The 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car: The model for the 1966 Batmobile. The car originally appeared in the motion picture It Started With A Kiss (1959).
George Barris did the conversion, video below. And (just cause I found the link) here’s a quiz on the most recent Bat vehicle.
Driving thru Bronson Canyon (1966)
Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford in It Started With A Kiss (1959)
Found via Batmania UK and The Invisible Agent
From 1973: Elton John, Silhouette Futura sunglasses, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
‘With the Stars: Mr. Laupin, the former Mrs. Laupin, the Swimsuit Squad and me, your cool ass pal, Johnny Blue Jeans’
Viva Variety was an odd little take on European variety shows. Created by the same people who went on to produce Reno 911!
Clip (above) features ‘The Human Slinky.’ From 1998.
I’ve been to a few tapings of television shows. The tapings are free, since tee vee is (supposed to be) free. Getting in, however, can be a struggle. Especially if a show is popular.
I saw a few tapings of The Tonight Show the final year Johnny Carson was hosting. But Carson wasn’t working much, mostly on vacation. His contract gave him Mondays off and several weeks vacation per year. Supplementing as ‘permanent guest host’ was this guy named Jay Leno.
My dad often referred to Jay Leno as ‘Jeno.’ I always liked that.
I remember Jeno was funny. Really funny – when he worked for Carson. Things changed after Carson retired. Today, don’t like that Jeno isn’t really the sweet guy he pretends to be.
Tee vee is pretend. [Read more →]
In the 1970s, old Abbot and Costello movies were on channel 44 on Saturday afternoons; followed by The Bowery Boys.
At one point, I actually had the entire ‘Who’s On First’ routine memorized (and this Carson version was a great update).
But I digress.
Bumpers for the afternoon movies were licensed portraits from Al Hirschfeld, with Dr. Don Rose doing the intros. The movies were a different world of in black and white, with complex set ups for the comedy.
In the 1990s, I knew former child star Joe Cobb (1916-2002). Joe was famous as the chubby kid (above, click to view larger) in the original silent Our Gang comedies. Somewhere along the way, I was watching a documentary and saw that because of his girth, Joe was actually the inspiration for a character called Porky Pig.
I never could figure out how to tactfully bring that up in a conversation. So I never did. [Read more →]
‘it took a week to do it’
For anyone who’s taken an intro to typography course with me – there is a fair amount of stippling involved as part of some really complex letterform studies.
And one of my former students – Freya Kiessling – who dotted her way thru letters – has gone national with her work.
Her color Conan O’Brien pointillism illustration (above) was used as a bumper on Conan’s show, April 11, 2011. The drawing was submitted thru their Coco MoCA page (many, many images abound).
And today – per show request – a print hangs in the show’s green room at Warner Bros. in Burbank.
Below, another Freya-produced Conan piece – from a beginning animation class.
Tonite this link just sort of popped in from former student Campbell BrownKorbel. It’s secrets that every creative – from illustrator (the focus) to designer to comedian to (hell) anarchist – should know.
Phil McAndrew’s Super Obvious Secrets That I Wish They’d Teach In Art School. Read the whole thing here.
Well, I see it this way. I’ve been using my time listening to the greats and nights spent in comedy clubs as part of my teaching ‘act’ for years now. And after reading Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up and all the insane prep he did to do what he did (never realized how neurotically obsessive he was), it all seems to resonate.
Michael Bierut – who had one of the best lines in the Helvetica film – takes a look at the parallels between hard work as a designer and a comedian. Great read for anyone working in a creative field.
Svend Smital’s Super Grotesk used on the cover of Brendan I. Koerner’s Now The Hell Will Start: One Soldier’s Flight from the Greatest Manhunt of World War II.
Found via The Book Cover Archive
‘My father gave me some magazines from the 1920s and 1930s’
Hannes von Döhren’s Brandon Grotesque, influenced by early geometric types – available in six weights with true italics.
One of TDC’s 2011 award winners. Available thru HvD Fonts.
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