Culture Soak

20th Century Cincinnati is the Queen City’s annual retrospective of the forward looking design trends introduced between the First World War and the Computer Age. Quiet evolutions and clamorous revolutions in the arts, architecture, furnishings, decor and fashion worlds….. Art Deco, Streamline, Futuristic, Mid-Century Modern and Op/Pop…..the century’s classic forms - many from the century’s signature designers - all will fill the floor when 20th Century Cincinnati returns to the Sharonville Convention Center this weekend of February 28 & March 1, 2009. Show hours are Sat- Sun 11-5 $7 addmission and thats good for both days. Click here for more info. See you there.

The super talented Capree Kimball is turning 25 this month and is having a sale in celebration! So, for the whole month of February, everything in the shop is priced at 25% off plus all orders over $25 will ship for free! She has some great work so ordering $25 worth will be easy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAPREE!

The G.I. JOE: Rise of Cobra TV spot that aired during the Super Bowl last night brought back some fond memories of my childhood. G.I. JOE was hands down my favorite toy as a kid. My other love was skateboarding and of course Powell Peralta. You can imagine my excitement when I ran across RetroSkateStickers.com today while I was already on an all-things-retro high. RetroSkateStickers.com currently has over 375 vintage skate stickers in their gallery with many of them for sale. Above are some of my favorites. I remember buying every deck back in the day because of the graphics which meant I always bought VCJ illustrated Powell Peralta. Man, I miss those days. It kind of makes me want to dig out the old McGill board from the attic… maybe I’ll grab the G.I. JOEs while I’m up there.

Polaroid announces the launch of the Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera, the first digital camera and instant printer combination available in the U.S. and Europe that is portable enough to take anywhere. I wonder if this is the beginning of something cool or will it pretty much stop here?

Gig Posters Volume I: Rock Show Art of the 21st Century is a book from the folks who brought you gigposters.com that features some of the best work from their site. It also includes 101 perforated and ready-to-hang posters along with hundreds of other examples and designer biographies. As an added bonus the first 1200 pre-orders get 1 of 3 free art prints by Jay Ryan. It is available here for 40 bucks.

Tuska: The Human Condition | 60 Works from 1964-1993 is a 140 page book that covers the remarkable story and artwork of Tuska. John Regis Tuska lived a life of creativity and created an extraordinary body of work. Tuska made his decision to avoid the mainstream and chart his own journey in a world where he could teach, be self-taught, and not be demanded upon. Tuska moved his family to Murray, Kentucky where he began his career as a teacher. After two years at Murray State, Tuska took the teaching position at the University of Kentucky where he began his 30 year tenure.

Elevation Creative Studios was asked to help tell this story to the rest of the world by designing this important piece along with the website. As a designer I was honored to have worked on it. Go to the website for more information, to order your book today and to help spread this story of our Lexington treasure. Also be sure to stop by The Breakers, John Tuska’s former home and museum to see all this great work in person. Its located in Lexington at 147 Old Park Avenue.

UPDATE: There is still a chance JPG will survive. They have multiple credible buyers interested in giving JPG a home. Go to jpgmag.com for the latest updates.

Say it ain’t so, JPG Magazine is closing their doors Monday January 5th. I’m a bit shocked I really thought they nailed a great concept and had the support to really flourish even during these tough times. The online community had an unbelievable amount of incredible talent, around 200,000 members. The printed magazine has a beautiful layout without all the ads you expect in other publications, the ads are mostly on the website to keep the magazine free of clutter. I always look forward to receiving mine in the mail. If your a fan like me I would recommend going to the site and downloading the pdfs of past issues. This brings up the questions, Why? What happened? Was it poorly managed? Did the cost of printing the magazine put it under? Have people really stopped buying print? As a designer these are all questions I really would like to know. Is print starting to be a luxury item? Not sure but damn I love magazines and I really hope this isn’t a trend for 2009. R.I.P. JPG Magazine you will be missed.

I was in Chattanooga’s very own Smart Furniture store today and had the pleasure of seeing, and testing out, many furniture icons in their showroom. But I have to say the Select Edition Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair by Herman Miller stole the show. This cowhide covered chair comes in a limited issue of 500 and is accompanied by a signed and numbered print by photographer Nick Merrick of the Hedrich Blessing Studio in a matching cowhide covered picture frame. This is an amazing collector’s item but the $1,995.00 price tag keeps it firmly on my wish list.

Be sure to check out Handmade Font a new design company that specializes in developing unique and untraditional fonts. They have some really cool designs and are interested in requests for developing new and unique fonts for advertisement campaigns, packing, magazine covers etc.

Burger King’s FLAME is a body spray that, according to BK, captures the essence of the love of the Whopper with a hint of flame-broiled meat. I can’t comment on the scent because I haven’t smelled it yet but the campaign, featuring a scantily clad King, is interesting. Check out the well-done minisite at www.firemeetsdesire.com and if you feel compelled you can buy it here (be sure to read the customer reviews).