118. Designer Fishing Lures?

That's right, designer fishing lures. One of my favorite non-design blogs, Finkbuilt, recently completed a little project where he asked, "What would happen if you shipped 20 unassembled old-timey wooden fishing lure kits off to be finished by a bunch of artists?" The results are great and certainly worth a look. Each piece is accompanied by a little Q&A with the respective artist. It's always interesting to see how different people approach the same materials in various ways. Enjoy, and if you like tinkering and building things, bookmark Finkbuilt's blog.

117. Timberland & Carhartt. A Tale of Two Brands.

Both of these companies have been making quality, blue-collar 'work' clothes for many years - Carhartt for over 115 years and Timberland for over 55 years. This outdoor gear has been the foundation and backbone for both companies, their profits, their personality and their brands throughout this time. Though not exactly the same brand; Timberland leans more towards an outdoor (camping) lifestyle and Carhartt more towards the cowboy ethic; they are very similar in that they have always been perceived as a supplier of long-lasting, well-made gear worthy of all the demands of manual labor and the great outdoors. Similarly, both brands have recently (using this term very loosely, and with perspective to both company's histories) had the good fortune of gaining a new demographic that was quite different than their core customers.

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116. More on Clearview.

Updated on Aug 14, 2007 at 08:45AM by jj

As several of the major blogs have reported today, this past week's New York Times Magazine has a great article, The Road to Clarity, about a 'new' typeface that will be used more and more on Federal Highway Signs. I thought I would try to post a more comprehensive set of links around this subject as is Graphicology's style.

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115. Ad of the Week: Hondamentalism.

This campaign comes from the Wieden & Kennedy office from across the pond, for their client Honda. The print manages at once to be both an homage to old school layouts and an example of modern design while introducing their new campaign.

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114. Liebe Athletic Lettering.

I'm not sure how this slipped past my attention, but Espn.com's Page 2's Paul Lukas' Uni-Watch (got that?) has an awesome article about the company that produces a lot of the lettering for the big uniform manufacturers; Liebe Athletic Lettering. They've been doing this stuff since 1923 and their past has some of the same endearing craft qualities as that of letterpress – most of the work is still done by hand. Though this falls between the cracks of design and typography, it's still definitely worth a look, especially the images of the old castings and the video tour.

113. D&AD Success.

Congrats go out to three teams from a class that I taught at the Miami Ad School (San Francisco branch) for their success at this year's D&AD show. They worked hard (and on a completely unrealistic timeline) and deserve the recognition. Soak it in - recognition doesn't come often enough in this business.

Niklas Hertzberg and Samuel Moore were awarded a commendation (third place) for their 'Red and Black' work on the Capital One direct mail brief. This was an ethical take on the increasing levels of consumer debt.  James Beikmohamadi and Jake Blumenau were awarded a Pencil for their 'Eulogy' solution to the same brief. (This was an invitation to actually bury your old high-interest rate card.) A third team of Bryan Denman and Jess Davis were also awarded a commendation for their copy solution 'Notes' to the Lonely Planet brief. This creative featured the notes of the popular travel guide authors as they explored a particular country. If you are looking to hire young ADs/CWs - all of these guys are solid individuals with talent. Of course, not all have graduated yet.

Update on Aug 2, 2007 at 07:04PM by jj

I forgot  to mention that both Sam and Niklas are copywriters. Needless to say two writers winning an award from D&AD is quite an impressive feat.

112. Crosshair Silkscreen Co.

I'm really loving the stuff coming out of Crosshair silkscreen printing in Chicago. Sure, I already have a weakness for industrial buildings and rough cityscapes but when combined with design, silkscreening, and a lot of craft – it's almost too much to keep myself from buying a bunch of these prints. A lot of the work has an 'old-sign' feel to them which certainly adds to their charm. Check out more of Crosshair's portfolio here.

111. Moderately Secret Shots from Cannes.

You're not supposed to take photos of the work inside Cannes, but that didn't stop a rebellious studio artist that I once supervised – now living and working in Rome – from doing so and then sending them to me. She knows who she is (Thanks Pete!) The photos are not great but I thought everyone would appreciate seeing some of the work from this year's festival a littler sooner rather than later. (Even if you have to squint while trying to read some of them.) Do keep in mind that there are a few past winners in here and that this by no means is an exhaustive listing. They're just random shots of the work taken by a young creative who was enjoying the festival for the first time. This is the stuff that caught her eye.

110. Ad of the Week.

As you know this post is almost never weekly and sometimes it's not even an ad, but the link for this 'week' comes from the launch of HBO's new project called voyeur – "a multimedia experience that gives you a peek into what happens behind the countless windows we pass everyday." This project was introduced to me by a good friend who works for Atmosphere BBDO in New York which partnered with HBO on the interactive and marketing end of things. The website is one of the more immersive and entertaining environments I think I've seen. You can't help spend a lot of time taking a peek and getting involved in the characters' lives... which is the whole point. This project can also be viewed via HBO on Demand, and includes a film component as well as a blog (thestorygoesdeeper.com) to reveal behind the scenes content as well as additional character info. It seems to be part tv show, part website, part HBO marketing, and part online community. And I think it's the future of entertainment. And advertising. The content is definitely HBO-esque while the design of the site is quite pleasing. It's simple, intuitive and lets the storytelling lead the way.

109. A Brand I Like. And Why.

Updated on Jul 12, 2007 at 04:44PM by jj

Starting what I hope to be a regular feature on graphicology, I'm profiling a brand that is currently making decisions that I think are worth celebrating. Some of these may be strictly design, but I imagine that most will take more of a macro-view about the company and its good behavior. Here's the first.

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