Get one for your wall today.

19″ x 25″
2 color screenprint (light blue, pink) on archival cream stock

THE DECEMBERISTS
w/Laura Veirs & The Hall of Flames

The Decemberists were nice enough to once again commission us to do a poster for them for their recent show in Lexington, Kentucky. Both The Decemberists and Lexington are lovely, yes? Why not commemorate their loveliness with a large piece of paper with bright colors on it? With it’s obscene, nature themed imagery this might not be the best print for a child’s room but perhaps dimly lit room or opium den.

19″ x 25″
3 color screenprint (light blue, orange, black) on archival cream stock

TAPES ‘N TAPES
Tour of The Twin Cities

Hometown band Tapes ‘n Tapes kicked off the Fall season with a little Tour of the Twin Cities playing some of the more recognizable venues in the area. Life’s been hectic around the studio lately so we didn’t make it to any of the shows but looks like the lovable Mayor of Monster Town paid another visit to Minnesota to check out all three nights. That guy really likes to party! In honor of 3 nights of rocking we’ve printed three color versions of the poster. Pick your favorite or collect them all!

19″ x 25″
2 color screenprint (red/blue OR orange/green OR purple/yellow) all on archival white stock.

ANDREW BIRD
(Janus Horn Silos)

Over 10 years of postermaking and this is our first Andrew Bird poster. How did that happen?! We have no answers as of yet but this is not the time to look into the past with regret. This is the time for the future, the future is now. RIGHT NOW! Embrace those around you that you love and tell them “My loved one! You have some popcorn stuck in your teeth!” Because there is no popcorn stuck in our teeth in the future!

19″ x 25″
3 color screenprint (light-blue / silver / red) on archival off-white stock

This post is from the World Famous Design Junkies Vintage category because that’s where all the graphics come from. They come from there, they’re twisted and flipped, and designed right there into the posters.

Brand flippin new works from the design / art collective FAILE. The works contained in this post are dubbed (by Faile) to be the Wood Paintings set and will be formally introduced next week at FIAC art fair in Paris with Perry Rubenstein Gallery. Faile’s going to be represented by Perry Rubenstein in the United States from now on, their first show to be some time mid-2010. This set of fine art pieces is the first bunch to be produced and shown in corroboration with PRG. And they’re HUGE.

As you can see, these pieces are made out of blocks. The insane amount of work that’s gone into each little tiny big of these constructions is staggering from a craftsman’s point of view, then there’s the lovely look of it all. Absolutely museum-grade. These are so giant and so fantastic I’d feel terrible owning them outside of a gallery situation. These amalgamations need to be seen by as many eyes as there are type-loving minds in the world.

First things first, we are proud to announce Perry Rubenstein Gallery will be representing Faile here in the US. We have plans to do a solo show with the gallery in mid-2010. We will be debuting new works with Perry Rubenstein at FIAC in Paris next week. The fair opens on the 22nd of October and runs through the 25th of October. They can be found at booth D01 in the Cour Carree.

Size and medium of each piece is as follows – Match the name of the piece up with the title of the image in the gallery. If you don’t know, ask! One of our friendly associates will help you out if you have any questions!

Giant Jackpot Dreams
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
48.25in x 42.25in (122cm x 107cm)

Fantasy Within Me
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
20in x 24in (50cm x 70cm)

Choose Your Pleasure
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
20in x 24in (50cm x 70cm)

The Supreme Ultimate Fantasy
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
48.25in x 42.25in (122cm x 107cm)

Genuine Gold Caps
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
40.5in x 24.5in (102cm x 62cm)

Burning Brave
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
40.5in x 24.5in (102cm x 62cm)

Wicked Faile
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
64.5in x 40.5in (163cm x 102cm)

Beyond the World of Faile
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
24in x 36in (70cm x 91cm)

Sacred Fantasy
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
24in x 36in (70cm x 91cm)

Select Hardcore Faile
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
24in x 36in (70cm x 91cm)

Forever Brooklyn
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
48.25in x 42.25in (122cm x 107cm)

Faile Wonderland
Acrylic & Silkscreen Ink on Wood, Steel Frame
64.5in x 40.5in (163cm x 102cm)

Or you could probably contact Sean Anderson for more information.

