Festive Color and Type

The person who dreamed up the type on this Chicago elementary school deserves a gold star!

New York Elves Are the Coolest

God bless Simon Doonan. I love that he's become this spokesperson for Barneys. Love the get-up -- especially the Milton Glaser's I *Heart* New York rebus logo in green-sweatshirt form (probably intended for St. Patty's don't you think?).

By the way, Barneys does not qualify as a "haunt" -- if you got it at Barneys, just say so. The lady at Privilege does (great blog by the way, go see).

If only Simon Doonan the Cranky Elf would add me to the list --

Love :: Christmas Cards

Christmas cards and holiday greetings are one of my favorite parts of the holidays. It's not an every day occurrence to have your real mailbox fill with warm greetings just for you. Usually only birthdays and weddings garner such in-the-mail attention.

However, the actual cards are always a bit of a challenge, as I am always drawn to high-quality materials and design (preferably custom), but -- especially now -- budgets are definitely an issue, particularly because I tend to err on the "send" side of things if I am on the line of sending a card to someone or not (one has to have an end to her list, right?). Inevitably, my card list is a very long one -- happily so!

Usually, I scour shops for good cards at a reasonable cost. I've never done an actual photograph of myself on a card -- it seems pretty self-indulgent -- but I think it's wonderful for families with children. Everyone wants to see how much they've grown!

This year I decided to try something new. I designed my own card using one of the online quick-print (digital printing, not offset) sources. And, save their website name on the back of my card (ugh!), I think it worked well. The linen paper was a bit of a stretch for me, but it has had a bit of resurgence of late -- in a kind of retro, ironic way -- but I was happy to have an uncoated paper option. And the best part is that I designed the card myself and uploaded it -- so what you see here is no template -- all Esse Quam Videri. Even a special ligature on the "ME" in "Merry".

I do print my name at the bottom, but for close friends, I slash it and sign, as you would a calling card on a gift. And I always write or print the year. Another great perk of designing your own -- your very own sentiment (and monogram, if you choose) --


Time to get those cards out! I hope I can still get my favorite stamp! Off to the P.O.!

Parking Backlash!

Seen in Chicago this weekend. Drivers are still very unhappy with the city leasing its parking meters to a private company -- and this is the first backlash graffiti that I've seen. Let's tag this a "typography" post, shall we?

Hallejulah It's Five O'Clock

There is major music going to start when you push play -- in case you're at work.

Love this rendition of Hallejulah. Let's just make it a type thing, okay? Enjoy!

NYC :: String Me Along

I was stopped dead in my tracks by this window at Rockefeller Center! Check out the type!

There's a real absence/presence thing going on here that I love. The outlines of the letterforms are created by connecting nails in the wall with yarn, creating an interesting reference to the digital bezier curves that create typography for printing. The Bodoni face really shines in the execution -- modern faces have thin, hairline serifs, and the yarn is perfect!


Bodoni typeface showing bezier curves.




The colors are spot-on fun-sophistication, and they really pop on the chalkboard-black walls.



Scale is important too -- these letterforms are all pulled together with the same weight yarn and typeface, but they are totally random letter selections. Type as scenery!



Check out how the curves are executed on this "J"!



J. Crew does great window displays. They're creative with design elements (type, color, composition) and use "white space" -- or I would say "empty space" in a 3-D environment -- to create a fun and sophisticated presentation. Kudos!

Haunted :: Columbus Day!

It's Columbus Day -- and who would have thought that this guy could be scored today of all days. It was just too perfect, I had to get it.



The illustrations are wonderful, created by the author Ms Genevieve Foster. Ms Foster authored other books in addition to The World of Columbus and His Sons, including George Washington's World, Abraham Lincoln's World, Augustus Caesar's World, and The World of Captain John Smith (Jamestown shout-out!).



The book is filled with charming line drawings of locations across the globe.



Unfortunately, there isn't a colophon, but it looks like a Garamond type, with inline initial capitals -- easy on the eyes.

And the lady herself --



I will now be haunting for the series -- APB out on Genevieve Foster!

