unstrungstudio

This is a beautiful and moving piece that was written by Mike Mills.

"Some things that may or may not relate to these drawings: A professional suggested I take anti-depressants. I declined. About the same time I started drawing fireworks. I didn’t know what they meant or why I was drawing them. I was confused and embarrassed by this lack of meaning, but they kept coming. I could draw them no matter how I felt. I read that fireworks were first used in China in the 12th century to scare away negative spirits. I envied a world that not only recognized spirits, but scared the negative ones away with small man made explosions. About the same time, I read in a magazine that antidepressants have a hard time performing better than the placebo pills they are tested against. Scientist cannot explain it, but almost as many people who take the fake pills say they feel relief from their depression. The blood flow in their brains actually changes in the same positive way that it does for the people who take the real pills. I felt a connection between the Chinese fireworks and the placebo effect, and some relief in all the things we don’t understand. At some point the fireworks grew more and more abstract, and messy, and complicated, and I became if not content then at least willing to make things that didn’t have any apparent meaning."

posted by J.  # 8:20 AM 0 Comments

I posted images from last quarter on Flickr this morning. This image is from a trade show booth design that was done for Vitra. The model was created in Google SketchUp, which is an excellent tool. To learn more about this work, visit the work section.

posted by J.  # 8:45 AM 0 Comments

I just stumbled across an excellent list of design-related links on Preik. If you are interested in design, these are all worth a bookmark.

posted by J.  # 10:19 AM 1 Comments

Check out The Rising Cost of Love by savetheyouth. There is some great illustration work in their photostream.

posted by J.  # 2:46 PM 0 Comments

Image courtesy of rikcat.

posted by J.  # 3:32 PM 0 Comments

I came across an image on FFFFOUND that led me to Diagram, a division of the New Michigan Press. It both defies description and begs to be defined. Imagine that.

posted by J.  # 1:24 PM 0 Comments

Since posting the piece on Speak Up, I came across a link to Dorfsman & CBS, the book that was written by Marion Muller, on TypeNeu. It's well worth a look. Dorfsman was an incredible designer, and the quality of the work is exceptional, from the advertisements to the remarkable type. Image courtesy of insect54.

posted by J.  # 1:17 PM 0 Comments

A piece that I wrote on behalf of The Center for Design Study was posted on Speak Up today. The piece talks about the restoration of the Gastrotypographicalassemblage, the wall from the CBS cafeteria, which Lou Dorfsman designed. To learn more about the Gastrotypographicalassemblage, visit The Center for Design Study.

posted by J.  # 3:11 PM 1 Comments

Courtesy of Rafael F.

posted by J.  # 11:22 AM 0 Comments

The Type Director's Club announced the results of TDC2 2008. I am particularly fond of Gloriola, which is featured below. National, which was designed by Kris Sowersby, also looks excellent, and there is an excellent ornament typeface, called Restraint, by Marian Bantjes and Ross Mills. (If you have some free time, take a look at Kris Sowersby's sketchbooks.)

posted by J.  # 5:13 PM 0 Comments