Vintage Bus Passes

Just what I needed this morning! A nice boost of design and type inspiration - dig this awesome little collection of vintage Milwaukee Bus Passes courtesy of designer Kindra Murphy's flickr site.

And hey, while you're there you might as well check out some of Kindra's design related sets: Czech Matchbox Sheets, Ephemera Miscellany and Type!.

Nice stuff, thanks for sharing Kindra.

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HMK

Thanks to the fine folks over at Quipsologies.

Future HMK Archive Library & Ephemera Vault

Stay tuned y'all... Huh?

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HMK

It's A Gas!

Graphic and publication designer Dick Sheaff is sharing his amazing collection of ephemera along with some keen insight and history to help put things in context.




All of the above images are examples of the Gaslight Style:

"One pronounced aspect of Victorian design was a great interest in creating the illusion of depth, particularly so with lithographers. Type, vignettes, products and design elements are made to seem multi-layered through the use of shadows, superimposition, dimensional banners and ribbons, turned-up faux page corners and choice of colors.

Some have labeled this the Gaslight Style approach to design, for example Maurice Rickards: "Said to have derived from the play of lamps on three-dimensional street lettering, i.e. storefront signage, etc. The style appears to have originated in Germany, spreading, through the influence of German printing skills, throughout the world."

Chief features of the style are heavily three-dimensional lettering with a vigorous rendering of tonal gradation and shadow effects. A characteristic treatment involved the use of a vignetted 'cloud-work' background against which lettering appeared in lighter tone, with heavy shadowing to hold outlines where these overlapped on to plain paper. A wealth of heavy scroll- and strap-work, also rendered in three dimensions, filled in the interstices of the design.

The style, for which at the time no specific name emerged, is thought to have been inspired by the chiaroscuro effects of gas lighting, and has subsequently received the designation Gaslight Style."

And while you're there, don't miss Mr. Sheaff's little side collection of People Holding Fish!

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HMK

Big Gracias to Eric Baker over at Design Observer.

Tickets To A Better Tomorrow

The inauguration of the president and vice president of the United States is a ceremonial tradition which dates back to George Washington, representing a peaceful transfer of power from one individual to another.

Above, the 1933 Roosevelt-Garner Inauguration Ticket, part of a collection of Inaugural ephemera from the Office of Senate Curator's Inaugural Collection. There's also inaugural programs, inaugural luncheon menus and programs, floor plans and seating charts, badges, ribbons, press credentials, historic engravings, and photographs.

I love this black and white wood engraving of the Inauguration of President Lincoln, in front of our Capitol, at Washington, D.C., still under construction.

May God Bless President Obama and the USA. And may God Bless us all and give us the faith, strength and courage to face the challenges before us. Here's to a better world, a better life and better tomorrow for all of us here on the good earth!

Peace!

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HMK

El Planeta Misterioso

Who says Tequila and Xacto knives don't mix well?

I'm really digging this set of 1950's Sci-Fi Novel covers, just one the cool sets of ephemeral goodness from El Estratografico.

And you just gotta click the above cover image and check out the detail of not only the gnarly off-registration, but the wicked hacked-up paste-up kerning job on the El Planeta Misterioso type! I love it!

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HMK

Big gracias to the freaks over at Link Dump.

Gallery of Book Trade Labels

Ahhh. Fresh coffee and two of my favorite things: Books and design with typography. Enjoy this great little collection of Book Trade Labels from publishers, printers, binders, importers, distributors and sellers of books new, second-hand and antiquarian.

Above: O. Henry Book Store, San Antonio, Texas, Bean's Stationery and News Depot, Bangor, Maine and E. Broekhuis & Zonen Boek & Kunsthandel, Boekbinderij
Hengelo [Overijssel], Netherlands.

All courtesy of Greg Kindall's Seven Roads

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HMK

Yeah I Know, I'm Old...

I'm in the process of scanning my old concert tickets and I've scanned about 100 so far, in no particular order, as a set over at my flikr site: Migwell's Concert Tickets.

In general, 1977 was a great year for albums, probably my favorite year. I was a sophomore at Madison High School and had a weekend gig at Northern Hills Golf Course and so I had a little cash for music and concerts.

The above ticket is from my first Rush show that was in support of their 5th studio album, A Farewell To Kings. The album would become Rush's first US Gold selling album going Gold in almost two months of its release and eventually Platinum.

The more I think about it the more I realize how lucky I was to have such awesome bands and great music providing the soundtrack to my life. A few of these albums* from 1977 truly changed my life.

Cat Scratch Fever from the Nuge, *AC/DC - Let There Be Rock, UFO Lights Out, Meatloaf’s Bat Out Of Hell, Live at the El Mocambo from April Wine, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, The Ramones Rocket To Russia, Jackson Browne’s Running On Empty, Elvis Costellos’ My Aim Is True! Plus the first Clash album, Jimmy Buffett’s Changes In Latitude (with Margaritaville), *Steely Dan’s Aja, *Even in the Quietest Moments from Supertramp, the Grand Illusion from Styx, *Point of No Return from Kansas, Sin After Sin by Judas Priest, Billy Joel’s The Stranger, Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express and last but not least *Tom Petty & the Heart Breakers first lp!

I was lucky enough to see all of the above live excluding Meatloaf, Supertramp and Kraftwerk.

Let There Be Rock indeed.

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HMK

Book Trade Labels

Anyone who handles old books will have come across these small and sometimes beautiful labels pasted more or less discreetly into the endpapers.


Publishers, printers, binders, importers, distributors and sellers of books -- new, second-hand and antiquarian -- used to advertise in this way their contribution to bringing the book to market.


Grab some fresh coffee and check out the gallery over at Seven Roads.

Have a great weekend!

That's Right,

HMK

Thanks to the smart folks over at Design Observer.