uss texas

hi,
so this isn't really my posting, but that makes it all the better for me.

it's a bunch of really dope shots from the uss texas, a battleship that my friend doug went to visit out in, well... texas.

i'm going to give a little rundown of what in particular i dig, then doug is going to chime in and say a little something about something. it's funny, he sends me so much good shit that i never would have found myself, and somehow, some way, i always fail to say thank you.

so doug, thanks for sending this my way, and for all the other excellent little tasty bits that you've shared with me.

on to the type!

ok, so i'm a sucker for all of this old packaging and painted on hand done type.

i love how someone took the time to paint the type in the arrows in a vaguely art deco style. it truly warms my heart. and anyone who's ever read anything else on this blog knows that i'm a sucker for a beautiful script, so that hearts dice box is a thing of beauty to me. not to mention that i find it more than a little surprising to see dice and condoms and smokes so easily available on a 1940's american warship.

sort of like the ATF, you know... alcohol, tobacco and firearms.
dice, smokes and condoms... NOW we've got a party! i wonder if it's like that today?

doug, what's your favorite? did i post it?

from doug...

The Battleship Texas was built in 1912 and served in both World Wars. It's now a floating museum on the outskirts of Houston. The cigarettes and combs come from the ship's store, which they keep stocked with period pieces to give a more authentic flavor during the tours. Being a sucker for penguins, I naturally loved the Kool cartons. The condoms were on display in the medical supply room, along with a chemical prophylactic kit that was too far away to photograph well. The chemical kits involved what looked like a small tube of some gel-like substance and a needle. Not sure where you were supposed to stick it and I am not
too keen to find out.

I love all the directional arrow signs painted on the walls of the ship, though I was slightly disappointed that I never found an "UP" arrow. One of my favorites (not posted -- it's at
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/3106539434_e56643b6b3.jpg) shows the hand-painted signage directly next to stenciled lettering. "Officers' Country" refers to the front section of the lower deck, where all the officer staterooms were located.

My other favorite is the "Hand Off!" sign (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/3105712721_75d3bf9e96.jpg). It was done freehand, it's unusually phrased (most people just say "Hands off!", to relieve the potential offender of any doubt), and it's located right in the middle of a wall. Still, there is a nice flow to the lettering, and someone thought it was important enough to preserve it through the many, many times the interior of the ship has been repainted.

The dice game wasn't actually on the battleship. It was in a display inside the San Jacinto Monument, which is directly across from the battleship. I took the picture for both the great packaging and the fact it was manufactured in Brooklyn (right around the corner from
Hank's Saloon).

another rudy's

classic!

>n

rosebud

these old sleds are actually in the window display for an anthropologie store near me.

cool type on these old bastards!

>n

what it's all about

this is another quick one, but i do have to take a minute to write about that national neon script. i fucking LOVE that script. it's neon. and it's a cool looking script. what more do i need in life?

if i could, i'd wear that shit, ALL the time.

and the other thing, well, it's a bunch of name plate necklaces.
i became mildly obsessed with these after my girlfriend made me a tie clip that says "Mr. Russo", in script no less!

all dope.

>n

image dump

it's been a while since i've done a post, so i'll just dump what i've been shooting, then write about it later.

actually, guess i'll call this one the neon image dump.

cool?

>n

cali type

hey,
my friends cicero and katie were just out west in cali and they took a couple of shots for me. i really dig them, they speak volumes beyond words.

i'm hoping i can get ros to do a little guest blogging, but i haven't even asked him yet, so i suppose i should get around to that.

in any case, enjoy the shots!
thanks ros and katie!

