Street Art Tribute to Steve Jobs

As seen on the streets of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. From the Wooster Collective in NYC. Sweet!

Beyond Words

I realize this video project from Facebook's Creative Director Ji Lee is making the rounds everywhere, but yes, it is that good. You can see the stills of his visual puns at his website, Please enjoy. Or, get the print edition. This time the book is just as good as the film.
:: Thanks Nici!

Thank you Steve Jobs

Thank you for your contributions, your determination and your inspiration. You have enriched our lives greatly!
      If you are unable to view the video of Steve Jobs 2005 speech at Stanford you can listen to the audio on the internet archive.

Text Appeal

Readers, writers, typographers, and printers take note. The 6th annual Text Ball—the lettered stepchild of Portland, Oregon's annual literary Wordstock Festival—will take place on October 1st at p:ear Gallery. The theme this year is In Poetic Fashion and it is a benefit for the non-profit Independent Publishing Resource Center in Portland which promotes literacy through DIY publishing. There will be live music by indie-folk heroine Laura Gibson and poetry readings, word games, giant crossword puzzles, dirty limerick challenges, a silent auction and more, including a parade of well-lettered fashions and prizes for the text-dressed. Come dressed as your favorite poem, book, letter, story, or word, enjoy the letterati and support a great cause. Advance tickets for $12 can be purchased here or $15 at the door.
      The photo above is last year's grand prize winner for Best Text, Erica Hijazi. She constructed a fashionable bow from a 1939 Williamette College newpaper she unearthed while picking up a VCR purchased on Craigslist. Soooo Portlandia! Her date wore a tie constructed from the same newspaper.

Mark Anen came dressed as a Government G-Man.

Aimee Pedretti's vision of Hell was Dante's Inferno.

Runner-up for Most Literary is writer and author Myrlin Hermes, featuring the entire text of Shakespeare's Sonnet 129: "The expense of spirit in a waste of shame is lust in action..."
::All photos from the last year's text-dressed are taken by Georgia Perry.

Imre Reiner Redux

Another dynamic lettering set from a 1947 book by Imre Reiner (1900-1987), generously served up from Newhouse Design's Flickr set. You can also see a much longer Letterology post on designer Reiner here. 

Anyone For Pie?

With all the fresh fruit in season, I thought I would share some pie-related ephemera. What could be more inspiring than pie or type?
(A type pie?) I don't know the history of these small cards, as I only have 10 of them, but they must be part of a larger set of collectible advertising trade cards. The flip side of each card has a nice pattern, but no pie recipe as one might expect. If anyone else might know the story of these beautifully hand-lettered Jack Horner trade cards, please enlighten me. I'm accepting peach pie recipes too! 
::Via the Letterology Archives

The Universal Penman

This fun lettering sampler from Argentina was recently sent to me by an alert reader from Uruguay. The title in English translates to The Method of Calligraphy in Schools. It was originally published in the Caras y Caretas magazine in Buenos Aires in 1917. The string of sentences following each illustration and calligraphic text reads:

1. "Primero se enseñaba la letra inglesa, por su ligereza y por estar dentro de nuestras aficciones hípicas." (Roughly translated in English as: First taught was the English lettering, for its lightness and being within our horse racing hobbies.)

2. "Luego adoptamos la redondilla francesa, por ser la madre de la libertad de escribir como uno quiera." (Roughly translated to: Then we adopted the French quatrain, as for being the mother of the freedom to write as you want.)

3. "Despues aprendimos la Iturzaeta española, por tradición y la solemne majestad de su marcha sobre la pauta." (Roughly translated to: Then we learned the Spanish Iturzaeta, by tradition and for the solemn majesty of its march over the pattern.)

4. "Tambien impusimos el estilo gótico decorativo, que es muy bueno para distracción de los niños en horas de recreo." (Roughly translated to: We also imposed the decorative Gothic style, which is very good for distraction of children in their leisure hours.) 

5. "Por último, enseñamos la vertical yankee, por ser lo más adelantado y por su parecido a las estacadas y alambrados de nuestros campos. (Roughly translated to: Finally, we taught the vertical Yankee for being upfront and for its resemblance to the stakes and fences of our fields.)

6. "Y de todas estas letras, combinadas en agradable confraternidad, crearemos nuestro elegante método de escritura nacional." (Roughly translated to: And all these letters, combined into friendly fellowship, we will create our national elegant method of writing.)

I love this perspective! It takes a global village and the art of lettering is a universal practice. Thank you for sharing Horacio!

Love Magazine

Has anyone else discovered LOVE magazine yet?

It's only on issue 6 and seems like it only comes out twice a year.

Well I discovered it 2 weeks ago when I spotted this striking cover in amongst all the other usual ones! Now £6 is a bit steep usually for me, but I had just been paid so I thought bugger it and bought it anyway. And I am so glad I did! £6 isn't much if it's only twice a year and this magazine is great.

