Print Magazine’s Daily Heller invites us back to The Peculiar Manicule (see previously) to peruse through the curated collections of semi-retired graphic designer David Day’s mod and Day-Glo-adjacent artefacts and ephemera, particularly the series of psychedelic calendars produced by the Hallmark greeting card company in the 1960s—under the influence of illustrator R Crumb—growing chronologically more abstract and subversive as the months and years passed until the aesthetic, parallel with Mid-Century Modern, changed and an unexpected part of the company’s portfolio. Much more at the links above.
Wednesday, 23 April 2025
push-pin studios (12. 406)
Wednesday, 2 April 2025
cn tower (12. 358)
Topping off on this day in 1975 with last segment of the antenna installed by helicopter skycrane, the Toronto communications and observation spire held the title of the tallest free-standing structure in the world until overtaken by the Burj Khalifa of Dubai in 2007. At just over five hundred fifty metres high, it remains the tallest in the Western Hemisphere, (see also, a member of the World Federation of Great Towers) opening to the public in June of the following year. The CN stands for Canadian National and was conceived by the state railway’s desire to build a large radio and television broadcasting platform to serve the area. Plans were expanded to include the observation gallery—originally the Space Deck but later renamed the SkyPod with a revolving restaurant.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the Fabiola Project (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: the premier of 2001, assorted links worth revisiting plus the money plant
eight years ago: sculpting with cheese plus a doomsday archive
nine years ago: an appreciation of artisanal signage, a disturbing hack plus hybrid husbandry
ten years ago: epic and pioneering roadtrips, David Rumsey’s map collection plus more links to enjoy
Tuesday, 1 April 2025
9x9 (12.357)
gondor assault small group: a poem for the first of April
unitedhealthcare: US attorney Pam Boni general will seek the death penalty in the slaying of company CEO

dataviz: an infographic challenge round to recreate the WEB Du Bois economic and demographic charts as presented during the 1900 Paris Exposition using modern tools—via Quantum of Sollazo
nearby jobs: Chinese omni-app points flexible users to local gig opportunities and side-quests—shake it ’til you make it
unabhรคngigkeitserklรคrung: from Der Zeit, Europe frees itself from American hegemony but starving their attention—via Kottke
wyld stallyns: texting conversation demonstrates that we’re in the wrong timeline
mora, negare, deponere: archaeologists uncover fresco foretelling the coming of Saint Luigi
i scorn the morn: ‘conjugated nouns’ by linguist Arnold M Zwicky
Sunday, 30 March 2025
charted territory (12. 348)
First issued in 2022, Kottke extols the redesign of the coveted Swiss passport from Geneva based studio RETINAA which excels at the intersection of aesthetics and enhanced security features, an homage to the sleek and simple branding of the country, travelling through each of the twenty-six cantons like driving atlas on his pages for entry- and exit-stamps, visas and other endorsements. Authentication measures (see also) that burst out under ultraviolet inspection reveal the cartographic traditions of the alpine ranges, valleys and passes, resulting in an identity document that the holder can be proud of and cherish through its expiry date, for which there is no reason, like classic diplomas and commendations, should not be the case with all official documents.
synchronoptica
one year ago: a visit to Neuseenland (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: the magazine Children’s Land, a trip to a local shrine plus No Mates Nigel
eight years ago: the collected landscapes of Bob Ross, new cloud designations plus German contractors bid to build Trump’s border wall
nine years ago: German flea-markets and other scavenger hunts, the referendum on Scottish independence plus the LGBTQ+ corner of the US congressional cemetery
ten years ago: the last crusades, the etymology of tidings plus assorted links worth revisiting
Thursday, 27 March 2025
9x9 (12. 340)
us agency for global media: Voice of America director files lawsuit over ordered closure—a federal judge issues a temporary stay
pecksniffian paragraph: Trump as a Dickens’ stock character over his sermonising on transgender military service members
entomological adultery: the 1912 Cameraman’s Revenge painstakingly animated by Wลadysลaw Starevicz
the memes have entered the chat: the internet responds to Signalgate (aka whiskeyleaks)
arts dรฉcoratifs: rediscovering Betty Joel, Britain’s forgotten maven of Art Deco design—part of a centenary celebration of the movement—see previously
the population of an old pear tree: an 1870 work by Belgian author Ernest van Bruyssel celebrating biodiversity and insect life
import/export: ahead of the planned tariff action for 2 April “Day of Liberty” Trump announces twenty-five percent duties on foreign cars and components, triggering retaliation
are you sure ms kerger—because he is red: NPR and PBS testify before congress with its federal funding at stake—see previously
synchronoptica
one year ago: anatomised police lineups (with synchronoptica), assorted links to revisit, a classic from U2 plus a Nordic Easter witch
seven years ago: the dynamic Cosmos, more links to enjoy plus Everything’s Coming Up Simpsons
eight years ago: backmasking and the Satanic panic, the show with the mouse plus the Bombay Sapphire distillery
nine years ago: Easter greetings, revisiting the Leipzig Panometer plus a canting dialect