>n

rudy's

i love the hand painted sign.
i'm a sucker for it.
that script is so adorable!
and the typeface for "BASS", well... i could design an entire font family based on that. in fact, it sort of reminds me of tarzana, the emigre font.

but more importantly, i love to see that signs like this still exist in midtown.

from my very limited exposure to it, one of the things i loved most about LA, and i think i mentioned this is my LA blog post, but one of the things i loved about that place was the old signage.

it's funny how on the west coast, it feels like they are more inclined to preserve that old stuff, where in NY, it's all about the new.

i had an interesting conversation with my friend cicero about this today on our lunch hour. we went to this really great german place on 9th ave near 50th st. and he was telling me about an old article that he came across, it was an interview with the guys from alleged gallery on the LES [lower east side of manhattan] and there was this bit where, once they got a little more successful, once they had a little cash, a little time, every now and again, they would come across an old painted sign on a building off a sidewalk or something in the neighborhood, and they'd offer their services to the shopkeeper to repaint it. because to them, it was preserving the feel of the neighborhood. it was an investment in what was there, not what you wanted to come. a bunch of new vinyl awnings or gaudy shiny things would have detracted from the character of the place.

ros, or anyone else that has read about this, can you chime in if my facts are wrong? i don't really know much about alleged and wouldn't want to get something like that wrong.

ugh, i better get to sleep...

>n

crests

hey,
so this is sort of off topic of what i usually do here at this blog. well, not that there is generally a topic, but if there was, this would be off of it.

i realized the other day that i needed a new logo for myself. i recently quit my job and am doing a bunch of freelance work and decided that it was about time that i re-did my website [not done yet!] and made a better effort at marketing myself.

part of that process is business cards, new logo, etc. and for this logo, i was stumped. yeah, nothing. no ideas. blank. YUK. but in joking conversations with friends, i thought aloud that i'd love to have my own crest. so as i was discussing the objects on my crest with my friend chris while we were fishing, i thought why the fuck not make this crest my logo.

feeling all ultra creative, i sketched for a couple of days, discussed with other friends over lunches, then finally came home and started designing my dope ass crest.

only to realize that, well... i was not alone in thinking that a crest would be a dope logo.

the top pic is from a building in midtown manhattan. it's a part of rockefeller center. yeah, crests. old ass crests too. very anglo, but none the less a crest.

and the second shot of from an inget of gold. a new inget of gold. my girlfriend is a jewler and shot this little camera phone pic of another crest.

also they're on a garage door down the block from where she lives as well. but i'll get to that another day maybe.

and this final pic, well... that's my logo. the, what's the word, heraldy? the heraldy is as such: the book is for portfolio, the "R" is for fonts, the hat is for a bio, and the brass knuckles are for contact. also the colored backgrounds, CMYK, and the stars, RGB.

i'm not really sure if i'm going to keep my logo. i worked on it for a minute, but there are some other examples out there that are really amazing.

check these out:
http://scionspeak.com/
i think a firm called strawberry frog did this. it's amazing. they did such a fucking great job on this! seriously, it's smart and funny and slick as all fuck.

and then there's these guys:
http://youworkforthem.com
search for "crest". they really did their homework on this too. all such great adornments!

so in conclusion, i did a crest, but lots of people did better crests than me. but that's ok, because it's good to see talented people in this world doing great work. and someday, maybe i'll do some great work too.

more posts on other stuff soon!

>n

UPDATE:
new crest as top pic. i saw this on my german lunch hour [see previous post] and used ciceros iphone to snap a quick pic of it. it's fucking RAD! i love the shit out of that!

brooklyn vs. LA

kinda funny.
one's a bodega type place in brooklyn, the other a church in LA. it's funny, because LA is sort of known for this type of... type. a number of years ago, a guy named christian schwartz designed a font called los felitz based on this sort of lettering.

emigre did a really great essay/interview about the whole thing. you can read it here:
http://www.emigre.com/EFfeature.php?di=102

it's much more interesting than anything else i can write about it. well, other than the fact that i found something similar in brooklyn.

i love brooklyn.

>n

more transit type hilarity

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apologies

it's been a while since i've done an update.
while yes, i'm usually a lazy sack, this time around it's actually a different reason, it's sort of technical... i've been snapping away taking type shots all over the place, but i haven't been able to download them off my camera. i can't find the wire, and i lent my mom my card reader.

yes, that's a lame excuse for an excuse, but it's also the truth.

