the mehallo blog. beta.

‘Sacramento needs the Horse Cow!’ Vanoni exclaimed. ‘Urban artist communities are needed globally. They are happening centers of culture—thriving and alive. They represent talent, energy and culture; they make a place live—or not.’

Despite a fire, Allen Denault and Steve Vanoni’s underground Horse Cow collective is still kicking. Read the detailed cover story in this week’s News and Review.

And here’s a link to the Horse Cow website.

Tags: art, cool finds // Comments Off on Sacramento’s Horse Cow: these days

Emergence by Justin Lovato

It’s been awhile since The Toyroom Gallery shut its doors on Sacramento’s K-Street Mall. But that hasn’t stopped Craig Maclaine.

Still showcasing (and selling) incredible work, the Toyroom Gallery online has prints from Shepard Fairey, Dave Kinsey, Justin Lovato, Bask, Jeff Boyes, David Choe  . . .  Just click over for new arrivals.

Regeneration by Dave Kinsey

Tags: art, cool finds // 3 comments  . . .   

‘Sarah’ by Annie Purpura, silver gelatin print

The brain child of Vincent de Sarthe, CollegeArtOnline is a one stop source for starting a reasonably-priced art collection.

Featuring work by recent college grads or professors (only these two groups can sell at the site) – CollegeArtOnline can be a career launching pad or cultured resource for a lonely wall. Drop by, see what catches your fancy/matches your credenza.

‘No, I Don’t Even Know Your Name’ by Josh Bernstein, india ink & digital print

‘29’ by Becca Ahlf, digital photography

Found via Nylon, August 2009

Tags: art, cool finds, education, photography // 2 comments  . . .   

Photographic Quaker Oats advertisement, 1897

I always thought the Quaker Oats guy was Benjamin Franklin.

He actually started as a printer’s cut – clip art, in today’s terms – that was selected to go on the Oats packaging to show ‘purity.’ Quakers always looked pure, let’s sell some oats with that in mind.

Benjamin Franklin was really smart, not quite pure though.

Tags: art, cool finds, culinary, design history, education, photography, thoughts // 3 comments  . . .   

Click the image to read Maira Kalman’s ode to Franklin  . . . .

Benjamin Franklin was fun. So much fun, the International Printing Museum has on staff the incredible Phil Soinski.

Soinski portrays Franklin as part of their educational services; and does such a fantastic job, I learned more about Hot Type in one hour with ‘Ben’ than reading thru whatever pile of type books are currently stacked on my desk. Drop by the museum, set up a tour, take a class – their programs, their dedication to the craft of printing can be contagious.

And illustrator Maira Kalman gives us a bunch of really cool things to know about ultramegasuperinventor Ben Franklin in yesterday’s New York Times  . . . .

Tags: art, cool finds, design history, education, illustration // Comments Off on Ben Franklin ‘can do’

Organon Sans Family

Organon Serif Family

Robust and playful, Organon is Nick Cook’s new superset type family – now available thru Fontworks UK. Click on the links above to order. Detailed release notes can be also be found in this post at Typophile.

As for the moniker, Nick says, ‘I got the name from the first line of ‘Cloudbusting’ by Kate Bush.’

Found via Twitter.com/typegirl

Tags: cool finds, design, fonts, music, typography // 3 comments  . . .   

PSFK takes a look at the new interiors for Starbuck’s great brand experiment, 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea. Feels a smidgen like Peet’s, the other high end coffee house chain that used to own Starbucks.

Tags: cool finds, culinary, design, thoughts // Comments Off on A look at Starbuck’s new stealth brand

Detailed slideshow by Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio at Fast Company.

Tags: design // Comments Off on The secret design history of 12 famous brands

Here’s a great article at Typotheque on fonts who hang out in families. Where they come from, why they get along better than real families.

Tags: design, design history, education, fonts, typography // Comments Off on How type families work

The Sacramento Bee redesign, as posted on Font Bureau’s Facebook page. Fonts used include Benton Sans, Miller, Miller Daily and Miller Headline

A few years back, I was the art director for a reincarnation of The Sacramento Bee’s long time rival, The Sacramento Union.

In this version, The Union was reimagined as a magazine. We did just a handful of issues, the design concept was: ‘newspaper in magazine’ format  . . . [Read more →]

Tags: fonts, publication design, thoughts, typography // 2 comments  . . .   

Typophile Film Fest 5 Trailer from Typophile on Vimeo

Preview for Punchcut’s 5th Typophile Film Fest. Typographic films, shorts and more. Here’s a list of who’s showing.

The Fest is confirmed for Typ09, the 2009 ATypI conference in Mexico City, October 29th. And coming to other places too.

Tags: cool finds, fonts, typography // 2 comments  . . .