Kinetic Typography

I have come across a handful of these in the past, but I finally found a bunch posted in one spot. Check them out here, or do a search on YouTube for "Kinetic Type". Some cool stuff.

HoneyBaby are Here.

Four different characters Debbu, Jo, Daisy, & Lucy designed by Garythinking. Each come with mini stand with sticker. Plasticapt Creations has really made a splash with their first few releases. Fore more info about Honey-B you can check out www.honey-b-town.com.

Twenty-Six Types of Animals by Jeremy Pettis

Beautiful type / alphabet / animals by Jeremy Pettis

via Chris Glass

What Font Says Change?

Type designers decode the presidential candidates: What font says 'Change'?

via Swiss Miss

Sweet: The Graphic Beauty of the Contemporary Rock Poster

Hero is a part of a fantastic exhibit called Sweet: The Graphic Beauty of the Contemporary Rock Poster, at the University of Maryland running from February 6th - March 29th. The opening day reception on Wednesday February 6th, is extra special, as a group of us participating poster artists will be there for Sweet Booth, a mini-Flatstock meet'n'greet event from 11am - 7:30pm. Come say "HI" to us if you are in the Baltimore area, this is going to be an amazing event! And as another bonus, John Foster (author of the superb New Masters of Poster Design) will be lecturing on March 5, at 3pm. For more information, look at the UMD Art Gallery site here. Hope to see some of you there.

Mini-Munny Available Thursday 1/24

The world's greatest do-it-yourself toy just got shrunk!

The geniuses at the Kidrobot labs have managed to squeeze MUNNY's endless world of possibilities into a miniature, 4-inch frame. Paint, draw, or scribble; pierce, pose or clothe. Available in pink, blue and white, each mini MUNNY includes a mystery accessory, a sticker and a mini marker.

Expand your vinyl army with all 3 mini MUNNY colors on January 24th, only $9.99 each!

Seventy Years of Penguin Design

I would absolutely LOVE, to see this exhibit. “Seventy Years of Penguin Design” at the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath.

This fascinating exhibition from the Penguin archives examines the history of the Penguin book cover, tracing its design from the iconic triple-banded and colour-coded early covers to the multifarious covers of today.

Celebrating seven decades of book design the exhibition includes beautiful original artwork and early proofs. It explores the development of the famous Penguin logo and showcases some of the most iconic book covers in publishing history.

When Penguin was launched by Allen Lane in 1935 he set out to provide affordable titles to a larger audience than ever before. The cost of a Penguin paperback was kept low, only 6d (2½p), and through the look of the book Lane and his designers established an identity that still holds sway.

The visually strong three panel covers defined the look of Penguin for almost three decades and the exhibition explores its refinement and adaptation over this period as well as the introduction and proliferation of illustration and photography.

The characters that shaped the Penguin look also emerge within the show. Among them are German émigrés Jan Tschichold and Hans Schmoller who defined the early look, as well as innovative designers and illustrators including Alan Aldridge and David Pelham (whose original artwork will be displayed).

Drawing on original material from the Penguin archives and the University of Bristol, the display will show how Penguin has responded to - and influenced - changing trends in British culture. The classic orange fiction paperbacks will be displayed alongside dramatic banks of hundreds of Penguin book covers.

photos and article via notcot.org

PaperBirds

Free printable lil' birdies for you to download, print, cut up and play with! They are all super adorable. Check them all out here. And they even have a call for artists!

via notcot.org

Tag Team Dunny by Tristan Eaton

2008's first Dunny by Tristan Eaton, The Tag Team 8" + 3", available in your choice of black or pink, each Dunny comes with a matching exlusive 3-inch FatCap, stop into Hero and get em now before they are gone.

Design Police

Bring bad design to justice! Spend more than five minutes with any visually-conscious (or sometimes visually obsessive) person and you will see it everywhere (as they will point it out): bad color combos, heinous spacing, over-sized logos, and — eww — excessive use of bad typefaces.

Now the Design Police want to “Bring bad design to justice.” and they have even provided a Visual Enforcement Kit to help you with your vigilante justice… whether you choose to make that in the form of stickers, stencils, etc…. Design Police's downloadable Visual Enforcement Kit gives you a series of offense-marking stickers to gleefully place on bad kerning and other layout tragedies whenever you see fit. These five pages of design-geek glory include stickers including such amazing insults as "Unnecessary use of a Photoshop effect" or "Kern This". My personal favs are "Style Copied from: blank" and "Microsoft Word is not a design tool".

If this is making any sense to you so far you're probably a design geek, with a great awareness for bad design choices.

via Josh Spear

Pay As You Go

New York’s first public pay toilet opened on January 11th in Madison Square Park. The exterior sports a poster designed by Paula Scher, featuring the identity she developed for the park. The toilet is self-cleaning and costs a quarter to use.

via Pentagram's Blog

Hero Featured on Behance

Beth from Hero is the featured article on Behance today check it out here.

The Behance team develops products and services for creative professionals. Their goal is to better organize the creative community to make ideas happen. They have a wonderful website that is truly inspiring.

