A thousand years ago .... when I was but a wee lad, these were my toys. Not literally - but toys more or less like these ones, kept us all amused in the rain, flashlight under the blankets, through the flu and the terrors of visiting relatives.

Our toys were always a starting point, and placed firmly in the dirt the game began, the fantasy unfolding around us. They were mostly made of tin, some were lead (this was in the days before enviromental impact studies) and the best tin toys, came in super fantastic colorful boxes. These wonders, were carried to the birthday table by our favorite uncles, or saved for - shilling, by shilling.

No wires or infra-red, no sub-dermal cortical implants or version centric 124 bit operating systems. We didn't need them, We had our own.

click on them

where's waldo ?

here's an interesting interview from the AIGA






















to read the full interview (it's short) go here

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/underground-comix-come-of-age

whilst preparing something for another class - I encountered these
beautiful pictures. Interestingly and to my amusment I noticed, each image exhibits, - despite the fact that they more or less are all from the same early days of the Renaissance - aspects or subject matter, current to pending technical topics in both, D1 & D2

Can you guess the features I refer to ? If you can, I will sing God Save The Queen for you backwards and everyone will get free cake , again.

































do click,
they are
fascinating

can you spot the difference ? and are you certain there is one ?
the first winner will receive a most excellent book, but before
you jump, you right clicking monkeys, ..... look and think...

































for an interesting & amusing experience, do check out this
interactive site devoted to sub atomic particle theory and poetry ..
www.wordcircuits.com/gallery/subatomic/index.html

new yorker - Anil Gupta's - tattoos




























click to enlarge - the detail and shading is quite remarkable.
Oddly, and in despite of current trends in tattooing, this particular
tattoo is very evocative of the complex mechanalia (look it up, figure it out )
of late 18th & early 19th century's Automata,the Turing Machine or perhaps
Babbage and Sterling's Difference Engine. A rather interesting perspective....

Bäst a NYC-based graffiti artist, works mostly in hand-printed
posters installed with very strong paste.







Images usually consist of borrowed pieces of antique pop-media and are accompanied by the artist's monicker.







BAST has no website and is anonymous, but is frequently featured on sites like the Wooster Collective

things most remarkable No.6
for extra marks - identify each object, person
or image beyond the meerly obvious.














here's the answer for (b) as no one figured out either ... losers

On July 05 1990 Christie's sold the Badminton Cabinet for $15 million.
The cabinet was commissioned in 1726 by Henry Somerset, the third duke
of Beaufort ( as in the Beaufort Sea or Beaufort Scale .. look it up ) .

It took about 30 craftsmen six years to build the Badminton
Cabinet out of ebony, rare woods, semi prescious stones, inlaid pearl,
gilt-bronze , pietra dura and (get ready) Ormolou ... ha ha .
But it doesn't end here, my little monkees...

On December 09 2004 the cabinet went up for auction once again at Christies.

After furious bidding the gavel came down and Dr. Johan Kraeftner, director
of the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna, on behalf of Prinz Hans-Adam II of
Liechtenstein, ( we'lll discuss this particular absurdity in class, Lichenstein ?? )
had the winning bid on the world's most expensive piece of furniture at £19,045,250.00 or $36,662,106.00 USD. ... And like your Grandmother, they promptly covered it in clear plastic and would'nt let anyone
except really important guests sit on it.

CD design - The Smashing Pumpkins: Machina/The Machines of God CD 2001

The special challenge of this design project was in the accuracy of its elements.
The piece is intended to replicate the look and feel of an ancient alchemical journal.

Historically correct typography, color palette and the use of extremely detailed
illustrations had to be combined in a way that resembled a broken and faded book
from that era.

"To achieve the aged and well­handled feeling, we began by searching for dusty old
volumes from used bookstores. Most of the interior pages of the booklet are
re­photographed spreads from existing materials. The water­stained and aged
yellowed pages were then retouched erasing the existing type allowing us a clean
surface for our copy and illustrations. From the washed­out look of the black type to
the intentional misregistration of second color type, every detail was intended to
duplicate the printing capabilities that would have existed during that time period."

click me to see




Art directors: Gregory Sylvester, Thomas Wolfe, Billy Corgan, Yelena Yemchuk

Designers: Gregory Sylvester, Thomas Wolfe
Illustrator: Vasily Kafanov

Typefaces: Historical Allsorts, Volgare
Trim size: 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches

the classic Nike - "Just do it" - Braille poster 1993

Art director/designer: Guido Brouwers
Illustrator: Guido Brouwers
Copywriter: Laura Houston­Emery
Typographer: Schlagel Typesetting

just click me

“Donnie Brasco” the Title Sequence design

The film director, Mike Newell, wanted to suggest the obsessive nature of the main character, an outsider and a predator. He had spent three years prior to the first scene of the movie on the streets, in bars, clubs, and lounges following Al Pacino’s character and looking for an opening into this criminal family. Instead of shooting live­action footage of Johnny Depp, the existing unit production stills were animated editorially to create this quality, which is intrinsic to the film.



Editor: Kurt Mattila
Designers: Adam Bluming,
Olivia D’Ablis, Kurt Mattila

Typeface: Bell Gothic ( I think .. )

Kinetic Typeography, styled by Quentin Tarantino ( warning x-rated language )

D2 dweebs - don't forget to integrate the colour bands or shapes,
with an emerging text. The knife tool is on a secondary level of the
tool kit.. .





here's a link for complimentary colours.

Leonetto Cappiell0















Leonetto Cappiello was born in Livorno Italy. He first
began painting in 1886 at the age of 11 and his school
books were soon filled with drawings. In 1892 at the
age of 17 he knew all the painters of Livorno and Tuscany,
and had his first exhibit in Florence. He developed his skills
in caricature and in 1896 had his first album of caricatures
"Lanterna Magica" published.













In 1898 Cappiello traveled to Paris where his brother works
in the stock market. His first important encounter was with
a fellow Italian in Paris, Puccini. He subsequently does his
first works of Puccini in 'Le Rire' a humours revue, where he
will continue to do caricatures through the early 1900's. His
caricatures were of all the most famous artists of the time
and becomes a part of the Pais scene, with Yvette Guilbert,
Puccini, Sarah Bernhardt etc. In 1899 another album of his
caricatures appears "Nos Atrices" (Our Actors) printed by
the Revue Blanche.

1899 Cappiello starts his career in graphic design and posters
with the appearance of Cachou Lajaunie, Les Amandines des
Provence. By 1904 Cappiello has so much work he abandons
his work with editions like Assiette du Beurre and La Rire and
others, where he is predominantly a Caricaturist and begins
focusing solely on his graphics. During the years between 1899
and 1939 he is responsible for over 3000 posters.














His early designs were revolutionary, and he continually transformed his style leaving caricature design for graphic design eventually, starting with Parapluies Revel in 1922 and continuing up until his last pieces like Mossant and the Paris Expostion.

The emerging fashions of mass graphic design & large wall broadsheet like posters dominated public design in Paris at the time, along with design studios like "The Alliance Graphique"with other notable designers such as Cassandre and his generation of illustrators.