A Joyous Life

Good’s good infographics

2007-08-10T08:55:56Z

(image from Good magazine)

If you're a magazine junkie like moi, the last thing you want to see in your mailbox are renewal requests. I swear, they arrive earlier and earlier these days. If I’m only three months into a subscription, give me a chance to truly sample your goods before you pester me with snail mail spam. My current roster of magazine subs, sadly, is out of control. I know for certain that I have a problem because I’ve run out of places to pile my magazines. Besides organizational woes, I haven't the time to read them all, let alone skim to scam design inspiration. So when my third renewal request arrived this week from Good, it was with a heavy heart that I tossed the final notice into the recycle bin. I love their mission, like most of each issue's stories, find the pages' design to be fab, but I haven’t connected 100% to the content. It’s good, but not good enough to pony up again this year. Maybe next year? Today, though, I feel a little bit better about this decision after making a wonderful discovery via Quipsologies. My favorite part of each issue—their brilliant infographics by OfficeOfCC—are archived on the Good web site. Score!

Magazine design case studies

2007-08-04T19:32:13Z

(image from DesigningMagazines.com)

If I had more time and talent, I would have loved to have started a blog just like Designing Magazines—the latest brilliant work by Jandos Rothstein, one of the magazine industry’s biggest (and most selfless) talents whom you might know from his engaging essays at AIGA.org or popular panel cover critiques (“Face Up”) for Folio. Rothstein, an art director and educator, eloquently and humorously journals his insights regarding magazine design trends as a thoughtful compliment to the upcoming release of his highly anticipated (by me, at least!) tome by the same name. If every magazine art director made his site part of their regular reading, the aesthetics of pubs across the globe would be the better for it.

Meat Balloons and Other Novelties

2007-08-02T10:53:26Z

Reblogged because it's still so good: When you care enough to send the very best, but Hallmark just won't do the trick... consider mailing a creation by talented collage artist Francesca Berrini. (link via J-Walk Blog)

Hello Norma Jean

2007-06-08T10:12:57Z

One of my college roommates loved all sorts of retro things. But out of all that I remember most fondly, it's her adoration for Marilyn that's most memorable. Although I have never been a diehard fan, thanks to her I atleast picked up a strong appreciation for her fashion sense and playfully infectious smile -- both of which are on display at the fun French photo blog Sugarland that is devoted to chronicling Ms. Monroe's life in front of the camera. With over 100 pages of entries with rare and well-known images -- both in color and black + white -- this delightful blog is definitely a bored girl (me) who's got-too-much-time-on-her-hands' best friend... unlike diamonds.

Silver Spoons

2007-06-01T10:10:44Z

P.O.S.H., a delightful store located in downtown Chicago, has everything an imaginary socialite with a taste for fine tableware could want. I'm especially enchanted by all of the vintage "branded" plates -- perfect for the type- or logo-enthusiast in your life -- and all of the gorgeous silver from assorted luxury hotels, private clubs, and ocean liners to playful contemporary bowls and mugs. For those of you not in "dah Region" fear not -- a small selection of P.O.S.H.'s goods are available for virtual shoppers online at their Web site. Hurrah for the Internet!

Designed for Skinned Knees

2007-05-27T10:46:54Z

Certain things instantly bring back childhood memories for me: grape fruit roll-ups, ugly sneakers with velcro instead of laces, and fruity scented Mr. Sketch markers are just a few. My clumsiness yesterday reminded of yet another -- scraped knees! Worse than rugburn but not as bad as a gash, nothing aches like a torn-up knee. But at least this injury involves the use of one of my all-time favorite medical supplies... bandages! My love for bandages began the first time my mom bought ones with cute pictures on them. Now my adoration is more for their packaging -- past and present -- although there are a few comically printed band-aids available that still wet my whistle, like Archie McPhee's expensive but delightful bacon variety. Inspired by a post on Grrl.com from ages past, I added bandage tins to my obscenely large, vintage tin containers collection, which includes -- but is not limited to -- lunch pails, food and tea tins, advertising tins, collector's tins, and storage tins. Heck, I've even been known to pull a Not Martha and repurpose more generic tins into crafty creations. To virtually get your bandage tin obsession on, check out these links:

The Band-Aid Brand Timeline, includes great pix
Carol's Bandage Tin Directory, her collection is way better than mine
Savetz's 75 Years of Band-Aid, even includes video clips

Homage to a Prêt-à-porter Painter

2007-05-07T11:14:53Z

George Barbier's haute couture art deco fashion illustrations are as timeless and awe-inspiring today as they were when he first created them. Last year I had a calendar featuring his work and my new 2006 cheesy birds calendar printed by the Audobon Society just isn't the same. But then, how could I really compare the two? Barbier was a peer of one of my other favorite Frenchies -- Erté. Although there are similarities between their work and their mutual influence is apparent, if I had to choose, I suppose I would have to say I prefer Barbier. Don't you?