Ok, like all other high end magazines it is primarily 75% adverts, but saying that I think this mag has possibly got every high end retailers A/W collection adverts in it, making it a piece of fashion history. If I bought every issue of this you could literally track fashion and its advertising, smart eh?? Lol. Ok so that isn't the greatest reason to buy a magazine but really this is a great magazine. It has introduced me to high end designers (and generally fashion people) that I never even knew about and has taught me lots about them. The articles are interviews or profiles almost of designers, stylist etc and their collection/design ideas alomost. There isn't any hot picks, celebrity style or trend articles, it is all about the people behind the clothes and I think it is amazing.

There are a few fashion editorials but they are interesting, striking and innovative, and even a little shocking at times. But I kinda like that as it is outside the box of general 'fashion beauty' and what we have come to expect.

Plus they have the new Westwood advert! Yay!!

My year long shopping ban is in the home stretch now and I am very proud of myself and excited! You can see my countdown clock in the right hand side bar > see almost there. To be honest it hasn't really been as hard as I was expecting and I think I could say I could probably go another year if I really tried and wanted to. I am looking forward to being able to buy some new essential items that I think my wardrobe is missing or I have realised I need new ones of during this no shopping year.

Jeans for instance. I realised how badly fitting some of my old pairs were now and then I ripped a pair, so I truly think I need a good new pair and I have figured that I should probably invest in a good pair that will last. I have also come to realise I used to spend to much on disposable clothes when I could spend the same amount on a few more classic, key pieces by higher end designers. So when I do start shopping again I am going to be more conscious of what I am buying.

Has anyone else been on some sort of shopping ban any time this year? How did you find it?

Daisymay X

Sunday Inspiration - The Fearne Cotton Collection

I love the Fearne Cotton Collection at Very.com and was very lucky to have been contacted by them to receive one of her new pieces. I will be doing an outfit post tomorrow with the piece I chose from the collection but for now here are my fav items from her A/W range.

Checked Tartan Cape £75

Jumpsuit £65

Vintage Print Maxi Skirt £39

Pleat Front Blouse £35

Fringe Shrug £32

Cotton Lace Trim Shrug £35

Satin Bustier and Lace Dress £75

Velvet Peplum Dress £59

Seagull Dress £59

Can you guess which one I chose?

Which item would you have chosen?

Daisymay X

Pure Goods Sold Only

A small, seven-color merchandise label designed and printed in 1992 by Chris Stern (1950-2006) of the Grey Spider Press and Stern & Faye Letterpress Printers. I have long admired it and now treasure it. Chris was a towering figure in the letterpress community and an amazing talent, and his passing is a great loss. So much so, he now has a font and even a type foundry named in his honor. Read more about type designer Jim Rimmer's Stern Pro and see the movie trailer about the making of the font here. The C.C. Stern Type Foundry and working museum in Portland, OR is also worth a virtual or live visit.

Lunch With Mrs. O

Addressed to Hoefler & Frere-Jones who received this invitation in the mail yesterday for their recognition as National Design Award finalists. (I wonder if the lunch menus will be using Gotham). H&FJ were not the only distinguished type design award recipients this year. Matthew Carter received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his profound and long-term contribution to the contemporary practice of design. Prolific design author and editor Steven Heller was also recognized for the Design Mind Award given to a visionary who has effected a paradigm shift in design thinking or practice through writing, research and scholarship. R∙E∙S∙P∙E∙C∙T

iThank You Steve Jobs

Adapted from the interactive visual of Shan Carter at the New York Times.

No one has been more influential to the design and technology industry than Steve Jobs. A remarkable 313 patents are listed with his name as principle inventor, designer, or collaborator. His patent list includes everything from iPod lanyards, monitors, mice, laptops, keyboards and packaging, to the beautiful glass staircase that graces some of the Apple stores. Miguel Helft reports on these achievements in a New York Times article today and on Job's influence and leadership of Apple since its inception in 1976. Worth viewing, is Shan Carter's interactive feature for the article, which displays many of Jobs' impressive patent holdings. Another great link takes you to an interactive timeline by Danielle Belopotosky and Sam Gorbart featuring Apples' benchmark achievements during Job's tenure.
      Under Steve Job's leadership, Apple has had a profound influence on the design and publishing industry. Perhaps one of his most important contributions has been the elevation of typography into our daily language. Since the inception of the first Mac, everyone has learned the difference between a serif and sans serif, and they all have opinions about their likes and dislikes of fonts. This has not necessarily improved overall typography standards, but it certainly has invited more people into the typebar for conversation.
       Thinking differently has been Job's approach to everything. Foremost, it was about the user's experience—about how we work and play. (This was evident with the introduction of the first Mac in 1984, when it greeted you with a cheerful Hello). He has been one of the most legendary successful chief executives in corporate history (just 2 weeks ago, Apple surpassed Exxon as the stock market's largest company), and his visionary contributions have changed the way we listen to music and communicate with words and images. He has given us the tools to become a nation of storytellers, but his personal story remains one of the most inspiring. Though he is officially stepping down from his role as CEO, this is not his fade-out departure into the sunset. He intends to remain involved as chairman of Apple's board, which leaves him more time to concentrate on his personal health challenges. I wish him the greatest success in the next chapter to his remarkably different story.  

