Some Good Stuff



David and I have a big weekend ahead of us. There will hopefully be lots of printing, waffle eating, and unsupervised tomahawk throwing. If you don't have an exciting weekend planned, we've collected a few links for your internet browsing pleasure.

-If you're looking for the creepiest cat pictures on the internet, I think we can help you out.

-Or maybe a tipsy cat?

-Dirk does not have the touch. Sorry Dirk, you just don't. What I'm saying is, you're a crummy singer.

-A cool ad for that staple of the lunchpail, good ol' white bread.
-Project Gutenberg, bless your heart.
-I really hope Aziz Ansari treated himself on his birthday this week! And ate plenty of chicky chicky parm parm.

New Design: Exploring Portland's Natural Areas

This was a fun project. After following his blog for some months, I got to meet science historian Michael Barton at the ScienceOnline 2011 conference. He's a really nice fellow, and we keep in touch via Facebook and Twitter. It's easy to see how dedicated a parent he is by following along with the outdoor adventures he has with his son, Patrick, at his blog Exploring Portland's Natural Areas. As a fellow evolution geek, I also appreciate his work on Darwin scholarship at the Dispersal of Darwin.

Michael and I had a brief email exchange last fall in which he wrote about some graphic ideas he had to promote the Nature Play movement. Bringing children into nature is something I wholeheartedly believe in, so I was thrilled to design something for him. After much hemming, hawing, and doodling, a strong graphic idea hit me. Many of my own memorable moments in nature had to do with little things: finding a beautiful fungus, coming face to face with a box turtle when cresting a ridge in Morgan-Monroe State Forest. Or the time I was captivated by a brilliant blue ribbon winding through blades of grass, followed it, and welcomed a Five-Lined Skink into the palm of my hand. One of Michael's ideas was a child with a magnifying glass, but none of my attempts in this direction worked. That day with that skink was stuck in my mind, though, so I decided to bring focus tightly on the connection between child and environment.



Since Michael writes about his local adventures, I placed the silhouette within the shape of the state of Oregon. You can see it in his blog header, which incorporates the classic typeface Clarendon to evoke the signage of the National Park Service. I had strong memories of visiting parks as a child. Since starting my studies, I've taken every chance I can to hone my ability to communicate efficiently: designs that work well with a minimum number of elements. This was one of the most satisfying projects I've done in the last year, and the fact that it's for a good cause, well, that's the mashed potatoes and the gravy.

Tuesday Tunes

This song is one that I used to listen to a lot my first semester at college. I had the record, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and a wonky old record player that was a hand-me-down from my brother. The record player played a little slow and so to this day I imagine The Only Living Boy In New York a lot different in my head. But I think it is a great song slow or at it's intended speed.

Tuesday Tunes

Here's a lovely song for your Valentine's Day listening pleasure. The Troggs really know how to sweet talk a lady.

Also, if you enjoy Bill Nighy as much as we do, you might like this version of the song. It definitely deserves a spot on your holiday playlist.

Tuesday Tunes

We're going to start posting some tunes for you to listen to on Tuesdays. We like to call it tunesday. Dorky? Yes. Awesome? Yes, indeed. So, we'd like to start off with a bang (pun intended). This is a song that we entered in our local oldies station's "That's Our Song Contest." We really hope we win and everyone can cringe and giggle a little when it is announced on the radio. Oh and this video is of a middle-aged man in a sweatervest playing acoustic guitar in his kitchen. We feel this is the best video of this song ever made.

Ring Ring!

Well, David and I have finally broken down and purchased new phones. You know, the smart kind. So, in honor of this special occassion here's... ABBA!

I probably sound more like this when I sing along though...

Chunky toon animals!

Meet Mr. Gwumbles, a grizzly bear who is, objectively speaking, awesome.



Jennie just cut the linoleum to print this guy in two colors. I hope that it comes out - we wanted it to be small enough for a roughly 3" x 5" note card, which meant some very fine detail.

I've got a bit of a dinosaur problem, so I was driven to render a feathered dinosaur called Caudipteryx in this style, which is totally new to me. I'm digging it!



Mr. Gwumbles got his name from when our dog, Mitzie, was growling for some reason or another the other night and Jennie took the chance - as she often does - to tease her with a baby voice. "Ooooh! Miss gwuff gwumbles is mad!"

Jennie hates baby talk, except for when she's teasing Mitz. It's a double standard, but then we all know that two standards are better than one.