Veer's Second Fun Font Film Is Out!

"Ready, Typeset, Go!" is the second in a series of retro science films about fonts, from Veer. In this installment, the narrator explains how simple adjustments like font size and technical tricks like kerning can make great fonts look even better.



Learn more about Veer and see the first font film here.

Greeking For Groovy Art Directors. Hipster Ipsum - Artisanal Filler Text.

Lorem ipsum dolor got you down? No more, now there's Hipster Ispum, a text generator that infuses trendy words into your placeholder text. They offer two styles, Hipster with a shot of Latin and Hipster, neat.



An example of Hipster with a shot of Latin:

Homo mlkshk banh mi brunch biodiesel. Lo-fi echo park terry richardson 3 wolf moon, scenester gluten-free fanny pack. Brooklyn master cleanse locavore tattooed terry richardson freegan, homo gluten-free. Mixtape fanny pack banh mi put a bird on it. Quinoa vinyl thundercats wolf 8-bit you probably haven't heard of them. Helvetica lo-fi salvia 8-bit mustache hoodie 3 wolf moon iphone, lomo banh mi. High life mcsweeney's food truck ethical, jean shorts craft beer portland stumptown synth aesthetic retro artisan lo-fi VHS.



an example of Hipster Neat:

Fap mixtape trust fund retro. 8-bit cliche thundercats artisan PBR. Portland raw denim thundercats keytar helvetica dreamcatcher. Wolf photo booth thundercats tofu echo park, 8-bit mlkshk VHS master cleanse bicycle rights. Synth keytar craft beer, VHS marfa fixie american apparel gluten-free mustache. Cosby sweater skateboard before they sold out homo food truck. Quinoa mcsweeney's organic tumblr, letterpress dreamcatcher PBR.



Like other greeking generators, you can choose the number of paragraphs, choose between the two styles and voila.... filler for your layouts with a hint of hip.



Try it yourself.



A special shout out to one of my favorite artists, Danny Heller, who brought this gem of a find to my attention.

Fun With Skype Screen Grabs By James Callahan.

I figured it wouldn't be long until we began seeing more and more 'art' made from the latest tech apps and devices. We've already seen a wonderful series of illustrated versions of You Tube's most popular videos and seen how the New Yorker Magazine has featured covers created with an iPhone painting app.



Now, UK advertising art director, illustrator and photographer James Callahan has had some fun with screengrabs of his Skype video chats. His ongoing project which he calls Screengrabography is simply his superimposing of screen grabs from Skype chats over stock photos or art.

They are not super impressively composed or even that inventive (men's heads on women's bodies), but they are fun nevertheless and certainly simple enough for almost anyone to do. The results are good for a chuckle. And may just inspire you to start making a few of your own.





Extra points to James' friends Daisy and Joseph for being such good sports.


See James Callahan's portfolio here which includes some very impressive advertising and design work.

Shanghai Tang Holiday Catalog's Balloon Art Will Leave You Breathless

... and that's without your having to blow up the thousands of balloons used in the catalog.




Every year retail companies scramble together around mid-june to start concepting and designing catalogs for the holiday season. It's hard to keep them fresh, original and memorable. But Shanghai Tang, the chinese lifetyle brand, has done it yet again.

Teaming up with Chandelier Creative, the cutting edge design firm (who has produced other fabulous holiday catalogs for them in the past) they've produce a 2009 holiday catalogue inspired by the whimsical world of balloon art. It's amazing what they've done in terms of styling stunning backgrounds and unusual product shots, photographed by talented product photographer Kanji Ishii, with simple colored balloons.

These are not all the images from the actual catalog, nor are they in order, but these are my favorites and I think you'll find them inspiring:
















In addition to a beautiful catalog, Shanghai Tang's gifts are equally as fabulous, shop for them here.

To see other impressive balloon art and design, check these out:

A Photographer Who Is Full Of Hot Air: Paul Graves' Balloon Sculpture Series
Paul Graves' Newest Work - Balloon Expletives & More