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!

Oh so pretty, oh so nice! Each one of these 30 prints is different and smooth like unfinished ice! Artist/designer DAIN has a new (and first!) solo show (congrats!) of artworks like these at the Brooklynite Gallery which is located in (you guessed it) Brooklyn New York. The work in this show revolves around the 1940s and is embellished and visually exploded by the brightness and wildness of DAIN. This particular print is a limited edition of 30 with super-wacky destructions in each one.

2 Color Screen-Print with pen, pencil, brush & aerosol hand-embellishments. On heavy archival paper. Each print is unique.

Details:
- Edition of 30
- Image Size: 20×30 inches
- Mixed Media Screen-print on heavy archival paper
- Each one unique
- Homemade inks
- Signed, numbered by the artist
- Made in NYC

Examples shown in the show other than the Skylard Davis print are also shown below in the gallery. Enjoy them all! The show’s called “Copasetic” and is running right now!

This show, and this series of prints, are a tribute to the 40′s and a certain life style that we might have forgotten. A time when things were simpler, and even in times of war, people were enjoying themselves as much as they could. It’s a portrait of an era, and it has Dain’s unique style and use of colors and symbols. — Pigments Editions, about “Copasetic”

Brooklynite Gallery
334 Malcolm X BLVD.
Brooklyn, New York 11233
P. 347-405-5976

Better run fast right after it if you’re gonna catch it!

When you first see an album, note: SEE an album, what do you notice first? The artwork. Even when it’s a CD, or a tape (omfg what’s that?), you notice the artwork. The first version I saw of Jay-Z’s newest work The Blueprint 3? Vinyl. Glorious, 12″ by 12″ of pure amazing fantastic artwork. And The Blueprint III does not disappoint. It has a scrumtrilescent arrangement of instruments that Z says “reminds the the audience that it all comes down to the basics of music, the instruments, which have very recently been forgotten.”

I looked for the artist of this work for weeks, and I found him. Here he is.

Dan

Tobin

Smith

That’s the man. Look below for the unbelievable set of white and red tools of the trade he constructed to make a new classic album cover. A legend in an instant. (Did you know that Jay-Z now has more platinum records than Elvis? Awesome! Elvis was racist and didn’t write his own songs, I’ll tell him where he can stick that blue suede shoe.) So. One time construction. Not sure if it’s still standing now, used for the album cover. Excitement.

Jay Z Blueprint 3.
Constructed July 2009, released September 2009 via Blueprint 3.
Set Design: Nicola Yeoman
Art Direction: Greg Burke
Retouching: Martin Pryor
Photography: Dan Tobin Smith

A bunch more of Smith’s works have been hand-picked and placed below also, so that you might have an excellent view of his fantasticism. Hire him, too! I want him to stay in business for a long time.

BONUS here’s a new video of the construction!

Design Museum London recently celebrated its 20th anniversary by sponsoring a bakeoff. Contestants, including Airside, karlsson/ullman, and Cupcakes To Go, were instructed to bake a cake inspired by design. Here are some of the fabulous entries (taken from Design Museum’s Facebook page).

I might also mention here that this is a bona-fide guest post! Aside from this short paragraph, this post is line-for-line submitted using our Submit Content feature. Get on top o dis! Also note that this particular submission was made anonymously, but if you’d like, you can get cred, too! Just note it!

LOVE, CHRIS

Design by Airside.

Harry Beck’s London tube map by karlsson/ullman.

RUNNER UP!! A Classic London Routemaster by Ellie Atkins.

And finally, the winner of Design Museum London’s Birthday Bakeoff?

THE WINNER!!! GPO 746 Mark one, circa 1967 by Holly Gilbert.

Yumm!! Congratulations on 20 years Design Museum!!

+BONUS another note from Chris: I love cake and I love this contest!

