the mehallo blog. beta.

‘The cemetery is filled with mausoleums, some extremely elaborate and some slightly more modest’

Visual artist Natasha Newton photographs Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. More here.

Photographs © Natasha Newton 2010

Tags: cool finds, education, photography by steve
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‘If I could change anything, I’d straighten up that 0 on the number 10. It’s a bit wobbly.’

Here’s an excellent read by J.M. Mosley on the odd lettering used for the numerals at 10 Downing Street. Not quite the original, sort of an accident that is now part of history.

It’s interesting how small type details are often overlooked. The numbers on my own home are rather awful, and even though several years back I’d purchased some Bodoni as replacements, have never gotten around to actually installing them.

Found via Matthew Williams

Tags: cool finds, design history, education, typography by steve
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This is probably my favorite political image: Harper’s Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast’s take on New York’s William “Boss” Tweed – with money head. Tweed was played by Jim Broadbent in the movie.

Thomas Nast (1840-1902) holds the title of ‘father of the American cartoon’ and along the way ended up turning both donkey and elephant into American political icons.

Prior to Nast’s involvement, ‘It all started with an insult. During Andrew Jackson’s 1828 presidential campaign, his political opponents labeled him a ‘jackass.’ Stubborn as he was, Jackson co-opted the insult and began putting a donkey on his election posters.’ [Read more →]

Tags: art, design history, education, illustration by steve
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‘Seriously gorgeous paired volumes of Adams’ celebrated intellectual autobiography – a brilliant deployment of two classic typefaces, Garamond and Caslon’

Pictured, covers from the beautifully-designed 1964 double volume, of which a copy may be snagged here. If you’re fast.

Details about Bostonian Henry Adams (1838-1918) here. Theme analysis by the NYT here.

Found via this, that, and also

Tags: cool finds, education, typography by steve
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‘Linotype: The Film is a documentary about Ottmar Mergenthaler’s amazing Linotype typesetting machine and the people who own and love these machines today.’

Trailer above, film now in production. More info here.

Music by Iron & Wine

Tags: design history, education, typography by steve
1 comment  . . .   

‘Donald nos enseña la magia que se esconde en los números y la naturaleza’

‘The Golden Rectangle’ explained in Spanish. Challenged by Donald Duck in Spanish.

(Here’s an English version – though I prefer it in Spanish)

Found via Menosunocerouno

Tags: cool finds, design, design history, education by steve
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‘The geography of prejudice’

Digital illustrations by designer Yanko Tsvetkov of how various – groups – classify Europe. Above, ‘Europe according to the USA.’

Below, Europe as seen by Britian, Germany, Italy, France. Click for larger view/jump.

More here. Prints are also available.

Tags: cool finds, design, education, thoughts by steve
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‘The news is what we say it is’ -(allegedly) Dave, FOX News

Video, above, from the documentary The Corporation. Watch the complete film – in segments – on YouTube.

The evil robots we were expecting haven’t taken over the world – something more psychopathic has. And these psychopaths have all the constitutional rights any other ‘person’ in the United States is afforded.

I also saw The Green Zone this weekend. So I’m already in a mood.

Tags: education, thoughts by steve
1 comment  . . .   

‘A German, Jewish gynecologist, artist, and popular science writer extraordinaire, Fritz Kahn (1888-1968) is considered by many to be the founder of conceptual medical illustration.’

The influence of Fritz Kahn’s Der Mensch als Industriepalast (Man as Industrial Palace) was far flung.

Here’s a sum up of the work of Kahn by Vanessa Ruiz at Street Anatomy.

Tags: cool finds, design history, education, illustration by steve
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‘Storytime, an animated short made in 1968 by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python.’

Found via Laughing Squid

Tags: design history, education by steve
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“Caslon’ is an example of what became known in the commercial world of the 20th century as a ‘brand’: a family name that was not only widely recognised by customers but which stood as a guarantee of long-standing integrity.’

William Caslon’s types keep making a comeback.

One of the first revivals was made in the late 1800s by Chiswick Press, London.

Full story here.

Tags: cool finds, design history, education, fonts, typography by steve
2 comments  . . .