Likes & Likes

Check out this Masters degree in Packaging Design project designed by José Luis García Eguiguren. It’s a new take on both the dated look and packaging for teh shaving cream brand Barbasol. for Not sure of the feasibility in terms of cost, but graphically, this is an astounding and energetic revamp or a seemingly tired brand. While still staying true to the original feel of the dispenser, the look has been given a jolt of modernism and sophistication to bring it upmarket without alienating previous customers.

Here’s some background information on the project:

This project’s objective was to re-style the popular American “Barbasol” shaving cream in order to introduced it into the European market. For this, I maintained the basic form that they have used for years: the barber shop pole (stripes). The aggressive diagonal line that divides the stripes suggest a mix between the shaving cream and the fragance. It also alludes to the razor blades on the surface of the skin cutting through the facial hair. The way the lines drive all the way up and down on the sides makes a perfect simulation of the shaving cream mixing and exiting the can. The form of the can (cap & bottom) are in harmony with the angle of the stripes, thus providing a fluid motion for the eye. The typography utilized provides a more industrial and tech appearance.

John Langon, professor of typography and corporate identity at Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, will have several paintings hanging at the Type Directors Club in New York in February and through March. On Thursday, February 4th 6-8 pm, there will be a reception and Professor Langdon will be giving a brief talk about his work. More information at the TDC website.

Letterheady is an online collection of letterhead design. An initiative of freelance writer Shaun Usher, the site is simple, straightforward, and instantly addicting. A must for anyone interested in typography, vintage ephemera, or just curious as to what a letter from Luke Skywalker might look like.

The Society of Typographic Aficionados has announced a call for entries for Font Aid IV, a collaborative typographical project to raise raise money for relief efforts in Haiti:

Type designers, graphic designers and other artists from around the world are invited to contribute artwork to be included in a typeface created exclusively for the Font Aid IV effort. The theme of Font Aid IV is “Coming Together” which we will represented though a font consisting entirely of ampersands. Coming Together will be made available for sale through several type distributors, with all proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders. SOTA, a US-based non-profit, is acting as a non-partisan organizing body to help coordinate the effort and ensure all funds are distributed appropriately.

To participate, submit a black and white vector format ampersand as an EPS file to fontaid@typesociety.org. But hurry! Submissions accepted up to this Friday the 29th.

UPDATE: The font will be sold for $20US, and is now available through font distributors Veer and Ascender Fonts. It will be available on FontShop and MyFonts later in the week.

Philagrafika is Philadelphia’s city-wide international festival created to celebrate printmaking in contemporary art. It was conceived by a consortium of print curators and artists to build audience and visibility for the area’s print community. Opening weekend starts this Friday the 29th, and the festival extends all the way into May (see the calendar of events).

The events planned for the festival will explore the role of printmaking in shaping contemporary visual culture around the world. Almost every major Philadelphia art institution is participating - the exhibition now involves more than 300 artists for events and exhibitions to be held at more than 80 venues throughout the city. Philagrafika is being billed as one of the largest art events in the US and “the world’s most important print-related exposition”.

For more information and events, see the official website.

Frustrated with the design of most airline boarding passes, designer Tyler Thompson decided to try his hand revamping them, and set up a site called Boarding Pass/Fail to showcase his efforts.

I must say these initial comps are pretty good looking, but might not be very practical in real-world situations. That’s a lot of black ink that needs to be laid down (or as some astute commenters on the site pointed out, heated via thermal printing). And while HF&J’s Gotham is one of my more favorite typeface designs in recent years, the condensed widths might be a bit harder to read than other faces.

Tyler offers his initial sketch as an Illustrator download, allowing other interested parties to try their hand at a redesign themselves. It will be interesting to see how this idea evolves…

Using no ink, these 18”x24” posters are foil stamped and embossed to create an alphabet composed of letters from many of the more famous (and some infamous) logos of all time. Numbers are limited to 500 prints of each color and are available to buy here.

“Spacious Thoughts” by Tom Waits and Kool Keith. Video by Montreal’s Fluorescent Hill. Interview about the video on boingboing. Slick.

This is part of the N.A.S.A. (“North America/South America”) music project, which is a collaboration project put together by Squeak E. Clean (brother of Spike Jonze) and DJ Zegon. You might have already heard the single “Whachadoin?” which features M.I.A., Spank Rock, Santogold (Santigold?), and Nick Zinner. The album, Spirit of Apollo, features names like David Byrne, Chuck D, Kanye West, Method Man, Lykke Li, George Clinton, Chali 2na, Amanda Blank, the RZA and more. Think Dark Was The Night mashed up with Brazilian funk.

Check out more videos on the project’s MySpace page.

COLORLESS is an eco-friendly packaging concept by Harc Lee. The idea was to create a package that would help reduce air and water pollution that occurs during the labeling process, as well as reduce the energy needed to separate the paint from aluminum at the end of the pacakge lifecycle for recycling. Simple, beautiful, well done.

Nice video put together with over 3000 photos illustrating the art of bookbinding and making. (Also like the music by Ratatat)