ten years ago: Holy Blood, Holy Grail, even more links, poet Paul Verlaine plus affecting a holiday accent
Monday, 24 March 2025
6x6 (12. 335)
reading between the lines: Trump regime shutters access to border-straddling opera and library, the Haskell House, which served as neutral territory for family reunions and marriages during his first term’s travel ban

kennedy center honors: Conan O’Brien awarded the Mark Twain prize for American humour, embracing the irony and tension of the moment
backstroke of the west: an incomprehensible translation and re-translation of a Star Wars bootleg DVD
free spaced repetition scheduler: geography with positive reinforcement—via Maps Mania
opsec: Trump administration inadvertently shared its plans to to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen with a journalist from The Atlantic
Thursday, 13 March 2025
boรฎtes de nonne (12. 300)
Cloistered and with no outside visitors allowed into their cells, since at least the early seventeen century, nuns from sisterhoods across France created “spiritual boxes,” curated dioramas that changed over time, accumulating keepsakes and marking special occasions with recycled materials. Treasured and intimate, this poorly documented craft and practise was hardly a guarded secret as older members sometimes shared theirs with novices as teaching aides (see also) and showed their miniatures to benefactors of the convent as a personal expression and glimpse into life in a nunnery, linking the inside with the outside. More from Messy Nessy Chic at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: patent models (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: senate panel rules out Russian collusion in US presidential campaign, life’s milestones plus David Bowie as the Periodic Table
eight years ago: a celebration of Brutalist landmarks plus the Pope on Compassionate Disruption
nine years ago: the cinematic inspiration of The Shining plus a dignified soup kitchen
ten years ago: unmarked white vans, innovations in 3D printing plus assorted links worth revisiting
Thursday, 6 March 2025
7x7 (12. 280)
yarn-bomb: a collection of museums and monuments around the world for knitting and craft enthusiasts
defying democracy: Randy Rainbow breaks into the ballad from Wicked during an interview
the living? the miraculous task of it: Joseph Fasano’s short poetic response to a student who used AI to write a papereight million dollars to promote lgbtqi+ in the african nation of lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of: all you need to know about the southern African enclave (the only one outside of Italy) landlocked by South Africa
fission chips: a survey of Mid-Century Modernism
spinsrรฟche: a mashup of “Jet City Woman” and prog metal
mullet talley: cross-referencing hair-styles with football club fans in Australia—from the Annals of Improbable Research (previously)—via Pasa Bon!
synchronoptica
one year ago: the mental radio interceptions of Grant Wallace (with synchronoptica) plus more on endonyms and exonyms
seven years ago: Teen Look magazine plus a demonic backlog of unfinished business
eight years ago: presidential pets, animator Tom Oreb, separating migrant families plus NASA’s style guide
ten years ago: assorted links to enjoy
eleven years ago: neglected bestiaries
Tuesday, 4 March 2025
๐จ▲⚪️ (12. 276)
Having been exposed to the avant-garde artistic performance directed by Oskar Schlemmer beforehand, we enjoyed this omnibus posting on the touring troupe put together for the Triadic Ballet to help spread the ethos of the Bauhaus movement from 1921 to 1929 through its various revivals and re-interpretations of choreographed geometry, privileging the form and function of dance to the level of appreciation for a well-conceived chair or building. Building off of multiples of three, the concept is to introduce and reinforce he unity of design across disciplines, as something transcendent despite and by dint of mass-production, the transformative power of art on industry. Much more at Colossal at the link above, including original costume designs and contemporary productions.
Wednesday, 19 February 2025
7x7 (12. 243)
tvwishes: a reappraisal of digital preservation—via Waxy
wasp 121ฮฒ: ultra hot Jupiter exoplanet has a uniquely layered and roiling atmosphere—see previously
unitary executive theory: latest Trump EO reigns in independent agencies, testing the limits of presidential power
the doors of kypseli: the intricate entrances of an Athens neighbourhood
gesserit jazz: a 1977 funk album inspired by Frank Herbert’s epic novel—see previously
jikipedia: the rise and fall of China’s Urban Dictionary of internet slang
dark entry records: queer album cover art from Gwenaรซl Rakkte
Thursday, 13 February 2025
we’re back—can we talk? (12. 230)
Enron, the energy and commodities company whose business model was based on internal fraud and perpetrated one of the biggest bankruptcies at that time has been cannibalised, zombified—the now scandalised logo created by Paul Rand (previously), the last he designed—has been somewhat resurrected with its long lifeless website reanimated and under new management taking ownership of its past transgressions and breaches of trust and promising sustainable growth going forward. Rolling out its first new suite of products (surely there are bundled) in twenty years, it is introducing the Enron Egg, a micro nuclear reactor that can power a home for a decade—and the crypto token $ENRON, which after reaching a market cap of seven hundred million has already gone through one pump-and-dump cycle. More at the links above.
