Nice package

I love love love this packaging....

Really good movie, really bad poster...

"No Country for Old Men" was a really really good movie. I've mentioned before that I love a good movie poster. Too bad the poster for this fantastic movie is so horrid....

It's so obvious. See, it's a chase/pursuit film. The poster stinks. There's no need for the looming face of "Anton Chigurh" to appear anywhere on the poster. We get it. That guy is chasing that other guy. Jesus. I think it would be more powerful if he wasn't revealed until you saw the movie. When "Seven" first came out in theaters, no one revealed the killer in any ad or review prior to the movie's release and it was a really neat element to the film. "Anton Chigurh" is such a powerful and creepy character that it would have been great to bring that little element of surprise to him as well.

Here, I fixed it...


You still get the idea that it's a pursuit film, but the "so-obvious-it's-not-at-all-symbolic" element is removed.

Hatch Show Print

Last night I saw Jim Sherraden speak about the history of Hatch Show Print. I've been a fan of the work they do over there in Nashville since college, so it was fantastic to finally meet the man who helped bring Hatch Show Print back to life.

I really really think that what Jim is doing is important, not only for design, but history in general. He's not allowing any new typefaces to be brought into the shop. So, jobs that are printed there now use the same type blocks that were used back in the early 1900s. Those letter sets in the trays have so much history behind them...posters for political campaigns, traveling variety shows, pharmacy ads, posters for musical acts coming to town...it's amazing.

After the lecture, there are print re-strikes for sale. I am the proud owner of these two prints...


Great, two more prints to add to my pile of things I need to have framed!

Here's a nice video about Hatch Show Print, snatched from youtube...


Here is a short little Video of Jim working in the shop. Again snagged this off youtube...

Jalopy

I wish cars were still readily available in these colors...



My car is a boring color. It's that blue-grey color that Cape Cod artist's always use when they're painting pictures of dolphins on driftwood. It's boring and in a crowded parking lot, it's difficult to find my car because it's such a common color. But, I bought my car used, so I didn't have much choice. It was either the dolphin-mobile or another car that was black and had cigarette burn holes on the ceiling upholstery. I went with the former.

My car is in fine working order, but recently I've been obsessed with getting a new vehicle. I don't know why. My plan is to get a new (well, new to me) car in five years. So five more years with the dolphin. And I hope I'll be able to find a car in a color that isn't entirely dull.

Rust.

I love this. Pinstriping right over the rust. It looks so tough.

Pinstripes...

Random pinstriping spotted at the rumble...

More Rumbling...

Heehee, my reflection in the metal...

Yes! we have no bananas today.

The above image is a section of scratch and sniff wallpaper! I love this. I really like food imagery and also simple repetition.. this has both!


the sniffy wallpaper can be found here...
http://flavorleague.com

Pleased to meat you

I frequently visit a "hamburger news" website called "A Hamburger Today" (www.ahamburgertoday.com) and stumbled upon this today...


Fantastic! I wish this could be converted into a useable font.

And yes, I realize how geeky this entire post makes me appear... both because I'm admitting I read a blog dedicated almost entirely to hamburgers, and also because I'm admitting that the thought of a font resembling meat would make my day.

But really, any talk of fonts makes the speaker seem a bit nerdy, no?

Pop Corn!

This bag is from a package of kettle corn. I love all the tiny amusing icons patterned on the bag. The box that housed this gem was fashioned and shaped to look like those old timey, striped popcorn boxes that you'd typically get at carnivals. The whole thing is great, actually. The popcorn is good too, which is odd for me to say because I'm not a big popcorn fan to begin with.

the website for this great stuff is: www.lesserevil.com
and if you do visit the site, you'll notice that the background of the webpages is the pattern from the inner bag, which makes me giddy.

"2Clever"

The other day I bought a small oscillating table fan to bring from room to room as I paint. I just needed a cheap-o one so I bought one made by a company called "2Cool."

You can tell that a product is high quality when a word is replaced by a numeral in the brand logo.

Especially when that logo has tiny icicles dripping off it, to further convey the arctic theme.