SO, as soon as i get back my card reader [this weekend i hope!!!] i'll drop some new type shots.

again, my apologies.
please check back soon!

nest,
>neil

jewelry store

i sweat this script SO hard!
it's so elegant and lovely and just absolutely beautiful. it's the type of script i'd sit around writing lazily in a notebook if i didn't have to work at a job to eat.

i just kind of picture myself sitting under a tree, near a lake, with a cold beer, grass between my toes, girlfriend near by, sketch pad in hand, just doodling scripts like this one.

it's got that beautiful hand quality that i love, and the metalic finish adhered to glass just makes me smile.

i've never even been in the store. [i don't even think i've been around it when it's open!] but it reaks of gaudy, over the top, old lady jewelry. old money, and class you can't buy.

ok, i'll stop the gushing here.

best,
>n

windsor terrace

so these are some shots from a section of brooklyn that's not my own.

i'm sort of hooked on this whole "working type" idea. i don't know why, but it's some weird philosophical thing that i can't seem to get past.

in any case, these are a few examples of some excellent signage that's in an area of brooklyn called windsor terrace. it's considered quite working class, i mean, as far as any area in brooklyn goes these days. but its super close to prospect park, so it's actually quite beautiful. well, the park is quite beautiful.

ugh, enough with the socioeconomic crap, i'm not in the mood.

enjoy the shots.
maybe ill update this post at some other point when i'm not feeling like a complete tool.

>n

workin' font

yeah, like a prostitute...

>n

cursive

quite a broad title, i agree.

but cursive is such an nyc institution almost.

it's seriously been a passion of mine for years now. no joke, i have the worst, no really, THE WORST hand writing in the world. ok, well, in the english language. but i've spent more time doodling proper scripts than i care to admit.

in any case, there are soooooo many amazing examples of beautiful scripts throughout the city, that i can not possibly attempt to document them all.

soooooo... if anyone had any, send 'em in!!!

these 2 are some fine examples of cursives that are quite common in this fair city. they are in the common, work a day function of type that i love so much.

one is from the front of a souvenir shop near the empire state building, and the other is from the pediment of a luxury [now at least] building not far off washington square park.

they are both working examples of type.

i fucking LOVE this shit!!!

>n

cool book

i've never done a plug or anything like that, because that's not really what this site is about. [but what IS this site all about you may ask yourself. and i do too!]

but seriously, this book is amazing:
http://www.parallelstrokes.com/

i've never met ian. he's a friend of a friend, but we had a really excellent email exchange a couple of weeks ago, and i got his book in the mail today and am simply blown away by it.

i've done some crappy fonts and used to do a spat of graff here and there, and always told friends about teh connections between graffiti and typography, but ian has actually done something about it.

he wrote a fucking book about it.

so check it out, because it's really a great book and i can't wait to finish it.

>n

QUEENS!!!

yes, queens.
some of this stuff looks like it's from another country, and that's what i love about it.

in fact, that's one of the things i love most about nyc. you can travel for less than an hour in any direction and be immersed in a culture that is totally different than your own.

it's truly astonishing, the effect that this can have on one's sense of place and home.
in a good way, i assure you.

in any case, a lot of this stuff isn't partucularly some genius typography or anything, but actually just some really cool culturally different stuff. for me at least. i'm sure it's normal to the people that shop in these spots.

without further delay, here's some cool queens packaging stuff.

>n

day off...

so i took a well deserved day off from the grind the other day, with a very special lady friend. and whilst we were strolling through our fair city, there were many neighborhoods and enclaves that we came across. from the diamond district, to the east village, and everything in between.

all sorts of socio-economic groups were represented on that walk, and you can see SOME of it in the signage and typography, but it's something that certainly needs a deeper look.

it's something i've always been curious about, money, typography, power, marketing, etc. it's evident on the city streets, in the magazines we read, everyone one cares to train their eye to tell the truth.

but, another day for that whole piece.
because for this post, it's about some cool fucking pics.

i love, love, LOVE this black letter R. i'm sorry that i couldn't get a better pic of it. as you can see, it's mirrored, and therefore was unbelievably difficult to shoot. but, you get the gist of it.

the old west neon looking letters are just so beautiful as well.
and anyone that's ever looked at this blog knows that i've got such a hard-on for neon.

yeah, take a look at these, and hopefully you'll enjoy.

all the best,
>n