pepperidge farm remembers (13. 734)

Via ibidem, we are referred to this rather incredible gallery documenting the effort that went into the packaging and presentation of corporate standing for shareholders and stakeholders once upon a time for annual reports when trade and commerce were a bit more staid and predictable for North America and companies involved invested in production and distribution, retaining their own branding and marketing teams. This expansive archive ranging from the 1940s to the present is interactive and fully searchable—though beyond the considerable cover art might prove a tad boring and academic. Take a browse through the archives and let us know what you find.

my word is my bond (13. 730)

We quite enjoyed perusing this curation of full-page advertisements from Champion Papers in Art Direction magazine from the early to the late 1960s as compiled by Alex Jay. The trade journal that documented campaigns in visual communication and showcased design practises under the editorial guidance of Herb Lubalin (previously) and other luminaries of the typographic profession. Both the publication and its main sponsor in the printing concern in its contemporary form at least seem to have both folded around 1980, leaving quite a legacy—with Champion once the largest coated paper (glossy and matte finish) producer in the United States, branching out to paper grocery bags, cardboard boxes, posterboard, stationary and what we would call construction or craft paper. Its mills and other remaining assets were acquired by International Paper in 2000. Much more at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: journalism in Star Trek (with synchronoptica), religious indoctrination classed as child-abuse in Japan plus pareidolia 

two years ago: cinematic pathways, a 1954 royal yacht party plus fun with LinkedIn profiles 

three years ago: gymnastics with an AI avatar, a musical clock plus the Wagner Group coup-plotter dead in a plane crash

four years ago: the Elvis Comeback Special (1968) plus the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nazism and Stalinism

five years ago: your daily demon, a Roman holiday, Ashes to Ashes (1980) plus the ambient it

six years ago: assorted links to revisit, Elder Sign, photographer Harry Gruyaert, the Stockholm Syndrome (1973) plus Why Man Creates (1968)

ho (13. 717)

Though the Navi had guided us along Hovej multiple times, we deferred exploring the town and bay (Ho Bugt) until now. The short toponym for the waterway which gives its name to the village—a thatched reed houseboat for Ho by British artist Simon Starling who specialises in nautical themes engaging with vernacular architecture and local building media was added to the shore in 2023—comes from the Old Danish Hōi meaning trough or tub and a fjord (an inlet) that resembles one. The bay at the northern tip of the Wadden Sea was targeted for a major land reclamation project in 1941 but fortunately the sanctuary was spared from development over concerns that the removal would cause the channels in and out of Esjberg to quickly silt over. The nature reserve home to sea birds features an ellipse to let one walk out over the estuary—particularly at high tide.

Afterwards, returning to the campsite, we took a longer walk on the beach and explored the narrow footpaths through the lush littoral, getting a better look at the landmark called the Ringebjerge Båke (a historical beacon or seamark erected in 1884 that was until 1978 illuminated at night as a guide for passing ships) on the southern part of Vejers strand, with more gentle reminders that this area is a military training ground. The red ball raises to the top of the pole when there is an active exercise, warning civilians to stay away. A know-it-all neighbour at the camp grounds had told us that a major one was to take place early this week—I wondered how she might know—but has not materialised yet.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: signifiers of etiquette (with synchronoptica), Trump’s Nobel ambitions plus Müritzer cheese

 

two years ago: design one’s own Amsterdam, AI or Die, license to serve plus assorted links to revisit

three years ago: more links to enjoy plus the final Ring cycle (1876)

four years ago: ABBA’s last album plus even more links

five years ago: assorted links worth revisiting, the world’s first animated film (1908), significant digits plus cartographic gaps

six years ago: a tragedy at Uluru (1980),  Operation Warp Speed plus the dotted and dotless i

la mise en garde (13. 680)