Wednesday, 5 February 2025
slab serif (12. 207)
The always diverting Present /&/ Correct directs our attention to a beautiful volume of collected specimens of chromatic wood type, borders and flourishes from 1874 published by the William H Page & Co, featuring page of page of samples in Gothic Tuscan and Antique, Bulletin Script, Arabesque and many bespoke fonts.
Apprenticed to a printshop aged fourteen in Vermont, Page eventually became the foreman and branched out working as a staff writer for the New York Tribune, taking up engraving as a hobby and creating font families for printers JG Cooley. Page acquired his own foundry later, innovating the industry and having employed women during the male labour shortage caused by the US civil war, was singular in retaining his talent after the fight subsided and kept hiring females throughout the life of the company. More at the links above.
Monday, 27 January 2025
there a hole in me pocket (12. 187)
Classic clog manufacturer and popular item in this household has announced a new two-pair tribute to the Beatles’ animated feature Yellow Submarine. The dog has gotten much better about not gnawing on footwear but still goes after our Crocs and would have to have such a fancy pair of house shoes chewed up, but these look pretty fun and the contour is a perfect fit for the underwater vessel—though like with Crocs’ other brand collaborations, not sure about the accessories, the periscope and propeller and the other bedazzlers however and they’d surely prove too tempting for a little dog.
synchronoptica
one year ago: ancient piggy-banks (with synchronoptica), St Devota, a past prediction from Star Trek: TNG, a hybrid horseless carriage plus more moons of Jupiter
seven years ago: assorted links to revisit
eight years ago: omnipresent and omnipotent AI, parasitism and toxoplasm gondii plus the White House turns off its switchboard
nine years ago: more links to enjoy
ten years ago: the national assemblies of Europe, the fantastic art of Dan McPharlin plus AI and middle-management
Thursday, 23 January 2025
lapidary capitalis (12. 176)
Aptly illustrated with this calligram of the she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus—via Pasa Bon!, we are referred to project ARETE (แผฯฮตฯฮฎ, the concept of excellence in any field—the ‘polity van’ used for sanctioned field trips of my college had the license plate H ARETH, with the proper article and transliteralisation) from the University of Applied Sciences of Potsdam of a visual and interactive study in the network of influences, interventions and inscriptions
that led to the genesis of Roman Capitalis to Antiqua and Grotesk font families and how manuscripts continued to inform the look of typefaces even after the printing press came into being in the West, injecting a typographical angle into scholarly discourse. Each font sampler has extensive details on its provenance and how it relates to other points of inflection.
Wednesday, 22 January 2025
11x11 (12. 172)
concrete feats: the landmark Vรฅga Water Tower on coast Varberg, Sweden
ลฟpy v ลฟpy: a look at the world of espionage in the Middle Ages—via the new Shelton wet/dry
obelisks: researchers discover a new form of life with circular RNA—that appear less alive than viruses
we were wrong that day—we broke the law: convicted January Sixth capitol rioter known as MAGA Granny rejects clemency offer

cinematic universe: The Goonies and Back to the Future happened on the same day in 1985—via Kottke
ััะธัั: foundry excavating Ukrainian fonts from the underground
dark web: Trump has granted an unconditional pardon to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht
red team: research students—under supervision recreate—viral pathogens identical to those that caused the 1918 influenza pandemic
lexicon: a glossary of medieval words from Middle English whose meanings have shifted
solar gate: 4D printed blinds mimic plants to open and close on their own
Thursday, 9 January 2025
reklama (12. 158)
Prior to World War II, the capitals of Eastern Europe were lit up with dazzling neon signage just as one would imagine in Western cities (see also) but destruction and depravation led to the loss of this nighttime illumination. About a decade into Communist rule under Soviet influence, however, we learn courtesy of 99% Invisible’s latest minisode (which also features a history on the alarm clock and the placebo button of the snooze bar) that there was a concerted government effort to brighten up cities, particularly Warsaw, through commissioning graphic designers to restore the light features in a more uniform and planned way, like the pictured symbol of the Polish capital, the Mermaid (Syrenka) wielding a sword a top an open book, to advertise a public library. The neonisation project extended to milk bars, hotels, shops and other government service. During the revolutions of the late 1980s, much of the signage was again lost to neglect and “recycling” campaign was instituted, but thanks to the conservation efforts of a singular institution, there is a reference base from which to launch a return of the aesthetic. Much more at the links above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus Braille ambigrams
seven years ago: Oprah for US president, more Japanese New Year’s designer cards plus retiring household items in cross-stitch
eight years ago: more debates on immigration plus a cursed metro line
nine years ago: the statuary of Paris, ancient and artisanal pigments plus scratch circles
ten years ago: designer chicken coops, knotty language, Samuel L Ipsum plus fundamentalism and sharpening distinctions
Friday, 3 January 2025
9x9 (12. 139)
eixample: Barcelona’s nineteenth century urban revival and characteristic octagonal blocks
๐ฆ: adding fourth colour to traffic lights for safer sharing of roads with human drivers and autonomous vehicles
willkommen zu hause: a somewhat older documentary on club culture and techno in former East Germany with a connection to H has made it to Youtube

2-step authenication: secure passwords should require a performance like Liza Minelli tries to turn off a lamp—will a Fosse neck do it?
