The Ugly Stepsister.

For those of you that don't obsess over reality tv shows starring people 10 years younger than you, that craptastic show called The Hills ends its infamous run this evening. After years of awkward pauses and episodes full of nothing happening (as reenacted here), it's finally coming to an end. It's obvious MTV has always favored their little California gang...I mean Spencer even looks almost, dare I say, not douchey in this photo from MTV's website. Everyone looks hot and tan and thin...just like you would expect any group of twenty-somethings famous just for being famous that live in Hollywood.

The stars of The City...well, apparently actually working for a living does nothing for your looks.

Are these really the best photos they had of each of the "characters" from The City? How did this happen? Whitney is naturally gorgeous and Olivia, with her stunning hair, is as well (even though she is a total bitch). In this picture, Olivia looks like she's actually dying, Whitney's pretty hair is in a heinous bun on top of her head and Roxy looks much crazier than she actually is. Apparently whoever is editing photos for MTV is a HUGE Erin fan because she looks quite pretty. Also, now that I look more at the logo, I'm kind of hating the C.

I've heard The City only has one season left in it. I'm not surprised...MTV apparently never gave it a chance. Still, I will miss Kelly Cutrone and loving to hate Olivia and her flawless hair and wardrobe.

I Need This Print.

Via Design*Sponge.

I may have made this pledge a long, long time ago, but I think it's worth having a reminder around the house. Perhaps I should send one over to James Cameron?

4. Collage.

So, I lied. I tried to come up with my list of ten things that make me happy without listing collage, but look at this stuff. How can it not make you happy? If it doesn't make you happy, you must be a communist or socilist (that's how you spell it, right?).

4. Collage.
If you have yet to check out all the great design over at Society6, do it now! Chris and I are selling some posters over there (well, attempting to anyway) and received an endorsement from some guy named Matthew Billington. So, I clicked to check out his stuff and it was amazing.

How amazing? Well, these collages are all by Matthew Billington! I almost choked when I saw that he was endorsing my design work. Was he just being nice? Eh, it doesn't matter because I was so excited to be introduced to his stuff. I mean, it honestly blows my mind. I love the way he combines all of the elements...the retro imagery, typography, delicate illustration and perfect use of color. Check it out for yourselves. And if you love it as much as I do, his prints all sell for under $50! I know, right? Enjoy...I had a hard time editing down what to show you.

All images courtesy of Matthew Billington.

Ten Things That Make Me Happy:
10. San Francisco History.
9. Japanese Kid Playing the Ukulele.
8. Jonathan Adler Helix Rug.
7. The PS22 Chorus.
6. Typography.
5. Two Words: Congratulations - Admitted.

Papyrus?!? Really?

I finally saw Avatar in 3D this weekend. Sure, the animation was great and Jake Sully was easy on the eyes, but the war scene went on too long and the overall themes of the movie seemed a tad too elementary. But all this aside I have one main complaint: Papyrus! Wha?!?! How do you spend this much money making a movie and use that font? And then use it for all of the subtitles? Gross.

I wish I was as witty as Pr*tty Sh*tty, but (sigh) I'm not. So, please go and read An Open Letter to James Cameron from Papyrus. I hope Avatar's success doesn't legitimize this font and bring it back into mainstream use. If Mr. Cameron uses Comic Sans in his next film, he will never see another dollar from me. Never!

A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That.

Yesterday morning, I was perusing Facebook (because that's what all the cool 31 year olds are doing these days) and I came across an article written by the Mayor of San Francisco on his blog (yep, our mayor blogs...he also twitters). The article was about the Art in Storefronts projects and featured Chris' project!

I was very excited when I read it, but then I noticed under Gavin's name it said Huffington Post. Whaaaa??? I did a search on the HuffPo and sure enough, there was Chris' project in all its glory! Granted, they spelled his last name wrong and failed to give me credit for my photograph, but I guess I'll let Arianna slide this time. Chris' first national press! Very exciting!

Now, I owe you all an apology for being so flaky on the blog lately. There's just never enough time! So, I wanted to share an awesome link in order to make amends. You might have noticed that I love well-designed book covers. Well, I'm now adding DVD covers from the Criterion Collection to my list of loves.

Head over to grain edit to check out more DVD beauties.

