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This pensive image from sculptor Ernest Hilsenberg could only really be blue don't you think? Between these two doors lies a saga of relationship. Framing a little shaken, trust battered then braced; decades of angry departures have shaken out the doorknobs. And yet still….. "open."
This bread is 40 years old. And it still looks like bread. I love the sunny yellow disposition, the crusted rust, and the nice dimensionality of the toasted edges. Sent to me by the brilliant Bulgarian lettering artist and calligrapher Jordan Jelev, "The Label Maker."
And to complete the edible alphabets theme, here is the birthday cake make by Jordan's lovely wife Elitsa. Frosting is one of the hardest media to master. Like the floppy sign writing brushes of olde it has a mind of its own.
About a year ago I stumbled upon possibly the most beautiful design magazine I have ever seen. Upper Case is the brainchild of Calgary-based designer Janine Vangool. The sensibility is rich, tactile, combining a love of craft, book making, fine art, photography, type, and the freewheeling eclecticism of the modern blog: it's as though you came across the ultimate art and design blog and could suddenly hold it in your hands. I find it an endless source of inspiration– especially the views of artist/designer studios and stories about how creative people work. The recent issue features several lettering artists, calligraphers and font designers including me. Take a look, and consider subscribing. This magazine is truly a collectors' art piece: the pages smell of real ink for months, and each issue includes keepsakes and printed ephemera.
An excerpt from the interview. The quotation comes from e.e. cummings, and is one of my favorite anthems to the creative process. Walnut ink and ruling pen. *Several people have asked if they can see the interview online. At this time the magazine is entirely analogue, so although Upper Case has a wonderful blog and online shop you will need to subscribe to the actual magazine to see the issue.
This recent series uses expressive handwriting in a print and television campaign for Chase Ink. This is the first time I've ever been asked to write illegibly on purpose and being Dr. Joe Black was great fun. So much for prescriptions as abstract art…
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Here is a sign I could not resist from my recent two-week photo and art journey in Mexico. Given the healthcare debate going on in America and that Bartell's has just decided to stop filling Medicare prescriptions in my illustrious hometown of Seattle it's nice to think that you could go to the very small and very dusty ranchero village of El Tuito and still find some Esperanza in the Farmacia (it was a long long sign, so I cropped out the first word.) I especially like the attitude of friendship, humble yet eager, offered by the first E, the wind-up of the S, which tilts backwards as though just gathering strength to race forward, and the inimitable and ultra simple A's with the weight placed on the left rather than the right side rather as though that leg has been sprained and wrapped in extra bandages. Not to mention the diminutive 10 watt lightbulb. It takes very little illumination in Mexico to make the heart warm and the spirit lifted up.
Designer, calligrapher, lettering artist. Read more 