httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlwDbdiaAvI
Loving this new song and video from Beirut. The video is by Sunset Television. I don’t know much about them but I remember someone telling me they were a student collective from Columbia (could totally be making that up though). Anyways, loving the humor and aesthetic; very fitting.
A great PDF of Hasselblad’s the guidebook for the NASA Photography Training Program can be had here. The guide focuses on the operation of the 500 EL/M, which was the official NASA camera.
Related viewing: NASA Hasselblad Auction photos
Unfortunately it’s closed, but this auction for various Bang & Olufsen pieces includes some great shots of the iconic stereo equipment.
Images via Lauritz
On the road from LA to Portland right now, thanks to everyone who made it out to the Echoplex show, we had a great time playing. So we’ve got two sets of tickets up for grabs for tonight’s Tycho / Shigeto Portland show (Friday, 9/2/11, Crown Room). Just drop a line in the comments with your email and you’re entered to win. Sorry for the late notice, we’ll try to pick the winners somewhat early in the day. Good luck and see you in Portland.
Tycho live w/ Shigeto
Friday, September 2nd
Crown Room – Portland, OR
Switzerland’s current national airline (no, not that old one with the best branding possible) has undergone a rebrand and Brand New has all the details. A lot of people have been grumbling that the original “cube” logo was better — and I certainly agree — but judging this at face value, I have to say I’m into into it.
Brand New via Sam Valenti
Further reading: Be sure to check out Shelby’s post on Swissair’s (the now defunct Swiss national airline) branding.
I had the pleasure of meeting fellow San Francisco artist Amy Franceschini yesterday. Amy is from the design studio Futurefamers, a group of people who create “platforms for sociability within new media spaces; internet, wireless devices and public space”. I remember being aware of — and influenced by — their work when I was starting out in design but this recent meeting prompted me to take a look at what they’re been up to in the years since.
As you can see, their output doesn’t exactly fall within the scope of your average design studio — although they did design the Twitter logo. This excerpt from Amy’s bio sums up the themes I find most interesting in the work “[she] creates formats for exchange and production that question and challenge the social, cultural and environmental systems that surround her. An overarching theme in her work is a perceived conflict between humans and nature.”
Aesthetically pleasing and challenging at the same time, really great to see people doing work like this.
Some great covers archived by Oliver Thomas on his Flickr. Some are pretty high res scans so get your printers warmed up…
Source:
Book & Periodical Covers Set by Oliver.Thomas
Awesome imagery archive of Czech motorcycle maker Jawa (short for Janeček and Wanderer). Great logos and type treatments, some nice inspiration in there.
Jawa Owners Club via Jakub’s Dad
Some great examples of packaging design by Dutch artist Louis Swart. Swart got his start as early as age thirteen and was quoted at that time as saying ‘I am striving not to become the grand old man of the profession, but to close my design doors when I reach forty-five’. So not only was he a designer at 13, he was getting interviews, pretty incredible.
I recognize those Albert Hein logos in there. As I recall, the current in-house brand has not carried on this tradition.
More on Swart and his work over at the Graphic Design Museum via Grain Edit
I’ve seen a lot of beautiful, moving images of the Shuttle lately but none have felt so intimate as these by Justin Ray for Spaceflight Now. Something about these photos of the now decommissioned spacecraft, engines removed, mission complete, bring the idea of it to life like none I’ve seen thus far. It’s the textures and details that highlight what an incredible machine this was and what a profound achievement for humankind it represents.
And look at that lettering! I’ve never seen it so close; it has such a handmade feel to it at this scale. The logos and typography of the Shuttle program always intrigued me, they seemed to represent the idea of the United States as a brand, an ideal to be consumed by the rest of the world. Then when Canadarm was installed on STS-2 it became apparent that even other — less crazy — countries felt the desire to push themselves as a brand in space. Of course, pushing your national space-brand became a bit more accessible with the ISS, but the US and Canada used Helvetica and were way ahead of the curve so I’d say they won whatever prize you get for most recognizable space-brand.
I wonder what we all gained growing up in a world where the Shuttle existed. I know it was a big part of my consciousness as a kid and probably had something to do with how I felt about my national identity. For me it symbolized the combined efforts of some of our greatest minds collectively reaching for a better understanding of the world we live in. For some — and perhaps rightly so — it probably represented a colossal waste of resources in the face of more earthly problems. Maybe it was both, but I I’ll personally miss it as a symbol of what we as humans can achieve when we work together.
