Head to the web site

Hello,

I have moved everything over to my website and a wordpress blog. so head over to:

www.colossalhuman.com

HAHA, good for a laugh

Saw this on Public School and it caused a much needed laugh. Enjoy

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The Rolling Stones were playing during this laugh - recommended.

Some New Work

Just finished a logo for The Haus of Print. Paul White has decided to take over the Minneapolis textile screen printing world with The Haus of Print. No sense in resisting, order your custom gear from him immediately. More from The Haus of Print identity coming.

Amazing collection of hand painted signs

This is awesome and you can contribute, so check out the TypArchive

Sign Painting

Still watching hand painted sign and advertising videos on youtube. I also picked up a book from the thrift store on the subject, going to grab a piece of wood very soon.



I also came across this beautiful font called Bello by Underware. I can't remember if I already linked to them but they are worth a second linkage.

Things done by hand are cooler.

Days 1-4 from Jon on Vimeo.

UP THERE from Jon on Vimeo.

This gives working big a whole new meaning. I can not imagine painting something that massive. Hats off to the guys who are keeping this art alive.

Printings and Drawings

GREY AREA is up and running. I took some grungy photos of some of my favorite prints and drawings and got them up on the site for your eyes. Enjoy.

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musical stimulation:
Traveling Wilburys

Wired's favorite Album Art

Lots of goods in here. Its too bad album art isnt as big of selling point any more. I am sure there is some cool art on CDs but the thrill is gone. Coming across an unknown cool looking record for a dollar is still an option or seeing something cool and realizing its actually good music. I think album art is doomed to die out with vinyl. luckily we still have posters.

From Gary with Love

Here are two shots I took in the garage today. I spent some time in there today with Joe Mertes on his birthday and I am planning on spending lots more time there in the coming weeks. I will keep you up to date as each project unfolds.

two of my prints are featured in the shot of the welding table. The Baby Huey 21st birthday print and the 3rd Trannysylvania poster.

Done with School!

I finished class on friday and damn does it feel good. My final class was called Art from Vintage Cinema. 14 days of class with 9 days spent watching films and the rest drawing. It was a pretty fun way to end my college life. Here are a few films that I liked:

The Sky Above, The Mud Below
The Little Fugitive
The Night of the Hunter
Overlord
Random Harvest

I will post the others soon because they are all worth watching.

I have also been really in to info graphics and signage. Expect a few graphics with subway inspiration and some other information design coming soon. Above is an image from AIGA's story "The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway". And here is a nice resource for fonts in transit.

Super Street Fighter

I was recently asked to put together some concepts for an Estate / Street Fighter co-lab. The info came to me as "Street Fighter IV (4)" which I quickly turned into these blood "IV" graphics. The project never ended up going through but I really like the designs, so here they are.

This makes me want to travel again

Here is a little how-to video on earning that worn denim look that was so popular in the late 90's. I remember, during my more impressionable years, really going for this look in all the wrong ways. That was post Jinco Jean and Starter Jackets.

There is some amazing imagery in this little video but WARNING at times it is seizure inducing.

Check it out right here

Lost the Great Hopper

Dennis Hopper past away today May 29th 2010 of cancer. The great actor started out co-staring with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and had an amazing career being a Hollywood bad ass. Easy Rider and Blue Velvet have just moved to the top of my rewatch list and if I still have a bootleg copy of the unreleased film "The Trip", written by Hopper, I will be watching that as well.

Life Mag has a photo album spanning Hoppers life, including the photo above. Take a look, get inspired, watch "The Trip" if you can find it.

Shit ya Draplin

Check out Draplin's design advice for BP in their troubled times.

Draplin

I am back!

Well, I never went anywhere, I just took a month off to finish school and relax. Now that I am down to one 3 week class and a new venture in the works helping friends Zach Snow and Geoff Lemond (and the others). Big fun and exciting things are happening and I will be updating again.

First things first. My friends Miles and Katinka and their fellow Jerome fellowship winner Justin are showing the culmination of their year of work at High Point Center for Printmaking! Big things from these guys, follow the High Point Link for more and come to the show.

Leslie Buck

A simple design lasts decades and becomes an icon of NYC. Designer of the cup, Leslie Buck, died this week at age 87 but his famous "Anthora" paper coffee cup design will live on. New York Times has a story about the man right here.

I first gained some incite into the classic cup when I was staying at my aunt's house in LA about 5 years ago. She had lived in NYC for awhile and had a ceramic version of the Anthora cup. After that it was crazy how the cup, that I never would have noticed before, started popping up all over. Ex: Denzel Washington is drinking out of one in Inside Man, and almost any movie that takes place in NYC has a shot of the cup somewhere, for authenticity.

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Music to my ears:
The Doors - Love Street

More abandoned

I came across this earlier today in my quest for old buildings. Pretty amazing photos from The Kingstone Lounge, and the site is well worth a deeper look. The two above are my favorites.

Milton

Can't argue with Milton Glaser. LittleVerses brought my fondness for Glaser back to the surface with a post that featured a 50¢ garage sale magazine purchase with a story about Glaser. The post was topped off with this TED video



So, yes, I stole this post from LittleVerses, but it was a good one and it was worth it.

busy bee

Everything is happening at once. The semester is coming to an end, the weather is getting nice, freelance jobs are coming in and business is picking up at the furniture shop. All I can say is expect some new House of 1817 gear, Estate hats, posters for the non profit cause and more more more. Oh, and the pic above was on Life Mags "real or fake" poll, and it is real. Get away from our Mickey's, dammit.

Also, Einstein died on April 18th, 1955. Celebrate the genius and check out this photo gallery from Life. I have the first picture posted above my desk. I got it at a party where they had tons of random pics floating around. We also found a pic of a clown named Richard Tucker.

How about them Apples

Not the computers, but the recycled skateboard art by Haroshi(Harvest). This is pretty amazing stuff and a really cool application for old decks. He must have spent a few hundred hours behind a scroll saw and sander though. Here are a few other links to his work from Slamhype. link 1 | link 2

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audio enjoyment:
Astrud Gilberto - The Girl from Ipanema
(it is a quite rainy morning)

Lots of goods @ Vintage Printable

Public School directed me to this resource for some good old fashion images. Vintage Printable is a little hard to navigate but they have a great collection of inspiration. Hats off to you!

Factory 20

I was directed to Factory 20 by the wonderful Megan yesterday and was pleasantly distracted as I sifted through the copious amount of cool furniture they have. Being a part time furniture employee myself I have a great appreciation for unique items and Factory 20 has a lot of them.

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enlighten my ears:
Rolling Stones: Let it Bleed LP

Another Day

The above sample is from Retrofuturs, and the goods are plentiful so check it out. I believe I got that link from Draplin and this next one is from him as well. I guess type is on the mind.


Driving across the country and what do you see... road kill and semi trucks, sometimes that's it. Here are some alphabet trucks from Eric Tabuchi

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On the Jam Box:
Jonathan Richman: Foggy Notion
"for people who like to dance fast"
-Jonathan Richman

Letters around town

Today, Design Sponge directed me to the photography of Mark Oliver. He has a really cool series going on called ABC's in Paris. It is a combination of found type with the landscape and type in the streets of Paris. Its a pretty cool idea that makes me want to pay attention and look in my own city for unique shapes make by mistake or between unrelated things.

This also reminded me of a poster I saw that made an alphabet by just looking up in a city and using the negative space between the buildings to make letter forms. I could find the image today so if you know what I have talking about, please comment.

Robert Polidori

This photo has been in the kitchen of my good friend Zach Snow for as long as I have known him. I have always really liked it and it took me until a few months ago to know anything about it. It was during a really deep internet dig that I came across Robert Polidori, the photographer of the photo. Maybe its my penchant for pealing paint but I like his work. He has a few books and many other images throughout the web.

Bike Post "C"

Why stop now. The weather is getting warmer, it hit 80 today in Minneapolis, and bikes are on the mind. With some help from A Time to Get I have been on the search for some good collections of bike badges. Luckily the world wide web is vast and plentiful. Here are some that are worth sharing.

Bike Head Badge on flickr
Jim Langley Collection
The Classic and Antique Bike Exchange

Bike Post "B"

This is definitely a great place to look at old bikes. www.oldbike.eu: a vintage bike museum. There is a lot of history on as well. When I was in LA last summer I picked up an old Hercules so I have had a good time looking at the section dedicated to the brand.

Bike Post "A"

I am going to start diving into and sharing my vat of bicycle inspiration. Spernicelli Biciclette is definitely the best place to look at beautifully restored bikes from all ages. Take a close look because the attention to detail on these is pretty amazing.

30 incites into design.

I like hearing what other people have to say about what they do. Some of these are better than others but definitely worth taking a look. I especially dig Brian Deputy talking about the Eames Lounge Chair. And Kiko Farkas explaining a record.


30 Conversations

New Travel Posters

Travel posters have always been a source for design inspiration. It seems like they went out of style for awhile but these new ones from The Head of State are amazing! I really like the San Fransisco one but they are all good. Hopefully they keep going with more cities.

This is my kind of Golf

No that is not the logo for the ever popular rock band "The Who". What it is is a well designed and constructed mini golf hole. La Bolleur can be credited with the craftsmanship and follow the link to check out the rest of the course.

This makes me excited for the Walker Art Center's Artist Mini Golf. I couldn't find the dates for this summer, I hope they are still doing it.

Dandan interviews Me on 1817!

Good friend Dandan decided to interview me for a project and he also posted it up on 1817 for the world to see. Head over and check it out (I need to work on my speaking grammar). Also if you are coming here from there, my site isnt done yet so check back for updates and inspiration.

Leeds Play Bills

I got a heads up from Woodtyper, blog I have been checking for a few months, to a great resource for old play bills. The Leeds Play Bill site has around 5000 medium res images of their history of play bills. Start digging, I made it to page 82 before I uncrossed my eyes and got back to work. Here is a gem from the Circus category.

DIY 35 mm camera

I am a big fan of this DIY camera kit. Not that I would really want to build a camera myself but the design with plastic sprues brings me right back to getting a brand new Ninja Turtle and building models (the smell of super glue also strong in this memory). There has also been some really cleaver design that uses the sprue design. Here is one of my favorites.

Famous Literary Drunks & Addicts

"I'm Catholic and I can't commit suicide, but I plan to drink myself to death." - Jack Kerouac

It turns out that some of the greats had a little push. LIFE magazine has a collection of some amazing writers and their bad habits. Don't start pulling off the bottle before you think about all the writers that, maybe, did not self medicate? The list is pretty impressive and topping it off are some quotes from the greats about their problems. Samples below. Full list here.


"To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving." - Jean Cocteau


"Alcohol is like love. The first kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that you take the girl's clothes off.” - Raymond Chandler

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

- Dylan Thomas (poet)

Catch the Wave

There is a pretty interesting story behind this house and an elaborate rebuild after a fire destroyed the place. The house is a historical landmark in Maine. It pretty cool how the exterior of the house, although the original was destroyed, looks like fire crept up the walls. Here is the full story from the New York Times.

Amazing Info Graphics.

I got turned on to info graphics by my History of Type class. After digging deep into the web I discovered some amazing design by an Italian guy. Check out his flicker for the meat and potatoes. Due to my love for bikes, this one is my favorite.