1960s kenner spirograph kit

I don’t think I’m old enough to have nostalgia for this thing.
But I absolutely must get a kit this christmas.

Information design

Francesco Franchi designs incredible infographics for the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

Who knows if they’re actually informative, but they sure are pretty. Looking at these and The Guardian‘s consistently stellar designs coming out of its graphics department, I’m left slightly disappointed by their American counterparts :(

The Times London also just release a killer one-off iPad app for its science magazine, Eureka. First time I’ve seen navigation architected and designed in a way that gives credence to tablets (specifically the iPad) as any kind of game-changer.

Linie, Line, Linea

Wow what a book cover! Linie, Line, Linea – Contemporary Drawing

Cover art:
Thomas Müller
untitled, 2008
ballpen on paper

This survey examines the state of drawing in Germany through the lens of 19 artists working in the medium, among them Irina Baschlakow, Marc Brandenburg, Monika Brandmeier, Fernando Bryce, Marcel van Eeden, Pia Linz, Theresa Lükenwerk, Nanne Meyer, Christian Pilz, Alexander Roob, Malte Spohr, German Stegmaier, Markus Vater, Jorinde Voigt and Ralf Ziervogel.

Would’ve liked to see this exhibition. Would also like to own this very expensive book.

Postcards from Penguin

Postcards from Penguin: 100 Book Jackets in One Box

You bet i bought this.

And here is what they look like inside $3.99 Bed Bath and Beyond frames on my kitchen counter, and also in magnetic sleeves stuck to my fridge:

Graphic design festival poster

Graphic Design Festival poster designed by Toko, a Dutch design firm. (They produce some really great stuff).
For this annual international graphic design festival, 49 designers were each asked to design a poster. I think this one’s the best by far.

Tokos poster submission is an ode to genetic code which appeared on Earth with the first cells. Codes of cultural evolution arrived almost 4 billion years later. (Marcello Barbieri)

Our understanding of the mathematical principles behind our physical world is increasing and it provides us with ‘tools’ to create a new and exciting digital world. Most ‘codes’ are virtual and a state of mind but some are ‘present’ and provide systems to generate new forms of architecture and e.g. cures for diseases. The human ‘interference’ in the natural world is what we visualized through our design by using a cross section of Cedar wood and altering it into a human creation.

This is going on my apartment wall, one way or another..

Ethereal Rinko Kawauchi

I spent my Thanksgiving turkey-gorging in the Park Slope home of a couple who own a lot of art books. My favorite find: Aila (2004), by the Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi. Her pictures are really stunning. They feel contemporary, but also succeed in capturing much of Japan’s traditional aesthetic themes like serenity and ephemerality.

The following are all untitled, from the “Aila” series, 2003-2004. I stole them from the internet.

Holley portraits

I found this guy’s site while searching “christmas card” in Google Images. I kept clicking and stumbled upon a typographic self portrait project comprising user-created submissions. The resulting gallery is pretty cool. Holley Portraits via Daniel Eatock.

Earth in flux

Hey want to see something beautiful and terrifying at the same time? Edward Burtynsky’s Oil series is on view at Hasted Hunt Kraeutler on W. 24th St. in Chelsea until November 28. These c-prints blew me away.

Foreign Policy has a nice photo essay with some images from the same collection also on view at D.C.’s Corcoran Gallery.

Textual landscapes

The Textual Landscapes: Real and Imagined group exhibit at Bryce Wolkowitz is worth a visit. At the very least, this stuff is eye-catching with a bunch of crazy video shit and LED. The show runs until October 31.

Ben Rubin, Lolita 6 (installation view), 2009, acrylic and color LEDs

Airan Kang, 109 Lighting Books (detail), 2009, LED lighting books and plastic cases

Ben Rubin, Shakespeare Machine Study No. 1-4 (detail), 2009, White LEDs, aluminum and electronics

All images from Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery.

Why don’t you do any dishes?

Allison Schulnik’s No Luck Too is on view at the Mike Weiss Gallery and the video installation is backed by this awesome Grizzly Bear tune called “Granny Diner.”

Watch “Hobo Clown” on her official site.

My five-year-old could make that

Can you tell the difference between a Jackson Pollock and bird shit on a sidewalk? What about priceless abstract pieces and worthless monkey doodles? Visit reverent.org’s homepage for more quizzes.