Archive for February, 2008

You may remember Broker / Dealer from this post. Along with some friends, they maintain a site called Dream Chimney which has recently launched a new section called "Sleevery", featuring all manner of cool record sleeve design. Have a look around, some interesting stuff in there.

So after going through all the comments on the contest post for the OFFF NYC 07 print, it looks like the general consensus has swung in favor of version D (pictured above).  After all of that, I’m still not 100% convinced which I like best. So I will be eventually printing a few versions, but the first to go out will be version D. 

As for the winner of the contest; there were a lot of great analysis and it was hard to pick just one that said it best, so I picked two.  And the winners are…..

Jacob Rubin (hrubinj)
Stephen Lynch

They will each receive a signed edition of the print along with some other stuff from the shop.  I’ve also picked a few runners up who will be getting some Tycho MP3s for their efforts.  Thanks to everyone who weighed in on this, so many great comments and good advice. This was definitely a good learning experience.

After spacing out for the couple weeks since I got home I’ve finally mustered the energy / motivation to get back to work.  Been staring at the mess pictured above for the past few days finishing up a couple new songs. One of them is the next single for Ghostly which should be out in the next couple months. I will of course post some stuff up as soon as it’s cleared. I’ll be getting under way on the full album next month. 

Also, if you were able to get tickets to the MOMI show in Chicago this weekend, see you out there. I’ll be playing with Jonah Sharp and apparently projecting visuals onto a screen that’s frozen in ice.  Sounds good on paper, we’ll see.

Some vintage Braun goodness from the Dieter Rams Flickr Pool. Rams was the head of design at Braun A.G. during the heyday of industrial design. I think his philosophy is one we can all look to for inspiration:

Rams once explained his design approach in the phrase "Weniger, aber besser" which freely translates as "Less, but better." – Wikipedia

Just a little Sunday theme music in the form of Jeff Buckley’s hauntingly beautiful cover of Leonard Cohen’s classic "Hallelujah". Always sad to think such a talent is no longer with us.

The image above is a woodcut by Stephen and Sabina Alcorn entitled "Jeff Buckley, Gregorian Punk".

Jeff Buckley – "Hallelujah"

[audio:hallelujah.mp3]

I’m always amazed by the number of pharmacies in Spain (they’re everywhere) and also by the package design of the products in the pharmacies.  They aren’t quite as good as these examples anymore, but still a whole lot better than we have in the states. 

These images, from ex.novo’s "Espacios Publicitarios" Flickr set featuring 60’s and 70’s Spanish ads, were sent my way via Andrew Standfield. I absolutely love the illustrations. Would love to do a redesign or incorporate then into a poster.

In keeping with the holiday (does this count as a holiday?) I thought I’d post a song from Belle & Sebastian (everyone’s favorite Scottish indie-folk outfit and perhaps my favorite band). I’ve always loved their album covers, usually very simple duotone photos depicting something to do with the album title.  Always classic and fitting for the style of the music. I’ll be posting more from them in the coming weeks.

Belle & Sebastian – "Piazza, New York Catcher"

[audio:piazza.mp3]

This post is from my friend Forrest who does a lot of lofi photography stuff. On top is his modified Holga and the bottom is a shot taken with it. I love how the exposure extends all the way to the edges.

"We all know the Holga can create some amazing 6×6 images, but did you know it can also use 35mm film? With a bit of ingenuity, foam, and tape, a Holga can be outfitted with 35mm film to create some spectacular photos. After developing, you can scan your negatives to catch the full effect of the Holga 35mm frame."

The Lomography site has a page about the Holga 35mm mod process which can be found here.

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UPDATE: After considering some of the early responses to this post (namely Jacob’s) I’ve added two more versions for your consideration.

So I have been putting together a batch of prints that will be released over the next few months. Included is the poster from the OFFF 2007 festival in New York. There have always been multiple versions and I’ve really had a hard time deciding which I like best, and consequently, which will get printed. So I thought I would try a little experiment and let you guys choose your favorite. They are shown above in order: verions "A", "B", "C", and "D". Let me know which you like best by sounding off for A, B, C, or D in the comments. Or you could just say they are all terrible and to start over. Click the images above to view larger versions of each.

My 2 cents: At this point I think B, C, and D are the strongest. B has a cleanliness and reservation about it that I like. The type is able to stand on it’s own and given that it’s Trade Gothic Bold Extended, that’s a very good thing. But I think the solid bar in C and D really pulls things together.  Right now I am really leaning towards C just because it feels so cohesive. The top portion is reserved for the red / orange color and the bottom, informational portion has the cream. I think this links the main title and the arrow design together nicely and makes the overall composition feel more like a single unit whereas some of the others seem a bit broken up.

Click here to cast your vote in the comments

Jakub sent me this image tonight which is, of course, amazing. It reminded me of my favorite Bossa Nova song "Aguas de Marco" so I thought I would post both. Note this is not the cover of the album this song is from. Impeccable style going on here, typography is top notch and the photographic composition is near perfection. That salmon color in the background is usually a dead giveaway for cross processing, wonder if that’s what’s going on here? If you look closely at his collar you’ll see a bit more evidence of the xp.

As Jakub pointed out, the original version has a black border as well as an alternatively effected version of the photo. Sort of torn on which I like best, the border sort of encapsulates the negative space which is nice, but there’s something about this version I think is a bit cleaner. There’s also a rather nice full vertical version here.

Antonio Carlos Jobim y Elis Regina-"Águas De Marco (Waters Of March)"

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