Mob73

For anyone that has followed my tweets and posts on this subject here comes the payoff. The DFCLTR official album artwork. I’m very pleased with the way it all came out in the end, especially the print quality on the stock that we chose. Anyway, there’s no point me blabbing on, have a look at the pictures and let me know what you think.

p.s. Sorry for the horrendous picture quality, it’s all I could do at short notice.

Recently I’ve been looking into playing card design. I’ve always enjoyed playing card games, all the classics: poker, blackjack…shithead (yeah it’s a classic!). Due to this and the talk and actual occurence of a poker night with my friends the other night (it had been much to long since my last poker night), I began looking into the design of the cards themselves.

Helviticards
Image from http://laughingsquid.com/helveticards-minimalist-typographic-playing-cards/. Buy the cards from http://helveticards.ryanmyers.me/

I don’t know if you guys have come across these already but I think they are awesome. It probably helps that I’m a massive type nerd as well mind you. Anyway, they are very cool and exquisitely designed. These started to get my juices flowing, I wanted to find more.

Creative Cards Project
I then came across this little gem http://creativecards.cc/. The Creative Cards Project was set up by Digital Abstracts to create something unique, collectable and something that’ll make them a quick buck or two (I assume at least). The Idea is simple; 54 digital artists get one card each, they design that card, the result is an outstanding collection of varied, illustrated cards that form to make an excellent deck of cards. See? Simple! Seriously, I suggest you check out those cards, they aren’t all my cup of tea but the majority are. At $32 a pop they are slightly out of my price range however.

Mob73
And then, as always, it all boils down to me. After seeing some of the wonders of the playing card world, I thought I’d have a pop myself. I haven’t got a lot yet bet I’m in the middle of creating the suit symbols. What do you think? 

The cards are obviously a long way from over yet but feedback on these would be nice.

Cheers all.

I came across this set of posters via NeatDesigns, via @favworkapp on Twitter. Created by Argentinian design agency Minga, the series is called WTF; as you can see, these posters are bold, minimalist and often highly amusing! Check out the full sets here (wtf 1, wtf 2). The rest of Minga’s work is rather excellent as well. Definitely one to keep an eye on people!

I found this over at Graphic Exchange and my, oh my isn’t it pretty? This is the work of Super Big Creative.

There is something rather spectacular about hand drawn type, especially when it is done in chalk on a black board, or chalk board, or whatever they are called these days. I think this is, mostly, because if someone were to get nudged into it all the hard work would be done. It gives the piece a sense of delicacy that often matches the intricacy of the content. Regardless of these poncey reasons, I love this piece. An excellent idea executed superbly. What more can you ask for?

Check out Super Big Creative’s other work too; it’s pretty, damn pretty. The Salomon XLT stuff on the site is particularly nice!

I don’t know what it is about it, no wait, I know exactly what it is about letterpress that I adore. It’s that fact that it is absolutely beautiful and tends to add another dimension to printed work. Plus, the paper that is generally used is textured and gorgeous.

Studio on Fire

Image taken from Studio on Fire website.  

Image taken from Studio on Fire website.

This studio is awesome! No ifs, buts or maybes about it. They are a letterpress printing and design agency and all of their printing and design is outstanding. I look at their prints and just want to design something especially for them to print. However, barring a free flight to Minneapolis and the rest of the money to get actual prints done, I think I’m shit out of luck! Anyway, check out their work (here), it is excellent.

Wedding Invites

I’ve also been seeing quite a lot of these recently. People either designing their own (in fairness this is usually when two designers tie the knot, what do you expect?), or people commissioning exquisite wedding invitations and the rest of the peripheral stationery. When this is done well, there is nothing quite like it. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m yearning to hear those wedding bells or anything I just really appreciate this stuff. And, like I said earlier, letterpress just adds something to the concept!

Image taken from Graphic-Exchange. These were also printed by Studio on Fire (that
was pure coincidence though I promise.

Another one I found from the Wedding section on Studio on Fire’s blog Beast Pieces

I think I’m done now. After, inadvertently, resorting pretty much everything back to Studio on Fire; I have satisfied my urge to reveal my love for the art of letterpress. I hope this might have sparked this love in yalls too.