Whilst not given the deserved retrospective treatment as her near namesake and contemporary Leonora Carrington, in her own time Argentine-Italian surrealist (though rejecting the label the label and broader movement personally), designer, illustrator, dresser and author, especially celebrated for her empowering and erotic portrayals of women (herself included), Leonor Fini, had her share of attention from documentarians wanting to know more about her life, influences and works. We appreciated this entree to Fini via the discovery of some of these films, rarely screened or available online, with subtitles, including the feature length profile by Belgian director and screenwriter Chris Vermorcken and the short produced for Swiss broadcaster Radiodiffusion-télévison-française by journalist Yvan Butler, decades after her credentials were established with showings in her native Trieste, Milan, patronised and exhibited by Peggy Guggenheim as well as costuming several theatrical and screen productions. From 1953 onward, Fini held an open polyamorous relationship with Count Stanislao Lepri, Italian consul general to Monaco, and Polish writer Konstanty Jeleński, remaining inseparable for the rest of their lives along with her retinue of no fewer than twenty-three Persian cats. Like Carrington’s, Fini’s art often focused on liminal beings, witches, werewolves and sphinxes.  More from { feuilleton } at the link above. 

present /&/ correct (13. 676)

Having been a long-time fan and standard go-to resource for vintage stationary, brochures and advertising ephemera, we quite enjoyed this interview with Bloomsbury shop and blog co-founder Neal Whittington on the occasion of their entrance into the world of publishing and share some stories about their finds over the years—sometimes ambitions become deadstock but never surplus to needs. The history of the venture and the curated collections is inspired. Much more from It’s Nice That at the link above. Do explore their sundries.

7x7 (13. 675)

giant’s causeway: Curiosity rover discovers valley of honeycomb polygonal rock formations—see also  

ars notoria: a magical medieval text that promised a pathway to instant, universal mastery of the liberal arts 

singing seat: artist Dan Ortiz Leizman transforms Monobloc chairs into stringed instruments 

translator of original ‘minions’ epic poem slams sexless, bloodless film adaptation: most fun movie discourse since Barbenheimer—see more, see also here and here—via Kottke   

it’s giving: a glossary of Gen Z lexical constructs  

mittingsaia: a mysterious illustrated Swiss manuscript from the 1940s in the style of a European travel brochures with undecipherable captions that resemble AI hallucinations  

van allen belt: despite its small size, no bigger than North America, Mercury’s weak magnetic field can trap solar winds

synchronoptica

one year ago: Trump administration obliterates Clean Air Act plus assorted links to revisit

two years ago: obligatory voting in Australia (1924), the Likert scale plus more on millenialism

three years ago: more links to enjoy 

four years ago: a banger from Annie Lennox, even more links, more antique abecedaria plus graphic designers Elinor and Joe Selame

five years ago: time crystals, photographer Lora Webb Nichols, Olympic mottoes, assorted links worth the revisit, a world music radio station plus a David Bowie inspired costume

six years ago: more links to enjoy, a Chinese mission to Mars plus an interim emoji release

7x7 (13. 666)

serenity prayer: the EU can rein in Google and other tech behemoths despite Trump’s threats 

the fun palace: Cedric Price’s modular playground and social laboratory that was never realised  

hot 100: Paste magazine lists the greatest songs of the 1970s—via MetaFilter 

dear stranger: a disturbing experiment in voyeurism that turned into something beautiful  

ǝsᴉʅƎ ɹn̤ᖵ: Beethoven’s bagatelle inverted—originally as a prank—but hauntingly evocative—see also  

hedonic treadmill: welcome to the age of decadence without pleasure  

we used to be able to buy things in this country: the plexiglass retail landscape of America—via Kottke

emsh (13. 662)

Via { feuilleton }, we are pleased to have had made the acquaintance of visual artist and experimental filmmaker, Ed Emschwiller, a WWII veteran who used his GI bill educational stipend to study at École des Beaux Arts (there meeting his wife and co-creative, scif-fi novelist Carol Fries) and the Art Students League of New York in the late 1940s. Using his veterans’ benefits again, the couple bought a house in Levittown, pursuing their art from a home studio—described as the only beatniks in the, segregated, planned community of Long Island. Often using Carol as a model for his commercial work, Emschwiller (usually signing his painting with the titular abbreviation) created covers for pulp publications including Galaxy, Infinity and Astounding Stories magazines, as well as paperback covers for Philip K Dick and Samuel R Delaney, whom considered his wife a peer. Despite a lucrative career and garnering several Hugo Awards (see previously here and here), in the early 1960s—in part inspired by Andy Warhol and the New American Cinema movement—Emschwiller turned to Factory-style filmmaking in suburbia with multimedia performance vignettes, as well as cinematography for documentaries on diverse subjects from Bob Dylan, voter-registration drives in Mississippi to the New York art scene for diverse commissions from the US Information Agency, NASA and Expo ’67. In the late 1970s, Emschwiller became interested in computer animation, eventually becoming professor and provost of the CalArts of the institutions television workshop and laboratory. More examples of Ed Emschwiller’s work spanning all the stages of his career and incomplete filmography are curated by Dennis Cooper at the link above.

