R-ready for Bed Time

Who said family movie night has to be limited to the “Hanna Montana Gets a Hangnail” or the 5,000th viewing of “Finding Nemo”? Now you can share all your favorite R-rated moments in a kid-friendly way with the tenuous-but-tasty art of illustrator Josh Cooley.

After all, there’s no better way to send Timmy off to slumberland than with Don Corleone leaving a horse head in his bed. Bed time will never be the same.

See them all at cooley.bigcartel.com

Pretty in #16-2124

In commemoration of sixty years  of Queenily rule, Pantone has teamed up with Leo Burnett London to equip designers and Monarchy-philes alike with a dazzling limited edition Pantone wheel. The  collector’s item organizes the Queen’s favorite fashion colors into handy Pantone numbers and features enough pastel to make the Easter Bunny puke up his Cadbury Eggs.

So, who’s next? I vote for a commemoration of Johnny Cash’s 80th birthday. Hell, it would be an easy print run.

See more here.

 

Seeding the Urban Jungle

Weekends spent digging in the backyard, ankle deep in cow dung? Waiting six months just to watch the fruits of your labor get snatched up by crows? Putting in 87 hours of backbreaking work for a handful of alfalfa sprouts that cost 12 cents at the store?

Gardening is for losers.

Especially when the good lord (or the Department of Public Works) already plants much more impressive creations everywhere we look. Thanks to the quirky Carmichael Collective, now you will never misplace where your favorite urban flora is again (you know, just so you don’t mistake that fire hydrant for a bench… youch).

Get yours here.

The Story Behind Keeping Calm and Carrying On

“Keep Calm and Carry On” — it seems this iconic slogan is printed just about everywhere; on the wall at your neighborhood coffee shop, pasted on souvenir coffee mugs, bouncing on the back of the shorts of the girl jogging on the treadmill at the gym (c’mon, you just appreciate great slogans!).

But ever wonder where the hell those simply typo-ed posters came from and just why they are so bossy? I mean, who are they to say you can’t stay frantic and sit your bum down?

Well, as it turns out, it’s a very unique story. And a pretty good yarn at that. Calming down… calming down…

Flicks to the Future

It’s a scientific fact: everything was better back in the day.

To put that maxim to the test, designer Peter Stults has created vintage movie poster mashups that combine today’s hottest box office hits (read: crap) with yesteryear’s coolest actors and designs. Consider it blockbusters from a bygone era.

Hell, before it just felt as if the plot of “Avatar” had been done a million times before — now here’s the proof.

Haute Art in the Hood

There are a few things I love: original art deco designs, iconic Chicago landmarks and blue collar Northside neighborhoods.

And now you can add the visionary work of local Chi-town artist StudioChris to the list, thanks to a series of pieces dedicated to the legendary landmarks of some of Chicago’s Northside ‘hoods.

Grab a piece of Windy City architecture for yourself at StudioChris.com.

This Is Your Brain on Drawing

The only thing I love more than a great ad is a great ad that makes fun of a bad ad.

I’ve been over this before: there are lame ways to do PSAs and unique ways to do PSAs. So, I say kudos to the proud Mo-Town crew at Team Detroit for making fun of the lame ass PSAs that everyone — everyone — roll their eyes at. The great part is that the ads they did for the Detroit College of Creative Studies are probably not far from the truth: most parents equate art school with drug use. Right, well law school leads to more lawyers, so get over it.

So to my arty/druggy/clever artists out there… just say ‘yo’ to funny ads.

Once Upon an Infograph…

Is there such a thing as clever cliches? That oxymoron is what the creative slaves at design firm Wing had in mind when developing posters for the New York Latino Film Festival.

They’ve picked a few of the most obvious, eye-rolling plot elements and added a clever twist using the visual language of our digital generation — infographs. I guess the point is to contrast the fest’s independent, intriguing film lineup to the uninspiring mainstream movies that we generally put up with.

Good job, guys. I have to admit, they really gave it 110%.

What the…?

We’ve all had those moments when words fail us. That shake-your-head, wring-your-hands, head-steaming-like-a-teapot point where the only things you can utter are those three small letters: WTF, mate?!

Well, Argentinian design studio Minga has taken those WTF moments and crafted them into something more meaningful. These quirky dual-tone designs seem to say more than what those three little letters can only begin to articulate.

But Minga is not just about adding art to acronyms you can say around your Madre – it goes much deeper than that. Ahem…

“Estudio Minga has been born under a kind of virtue (or sentence), a reflex of a shown need, to be different from everything known up to now. Within a system which reproduces support and products in series, perspective teaches at the vanguard, enuntiation calls us and discursive crusade is the space where originality makes us known. We Are Minga!”

Um… WTF? Exactly.

See more cool whatever the F this is at estudiominga.com.

Time. Place. Condition.

There are moments, places, events that just seem to hang in time. In Chicago, it seems to happen more often.

It’s not an illusion, it’s because most Chicagoans are too cheap or busy to change with the times.

But, in terms of vintage design, maybe that’s a good thing. I’d say so.

And so would self-taught Chicago photographer, Tracey Capone (I said, ‘Chicago,’ didn’t I?). This calendar, “All Signs Point to Chicago,” uses photographs of classic Chi-town signs – neon and oil paint, frozen in time – to mark the steady march towards the future. Irony never looked so good.

Plus, damn if they’re not simply dripping with cool.

So, why not fulfill that missing ironically-clever-yet-startlingly-beautiful calendar hole in your life and pick one up today? Oh, and don’t forget to save the date for that deaf institute philharmonic fundraiser next month. Buh-bum-ching.