Best.Stapleroftheweekpost.Ever. Yes, I do have a favourite stapler, and yes, that stapler is the Swingline Cub Plier. So good. The saddest thing about that post? The plier up above was apparently for sale on ebay (picture stolen from stapler of the week, stolen from the seller). But now it is sold. And I didn't buy it.

Do you see how perfect/beautiful/amazing/ahhhhh! that stapler is? I would have loved to own it. At least it finally prompted me to set it up so ebay sends me notifications anytime the keywords "swingline cub" come up.
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Newsboy bot? Another adorable, adorable bot!
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Dime bag quilt... An interesting re-use of garbage. Love the little story that goes along with it.
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The Dieline has been posting some great stuff lately (often I skim packaging blogs, cause a lot of it deals with wine labels and the like, which I mostly could not care for), so here's a taste of what they're bringing.

- Foxglo lightbulb packaging. So amazing! If these beautiful packages can't get people to switch to eco-friendly bulbs, I don't know what will (okay, aside from not selling any other options...). Wish I was in Europe, so I could pick up one of these boxes, just to ogle it for a couple hours.

- Pepsi (and Mountain Dew) Throwback. On the heels of the whole big crazy (ugly) Pepsi redesign, comes Pepsi throwback, using an older logo, and being a special formulation with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. There's another logo that's popped up for it around, with a real classic logo, but I hope this more 80's version is the one that's really coming out. I hope this makes it to Canada...

- Retro-styled Cereal Boxes. Bringing 'em back! Good point that these aren't really being put out for the kids in the cereal ailse, but for the parents, but still, I'll be happy if I get to see them. Check out this Kix box! Beautiful (except that "retro t-shirt" bit tagged on there). Beautifully photographed too, looks real nice with that background colour...
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Sorry for that wicked long last post. I just kept letting things pile up that I wanted to mention. And piling. And piling. If I could just get myself to post more, you'd hopefully get more stuff like this...

That up above is a little of the extra work I've put in recently. It's a little logo for my friend Dana's metal dj project Sludge King. He's got a couple metal mixes he's putting out there, so if you like heavy stuff, you should check them out. More stuff should be coming for Dana soon. (This will have links to Sludge King stuff eventually, I seem to have lost them, so check back if yer interested...)
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On a personal note, things are a little slow around here due to some serious back pain I've been suffering. Midday Monday I got a lower back pang that has turned into me getting stabbing pains when I make certain movements. Not so pleasant. I actually went to a doctor (and found out I no longer have a family doctor, since I haven't been there in forever), which, for me, is a sign that it's pretty damn bad. Got some pills, and got to bring my work computer home and work on the film guide from home today though, which was pretty nice. It's going to mean that I won't be able to do something pretty important involving Jenna's family though, which has got me pretty down.
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I think I may have a new favourite website: The Book Cover Archive

When I'm really honest with myself, I have to say that that would be my dream, designing book covers. I like posters, and I'm sure cd booklets would be great too, but book covers have to be my holy grail. Maybe it's just because that's what my hero Chip Kidd does, but the fact that he, and so many others, have impressed me so much with their covers, it's hard not to want to take a crack at that kind of canvas. So, if any of you have a book you need a cover designed for, hit me up.
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More Chip Kidd!
I'm pretty sure I started drunkenly writing a post I never posted about how Lindsay gave me this book, and how I had just been reading it, and how I'd never wanted to climb into/hug a book more, and then I realized how ridiculous that sounded and decided not to post it. But then I thought about it and decided that, ridiculous as it may sound, I did feel that way, so I thought I'd mention it. So much work, and insight into the work. Such a good book!

And more!
Chip Kidd takes you on a tour of the New York Comic Con. Scroll down, there's a video down there.
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Squirrel bot!! He's one of my favourite bots yet! The acorn for a heart totally makes it! He'd go real nice with my woodgrain bot, don't you think???
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Foldable shoes? What!? What will they think of next???
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Since subscribing to their feed, this is the best post I have seen on Inspiration Resource. Seriously, look at that first pic. When was that made? Are the Modern Woodmen the originators of the fist bump? This sounds like a group I need to look into.
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Steve Zissou: Anne-Marie, do all the interns get Glocks?
Anne-Marie Sakowitz: No, they all share one.

If I were to carry a Glock, it would be this one, for sure.
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This Swink promo piece is making the blog rounds, and I have to say, I would love to have one. Apparently you can order one from Swink for $12, but I'm afraid it will just sit around like the Hatch bird mobile I got for Jenna awhile back. Really really cool letterpress stuff, but do I need it? Will I use it? I guess I'll have to decide...
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That sweet Swink piece was printed by Studio on Fire, who seem pretty freakin' awesome. They've got a pretty sweet blog showcasing their work (like this cute/clever baby announcement) called Beast Pieces that you should check out.

