I meant to write about SYPartners a while ago, but I didn’t, so here it is. I met a designer who works here recently, so I had to look it up. They’re a company who helps other companies define themselves. Like, they directed workshops with the Gap to reimagine the customer experience and refresh the brand. It’s incredibly involved and seems super-smart. It strikes me as inviting the client into the concepting sessions of an ad agency or design firm, and using the insights there in the actual business. Okay, so maybe it’s so smart because it makes me feel smart… But I also just love the colors and the extent to which they play out the work they do– into cloth-bound books, actual packaging ideas, giant banners, etc. It’s not exactly a branding agency, but brand explorers. Check out the stuff they did for Coke. And below, some of the Gap work.

Then I followed a link to see paintings of naked Obama and unicorns. Disturbing.

Finally, I found drawings done on styrofoam coffee cups with Sharpies. I really love the style of this artist, Cheeming Boey. I’m not entirely sure why he chose coffee cups as the medium, but the bring white and black contrast works. I love the fat lines of his drawings, and the tool binds the different styles together well, I think.

Highlights:

The History of Flight, in shoes. The Jordan team created a nifty interactive site that feels a lot like a pop-up book would. Only, when you click on the moving pieces, you get additional video, photos and more. My favorites are pretty much all from the early years (’85-’89). The whole thing makes me kind of nostalgic; amazingly enough, flipping through all of these, I’m pretty sure my brother has owned at least 2/3 of the 24 styles in his lifetime (19 years); the kid was wearing Jordans when he was a toddler.

Make sure you keep looking at the photos until you see how he corrected an error he found.

Highlights:

The series begins with a letter:

Dear Julie,

Do you ever feel like an extra in your own life? It seems like I’m forever stuck in the background, watching other people say and do all the things I feel inside. One day I’m gonna surprise everyone with my talents. They will be laughing and crying and texting me so often that I will be annoyed. Until then,

Sandy

And then:

Be sure to check them all out…

Roland Tiangco‘s poster that the recipient completes by revealing spot-varnished type with hands made dirty by handling the poster. via share some candy.

What do you get when you cross design, illustration, sculpture, and puppetry? The totally bitchin’ work of Kevin Kidney. Love his style.

Jaime Van Wart shares her love for typography with this fantastic blog. Enjoy her work. May it inspire us all.

And then there’s the stop animation (featuring hand lettering and gocco) for Handmade Nation, a documentary about crafty people all over the country.

The handwriting in that one reminded me of one of my all-time favorites.  I can’t find it on YouTube, but luckily Art of the Title featured Almost Famous last year. I love the simplicity of it, and the way it fits the story and its protagonist so well.  Turns out, the sequence is Cameron Crowe’s homage to the perfect opening credits for To Kill a Mockingbird:

Finally, here’s Community again. If you’re watching this show and Mad Men (and you should be), is the young sorority-type girl also Trudy (Pete’s wife) in MM? She seems familliar but I can’t quite place her.

WTWTA-inspired clothes and jewelry!

Yes, it’s all crazy expensive. Sigh.