Contemporary Quilted Goodness

2007-04-28T10:47:08Z

I know what you're thinking -- why is she posting about quilts? The truth is that even though I'm not a quiltin' queenie, I do find so much inspiration in the creations -- both old and new. I must admit, however, that as much as I fancy the artistry of traditional quilts -- especially those masterfully created by Amish women -- I find it's the new breed of quilt-making takes this craft to a whole new world. Unrestrained by fabric choices and rigid patterns, the new generation of square-sewers combine bold fabrics (like Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy line) into modern classics. (Schmidt's link via the always awesome WhipUp) For your admiration and potential inspiration:

Funquilt's American Pie -- despite the name's implications, it does not reveal jason biggs' portrait created from fabric scraps.
Freespirit Fabric's Temple Flowers Quilt -- Doesn't that name sound so new-agey? But in a good way...
Kmel's Paletas Quilt -- Could this be made with a better, brighter color palette? I think not!
Lori Mason's Eclipse and Ronny's Ties -- My absolute favorites! So, um, anybody got a spare $3,500 they wanna spend to buy the former for me?

Noted and quoted

2007-04-28T10:23:30Z

"To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labor, to be given the chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is the gravy. As everyone else, I love to dunk my crust in it. But alone, it is not a diet designed to keep body and soul together."

--Bette Davis

La Vida Orwellian

2007-04-27T01:39:46Z

This Mexican helicopter pilot -- a budding photographer -- snaps pix while up in the skies and posts the results on his Web site. What are the most interesting photos by far? His views of some of the 10,000 homes in the new low income neighborhoods in Ixtapaluca, Mexico. (Link via Business Opportunities Blog)

A Magazine Blog with Panache

2007-04-25T20:59:22Z

A little bit business and a lot of frank industry gossip and analysis, blogger Kyle of Big&Sharp mixes it all up with style. As a magazine editor, his writing is always, well, big and sharp... that is, it's compelling and bullshit free. And even as an editorially minded fella, he does still eek in some magazine art-related content making it a fun read for any pub geek, including a little old art director like me. Here's a sampling of some of his recent must-read posts from his must-bookmark blog:

Postal Physics

2007-04-03T07:22:19Z

Following on the theme of my last post -- and while staying on-topic given my day-to-day job -- here's a trifecta fun links showing famous physicists and scientists on postage stamps from around the globe:

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

2007-03-24T03:54:34Z

The Good. There's been some ~~rewiring~~ redesigning around the art department at Wired, and it looks good! The switch to a more traditional size seems to be all the rave among my favorite magazines. Spin did it a while back, and now Wired has too! But let's go back to what's really good about this new issue of Wired -- it's cover. Created by the talented folks at I Love Dust, the cover is split down the middle (including the banner) with the left side revealing a colorful rendering of Keanu Reeves face and the right side showing an actual photograph. Simple yet effective. Couldn't be more perfect. On the other hand... The Bad. The first A Scanner Darkly themed cover popped up on newsstands in January. Admittedly, my annoyance with most things Winona Ryder may be creating some bias here, I just wasn't impressed when RES magazine featured her illustrated portrait from the film on their cover. People would freak if a magazine threw a generic movie-released still on their cover and called it a day. While admittedly more interesting than your average press still, in reality this portrait is basically an artfully chosen movie still from A Scanner Darkly. At least the positioning (off-center) gives the cover some interest, although I have a feeling that placement was done more to accommodate the cover story heds than for artistic reasons. But maybe I'm assuming too negatively. At least there really haven't been any ugly A Scanner Darkly covers. Yet. (link to RES magazine and art for Wired's new cover via PhilipKDickFans.com)

Sick Joy = Sick Blog

2007-03-22T12:35:57Z

Started feeling under the weather Sunday night and last night I just started to feel right again... Hence, the lack of posting. Will return in full force tonight. Thanks for your patience!

Raising Your Kids Indie

2007-03-19T18:14:44Z

It's Sunday. And, like it is for the Bangles, it's my Funday. As such, I have a totally random but completely hilarious fun link for you to enjoy -- some little tyke singing the refrain from the White Stripes' "My Doorbell." (link via Best Week Ever)