When the time comes I'd love to have do up our wedding invitations on a letterpress. I've heard a little rumour that maybe by that time my favourite local print shop might be able to help me in that regard. I'm not sure of that will be the case, but I will love it if it is.
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Bigfoot vs. Bunyan. Awesome concept. Not positive if I love the final product or not though. I bet if Timber had come up with this idea and produced his own version, I'd have already bought it. As is, I'm still thinking about this one here.
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Oh, and if you're not reading Meagan's new blog yet, then you should be. Lots of funny people on there. Lots and lots. Funny in that good, awkward, awesome way. Her article on Mondo about SF Comedy Fest was definitely jealousy inducing.
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La Bamba's on the tv (as it often is) and Ritchie's just about to get on that fateful plane... 17 years old. 17. What a crash. Taking out Ritchie, the Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly. Crazy to think about.
This movie always makes me think about a few things:
a) Why do I remember seeing a movie with this much sex, violence, drinking, etc. at such a young age?
b) How many times did I see this movie as a kid? I feel like it was at least more than 6.
c) I think this movie and Back to the Future both play key roles in my current love of 50's and 60's hits (which I'll be dj'ing a full night of again at the Bond on March 7th, btw...)

That there's a poster I just did for my newest "client." It's for their winter sale, but as far as I know it hasn't been printed yet, so consider this a sneak peek. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and I hope they ask me to do more in the future.
Overall I've been pretty happy with some of the stuff I've completed recently. I'll have to up it sometime so you all can see it.
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In the category of things I would like to own:
Something little. Every bathroom could use a robot! Actually, every room could use a robot...
Something big. Just beautiful. I can't decide which I like the most... Either the Twin, with its vintage british styling, or the MP, 'cause I've always loved vintage military gear (gotta be the green variation though, badass).
So, if you need a gift for me, big or small, there you go.
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The Neon Boneyard is a place I'd love to visit one day. It's pretty much the only thing I've heard of in Vegas that I would really like to go to. I mean, I'd like to see Vegas in some ways, but I think in the end I'd hate it. Except this place.
This place gets blogged about it alot (death by kerning, h&fj, for two, recently) but I've found myself talking about recently and realized that the people I know don't seem to have heard of it, and need to see its beauty.
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A great concept. I always find 2 litre bottles of soda taste flat like the day after you open them. If this bottle can fix that, I'd be awful happy!
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I guess you can file all of this section under 'Obama'. I wasn't planning on talking about him, but there's some pretty great stuff to share right now (not that there wasn't during the campaign, in fact, there was some amazing stuff, but you know...)
Loving this shirt. And, of course, the truth that it will soon come to represent. The 'new' lettering is pretty great if you ask me.
Newspaper front pages from the day after, from all over. Loving this contribution from Ottawa. The Toronto Sun ran the same tag line, but not as good of a picture.
So glad somebody did this! I was loving every piece of design that I saw come out of that campaign, and this compilation just proves that I was right in doing so. SO GOOD. Clean, concise, bold, confident, pretty as heck. Awesome.
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Another thing that's been making the blog rounds: Photoshop in real life. Pretty great.
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And now, for a touch of cute. Probably played out on the blogs by now too, but you know, I could use a nice peaceful touch of cute right now.

Getting Back to Normal

Jenna sent me a link to an US Weekly slide show of pictures of celebrities on Sesame Street (if you didn't know, I love Jim Henson). She originally sent me to this Jonah Hill one, which is awesome, but I just love Bert's expression in the picture above. He looks so shocked and honoured to have Brian Williams interviewing him about his bottle cap collection.

I wish there was a way to just see the celebrity appearances on Sesame Street. There's just something about when you surround a celebrity with puppets. It's always interesting to see how their interaction works, and it can be so cute! Like when Feist was on!
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Been a busy week, with lots of work at work, as we printed the film guide this week, and then some poster and ad making at home when I was not at work. But I'm starting to feel back to normal, so I should be back to regular posting. I've barely kept up with my blog reading, let alone my posting! By the way, if you ever feel like seeing what I do at work, just pick up a Princess Cinemas film guide, or check out posters I've made here.
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This here's a pretty great shopping bag. It's a great idea to create one with an attached pouch, for sure. And the grenade styling, well, I do enjoy that!
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There's been a lot of stuff going around lately about sweet business cards, and I'm sure I'll post one later, but this one for a divorce lawyer is so clever! Of course, the pertinent details are on both sides too, so each soon to be ex can have their own copy.
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The Canadian Design Resource is an excellent blog to check out for fine examples of Canadian design smarts, like that card above. It can really make a fella proud to be a Canadian.
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Been meaning to post this one for a bit: A robot that is controlled by living brain tissue! Crazy!
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Plans for this year's DIY Not? zine fair are well under way. I need to get a poster done by the end of the weekend, and the event itself is on October 25 & 26. Should be a good time. My goal for it (aside from showing people how to do cheap and easy "screenprinting") is to set up a screening of Beautiful Losers at the Twin on the Sunday evening. That would make me real happy.