meanwhile back at the manse (13. 657)

When presented the opportunity to relocate from Denver to New Mexico, artist Johnny DeFeo was captured by a vision for the Land of Enchantment that came to him in a dream of a zoomorphic ensemble of buildings. Unable to act on this monumental impulse immediately after it came to him, DeFeo deferred his inspired idea but the vision lingered, until serendipity or svengali appeared in the form of a contest, call-for-submissions sponsored by an infamous unlicensed lodgings company—displacing local residents, hollowing out the souls of cities, contributing to overtourism and to the housing crisis—that would fund projects for the quirkiest rental properties. DeFeo was reluctant at first to even put in his entry, fearing it would compromise his yet unformed plans. Coyote Casita, otherwise known as The Trickster, was selected as a winner, eventually resulting in a one-of-a-kind guest accommodation executed in concrete and adobe, an abode that does not go unoccupied when there is a vacancy and benefited local artists whom helped design it. More from Wallpaper and the artist’s website at the links above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Trump returns to his Scottish golf course (with synchronoptica) plus more inflorescence flowers 

two years ago: the Paris Games opening ceremonies 

three years ago: a banger from Peter Gabriel,  a fine art ranking plus RIP Shuhada' Sadacat

four years ago: around the Isle of Skye plus more of the Inner Hebrides

five years ago: office space, the Feast of Saint Anne, linoleum flooring patterns plus words that exist only in plural form

six years ago: Esperanto Day, segregation ends in the US military (1948) plus assorted links to enjoy

9x9 (13. 655)

all the queens houses: the eclectic architectural vernacular that makes up the New York City’s most diverse borough  

everything counts in large amounts: the moral imperative to understand big numbers, however unimaginable—via Kottke   

incendie de forêt: over a quarter million residents in France and Spain are evacuated from encroaching wildfires  

question de forme: the geometric animation of René Jodoin—see also, see previously

concurso de belleza: Trump cites his beauty pageant credentials to claim to be the competent authority when Venezuela is ready for elections  

plotlines: charting the journey of the protagonist in select classic novels with period maps—via Language Hat 

devil dog: Poseidon’s Underworld (previously) reviews the 1978 made-for-television star-studded spectacular about a satanic litter  

interstitial: Western science seems to recognise the meridians and subtle body of acupuncture and Ayurvedic traditions with a popular article on human anatomy’s third circulatory system  

cornell, 1965: filmmaker Lawrence Jordan’s 1978 profile of peer and colleague Joseph Cornell of Utopia Parkway, Flushing Queens

abdominal quadrants (13. 654)

We enjoyed studying this small collection of antique nineteenth century ukiyo-e prints that illustrate the inner-anatomical functions, to promote good health and moderation as well as a civics lesson with bodily fitness as an allegory of not necessarily of industry (see also) but of an ordered society. The pictured woodblock is by artist Utagama Kuisada (歌川 国貞), among the most prolific designers and commercial successive artists of the medium who in his own time was far better known than contemporaries Hokusai and Hiroshige, and is titled the “Mirror of the Physiology of Food and Drink.” Much more from Open Culture at the link up top.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Battle Beyond the Stars (with synchronoptica), cheese advocacy, Trump seeks to fire the Federal Reserve chair for cause plus a completist’s drinking adventure

two years ago: the arch of Constantine plus assorted links worth revisiting

three years ago: more links to enjoy 

four years ago: Ullapool and environs plus a historic NATO outpost

five years ago: the first colour advert on monochrome TVs (1967), Einstein on the Beach, St Thomas à Kempis plus an epic mosaic along the Thames

six years ago: cognitive fitness, Wikipedia 1.0, the US Space Force, St Cucuphas, Sino-US tensions plus enduring character tropes

birds v beethoven (13. 650)

Via MetaFilter, we learn that the European Central Bank has issued a jury selected shortlist of new euro notes by ten designers for the public to vote on. Each suite of the paper denominations feature either historical human or avian elements. Some proposals are vertical euros.

