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It was.

Frequenting a court clustered between stores, restaurants, and cafes, the place takes on a world of its own. I’ve been sketching here for quite a long time. Long enough to know it has its courtiers, kings, queens, and jesters. Dogs have a special ascendance. They are lavished with particular affection.

I often see the same people. The man above looked like he was visiting. The logo of the football team on his sweatshirt was an indicator.

Our friends over at the recently launched Weekend Press have teamed up with some amazing designers to create a letterpress print set that pays tribute to Oakland. Featuring work from Brent Couchman, Anna Hurley, Carl Bender, Erik Marinovich, Eszter Clark, Javier Garcia, Jeffrey Bucholtz, Nate Leutkehans, Richard Perez and Albert + Marie, the limited edition set, aptly titled Oakland Illustrated, is currently available through their Kickstarter page.

In addition to the print set, special pledge packages have been set up for those willing to invest a little more. Perks include a private letterpress workshop and a chance to meet with one of the artists involved.

Also available are two bonus 8×10 prints: “California”, a collaboration between Brent Couchman & Nate Luetkehans and “510 Forever”, a two-color foil print from Erik Marinovich, co-founder of Friends of Type and Title Case, featuring his first ever typeface “Hermanos”.

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Hailing from a small town in Oklahoma, Taylor Goad is a talented illustrator and designer currently based in Philadelphia.  Recently Taylor updated his portfolio with some amazing new work including projects for Northcoast Brewery, Good Magazine and 160over90. Check it out here.

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Design is One is a documentary by Kathy Brew and Roberto Guerra that highlights the work of two of the world’s most influential designers, Lella and Massimo Vignelli. Featuring interviews with Milton Glaser, Michael Bierut, and Jessica Helfand the film attempts to capture the Vignelli’s creativity as well as their enduring humor and warmth. Design is One will make its NYC theatrical debut this week.

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To commemorate the finale of Breaking Bad, Mattson Creative has created a poster series that illustrates the transformation of Bryan Cranston’s character, Walter White, over the course of the highly-acclaimed series. Each print is silkscreened on 100lb French Pop-Tone Paper and hand-signed by Ty Mattson himself. The limited edition set is available exclusively at breakingbadstore.com.

Mr. White

This first print depicts the Walter White we met in the first season of “Breaking Bad” – the pitiful chemistry teacher, wearing only a green rubber apron and white cotton briefs, frantically cooking meth in the Albuquerque desert.

The final print represents the final incarnation of Walter White: Mr. Lambert. Armed and dangerous, bearded and beleaguered, Mr. Lambert has nothing left to lose!

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I was first introduced to Tal Leming through his early endeavors at House Industries and solo offerings through the type collective/distributor Village. As a fan of his work, I’m excited to announce the opening of his new type foundry, Type Supply. To coincide with the launch of the foundry, he has released Balto, Leming’s personal interpretation of the classic American Gothic style. Take Balto for a test drive here.

Torque

ohm

Timonium

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Brian Edward Miller is a talented illustrator with a knack for creating lush landscapes inspired by his eighties-driven childhood and a family legacy of artists and craftsman. With stints at gaming and design studios, he recently ventured out on his own with the launch of Orlin Culture Shop, a studio based in Erie, Colorado.

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By Matthew Flinders

The 29 August 2013 will go down as a key date in British political history. Not only because of the conflict in Syria but also due to the manner in which it reflects a shift in power and challenges certain social perceptions of Parliament.

“It is very clear to me that Parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action,” the Prime Minster acknowledged, “I get that and the Government will act accordingly.” With this simple statement David Cameron mopped the blood from his nose and retreated to consider the political costs (both domestically and internationally) of losing the vote on intervention in the Syrian conflict by just 13 votes. While commentators discuss the future of ‘the special relationship’ with the United States, and whether President Obama will risk going into Syria alone, there is great value is stepping back a little from the heat of battle and reflecting upon exactly why the vote in the House of Commons matters. In this regard, three inter-related issues deserve brief comment.

