Skull A Day

I know, I know. Skulls are so passe. But this skull news, though not actually new, is too good to pass up.

Artist, blogger and author Noah Scalin began making a skull a day for a year in 2007, and thus the project Skull-A-Day was born. Skulls from that year are featured in his book, SKULLS, published by Lark Books in 2008 and available through IndieBound and other fine booksellers. Also, one of Scalin's skull drawings (above) is featured on a Kenneth Cole t-shirt.

In the years to come, Scalin began publishing skulls by other artists on his Skull-A-Day blog. My favorites include this illustration by Robert Steven Connett ,

and this sculpted sand skull.

























In addition to the art skulls, several skull items are available from site sponsors. These include skull cookies from Whimzskulls:


and etched skull glasses from Tatman's Glass.














Finally, the Skull-A-Day website has merchandise for sale, such as these cute skull buttons:



But one of the coolest things available on the Skull-A-Day site is free fonts, such as the Skullphabet 1 font pictured below:


Check out the SKULL-A-DAY website yourself, and I'm sure you'll find your own favorites. Let's face it: they're skulls. They're not going to go away.

via NOTCOT.

tags:
SKULL-A-DAY
Noah_Scalin
Skull Art

Ecojot: Environmentally Friendly Notebooks

Just discovered EcoJot, via Delight.Com. This is a line of notebooks and sketch pads that are manufactured to meet strict environmentally friendly standards. According to Delight.Com, here's what makes them greatly green:

100% recycled + recycleable; 100% post-consumer waste; no new trees were cut to make these notebooks; paper is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council; glues & inks are vegetable based + biodegradable; the mill used to make the paper uses clean, affordable biogas (recovered landfill gases) as their alternative power source . . .

Green is great, especially when the design is as delightful as it is on Ecojot products. The designer is Carolyn Gavin, who has one of the skills I most admire in design: a sense of whimsy.


















The products are reasonably priced, and many can be found online at JournalsAndBooks.Com.






















tags:
ecojot
delight.com
Carolyn Gavin
notebooks
sustainable

Objet du Jour - ISAK UK Counting Poster

I fell in love with these little birdies from ISAK UK when they were featured on Delight.Com last week. The platters and plates are nice, but this children's counting poster is IT.


I know it's not nice to play favorites, but I particularly like number 17.

tags:
ISAK UK
Delight.Com
child decor

Objet du Jour: Bird Print Cups

Aren't these great? I love the graphics and the chic way the cups are stored/displayed. Just one thing: I would get obssessive/compulsive about making sure they were stacked correctly, and I really don't have time for that. Like, the cats wouldn't get fed because I'm messing with the cups.

Still, they're great. At Dutch By Design for $35.00

tags:
cappucino cups
Dutch by Design
tabletop

Objet du Early the Next Jour: Ryan McGinnes Soccer Ball

See, now this is cool. You don't have to be a soccer player for this to be cool. You don't even have to be the Arbiter of Cool to know that this is cool.

As described on the Vivre website:

Perfect for the athlete-aesthete, this stylish hand-stitched soccer ball is patterned with surrealist icons by artist Ryan McGinness. The ball is FIFA tournament quality. Black/gold. Size 5.

At Vivre, for $185.

tags:
soccer ball
Ryan McGinnes
Vivre

Speaking of Buyolympia.com . . .

. . . and also of Father's Day, this incredibly AWESOME wallet would make a perfect gift. From buyolympia.com artist Tiny Meat, (or do you say tinymeat?), this "How To Make A Motorcycle" wallet is just $14.00.















And no, we weren't actually ever speaking of Father's Day. See, you are paying attention!

tags:
tinymeat
wallet
motorcycle

Speaking of Cards. . .

. . . this reminiscent-of-seventh-grade one is hysterical! Hand-printed by buyolympia.com artist Tennis Anyone, currently (unfortunately) out of stock.

When were we speaking of cards? You really aren't paying attention, are you?

tags:
greeting cards
Tennis Anyone
buyolympia.com

Speaking of Frogs . . .

. . . this one conducting the birthday orchestra makes me giggle! One of a number of cool and sometimes kitschy letterpress cards from B Designs. Here's another:
























From Diane's Collection, this is one they call "Red Shoes." (I would call it "The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes." That's just me.)

What do you mean, "When were we speaking of frogs?" Have you been paying attention? Jeeeez. It was just, like, two days ago. Right here.

tags:
B Designs
letterpress cards
frogs
red shoes

Objet du Jour: Funky Fabric

This "Heavy Equipment" fabric from equilter.com cracks me up--it rocks! And if beefcake's not your style, here's some cheesecake--"Heels on Wheels":
























tags:
fabric
prints

We've Got a Winner!

The winning logo design, seen above, was submitted by Tawnya of Flutterbot. The delay in posting this had to do with licensing issues regarding the font, but that's all taken care of and it's all good!

Tawnya submitted a total of four logo designs, any one of which would have worked nicely, but this one is my favorite.

I thought it might be fun for you to see the books Tawnya chose:




















Frankly, I'm as impressed with her choices as I am with her design skills!

Now all I have to do is figure out how to add the logo as the header of my blog and put a permanent "Logo Design by . . . " note in the template. I don't really do HTML . . . what I really need is a web designer. . . can't afford one. . . maybe a contest?

Many thanks to Tawnya, and to all who submitted logos!

tags:
Logo Contest
Flutterbot
web+design

Score!

I stopped by a flea market on the way home today and picked up a ziplock bag full of old matchbooks for $5.00. I couldn't really see all of them when they were in the bag, so I wasn't sure what I was going to get. As soon as I got to my car I dumped them all out and started going "oooooh!" and "aaaaah!"