Business Casual

Three business cards designed and printed at Prensa la Libertad letterpress studio in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They're turning out some very fine work there. See more of it on Federico Cimatti's flickrstream. 

The Curwen News-Letters

A few choice selections of some rare editions of the Curwen Press News-Letters from various sources listed in captions. First published in 1932 as a twice yearly promotional magazine, and as a showcase for the Curwen's fine printing and illustration capabilities. The News-Letters included covers designs by some of the most accomplished British artists of their day; Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman, Paul Nash, John Nash, Graham Sutherland, and John Piper. You can read a great deal more about the Curwen Press (1863 to 1983) in a recently published book by Brain Webb and Peyton Skipwith as part of their Design series. This book is about Harold Curwen and Oliver Simon, and it charts the golden years when the press was in their capable hands. The book is beautifully illustrated with images from many of the artists mentioned above.

1934 Curwen Press Newsletter 8 with cover design by Edward Bawden. The unicorn was the identifying mark and many variations of it had been designed over the years.
One of the more popular unicorns was designed by Eric Gill.
::Via Mikey Ashworth's Flickrstream

The 1938 Curwen Press News-Letter 15.
::Via Mikey Ashworth's Flickrstream

The 1939 Curwen Press News-Letter 16 with cover design by John Piper. Ian Beck added a wonderful feature on this piece earlier this Spring on his blog which you can find here. Lots more to explore while you are there. 

Copy of the cover design for the Curwen Press News-Letter 6 by Eric Ravilious in 1934.
::Via Mikey Ashworth's Flickrstream

Left: Actual cover design of the 1934 Curwen Press News-Letter 6. Printed in black and hand colored in blue. Right: A selection of Curwen Press borders, including a new one by Edward Bawden. As seen on eBay.

Advertisement in the 1939 Curwen Press News-Letter 16 for J.M. Richards and Eric Ravilious' High Street which was about to be published. Recently, Ian Beck reported in his blog, "A greater part of the printed stock of this wonderful book was lost in the Blitz making it a great rarity". Last November I added a short piece on Ravilious, High Street and the Curwen Press which you can find here. Thanks again go out to Ian Beck for sharing this great work and others.

Composing room at the Curwen Press circa 1900s.
::Via Hidden Histories

Polyvore - Sienna Miller

Hey ladies, I am sorry for being away so long, it's just been so busy here with the writing, pub, tourist info centre, the flat and life that I simply haven't had any time to blog. Which make me sad as I am missing you all lots. So here is a quick post to hopefully get the ball rolling again on my blogging.

It's just a quick polyvore of a Sienna Miller look. I hate jeggings but I think this look would work really well with black jeans instead.

Sienna Miller Chic Style by daisymaychantele featuring leather handbags

Forever21 striped shirt
$20 - forever21.com

Boyfriend blazer
$130 - topshop.com

River Island jeans
£30 - riverisland.com

River Island leather handbag
£60 - riverisland.com

63P Ladies Cream Lace Up Brogue Shoes Size 3-8 Uk - Casual - Smart -...
£7.99 - my1stwish.co.uk

grey v neck fitted t-shirt - t-shirts - t shirts / vests / sweats -...
£10 - riverisland.com

What do you think? Would you wear this look?

To me it would be great for an everyday look, just wearing our to run errands or go to the shops, simple yet still chic.

Daisymay X

BIOgraphy of a Book

Sarah Bryant, of the Big Jump Press in Aurora, NY has been receiving all sorts of honors for her new book, Biography. Already she has received the award for Artistic Excellence at the Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair this past November and most recently, the top MCBA Prize from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts last month.

      In her book Biography, Bryant has performed a sort of a visual information graphic in a narrative form that tells the story of our chemical make-up by way of the Table of Periodic Elements. She describes it as "an examination of the chemical elements in the human body and the roles they play elsewhere in the world. This book grew out of my desire to use the periodic table, our visual method of categorizing every particle of matter in the universe, as a tool for creating a portrait of a human being." Each element in Biography is identified as a specific colored rectangle and these rectangles gradually reoccur in diagrams which describe what we are made of, what we are similar to and where we originate. As her book progresses, it becomes apparent that these same elements are also in everything we make including weaponry, medicines, and tools. The diagrams are somewhat difficult to decode as the book continues, until the many colors fade and are interrupted by blind embossed organic shapes near the end. 

      Biography was letterpress printed in 2010 with polymer plates on Zerkall paper. It is bound as a hard cover drumleaf binding and enclosed in a clamshell box in an edition of 75. Numbers 1 through 10 are available as a deluxe edition which you can see below. I had an opportunity to view this book last Fall and it blew me away. Not only did Bryant do a masterful job of printing and binding, but her concept, typography and design are very thoughtfully produced. I suspect there will be many more honors in her future. Look for more information about Sarah Bryant and Biography at Big Jump Press or at Vamp & Tramp Booksellers. You might also enjoy visiting the MCBA site which has posted an online gallery featuring many of the other entries and the other finalists in their recent juried competition.