The broader political canvas on which the vote on military intervention in Syria must be painted can be summed up by what is known as the Parliamentary Decline Thesis (PDT). In its simplest manifestation the PDT suggests that the government became gradually more ascendant over Parliament during the twentieth century. Texts that lamented the ‘decline’ or ‘death’ of Parliament — such as Christopher Hollis’ Can Parliament Survive? (1949), George Keeton’s The Passing of Parliament (1952), Anthony Sampson’s Anatomy of Britain (1962), Bruce Lenman’s The Eclipse of Parliament (1992), to mention just a few examples — have dominated both the academic study of politics and how Parliament is commonly perceived.

What the vote on Syria reveals is the manner in which the balance of power between the executive and the legislature is far more complex than the PDT arguably allows for. There is no doubt that the executive generally controls the business of the House but independent-minded MPs are far more numerous, and the strength of the main parties far more constrained, than is generally understood. (Richard Crossman’s introduction to the 1964 re-print of Walter Bagehot’s The English Constitution provides a wonderful account of this fact.)

Drilling down still further, this critique of the PDT can be strengthened by examining the changing constitutional arrangements for the use of armed force. The formal legal-constitutional position over the use of armed force is relatively straightforward: Her Majesty’s armed forces are deployed under Royal Prerogative, exercised in practice by the Prime Minister and Cabinet. However, the last decade has seen increased debate and discussion about Parliament’s role in approving the use of armed force overseas. From Tam Dalyell’s proposed ten-minute rule bill in 1999 that would have required ‘the prior approval — by a simply majority of the House of Commons — of military action by the UK forces against Iraq’ through to the vote on war in Iraq on 18 March 2003, the balance of power between the executive and legislature in relation to waging war has clearly shifted towards Parliament. Prior assent in the form of a vote on a substantive motion is now required before armed force can be deployed. The problem for David Cameron is that he is the first Prime Minister to have been defeated in a vote of this nature.

Defeat for the coalition government brings us to our third and final issue: public engagement and confidence in politics (and therefore politicians). The data and survey evidence on public attitudes to political institutions, political processes and politicians is generally overwhelmingly negative with a strong sense that MPs in particular have become disconnected from the broader society they are supposed to represent and protect. The public’s perception is no doubt related to the dominance of the PDT but on this occasion it appears that a majority of MPs placed their responsibility to the public above party political loyalties.

With less than 22% of the public currently supporting military intervention in Syria, Parliament really has ‘reflected the views of the British people’. The bottom line seems to be that the public understands that ‘punitive strikes’ are unlikely to have much impact on a Syrian President who has been inflicting atrocities on his people for more than thirty months. (Only in Britain could war crimes in Syria be relegated for several months beneath a media feeding frenzy about Jeremy Paxman’s beard!) War is ugly, brutal, and messy; promises of ‘clinical’ or ‘surgical’ strikes cannot hide this fact.

At a broader level — if there is one — what the ‘war vote’ on the 29 August 2013 really reveals is that politics matters and sometimes works. Parliament is not toothless and it has the ability to play a leading role in restraining the executive in certain situations. Could it be that maybe politics isn’t quite as broken as so many ‘disaffected democrats’ seem to think?

Professor Matthew Flinders is Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics at the University of Sheffield. He wrote this blog while sitting in the Casualty Department of the Northern General Hospital with a broken ankle and is glad to report that he received a wonderful standard of care.

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Image credit: London Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge. By Francesco Gasparetti [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

The post Why Parliament matters: waging war and restraining power appeared first on OUPblog.

        

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Soulseven is the brainchild of Samuel Soulek, a talented graphic designer out of Minneapolis. With a portfolio that spans branding, packaging, poster design, editorial and marketing collateral, Sam’s work employs a clear understanding of typography and carefully balanced layouts. Check out more work from Soulseven here.

Soulseven & Curtis Jinkins

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Margherita Urbani is an Italian born graphic designer whose work spans illustration, editorial and interactive. Now living in Philadelphia and working at an advertising agency, Urbani continues to create pieces that are light-hearted and eye-catching. When she isn’t designing, she is flexing her creative muscles by drawing and making zines.

Collab with Andy Rementer

Collab with Andy Rementer

Pick up one of her zines here or here.