Crumpler ABCs

australian bag maker, crumpler has put together an animated alphabet that brings each letter to life. each one is designed in it own unique style and the 'word it up' feature allows you to spell out words with the letter forms.

via Design Observer

Typographic Furniture

Amazing stuff, wish I could read the website.
ET26 Buchstabenmoebel SET 26 Moebelalphabet

via BB-Blog

Stamp of Approval

The Eameses will be commemorated with 16 stamps published by the United States Postal Service. Designs include the LCW, the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman and the House of Cards. It may also be the only time you can get an Eames La Chaise for 41 cents.



via Design Notes

Book By Its Cover

Book By Its Cover
This blog has easily become one of my many daily stops on the interwebs. Kept by Julia Rothman, a brooklyn based illustrator and designer, this is an amazing collection of nice books she comes across regularly. It's even neatly organized into subcategories.

I always love going to the bookstore and geeking out over all the amazing design happening on all the book covers. I admittedly have bought books SOLELY on their covers.

Alexander Girard Alphabet Blocks

So I have been obsessed and wanting these since I got the email from House Industries a few months ago. I was trying to think of the perfect kid to buy these for this Christmas, then I realized I knew one, ME!!! I need these ASAP!

Michael Bierut Talks Typography

In a video interview with The Atlantic, Michael Bierut talks about typography, including Stanley Kubrick’s favorite font, the cover design of The Catcher in the Rye, and the link between phototypesetting and Free Love.

The interview accompanies an article about typography by Virginia Postrel in this month’s issue.

Coming Soon - Honeybaby 3" Minis

These are so stinken' cute, I can't wait to get them in:


Four different characters Debbu, Jo, Daisy, & Lucy designed by Garythinking. Each come with mini stand with sticker. I think Plasticapt Creations has really made a splash with their first few releases. Fore more info about Honey-B you can check out www.honey-b-town.com.

Munny Series 2 Zipper Pulls Available Thursday 1/10

More MUNNY zipper pulls!

MUNNY returns to your favorite bag, hoodie or jacket with the new MUNNY Zipper Pulls Series 2. Accessorize in style and show the world your love of MUNNY!

18 all new designs include: the peace activist, wings, the cowboy, the academic, or one of MUNNY's favorite things - a carrot, a skateboard, laser gun or ice cream cone!

Addictive Website.

I have been obsessed with this website for sometime now, thanks to our intern Allison. Check it out here NOTCOT.org

It's a user submitted website featuring all things design.
Also check out NOTCOT.com, TasteSpotting.com and NotCouture.com, also equally addicting.

So what is NOTCOT?

NOTCOT Inc is a growing network of design sites currently including NOTCOT.com and innovative community contributed sites NOTCOT.org + TasteSpotting.com + NotCouture.com.

NOTCOT is a visual filtration of ideas + aesthetics + amusements. NOTCOT's two sites have become the daily sources of inspiration for creatives everywhere, fighting the good fight against "creative block" since 2005 with visually stunning imagery, the latest in international trends, and a passion for all things well designed.

NOTCOT.ORG is a community of creatives, design lovers, and trendsetters - where .org serves as the studio bulletin board gone digital - each image and caption brings you to a place worth visiting. It's about sharing what inspires you. Bookmarks, del.icio.us, digg, blogrolls, etc. make you read, search and think. This is the PICTUREBOOK to their novel. NOTCOT.COM is the editorial face of NOTCOT, offering in-depth features on products, artists, technology, innovation, and up-and-coming trends.

With the addition of TasteSpotting and NotCouture, what more could one need. TasteSpotting delivers the creme de la creme of delectable food and drink from our community of foodies. NotCouture keeps you looking your best, as users find the latest and greatest in fashion and beauty for men and women. (And don't be fooled, this is a designer's take on fashion, not just the usuals in every magazine you see)

Upcoming Releases

Here are some upcoming releases at Hero from KidRobot:

January 10th

MUNNY Zipper Pulls

January 10th MUNNY returns to your favorite bag, sweat or jacket when the new MUNNY Zipper Pulls Series 2 hits the street. Accessorize in style and show the world your love of MUNNY. 18 all new designs, and only $2.99 each.

January 17th
Tag Team Dunnys

Move over Legion of Doom, there is a new Tag Team in town! Available in your choice of pink or black, Dunny co-creator Tristan Eaton's limited edition Tag Team Dunny comes with an exclusive 3-Inch FatCap to help you leave your mark in 2008. The paint starts flying on January 17th. $49.99, and just 1500 available in each color, Hero will have 6 of each colorway, so get em before they are gone.


January 24th
mini MUNNY

The world's greatest do-it-yourself-toy just got shrunk! The geniuses in Kidrobot labs have managed to squeeze MUNNY's endless world of possibilities into a miniature 4" frame. Paint, draw, or scribble; pierce, pose or clothe. Available in pink, blue and white, each mini MUNNY includes a mystery accessory, a sticker and a marker. Dropping on January 24th, start your mini MUNNY army at $9.99 each!

Hero is looking for interns for the Spring Semester

We are looking for 2 or 3 college interns for the current Spring semester. We will be interviewing from now until the end of January (or longer if need be) for the positions. We are hoping to have the interns begin at the beginning of February.

Applicants must have experience in Photoshop and Illustrator, and have a solid understanding of print design. Experience or knowledge of web design and coding including Dreamweaver and/or Flash are a definite plus. We are looking for someone with self-motivation and a strong desire to learn new skills.

These positions are for serious applicants only. Positions will require a minimum commitment of 10 hours per week for the entire semester. Please contact us at [beth at heroandsound.com] and let us know a little about you, a resume/portfolio if you have it. Please no phone calls.

Tokidoki at Hero!!!