Thinking For A Living

"Well done is better than well said." - Benjamin Franklin

The new Thinking For A Living 3.0 has launched by some good friends of mine.

Well done, boys.

Michael Johansson

Grain Edit posted about the work of Swedish artist Michael Johansson and I just had to pass it along:

Using found objects from flea markets, Michael Johansson fills voids and creates fantastically interesting sculptures and objects.

Communist Era Storefront Windows

Between 1986 and 1990, David Hlynsky made approximately 8,000 color, Hasselblad images of storefront windows on the streets of Communist Europe. He purposely avoided dramatic moments and newsworthy events. Brilliant!

via Coudal.

The Intricate Art of the Banknote

Combining two things that I can't seem to get enough of: printing and foreign currency - The Intricate Art of the Banknote.

via Coudal.

Fordlandia

I have been doing a great deal of reading this summer and I am currently reading the fascinating Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City. Recommended by my wife after she heard this NPR Story, it chronicles Henry Ford's attempt to establish his own rubber plantation and suburban American city in the heart of the Amazon forest.

It shows what happens when unlimited money collides with raw nature and I highly recommend the book.

Cold War Images

A truly strange and interesting set of images and advertisements from the Cold War Era.

Nuclear Slide Rules

Such innocuous wheels that neatly compute death and destruction: Nuclear Slide Rules.

Is This Your Luggage

A mysterious person buys long-lost luggage, photographs the contents, and then tries to find its owner.

Is this your luggage?

Wall Street Journal Article on Comic Sans

Love it or hate it, the Wall Street Journal has written an article about Comic Sans. Learn about the history, the designer, and the backlash against the typeface.

Rare FSA Color Photographs

The Farm Security Administration was best documented by amazing black & white photographs but a few color images were captured and they bring a whole new life to these images of the American depression and war effort.

The Library of Congress' Flickr page has a ton more color photos - so great!

Spy Box

Ever wonder what it was like to be a parcel going through the mail? Tim Knowles did and created a parcel with a digital camera inside and called it Spy Box

Visualizing the New York Times

Love info graphics? They you will love this really impressive visualization of the New York Times.

Japanese Gas Attack Posters

Amazing and a little scary: Japanese Gas Attack Posters.

Notgeld - Pre-Inflationary German Currency

When the German government could not stop inflation after World War One, towns and businesses started printing their own money because the official money was worthless.

A Flickr set of Notgeld: Emergency Currency.

A Continious Lean

"A Continuous Lean is about things. American things, good looking things, well designed things and all sorts of other things. Sometimes A Continuous Lean even talks about people and ideas. That’s it, keep it simple. More good, less bad."

Piecing Together the Dark Legacy of East Germany's Secret Police

Wired Magazine has a great article about the Stasi (East German Secret Police) and how just before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, they shredded 45 million documents in an effort to get rid of the evidence of spying on their own people.

Now, a team of German computer scientists are trying to trying to piece together some of those papers to find out the stories of the past. Fascinating!

But Does It Float?

Ambiguity lives! But does it float?

Way of Women

Italy's Sportmax Code has an online magazine profiling women artists/designers/thinkers from around the world.

30 Ways to Die of Electrocution

Bre Pettis has an amazing/morbid Flickr set of images from the book "Elektroschutz in 132 Bildern" (Electrocution in 132 Pictures).

Seriously interesting and it makes me thankful we have more insulated appliances now!

Objectified

Gary Hustwit (of Helvetica: The Film fame) has a new film coming out called Objectified. It is about industrial design and the process of making things. I know it sounds lame, but I am excited about it!

Printing for the President

Talk about a big and important job!

Printing one million invitations for the Presidential Inauguration.

Urban Play - Stefan Sagmeister

I know I am super-late on this, but I just had to post about Stefan Sagmeister's installation at Urban Play in Amsterdam in September.

He (along with many volunteers) created an installation of the sentence “Obsessions make my life worse and my work better” using 250,000 Euro cent coins.

Amazing, beautiful, fantastic, and it came to a tragic/ironic end.

Tilt-Shift Photography

Tilt-Shift photography makes ordinary things seem very strange and interesting - without the need for silly Photoshop. Here are 50 great examples.

Embroidered Text Messages

The title really says it all: Embroidered Text Messages.

Roadsworth

Montreal-based street artist Roadsworth creates some great public work.

The Island of San Serriffe

The Guardian has found out more information about a very small island in the Indian Ocean by the name of San Serriffe. So interesting!

Where Will You Eat Tonight?

A really great (but too expensive for my taste) idea: City Plates.

via Coudal.

The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway

Paul Shaw has written an insanely detailed piece about the history of Helvetica and the NYC Subway: The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway.

Matches Calendar

Looking for a new and unique calender for 2009? Can you read Ukrainian? Then this calendar made of matches is for you!

Poison Labels

A few great vintage poison labels.

via iLT.

Fifty Strange Buildings of the World

When I was younger, I thought about going into architecture. It required too much math.

I'm not sure that was necessary to share, but these Fifty Strange Buildings of the World are pretty cool!

Text Message in a Bottle

A really interesting idea - text messages that are converted into braille, stamped into magnetic tape, and placed inside a bottle. Text Message in a Bottle.

Really Big Hits!

Sometimes, living in the midwest has its advantages. Like this supremely fantastic billboard for a local radio station that has just the right balance of class and suggestive copy writing...

Visualized Wi-Fi

A study of the Wi-Fi at The State Library of Queensland, Australia and sketches of how people interact with their laptops.

Via SwissMiss.

Matchbooks

Matchbooks. Lots and lots of matchbooks.

Via the DDC.

Shipping Container Colours

Nice nice nice.

via TFaL.

We Just Live Here

With all the talk about the American election on Tuesday, what about the people that live in the United States, but are not citizens and cannot vote? What do they think?

Via SwissMiss.

Tulip Fields

The Dutch Landscape is transformed by fields of amazing tulips.

via SwissMiss

Ephemera Blog

I really like this amazing French ephemera blog.

Air Traffic Video

I could watch this video for one hour. Seriously. I'm not even joking.

Also, want to see live radar/flights over Switzerland?

Creepy Old Ads

Wow, there is nothing quite like creepy old ads.

Ryugyong Hotel

At 105 stories, the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea is that world's tallest unfinished building. Sad. Magnificent. Crazy.

A Library Like No Other

I really can't find the words to explain Jay Walker's personal library.

Except that I physically lust for his collection.

Movie Title Screen Archive

Wow. Interested in old movie title screens? Steven Hill has 5,301 (and counting) to peruse!

This Deserves a Post

Draplin is driving across the west from Oregon to Michigan and took this photo in Idaho. Seriously amazing. Look at the type, the claim, the optimism!

On a side note, this gets me really excited to visit Idaho some day. I only have Idaho and Alaska left to visit and I will have been to all Fifty Nifty United States.

This Table Will Self-Destruct

A table that slowly destructs itself each time a new table is sold: This Table Will Self-Destruct. Interesting idea!

via Coudal.

Large Headron Collider

For any science nerd, CERN is like Mecca.

They just completed the 27km LHC and are about to start colliding things together. I wish I could give a better explanation than that, but I really don't understand much of anything about nuclear physics. Hopefully it won't create a giant black hole and destroy the universe...

The Boston Globe has a great collection of giant/amazing photos of the LHC in Geneva, Switzerland (how I miss thee!).

Anti-Theft Lunch Bag

Tired of your co-workers stealing your sandwich from the company refrigerator? Well, just get these anti-theft lunch baggies and you can guarantee your sandwich will be waiting for you at lunch time!

Calculators

More than you would ever need to know about the history of calculators!

Jumbo Hostel

Unless you fly first class, it isn't a very comfortable sleep in an airplane. Swedish entrepreneur Oscar Dios is out to change that with Jumbo Hostel - a hostel built inside a grounded Boeing 747. Read more about it here.

Looks like I'll be flying through Stockholm sometime!

Ever Notice?

Here is a nice little article about the importance of noticing everything around us.

Online Pocket Protector Collection

Exactly what the title says: Online Pocket Protector Collection. Awesome!

via Coudal.