I have a pretty crazy weekend ahead of me so if you don't hear from me, hope you all stay warm, get some shopping done and sip some hot cocoa!

Freaking Obsessed.

Le Monde des Livres.

To say I have a preference for all things collage, retro-inspired and absurd with a bit of Dr. Strangelove and astrophysics thrown in (I stole that from Julien Pacaud) would be an understatement. I think infatuation is a much better word. So my design aesthetic is a little predictable if you've been around these parts once of twice, but can you blame me?

Case in point...French illustrator extraordinaire Julien Pacaud. Sorry Chad and Mark, but I just found a new obsession. Is genius too strong of a word? Damn these illustrators leaving me at a loss for words. Here's the first four I could come up with: I want it all.

Good Girl.


Memories of Tomorrow.


Cluedo.


World Construction Kit.
All images from Julien Pacaud found via Design Crisis.

On the Mark.

These people taking part in the Make Something Cool Every Day project are knocking it out of the park. First, I've unabashedly proclaimed my love for just about anything Chad Hagen does and now Mark Weaver comes along to battle for the title of Top Design Crush. I seriously have no words right now. This is the kind of work that makes me weep at night, disappointed that I will never be that good, but thankful that some people are.

I couldn't decide what to show you so I just chose at random. His stuff is so good that I couldn't lose. Okay, I'm done not doing it any justice. Just look for yourselves.

All images from Mark Weaver's MSCED Flickr Set. Found via grain edit.

When Less Is More.

As a graphic designer, I subscribe in theory (but don't always follow successfully in practice..booo me) to the rule of thirds and the tenets that less is more and just because you can doesn't mean you should. I get incredibly excited when designers are successful in letting negative space speak as loudly as their designs. That is why I fell in love with all of these Slovakian binding illustrations I found over at A Journey Round My Skull. These are examples that should be shown again and again and again to Design 101 students. When I took some classes at the local JC, let's just say that at least 75% of the class could have benefited from the refined editing used on these covers.

I love this one as well simply because the colors are divine. I will forever be a sucker for jewel tones.

All images are from A Journey Round My Skull.

Everyone Is Talking About Chad.

Chad Hagen has been all over the interwebs lately thanks to 20x200. And it's been for a good reason...because he's basically a bad ass. I've already waxed ecstatic about his designs once before and I'm sure this won't be the last time. He also has a project over on Flickr where he makes something cool every day (or MSCED) and it really, truly is cool. See...total bad ass.

Oh, and Happy Halloween! What are you doing? I'll be hanging out at home recovering from a fun night with Alison of Lipstick on Your Teeth. We'll be hanging out Sunday, too. Can't wait to see what sort of trouble we get into!

Give a Hoot.

Two Hoots by Native Vermont Design Studio found via Design Crush.

I'm not really one for artwork involving landscapes or wildlife or nature for that matter, but if someone happened to give me this print, I'm 99.95% positive it would happen to find a place on my wall.

P.S. I promise to write more later. For reals.

Money Matters.

Australian Financial Review via design work life.

I don't know about you, but if every financial magazine looked like this, I'd be an economist by now.

Another Poster Post.

General Dynamics Posters by Erik Nitsche from Chisholm Gallery Vintage Posters.

This weekend is the International Vintage Poster Fair down at Fort Mason. Unfortunately for me, poster prices are ranging from $100-$1,000. Still, I'm tempted to pay the $15 entrance few just to get an afternoon of design eye candy. This is of course assuming that I actually get out of bed, get dressed and leave the house this weekend. After the week I've had (and it's only Wednesday) that sounds like an awful lot of work to see things in person that I could see on my laptop from the comfort of my couch.

The Universe is Shaped Exactly Like the Earth.

Vintage Russian Posters via grain edit.

I've been sitting here for 20 minutes trying to think of something witty to write. I give up.

The title is because I can't get this song out of my head. You can blame Alison for the song lyric influenced title.

Today.

One of my favorite weekly posts is by Eric Baker on Design Observer. Once a week he posts Today, a selection of carefully curated, yet random images he finds while trolling the internet. And just think, it all started after he sent a friend 50 different images of cheese. See people...coagulated milk protein always brings good things! Now, go have yourself a slice of Gouda.

Click on the individual images to go to the original source for each image.