Meanwhile #168

This week’s art and design and that kind of stuff links.

— Oh this is wonderful: mythbuster Adam Savage visits Hollywood prop-printers Earl Hays Press and gets his own Blade Runner ID badge, using the same equipment and processes used to produce the originals. His absolute nerd-joy at the whole thing is infectious, and now I really want to use an eighty year-old cornering machine and a roll of amberlith. Twenty magical minutes.

— Looking forward to the new Do Books release, Russell Davies’ Do Interesting, all about noticing more, collecting more, sharing more, an unofficial follow up to David Hiett’s treatise on the art of the newsletter, Do Open. These are always a good motivational kick up the bum. Still a little envious that James Victore gets three cover design credits, including his signature on the front.

— Talking of signatures, Citroën’s continued use of Picasso’s to brand a nice little family runaround remains exceedingly icky. This Rosanna McLaughlin piece delves into the business of posthumous artist cashcowing, including the filthy lucre merchandising of Jean-Michel Basquiat – Barbies, skis, socks, handbags, doormats. As former collaborator Al Diaz suggests, you can literally wipe your feet on his legacy.

— Sadly missing design credits, this lovely collection of Henry Moore exhibition posters through the ages. Personal favourite: Lebendiges Metall (Living Metal), 1960–61. Weirdly reminds me of the Zeroids from Terrahawks.

— Via the inimitable Present & Correct (of exciting new premises fame), this lovely 1960s Paratone catalogue. Some cracking screens, patterns and symbols in there.

— If you haven’t watched Colin From Accounts yet, get on it at once. Just watched episode six – The Good Room – and it’s pretty much a perfect half hour of television.

— For the Book Cover Review, Miho Aishima on her love for Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends. Aside from looking like Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina, the thing I love about Silverstein is his very particular attention to the design of his work. From wikipedia: “Silverstein believed that written works needed to be read on paper, with specific paper for the particular work. He usually would not allow his poems and stories to be published unless he could choose the type, size, shape, color, and quality of the paper. Being a book collector, he took seriously the feel of the paper, the look of the book, the fonts, and the binding. Most of his books did not have paperback editions because he did not want his work to be diminished in any way.”

— The “character completely engulfed in flames” sprites from various fighting games. I don’t know if anyone from Liberty reads Meanwhile, but this would make an absolutely darling scarf.