the monkey chew tobacco on the street car line: the Meters’ Hand Clapping Song
lycurgus cup: the fuzzy and fluorescent vases of Maxwell Mustardo evoke Roman amphorae—see previously
stairwell of the quarter: twelve months of superlative flights and storeys
beaded curtain: a look at the fragmented nature of the border wall on the US southern frontier—via Super Punch
Sunday, 22 December 2024
8x8 (12. 103)
beige and confused: with the democratisation and de-fetishisation of graphic design, Elizabeth Goodspeed questions the role of Colour of the Year
diamond in the rough: researchers perfect nuclear-powered battery that lasts ten-thousand years—see previously
heroรถn: monumental ancient shire discovered in western Greece
now go away or he will taunt you a second time: former Homeland Security advisor is not retracting her criticism of FBI director nominee Kash Patel—see previously
naughty, brutish and short: philosophers on Santa’s good and bad lists
continuing resolution: the stop-gap spending bill to fund the US government through March hints at a revolt by Republican congressional members, refusing to entertain provisions to eliminate the debt ceiling (which Trump needs to enact his agenda) and postpones the budget battle to a time when the GOP has a even narrower majority
demonstration project: MIT-linked charter company plans world-first grid-scale fusion reactor
party city holdco inc: with every report on a company going bankrupt, there are at least four paragraphs citing inflation, consumer sentiment and competition before mentioning it was private equitied to death
Friday, 20 December 2024
let’s run and we’ll have some fun now before i melt away (12. 097)
Via Clive Thompson’s latest Linkfest (much more to explore there), we learn about the 1987 commission of the Rรถmerbrรผcke thermal power station, Heizkraftwerk Saarbrรผcken, to create a never-melting snowman sustained by the excess energy from the plant. Awarded to Swiss multi-media artistic duo David Weiss and Peter Fischili (see previously) for the concept of Schneemann, they formed a copper skeleton inside a refrigerated unit that’s renewed by frost and freezer burn, metaphorically a commentary on the climate crisis in the corporate campus of this power plant, but still needing a routine human-touch to limn his face.
synchronoptica
one year ago: dial-a-song (with synchronoptica), Trump banned from the primary ballot plus assorted links to revisit
seven years ago: a political sorting hat, the 2017 in pictures plus an innovative funicular railway
eight years ago: Yule Lads plus Russian meddling and American exceptionalism
nine years ago: 2015 in review plus a Christmas humbug
twelve years ago: 2012 in review
Sunday, 15 December 2024
vexing vexillology (12. 084)
Via Web Curios, we very much appreciated, as an enthusiastic vexillophile, the chance to return to a favourite topic of national standards and iconography in this survey and analysis of flag design elements. Compared by colour distribution and proportion, they all can look alike—or by dent of dominate layouts—but what was most fascinating about this project was a chart of tracked-changes, revealing that the US flag had an unrivalled thirty-six
iterations (we suppose that most aren’t updated for incorporated territories) as contrasted with Germany’s ten or the second-place Afghanistan’s twenty-four, flag age (Denmark is the veteran) as a history lesson or this sort of periodic table that shows where unclaimed terra nullius could rise to statehood. Recursively, the above banner with a weaver’s hitch (or/azure) is the flag of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations, from vexillum, a type of square ensign for the Roman calvary which was coined for the study of flags—separate from heraldic scholarship—in 1957 by Whitney Smith, and encyclopaedist and graphic designer who contributed to the Guyana, Aruba and many newly independent, formerly colonial territories as well as a flag for Antarctica.