I was recently interviewed by the amazing Maurice Cherry for his podcast Revision Path. I was one of the first designers Maurice interviewed way back in the day for Revision Path, so it was wonderful to chat with him about the state of design today, and what I have been working on. Most interestingly for me, we had a chance to talk about science fiction, Afrofuturism, and "that black rights in space..."
Check it.
Some amazing work by Chyrum Lambert. All Chyrum's work is hand-painted, with inks, arcylics, oils, wax, etc. He then cuts the shapes and assembles them onto paper.
They feel tactile, carved, almost. Looking at the jpegs, its difficult to imagine how they were made, a quality that I really love. The use of grids, borders, and large geometric shapes is familiar to me as a graphic designer, but then a lot of that structure gets erased and cut away to reveal other more organic shapes and lines. h/t to Able Parris for the link.
Udon. The riot of color in this tiny bit of street was really incredible.
Fushimi Inari shrine- the Dentsu Corporation Torii.
A street in Fushimi.
Nagahama Ramen, a Kyoto institution. The place is almost always packed.
man taking a break from making okonomiyaki
Parking
Oh! Satsuma Imo (sweet potato) man
Door to a public bath, Kiyamachi Street
The entrance to Fushimi Inari Shrine, traditionally a place to pray for good luck and prosperity.
The sign reads Ishida. I love the typography on this- hand-painted, faded, but still very bold and readable.
The walk up to Fushimi Shrine.
Taiyaki stand. I'm not sure why, but the way the blue tarp sat underneath the fish banner, it made me think of water, or piled ice.
Old and new Kyoto advertising together. Teramachi Street.
One of my favorite shots of the whole trip, taken around Sanjo. The sign reads (or rather used to read) Kiyota, but one of the letters has long since fallen off.
I was a Computer Arts subscriber for 2 years. I learned all sorts of things, from how to set up an augmented reality webapp, to creating efficient patterns in Illustrator. The new talent and agency features were also great, as I could see what others in the industry were working on.
I decided, though, to cancel my membership. The magazine had a serious lack of diversity in its pages. There were hardly ever any designers from South America, Asia, Africa, or 'other' design communities. The same few people were featured constantly, month after month, and I just got tired of seeing nothing but white European faces.
The design world is bigger than that. I wanted to also read about agencies in Lagos and Accra, translated interviews with Colombian designers, and tutorials from Indian typographers. I wanted to learn, not only about what has been in the design news, but what others were doing around the globe. That wasn't in the pages of Computer Arts, so I cancelled my subscription.
I thought it would be interesting to document for everyone the fascinating symbols and tombs in Saint Louis Cemetery 1, New Orleans. What I saw there was really amazing, visually and historically.
Marie Laveau lived from 1794 to 1181 in new Orleans. She was a very powerful figure, and led a following of tens of thousands. She and her family are buried in this family grave. A false rumor persists that by drawing three "x"s (XXX) on the side of her grave, she will grant you your wish.
Our tour guide said the only proper way to pray to her is to make a wish, and if she grants it, to return and leave a small offering. The "x"s are simply vandalism, and need to be continually removed.
This "society" tomb is noteworthy for a few reasons. It contains the bodies of a number of soldiers that fought against the British in 1815. The symbols on the tomb all have very specific meanings. Here is a closeup.
- the hourglass at the top: The impermanence of time
- the wreath: victory or immortality
- the cannon balls: their roles as artillerymen
- the upside down torches: the extinction of life
Perpetual Care markers are put on graves entrusted to the care fo the Catholic Church for upkeep and maintenance. Because of the costs involved, many of them are simply restored with concrete and latex paint. Restoration means making a new tomb in the same shape as the old one, but with modern materials. They don't work well in the humid environment and soon decay. Preservation, on the other hand, means taking care of the original, and fixing it with original materials and techniques.
Note the difference between the restored step tomb on the bottom left, and the original step tomb to the right.
The marks of the Freemasons and the Shriners feature prominently here.
Many tomb covers are made of marble, which is extremely susceptible to the hot, humid climate, and soon warps and crumbles. Note the curved marble piece on the second one from the left.
In 1892, Homer Plessy and a Citizens Committee challenged the racist "Separate but Equal" doctrine. It was part of a highly coordinated attempt to have state-sponsored segregation ruled unconstitutional. Although the case reached the US Supreme Court, they did not succeed. It was not until 1954, in the Brown v. Board of Education that the law was struck down.
See America Welcome To Montana
Result: Three killed by speeding car
Must we always have this? Why not housing?
Indian Art of the United States
These striking silkscreen, lithograph, and woodcut Work Projects Administration (WPA) posters were designed to publicize health and safety programs; cultural programs including art exhibitions, theatrical, and musical performances; travel and tourism; educational programs; and community activities in seventeen states and the District of Columbia. The posters were made possible by one of the first U.S. Government programs to support the arts and were added to the Library's holdings in the 1940s.
Vitorio Miliano, a design in Austin, has given 13 old typography books to the Internet Archive to be scanned. You can find them all here: http://vitor.io/its-a-gift-never-lend-books.
h/t Typographica