Asheville Typography

Cool tiled Arts & Crafts letters on Haywood in Asheville. Like it.

Haunting :: Some Saturday Finds

Oh, Lord. Kitty* and I hit the haunts today and whew... we were all over the place. Here are a couple of my finds:



A brass magazine rack with a relief of what looks to be a landing scene of a Spanish ship -- conquistadors? No telling really -- though I can't see any Spanish helmets on our landing party. It's marked "Peerage -- Made in England", and it definitely has some patina, if you know what I mean. But it will look fab in the living room -- I have a lot of magazines, and I need a lot of ways to corral them. And y'all know I love all things Americana/explorer/manifest destiny/history (what a thought-bucket!). Check the end of the post for an impromptu set-up.



This deck of playing cards was a steal! Love the type on this!

Okay ---- drummmmm rolllll pleeeease....



Oh this is going to be good.

More haunted stuff to come -- stay tuned!

* formerly known as "K"

Wish List :: Stanley Ford's Bachelor Pad

Last night I was surfing through my digital converter box offering (no cable here), and came across this embarrassment of riches. I missed the very beginning of the opening credits, so not until today when I was researching for this post did I find out that the flick is called "How to Murder Your Wife". (gulp!) Jack Lemmon's character, Stanley Ford, is a cartoonist ("Bash Brannigan" is the name of the strip) -- and he is the ultimate bachelor until he impulsively and drunkenly marries a beautiful Italian bombshell who jumped out of a cake at another gentleman's bachelor dinner.

Stanley lives in a townhouse in Manhattan with all the good stuff: a study, a terrace, a bar, incredible cabinetry in the kitchen and his dressing room. And the type in the opening credits ain't too shabby either. All this with a cuter-than-all-get-out Jack Lemmon.



These are my kind of digs. I love this 1960s eclecticism -- great art, great objets and fantastic furniture.





And check out the studio!



Love the way he's making hand gestures as he speaks, and the woman in the painting in the background has her hand to her mouth. It's as if they're the ones having a conversation.

Is it weird that I want this bachelor pad?

PS :: Going haunting with K tomorrow -- crossing fingers that we'll score some good stuff!

Clayspace Co-op :: The haunt for NC pottery

Top, pot with brushwork, Kyle Carpenter. Above, pots drying in the Clayspace studio.

My brother has been a member of this group for about two and a half years, and I have to say that I love this place.

North Carolina's pottery heritage lives at Clayspace Co-op in Asheville. From Matt Jacob's house jars to Eric Knoche's sculptural pieces to the traditional forms and painted designs of Kyle Carpenter (my brother), I think that this place is a pottery paradise. Craftsmanship is king. Form is paramount. And making with clay is a way of life.


Clayspace Co-op gallery, Asheville River Arts District.

North Carolina has an long heritage of ceramic arts. Since colonial days, North Carolina potters have been creating functional and decorative works from the clay soil found in the state. Six potters work out of the Clayspace studio in Asheville's River Arts District, and their work is as diverse and appealing as the state itself. And as a working studio and gallery space, you can see the work from start to finish, and talk with the artists one-on-one. Have a question? Don't be shy -- these folks love to talk pots.



Pot in progress, Eric Knoche.


Heather Tinnaro works at the wheel.

This is one great Asheville haunt.


North Carolina pot detail, Kyle Carpenter.

I am very happy to report that I went home with this great little "N.C." pot of Kyle's. I am big into North Carolina -- it's my home state -- and I was so enamored with this piece commemorating the Old North State. And the hand lettering!

Antietam

I visited Antietam National Battlefield last summer on an incredibly beautiful day. Virginia never looked as lovely as it did on that day -- and that is saying a lot. The sky was perfectly blue with a few bright-white clouds, and the grass of the rolling fields was a luscious swath of green.



But -- the type!

This lovely sample of bronze script was just one of many inscriptions that point to landmarks in the countryside for the visitors high above in the the memorial tower on the site. This type is truly beautiful... so well-crafted, and the patina makes it come alive. The tower and that incredible sky: