Underground Home in Vals, Switzerland

I HAVE ALWAYS LIKED THE IDEA OF UNDERGROUND HOMES. They are warm in the winter and cool in the summer, like a cave. And, if situated on the right hill in the right direction, plenty of warming sun rays will heat and light your home in the day. Designed with a beautiful elliptical shape cut into the side of a hill, this home would be easy to miss if you were driving by. The front area of the ellipse is open and spacious... and, there is an underground walkway from the house to the barn (see just above). Perfect for a quick getaway!

This incredible underground home is the collaboration between the Netherlands architects at SeARCH and Christian Muller Architects.

Via Trendir.

A Story That Lingers

ALL OF US HAVE STORIES TO SHARE. SOME GOOD. SOME BAD. This particularly poignant story from 86-year old WWII veteran Joseph Robertson was animated by the Rausch Brothers. It’s a story about Joe’s experience during The Battle of the Bulge. The animation adds a tremendous experience to the story—a fabulous collaboration.

From StoryCorps: StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.

By recording the stories of our lives with the people we care about, we experience our history, hopes, and humanity. Since 2003, tens of thousands of everyday people have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share, and is archived for generations to come at the Library of Congress. Millions listen to our award-winning broadcasts on public radio and the Internet. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, creating a growing portrait of who we really are as Americans.

Portrait Calligraphy: Don’t Stop! Don’t Stop!

(Above) Bust portrait of William III and Mary in State robes. Click any image for a larger view.

(Above) Bust portrait of William III in State robes.

(Above) Bust portrait of Charles II in State robes. Click any image for a larger view.

(Above) Bust portrait of Charles II in State robes.

(Above) Portrait of Charles II in penmanship (Sneddon).

(Above) Bust portrait of Queen Anne in State robes. Click any image for a larger view.

(Above) Bust portrait of Queen Anne in State robes.

(Above) Bust portrait of Charles I in State robes. Click any image for a larger view.

(Above) Bust portrait of William III in State robes.

I FOUND THESE AMAZING CALLIGRAPHIC PORTRAITS on Peacay’s photostream on Flickr. What I like about these is that when it came to Royalty, the engraver never knew when to stop. When engraving for the Royals, the more ornate the better. The practice not only guaranteed the engraver favor with the King, but kept him busy with more work.

Via Bibliodyessy.

Three Things I Remember

(Above) A California license plate as I remember it, recreated here for you by piecing together letter forms from other license plates I found online.


(Above) The word “erase” painted on a parking garage floor.

I WAS RECENTLY IN CALIFORNIA FOR A MEETING. BEING A DESIGNER AND AN ARTIST, I NOTICE THINGS, sometimes too many things for my own good—especially if I am driving. I wanted to share with you three typographic things I felt worthy of sharing. Unfortunately, I only had my camera available for one of the three, and it’s the center, black photograph. The other ones, I recreated for you.

Let’s start with the license plate at the top. As I was about to cross a street, I noticed a man standing next to a car—it was something sleek and low to the ground. But it wasn’t the car that caught my eye, but the license plate. Whoa-a-a! I stopped to take a better look.

Since the owner of the car was standing there, I asked him about his license plate. I told him that I really “liked the design of the letters, the way he had created a pattern that became more than letters, but something rhythmic and patterned.” He looked at me like I was a little odd, but I went on to say how I had often thought about a vanity plate similar to his, something with a series of “W”s and “M”s that created a pattern... like making art from the letters and numbers. (Other examples might be a series like the letter “I” repeated, like this: IIIIIII, or a pattern like this: L7L7L7L, or VVVVVVV).

When I asked him why he made his plate the way he did, especially the fact that I noticed he had tucked the letter “N” in the series of “W”s and “M”s to break the pattern, he said he ordered the plate like that because “it would be difficult for the police to recall or focus on his plate as he drove by.” Wow! I thought. A pretty good idea! Especially with the letter “N” there, it was difficult to notice—sure to be wrong when recalled in court.

I was so focused on the man’s license plate that it wasn’t until later when my friend told me the car was a Ferrari. Now it all made sense— this was a perfectly legal way to be sure his license plate would not be remembered correctly as his speeding car sped by.

The center image: As I was walking through the parking garage at the San Jose airport, I noticed something rather cryptic painted on the floor of the garage. I stopped my fast pace for a better look and still confused as to what it said, I decided to take a photograph. It looked like a word of some kind, but was so odd. What did it say? Or was it a word at all? I wasn’t sure. After a minute, I figured out that it said “erase.” To erase what, I do not know. But I liked it.

Finally, in the bottom image, is the word “ELEVATOR.” This word was part of a professionally made logo on the side of a truck waiting at a stoplight, part of the name of a local elevator repair service. Graphically, I loved it. The actual company name is lost on me now as I was so fixated on the typographic treatment of the word “elevator.” Let’s just say it was part of something like “Acme Elevator Company” —for lack of a real name. This wonderful graphic treatment of the word “elevator” stuck with me. I hurried home and recreated it for you. It was really good, I thought.

Words, letters, fonts, symbols: they can be used to confuse, or to describe or to illustrate. They can instill mystery... and make you work harder to understand. All of these three typographic treatments were made for different reasons, all are visually compelling and I thought, worthy of sharing with you today.

Nike Shoes From Recycled Computer Parts

GABRIEL DISHAW SPECIALIZES IN HIGH END JUNK SCULPTURES ranging from as small as a figurine to larger than six feet tall. Gabriel began working with recycled junk as far back as the early 1990s, and since that time has designed many unique, recycled works of art.

All of his designs are original creations constructed from nothing more than useless junk he finds and puts together into any various creative formation.

Learn more about Gabriel Dishaw here.

The Art Whisperer

(Above) Portrait of Samuel Beckett: Click on any image to see larger view—you'll be glad you did!








SIMON SCHUBERT IS A GERMAN ARTIST WHO FOLDS PAPER. He is better known for his large and visually powerful installations and sculpture. It is interesting for me to see an artist who can think in big terms, like the planning and execution of a large museum space and find equal comfort in sitting quietly with straight edge and burnisher to conceive these paper pieces. Subtle, quiet and delicate—these pieces have the ability to transport us with nary a pen, pencil, ink or traditional marking instrument.

You can see more here.

Qlocktwo (Barada Nikto)

CHECK OUT THIS COOL CLOCK WHICH POSTS WORDS instead of the figures, and certainly does not use those oh so primitive ‘hour and second hands.’ So analog! The time in this clock is indicated by a bank of LEDs. The clock, called Qlocktwo, was conceived and produced by the German store Biegert and Funk, and is designed to change the time every five minutes. It’s available in several languages and will cost you over $1,000 to hang one in your home, loft or business.

Me likey, big time!

Learn more here.

Barbara Nessim

BARBARA NESSIM IS AN ARTIST AND ILLUSTRATOR IN NYC. She has had a long and successful career as an artist and is still making art. She has been an instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York, where she taught in the MFA Computer Arts Program, and at Parsons New School for Design as a Professor in the Illustration Department. Barbara also served as the Chairperson of Illustration at Parsons from 1992-2004. Barbara was recently appointed the first Artist's Laureate by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.

Via EscapeIntoLife.

Snowflake Bentley in Chicago

“Every snowflake has an infinite beauty which is enhanced by knowledge that the investigator will, in all probability, never find another exactly like it.”

Snowflake Bentley, Popular Mechanics Magazine, 1922


I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY ON THIS BLOG IN THE PAST. The reason is that I have always loved what he did. Here was a man who devoted his life (1865 - 1931) to making photomicrographs of snowflakes. A simple obsession, a devoted life looking deeply into the beauty of the world. What could be more beautiful than that?

So why would I write about Snowflake Bentley again? Because this Friday, 20 original photographs by Mr. Bentley will go on sale at the Carl Hammer Gallery in Chicago. These beautiful photos are fresh from a private collection, and will be on exhibit at the gallery opening this Friday night, Dec. 4. I will not be able to be there, but I will be there in spirit. Snowflake Bentley, an American original, artist and lover of beauty.

If you would like to read the earlier post on Snowflake Bentley, just click here.

More Than Words

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

HERE’S A WONDERFUL TYPOGRAPHIC ANIMATION BY A GUY NAMED RONNIE BRUCE, a film student at Temple University. I found this on Vimeo. Nicely done visual interpretation of a poem by Taylor Mali.