I love the Ohio Blue Tip books. I'm in Ohio, so I'm not surprised they were plentiful. They're so pretty! There are actually a few more that I found after the scanning was done, so I'm pleased.










And then how could you not totally dig the Ladies? I was so excited to find them! (Is the redhead a lady? I've been thinking so, but now that I look more closely I'm not so sure. Actually, let's face it, it's a guy. We'll say "the Ladies and the cute androgynous fellow.")

In terms of history, my husband was impressed by this Wendell Wilkie matchbook. He was (I've just discovered on Wilkipedia) the Republican nominee who lost to FDR in the 1940 election. Wilkie was. Not my husband.

Finally, there's just a great assortment of other styles, some with great graphics or a "period piece" feel to them.
















I knew I had to have these when I saw them. The question now is, what on earth am I going to DO with them?

And no, you can't win them with a logo. Unless you talk me into it. 'Cause even though I've gotten some great designs, we're going to have to extend the deadline. More on this tomorrow.

tags:
matchbook covers
memorabilia
ephemera

Calling All Creatives--Logo Contest Continues

All right, are you ready for some more book prizes? 'Cause I'm sure ready for some more logos! I'm referring, of course, to the logo contest I announced last week. I've gotten a few nibbles and a submission or two, but wow, I hope this picks up! I would really encourage people to make a submission. What's the worst that can happen? If you don't win, the only person who'll see it is me. If you do win, you'll receive five books, an announcement of your stupendous powers of creativity, and a logo credit on the blog for as long as I use it.

A text-based list of all the books the winner can choose from is a work-in-progress here. So far it includes all the books depicted last week and most of those shown above. If you have any questions at all about the books, email me: lisaj32@yahoo.com. If you have any questions about the contest itself, email me.

So far I haven't thought of any changes to the rules, except the addition stated above about the winner getting an ongoing logo credit on the blog. Is there anything I've forgotten? I guess I should add that winners outside the USA will have the books shipped via the most economical method available, and delivery may take four to six weeks.

I would love to get a flood of submissions this week and be able to stick to the original deadline: submit by Friday, 3/16/07, and the winner will be announced on Monday the 19th. Gosh, I would love that. But I will extend the deadline if I deem it necessary.

So tell your friends, tell your co-workers, give your kid a crayon. Let's not forget: the Apartment Therapy logo looks like this:

And the other books to choose from look like this:
























So lets all put on our thinking caps and see what we can come up with. Okay?

tags:
Logo Contest
graphic design

Contest: Eclectic Detective Needs A Logo!

Friends, I need your help. This little detective needs a logo, and has no money to pay someone to design it. But what I do have is books--an almost endless supply of used books. The picture above is an initial sample of the books available to the winner, who will receive five books of his or her choice. Do click on the picture to make it bigger. More books, and a text list of titles and authors, will be added over the next few days.

The official rules are also soon to be published, but here is the gist of it:
1. Anyone can submit a design, and they can submit as many as they want.
2. Submit designs as an e-mail attachment in jpeg format. My email address is in my profile.
3. The contest prize is five books from among those I've posted to choose from.
4. I'll pay to ship the books, and will ship them via media mail.
5. If I ask for and receive a revision to a submitted design, the designer will get to choose and receive one book per revision. If the final design wins, they can choose five books plus the number of revisions as their prize. If the design does not win, they can choose a book from those that remain after the winner has chosen theirs.
6. I'm the judge and my judgments are final.
7. Keep a copy of your design because I won't send them back.
8. If I don't like any of the designs, I don't have to use any of them as my logo. However, the design I deem "best" of those submitted will win the contest and the books.
9. E-mail any questions to me, but I won't give you any guidance on what I want in a logo. I have no idea, and won't know it 'till I see it. I'm like most annoying clients in that way.
10. The closing date for submissions will be March 16, with the winner announced on March 19. I reserve the right to extend the submission deadline if I feel the need to.
11. The winner will give over all rights to the logo for any and all purposes to me in a licensing agreement. However, they will retain the copyright and the right to use the logo as an example of their work.
12. Let's none of us get nasty or litigious if we have a disagreement or misunderstanding. We're all lovely people who can work things out fairly and decently. (If you're not, you're invited not to participate.)

So, how can you help? First, get to work on those designs! Submit them starting now! Tell your friends! Fellow bloggers, you can really help me out by letting people know about the contest, and you will have my undying gratitude if you do so. Let me know of any design forums and such where I can post about the contest. Tell me any other ideas you have for getting the word out--let's brainstorm here!

And I am so very grateful to any and all who submit designs, help get the word out, or offer a bit of encouragement in this effort. I hope we have some FUN with it!

tags:
contest
logo
used books

Too Cool To Use . . . For This!

The latest design for a t-shirt for the hip crowd? Unfortunately not. Above is a new graphic adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Organization for Standardization for use as a radiation warning.

According to the IAEA Press Release , the symbol is

the result of a five-year project conducted in 11 countries around the world. The symbol was tested with different population groups - mixed ages, varying educational backgrounds, male and female - to ensure that its message of "danger- stay away" was crystal clear and understood by all. . . . The new symbol, developed by human factor experts, graphic artists, and radiation protection experts, was tested by the Gallup Institute on a total of 1 650 individuals in Brazil, Mexico, Morocco, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Thailand, Poland, Ukraine and the United States.

Wow. That's a lot of work for one graphic!

And it's good. The research clearly shows that it does its job, and the group of experts is to be commended for its success. But by "good," I mean . . . I like it. I want it. I want to wear it. I need to put it on my t-shirt!

Or maybe my hoodie.

via Book of Joe.

tags:
graphic design
radiation
IAEA