a great find that i didn't find

I love lettering from our advertising past. It is usually simple and set in a refined composition. The machines used to manufacture products could only do so much with type and the paint application 50 or more years ago. Hundreds of fonts were available to advertising experts as well as a large amount of color choices. Great design wasn't a lock. Not all marketing from our past looks good today. Just like today, there is beauty and there is NOOOOOOO! A friend of ours, Dan Cook, found an item that possesses the "beauty" from our free market past.

 

 

Dan is a teacher over at Williamson High School and obviously has an eye for great lettering (even if he doesn't know it yet). This tin was a gift and a fine one at that. The muted colors and the striking letters scream "COOL" (if you're a lettering geek it is screaming "cool").

 



It will be displayed, with great pride, on a highly visible shelf in our kitchen. My only gripe is that it fits in my hand....wall size would be better!!!!!

Thanks Dan.

my brother, capt. gregg, on animal planet

My brother Gregg has been a charter fisherman for about 20 years now. First in Key West, Fl., then Vieques, Puerto Rico, and now in Matlacha, Fl. He's good at it. VERY GOOD. Like most things that he finds interesting, he's all in. He has dedicated his sponge-like mind to knowing as much as possible about his craft and gets his clients on the fish. His business, WildFly Charters, has excelled in all three locations.

The new show on Animal Planet, Off the Hook, features this professional wrestler that figures out strange ways to risk his neck while catching fish. The latest episode has this guy catching sharks from while standing on a paddle board. My brother appears for about 10 seconds in the interview portion while they all are considering the absurdity of the fishing that is about to take place. They're hangin' at Bert's Bar, a "must experience" for anyone driving through or vacationing in the area.

They also used his boat to haul the camera crew while filming the episode.

You don't get to pick your family. You're stuck with them throughout this life. Having a brother like Gregg has always made my life much more interesting. I'm very lucky. VERY. I hope I am able to blog more about his future success. Good people deserve good things happening to them and he's one of the good ones.



angry strongo #32 shaker furniture

local font find #10

We took the fam up to The Strong... which houses the National Museum of Play earlier this week. It is located in Rochester, NY. We had a great day and the whole clan really enjoyed themselves. The two-plus hour drive (one way) was well worth it for our 3 and 5 year old children.

 (Clare in the Butterfly Garden)

 (The Super Hero section was definitely Matt's favorite)

My favorite part was this little spot of dimensional lettering....yes, I know it's lame....but it's me! I will agree with my children that the comic section was great and the butterfly garden was spectacular.

Pack up the car and head on up....good times!

angry strongo #31 my kingdom for a cubicle

one of my favorite sketches

For some reason, we occasionally do odd little things on a whim that please us for years to come. This wee drawing of a lotion pump lid (approx 2" tall) has been with me since 1994. My skin is horribly dry throughout the winter months so I guess this might have been a common object to have about my apartment at the time. I used a cheap ball point pen for the line work and a mechanical pencil for the simple values.

I'm sure the reason I've kept this little scrap is because it reminds me of my father's engineering texts. He was trained to be a civil engineer and had all kinds of books with great mechanical drawings in them. They were almost always line drawings that were entirely done with a straight edge and/or french curves. All the shading and 3-D stuff was rendered with precise hatching and cross hatching. I used to copy them during boring stretches. As far as Art was concerned, these illustrations were tops. You didn't need the interior of the Sistine Chapel, the Scream or Potato Eaters when you had water flow calculations through thick metal piping!!!

I miss those books.

"not so" local font finds #9

The Olde Fish House Marina not only has an interesting sign out front, it has some cool stuff hanging inside. Great "A" above.

The Li'l Stinger has a great look. Love how the lowercase "i" was jammed into "stinger". Not sure that making the apostrophe black was necessary, but hey, why not?!!? I do like the lettering more than the illustration and the "G" seems a bit skinny.

This wasn't actually inside the Olde Fish House. It is the logo on a beat up forklift out back.

 

...and the BEST is last!!!!! I find myself wishing for this sign regularly. It should be in my home in a place of honor. I would hug it and squeeze it and call it George. It is close to perfection. I LOVE IT!!! The fish is fantastically simple. The black and orange are awesome (orange has been my favorite color since childhood)!!!!!! The subtle addition of water along the bottom adds a touch of texture to the background "X"! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yet another great sign

If you can visually remove "LEE COUNTY" sticker and the phone number, you are left with a teriffic sign. Again...I would have this hanging in my home. The font scales work well and the kerning (spacing) makes for an interesting negative space. You gotta love that simple orange circle as well!

These signs are all over the place in and around Matlacha, Fl. You'd think Lee County could spare one!

rusty metal versus paint

My folks live down on the island of Matlacha, Florida. I don't have time here and now to give full details concerning how cool it is in and around Matlacha, but just know that it is a great place (especially for my parents to retire). After you cross the drawbridge entering the island you will find the Olde Fish House Marina on your right. This establishment has an enormous metal fish out front that they used as both a sign and also a daily display board of fresh catches and specials. It had been exposed to the elements for years and the metal was orange with rust. In my mind it had achieved a state of perfection (except that it wasn't in my home). The form of the fish was great and mixing that with large metal rings around the eyes, the rivets and the awesome rust, it brought a tear to your eye. This photo was then!...

Since our last jaunt south the sign has undergone a makeover. As stated above, I was fond of the white chalk on rust version. Very fond. The new look has some great aspects to it but it ceases to be...rugged, rough-around-the-edges, disheveled or just plain simple. Before I state that I like the former version better than the new one, let me point out some positives seen in the image below. First: the paint is profoundly more noticeable from the road (of major importance since it is a sign and all!). Second: the colors fit the area well. Matlacha is a hodge-podge of people (some sober, some not), houses (trailers on their last leg up to million dollar dwellings), and colors (a coral colored home could be right beside a purple one with pink shutters). You mix all these things with the amazing natural surroundings of South West Florida's Gulf Coast and I guess the sign is a snug fit. