Last Words

© Chris Harrell 

I love this print from Chris Harrell.  I'm tempted to buy it on Etsy but probably won't.  I have a hard time spending money on things to put on my walls, because I'm not good enough at organizing them to make a coherent, compelling presentation.  Anyway, if you don't recognize the words on the print, these are the last words from the novel The Great Gatsby.  Excellent book if I do say so myself.

- Joel

Erik Marinovich

© Erik Marinovich

Erik Marinovich was named 2011 Person of the Year by another typography website I love: LetterCult.  Now that I am back in school again, I can appreciate more deeply the truth in the illustration above.  Check out more of Erik's work here.

- Joel

The Heads of State

© The Heads of State 

I love the work of The Heads of State, a graphic design and illustration shop out of Philadelphia.  Check out more here.

- Joel

© The Heads of State

Andrew Cherry

© Andrew Cherry

I've made a new friend here in Austin recently.  Andrew Cherry is a ridiculously talented artist, illustrator, and designer, but it's not even what he wants to do full time.  If only I could be that could at my hobbies.

- Joel

 

© Andrew Cherry

Kyle Steed

© Kyle Steed

I really like Kyle Steed's hand lettering.

- Joel

© Kyle Steed

Surprise

I have the best sister. Awhile back I posted about this map I loved (see above). I come home today and guess what the mailman brought? The map! It was a complete surprise.

Thanks Abby! I love you.

- Joel

Caleb Everitt

I love the design work by Caleb Everitt. Check out more here.

- Joel

Young Whale Design

© Young Whale Design

I saw this print yesterday from Craig Moan, aka Young Whale Design, of Nashville. It made me think of the protection I need during law school finals.

- Joel

© Young Whale Design

Look Up, Get Lost

© Petter Almgren

I appreciate the sentiment of this picture. I've found myself staring at the sky a lot lately on my daily walk to class. We live in a beautiful world.

- Joel

Jon Contino

© Jon Contino

I ran across the illustrations of Jon Contino as I was detoxing from a long day of class today. You can see more of his work here.

- Joel

Batcow

Photograph by Jay B. Sauceda

Austin is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. Between 750,000 and 1.5 million bats, depending on who you ask, live beneath the Congress Avenue bridge spanning Town Lake. A few weeks ago, accompanied by two of my siblings and my cousin, I had the opportunity to watch this colony make their nightly emergence at dusk in search of food. It's quite a sight to see.

Austin is also the current home of the CowParade, an art exhibit of nearly 100 uniquely decorated cows spread throughout the city. One such cow is decorated as a bat and hangs beneath the Congress Avenue bridge. You can read more about this particular cow here. As you can see above, the Batcow has gained enough attention to warrant its own poster. If you look closely you can see the bats flying out from beneath the bridge.

Long live Batcow.

- Joel

© Rob Harskamp

My brother told me about Hoopism.com awhile back. The organizers on the site do a great job of turning NBA history and player statistics into creative illustrations. I enjoyed browsing through the complete history of NBA Championship rings in the illustration above. Click on the image to zoom in if you want the full view. A timely illustration considering Mark Cuban's idea to make his Dallas Mavericks championship bracelets instead of rings this year.

My favorite illustration on the site is NBA Slam Dunk Contest Poster. Want to know who competed in every slam dunk contest? This poster has you covered.

- Joel

Thomason Tees

© Cory Thomason

Fresh off his high school graduation, it looks like my brother Cory is starting his own t-shirt business. Not a bad way to make a few extra bucks. He's off to a good start, as you can see by the design above.

- Joel

24 Hour Video Race

A Dallas friend, Trey Kazee, and team produced this short film as part of the Video Association of Dallas' 10th annual 24 Hour Video Race. It's a refreshing piece of work and impressive for having been completed (from concept to final edit) in only 24 hours.

- Joel

Olly Moss

I've never seen any like "Olly Moss Art Show", the first solo exhibition from Olly Moss, an emerging graphic designer from the UK. Every piece showcases a paper silhouette of a figure from popular culture. Some you'll recognize and others you won't, but the precision of the work is fascinating to me. Check out a few photos below and watch the video for a closer look at the exhibition.

- Joel

City Limits

Here's a pretty cool time lapse video featuring the cities of Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Manhattan and Chicago. What makes the video for me is the last 45 seconds when the scene suddenly shifts to the wildnerness. No wonder I enjoy hiking so much. The HD on this one is excellent, so be sure to watch it in full screen mode.

- Joel

Frederic Remington

Moonlight Wolf

I watched the John Ford film "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" a few days ago. When I watch movies, I enjoy reading through the trivia portion of the film's IMDB page. As if I wasn't nerdy enough already. I found out that the cinematography for "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" was inspired by Frederic Remington's paintings of the Old West. I've always had a fondness for Remington's work, especially these two paintings.

- Joel

The Stampede

Symmetry

I'm a big fan of the the work of Everynone. Their "Moments" video is still one of a kind in my book. Check out their latest production below. Just a tip - if you put on headphones, the audio is split just like the screen. There's something about the ending of this one that I'm still wrestling with. "From dust to dust..."

- Joel

Touch Wood

I've seen this video posted a few places, so I figured it was worth sharing. I'm still amazed this is real.

- Joel

America

America In My Book © Haley Nahman

Haley Nahman created this little snapshot of America. I'm a little disappointed that Kansas City falls somewhere in "Dive Bars & Serial Killers." Is that all we're known for? Looks like I'll be moving to the land of "Yes sir & yes ma'am".

- Joel