Birds (plus rivers) and institutional buildings versus Beethoven is a runoff between: 

 €5 the Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria) with the European Parliament on the reverse or Greek opera singer with a scene illustrative of the cultural elements on the back
€10 the Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) with the European Commission v the German composer
€20 the Bee-Eater (Meropidae bonaparte) with the ECB (see previously here and here) v Polish-French scientist Marie Curie-Skłodowska
€50 the White Stork Ciconia ciconia with the Court of Justice of the European Union v author Miguel Cervantes 

€100 the Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) with the European Council v Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci
€200 the Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus)with the European Court of Auditors v Austrian pacifistic Bertha von Suttner

What’s your favourite? I am team bird but I did like the bridges on the current series.

synchronoptica

one year ago: outsider artist Martin Ramírez (with synchronoptica), an orbital handshake plus superlative hour-glasses

two years ago: St Christopher, how location data compromises security and intelligence, every map of China is inaccurate plus SCOTUS orders Nixon to release the tapes (1974)

three years ago: farewell Twitter plus AI-enhanced spying

four years ago: Stirling Castle plus Smoo Cave 

five years ago: assorted links to revisit, highbrow porn, a party in a box plus a freight yard symphony

six years ago: politician Bela Abzug, Christina the Astonishing plus El Topo (1970)

alidade (13. 636)

Via a 1956 summer-gig for flat broke beat writer Jack Kerouac as a hermit on Desolation Peak in the Washington Cascades as a fire lookout, undertaking the vigil akin to that of a lonely lighthouse-keeper and watching for signs of smoke, we are introduced to the panoramic, circular cartographic creations of Archie Norcross, centred around the thousands of observation towers erected after a devastating series of forest fires between 1903 and 1908 for the state of Maine. Resident rangers would be watching for telltale plumes and triangulating its location with a simple sighting device (the title turning board) and alert authorities. Of the some eight thousand lookout posts constructed, most have fallen into disrepair, made redundant after newt echnologies and forest management techniques were introduced,  with a few maintained as shelters for hikers. Kerouac’s own summer home was demolished in 1972 due to the structure being a lightening rod during frequent thunderstorms on the mountain top. Much more from Public Domain Review at the link above.

isolated, initial, medial, final (13. 562)

Via Kottke, we are directed to a fascinating interactive introduction to the typesetting and rendering of Arabic script and the technical debt of font engineering and word-processors, built for the Latin alphabet (see also), which after years of struggles and comprise with alignment, default-settings that generated a WYSIWYG that looked ragged, broken and unaesthetic by Arabic standards is finally coming around to more faithfully reproducing the typography in the tradition of the scribes and calligraphers. Each glyph “holds hands” with the one preceding it and following it—everything is cursive, necessitating a minimum of four variants to create the right ligatures connecting the letters, dynamically renegotiating its shape for what comes next. The block formatting, which no manuscript would deviate from, is not achieved with spacing, but rather stretching or shortening the strokes within the word to make it flush with the margins. Much more including exercises and examples from La Vita Nouva at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Port Louis (with synchronotpica)

two years ago: Ponti dei Salti

three years ago: paronomasia plus design critique for Latin letters 

four years ago: attorney advertising, Captain Video, another MST3K classic, hummingbird hawk moths plus the Bored Ape Yacht Club

five years ago: your daily demon, Moby Dick (1955), Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the Seven Sleepers, Queen’s first gig plus assorted links to enjoy

six years ago: the first Pride march, more AI pareidolia plus Russian bounties for US soldiers

9x9 (13. 539)

criterion collection: a roundup of dirigible-themed movies, featuring, among others, Fay Wray and Ronald Reagan as secret agent Brass Bancroft  

the camelot of africa: a tour Ethiopia’s Gondar castles 

binomial coefficients: some numbers in Pascal’s triangle make very few cameos and no one is sure why  

lost world: museum docent Louis Gratacap pioneered the genre—see previously  

fast-track enlargement: talks begin for EU accession for Ukraine and Moldova  

ger:gre: Monty Python’s Ancients v Moderns football match  

planetary-mass companion: the famous Pink Planet may be a failed binary star system  

a tisket, a tasket: an update on the headquarters building of Longaberger baskets—see previously  

sac pour mal de l’air: a collection of air sickness bags from a variety of airlines

