Viewing motherhood
I am a daughter, but not a mother. Dorothea Lange’s famously photographed migrant mother had seven children at the age I have none. What I guess is this: once you become a mother, you cannot be impartial, observing life without participating. You are vested, primal. Writer Sarah Black describes a mother’s transformed gloss on reality … Read more
Storage Deluxe’s logo typo
Logo design, meet dirty mind… Is the oddly scaled box in Storage Deluxe’s logo an appropriate fig leaf for the friendly neighborhood mover hefting it? Not according to Saturday Night Live…
Drawing type: Schlafly Beer bottle designs
I shared eye-catching designs from Schlafly Bottleworks’ collection of St. Louis breweriana in my last post. Those were not the only display cases to exert a magnetic pull on me during my visit to the brewpub. Vellum tracings of bottle designs for Schlafly’s current series of Belgian beers demonstrated the creative process behind their packaging … Read more
St. Louis breweriana
Never has a restaurant wait been so welcome than during my visit to Schlafly Bottleworks. Leaving P to mind the bossy, flashing hockey puck that would signal our table’s readiness, I snapped pictures of their exhibit on St. Louis brewing history. It was an orgy of vintage type and packaging, by turns clumsy and ornate. … Read more
Steal this composition
These days I go to museums not to bathe in vague inspiration but to collect visual ideas and absorb technique. I still enjoy myself, but I notice I am picking out specific parts of a work that interest me, and that I could duplicate in my own images or design work. August, 2009. My feet … Read more
“Boxing Day” boxing graphics
ShoBox broadcast graphics go the distance. Inspired by 19th-century broadsheets, the graphics for Showtime’s boxing programming look distinctive—a nice respite from boring, brushed metal athletic typography. A review of vintage boxing memorabilia shows the sport has traditionally used this style. Hoefler and Frere-Jones’ Knockout and Proteus type families draw on the same quirky American vernacular. … Read more
Type lovers gift guide
If you crave cheeky Veer merch, you’ll love these vintage finds. It seems like the 60s, 70s and 80s were a heyday for typographic product design. Is it stating the obvious (and narrowing the use) to emblazon a tray with the word BREAD, a jar with the word COOKIES, or a bowl with the word … Read more