Oh my goodness stickers. In the history of stickerdom I’d say one name “sticks” out in my mind pretty prominently. Shepard Fairey. He’s made a giant career out of stickering and in the process has come in to contact with many an art partner. One of those big-timers was and is PEEL, a magazine for graffiti stickers.

In the process of creating a fantastic outlet for street artists such as Shepard Fairey, the creators of PEEL Magazine, Dave and Holly Combs, have lost their home. It’s time to pay them back. The print you see in this post is made by Shepard Fairey and all proceeds from the sale of the print go toward helping the Combs couple out. Dig it!

The Sticker Kit Print will so on sale 10/6 at a Random Time, Limit 1. Edition of 450, 18×24, S/N.

Dave and Holly Combs are wonderful people as well as the founders of PEEL Zine. They took the risk of following their artistic passion and have paid the price of losing their home. I created this print with and for them to raise money to help with their huge debt. PEEL has helped to support and grow the street art community and I believe they deserve to have the favor returned. Profits from this print go to help the Combs family. Please help out. -Shepard

The unveiling of exclusive OBEY x PEEL poster by Shephard Fairey for Peel Magazine (authors of MBP’s PEEL: The Art of the Sticker) will take place at the first Mark Batty Publisher (MBP) Urban Arts Fest: a full day dedicated to the thriving urban arts community MBP has advocated since its inception. With skateboard demos, live graffiti writing, installations, music and DJs, open bar dance party at night, and plenty of art and books for sale, there will be something for everyone! The non-profit beneficiary is Art for Progress, which supports rising multi-discipline arts in New York City.

PEEL! Another Shepard Fairey / PEEL collaboration is shown below also. It’s a rare example of Shepard Fairey printing on rag paper (also called “artists paper” because it’s thicker and “nicer” than the regular recycled stock). The one you see above “Sticker Kit Print” is printed on the regular recycled stock and is gonna be totally awesome.

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

MORE INFO ON Mark Batty Publisher (MBP) Urban Arts Fest!!

WHERE:
Castle Braid, Bushwick, Brooklyn
114 Troutman Street btwn Central & Evergreen Ave
J, M, Z to Myrtle- Bwy/ M to Central Ave/ L to Morgan Ave

WHEN:
Saturday, October 3, 2009 All-Ages: 1pm-8pm. 21+ up: 8pm- 2am
Find more info at http://markbattypublisher.com/

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.

How many times do we have to say East Meets West before we’re fully understanding of the fact, the FACT that we’re all in dis togetha? Well it isn’t true, is it? East continues to meet West, day in and out. Here we’ve got an example, no, a collection of examples of the most fantastically simple and lovely false connections made between Everywhere America and what appears to America to be a frightening, terrifying Iranian world. Made by designers “21-19″, these pictures are part of a campaign kit for American/Iranian filmmaker Bita Hairdarian’s brand new east/west documentary “Finding Bibi.”

21-19 designed the communications campaign kit for director Bita Hairdarian’s autobiographical documentary Finding Bibi; which explores her unique identity as an American born Iranian.

Lovely and fantastic! My favorite is Jihad Coca-Cola. Each of these is a fake item, but surely they’ve been rendered in real life, and thus, as it often stands: if anyone wants to pick one of these thangs up and send it to ME, that would be just fine and dandy.

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

PS! The film looks amazing!

Creatures of the Night! This lovely fashion photo set was arranged and shot by Alexandra Zaharova & Ilya Plotnikov. They’ve got the eyes. This shoot was done for portfolio ammo only, not for a specific fashion brand in particular (though I bet you recognize more than one item here.) Just imagine a brand being assimilated onto the person holding it, yes! Yes! My brand is best! These bags and shoes, they are me!

It is shopping paradise!

It is fashion paradise!

Fashion Assimilation is the alternate title for this post, but I was feeling for the Rocky Horrorocity of that golden shoe there. The project’s title itself goes by the name “Magic Touch.” Lovely, isn’t it?! I must mention that although these are primarily photography and paints, aka analog features, there is a tiny bit of “photographic retouching” done. I’m sure your intarnets super-trained eye can pick out the pixels.

But for now, bask in the lavishness!

This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies fashion industry.