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I really love Jeremy Pruitt’s (aka Thinkmule) contribution to the AIGA Bordo Bello event. The skateboard art show, which runs now through July 3 features a gaggle of hot design talent and celebrates the Colorado lifestyle. Jeremy’s deck features seventeen custom logos, each loosely paying homage to a different aspect of Colorado’s rich and vibrant history. To see all the boards, visit the Bordo Bello website.

Also, be sure to check out Jeremy’s portfolio. Recently updated, the site hosts a curated collection of personal illustration and lettering work.

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Erick Montes is an illustrator and designer living in Austin, TX. I like his style a lot; it’s a nice mix of textural, hand-drawn elements with clean lines and great color palettes.

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Today I’m excited to present our very own Grace Danico. Over the last couple of years, I’ve gotten to know Grace as someone who is very fun-loving, warm and personable. These same qualities are reflected in her illustrations.  With colored pencils and crayons as her guide, her work flourishes within the constraints of the deceptively simple lines and charming doodles.

I especially appreciate her illustrations of food. Her portfolio is adorned with lemons with mustaches, blushing oranges, pizza slides and other characters laced with Grace’s contagious sense of humor. All of these await your perusal here.

For those of you interested in zines, Grace is teaching an upcoming Skillshare class titled Zine and Be Seen: Promoting Your Work Through Self-publication. The course will cover zine history, construction and distribution. In addition each student will create a 12-page zine based on the subject matter of their choice. You can register for the class here.

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Neenah Paper recently launched The Beauty of Letterpress, an impressive online resource and showcase. The site features valuable links, educational videos, a printers directory, as well as a gallery which is curated by a different letterpress aficionado each month. In addition, limited edition prints are available by donation with proceeds funding The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum relocation process. To help reach the goal of $30,000, Neenah is generously offered to match all contributions up to $15,000. You can show your support here.

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Missy Austin is yet another rockstar designer currently working for Zeus Jones, a studio in Minneapolis that is always producing interesting work.

Austin’s projects focus around typography, and include editorial, infographic and various marketing collateral. Although her designs are well executed and clean, they remain playful.

Her Nelma font is available at the Lost Type Co-op.

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Nick Brue is a graphic designer out of Minneapolis. In addition to his impressive work for Cue, an established branding firm in Minnesota, he has produced several intriguing designs on his own time. This includes his own wedding save-the-dates and invitations, and multiple identity projects. Though his designs are to the point, he does a great job of utilizing interesting color and texture to keep it fresh.

Check out more of Nick’s work on his site and Dribble.

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Device Creative Collective is a branding studio out of North Carolina. Lately, they have produced several interesting projects that are both eye catching and cohesive. Their new studio stationary features letterpress printing of silver ink on red cardstock, creating a look that is vibrant without being affronting.

For a Native American themed wedding, these Save the Dates come with the materials to fold them into teepees. I love the level of creativity used to make these extra engaging for those guests receiving them in the mail.

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Tom Whalen is a designer out of Pennsylvania, who has entertained a lifelong fascination with comics and monsters. This has resulted in the manifestation of an illustrator who creates vectors that appear ready to jump off the screen.

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Barrett Fry is a designer and a Texan. Or, at least, he is currently residing in Austin, Texas. He’s working at Pentagram under DJ Stout. His work is bold and colorful, which a strong emphasis on design for the food industry. Of all his projects, those were my favorites.

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Will Miller is the creative director and lead designer of Firebelly design studio in Chicago, IL. Miller takes creativity to another level, and doesn’t rule out any possibilities when it comes to his design process. Taking no shortcuts, his passion is evident in his work.

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Jefferson Cheng is a San Francisco based designer and illustrator with a clear, thoughtful, and playful aesthetic. He uses simple forms and limited colors to create striking images, and his latest zine, Houses, depicts just that in its images related to various domestic activities.

In addition to illustrating, Jefferson also works as a designer, notably working as part of the Art Dept. at Google. To see more of his work, be sure to visit his website and twitter. Also check out his blog, where he explores various amazing visual exercises.

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