10x10 (13. 523)

nine days in june: landmark US supreme court decisions of years past and upcoming cases during this busy time of the year  

mcmodernslopecore: AI-generated architecture—via Miss Cellania  

photovoltaic: a brief tutorial on how solar panels work—via Kottke  

linguist fingerprints: every AI talks with an accent  

i am not on harry mudd’s client list—stop talking about it, i don’t even know him: the Federation’s war with the Romulans was a total success 

defender of the realm: profiles of medieval warrior women  

dialog society: a trove of leaked documents reveals the activities of Peter Thiel’s secretive cult, prepping for WWIII with a breeding programme—see previously  

spacex: a plan to deploy a million satellites in Earth orbit would ruin the night sky for everyone  

parc güell: Antoni Gaudí’s 1926 failed housing estate has become one of Barcelona’s public spaces  

51st state: rural Illinois citizens petition to eject Chicago and split into two polities—see also 

synchronoptica

one year ago: the G7 in Alberta and the Israeli-Iran war (with synchronoptica) plus the Trump phone 

two years ago: a synthesiser performance piece , OJ Simpson flees police (1994) plus tragic children’s names

three years ago: NASCAR celebrates Pride plus a werewolf exorcism (1983)

four years ago: Star Trek: TAS retcon, the Watergate break-in (1972) plus assorted links to revisit

five years ago: Iceland reforms its naming rules, ASCII standards published (1963), the musical stylings of the Sons of Kemet plus calendrical dating formats

six years ago: US supreme court erodes the Civil Rights Act, the East German uprising of 1953, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls plus Trump sues to stop publication of a tell-all exposé

les étoiles d’ivry (13. 511)

Via ibīdem, we are directed to the ensemble housing estate of Ivry ˢ/ Seine, a Parisian suburb just southeast of the capital, designed by architects Renée Gailhoustet and Jean Renaudie constructed between 1969 and 1975, happily still standing though in need of some care and attention. The name of the mixed-used complex with forty residential units for social housing with commercial and office spaces refers the stellar rays of the triangular points of exposed concrete and whilst the overall style could be described as Brutalist (see also here and here), the open form structure with staggered verdant terraces and ramps and platforms connecting public and private spaces has an element of social engagement and spontaneity of interaction not found in all projects of the genre. See more photographs and floor plans from Architecture Lab at the link above.

arts agricoles (13. 510)

Courtesy of Things magazine, we are introduced to Montréal based graphic designer and collage maker Raymond Biesinger and very much enjoyed his pastiche posters (more of his own work in this omnibus post from MetaFilter) and moreover appreciated his side-by-side curation of inspirational samples, as in this archive of covers of publications from the Canadian department of agriculture, scores dating between 1944 and 1977 with topics ranging from animal husbandry, canning and preserves, victory gardens, household economics, dealing with a nuclear winter on the farm, to mushroom foraging. More appreciation of the artist at the links above.

dynalites (13. 502)

Via Waxy, we are lured down a deep rabbit hole on the subject of commercial signage that are especially ubiquitous in the US, bas relief and embossed vacuum or thermo-formed pan-faced signs that go by various trade names with this appreciation of their origin and design from Beth Matthews. Appearing in the 1950s after the novelty of neon was replaced by the durability and low cost of moulded plastic, the spread of the new format can be credited to a salesman in Los Angeles, Conrad Escalante, who developed and patented the layout of standard variants seen on guest lodgings, salons, repair shops, eateries and other businesses in need of a shingle. The docent then conducts us on a tour to see iconic examples in the wild. More at the links above.

grimthorpe (13. 443)

Named for King’s Council, Edmund Beckett, the title of peerage created within the county of York in 1886 for the controversial barrister, architect and horologist, elevated from the rank of baronet to baron, the eponym (see also), we learn via Curious Notions, was came about in the press in reference to his oversight role in the renovation of the much beloved Norman era cathedral of St Albans, the abbey dedicated to Britain’s first Christian martyr. Fiercely criticised at the time and causing a public outcry for alterations to the transept and the roofline, grimthorping is remodelling without sympathy, whilst lavish and expensive, not considered in keeping with the historical character of the building. So honoured for his earlier achievement as a clockwork engineer for his design of the mechanism of the chimes of Big Ben and quoted as saying “I am the only architect with whom I have never quarrelled,” Grimthorpe is buried in the churchyard of St Albans. The addition of the ensemble of the evangelists at the western entrance include St Matthew sculpted with Grimthorpe’s visage.