Posts by Jon

Amy Henderson of AQ-V recently acquired a large collection of old United Nations stamps:

Because the UN is an international organization, its stamp must bear symbols that will be recognized universally. Besides the beauty of the design, the UN Design Committee must consider the political implications of any symbolism used. Naturally none of them can stand for anything contrary to the standards and principles of the United Nations, nor can they represent any one culture, religion, or race.

It was the Design Committee’s suggestion that the official five languages—Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish—should be used on as many of the stamps as possible. This was the origin of the “five-language border” which has become characteristic of UN stamps.

This set is the first post in a multi-part series, and I can’t wait to see the rest. In the meantime you can check out David McFarline’s flickr collection or previous posts for more stamp goodness.

via AQ-V

The Computer History Museum has a great collection of vintage computer brochures from the 1950s to the early 1980s. I love the bold type, colors, and shapes working in these designs. You might recognize the IBM System/360 name from previous posts.

I could spend hours going through the Old S.F. website. Some interesting ones I found were the San Francisco Civic Auditorium, Union Square, Hunters Point, and Seals Stadium, but my favorite set has to be these interior shots of the Marina Branch Library.

Marina Branch Library was the 23rd branch established in the San Francisco Public Library system and originally opened to the public in 1954. It was designed by the architectural firm of Appleton and Wolfard at a cost of $156,742. Furnishings cost an additional $12,926.

Recently the branch underwent renovations and reopened in 2007 at a cost of $3.9 million. It’s a shame that libraries and offices rarely look like this anymore. Anyone else find any hidden gems on the site and care to share?

via Old S.F.

London based Anne Hardy photographs intriguing images of interior spaces. Her scenes are brought to life so convincingly that I thought they were the remnants of abandoned spaces, but they are actually meticulously crafted sets she creates in her studio from scratch.

See more of her work here.

Fantastic cover designs by Gregory Vines for Swiss typographic magazine Typografische Monatsblätter.

via The New Graphic

Born in Switzerland, Hans Mauli was a graphic designer who worked with Herb Lubalin and designed the typeface for the World Trade Center signage. From 1971 to 1991 he worked as an advertising photographer in Paris, after which he moved to the United States and began to focus on fine art photography. When he began his photographic career he did not have access to a darkroom, so most of his early work was not printed until much later. See more of them here.

via This Is Happiness

Gurafiku has an extensive archive of Japanese graphic design from the 1800s to today. In particular, the vibrant work of the 60s by greats like Yusaku Kamekura and Ikko Tanaka caught my eye.

Check out the rest of the set here, or see the previous post on “Graphic Design” magazine for more of their work.

Gavin Hammond is a writer, musician, cartoonist, and filmmaker as well as the producer and songwriter for the British electro pop group Sweet Tooth. He also happens to shoot dark, beautiful, dreamlike photos while wandering the streets of London with his Lomo. See more of his work on his Tumblr and Flickr.

via My Modern Met

Linda McCartney married Paul in 1969 and was a professional photographer who shot intimate portraits of some of the most influential artists of the 60s.

Linda was house photographer at the Fillmore East concert hall and shot numerous musicians including the Stones, Doors, Frank Zappa, Kinks, the Who, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Beatles etc.

A collection of her photographs titled Linda McCartney’s Sixties: A Portrait of an Era was published in 1993. Sadly, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer two years later and passed away at the McCartney Ranch in 1998.

via Design You Trust

Shot at mining quarries and ship breaking yards around the world, these photographs by Edward Burtynsky seem both familiar and otherworldly.

Nature transformed through industry is a predominant theme in my work. I set course to intersect with a contemporary view of the great ages of man; from stone, to minerals, oil, transportation, silicon, and so on. To make these ideas visible I search for subjects that are rich in detail and scale yet open in their meaning.

They almost feel like set photos from the most amazing science fiction/fantasy motion picture from the 70s to me. See the rest here.

via Snowce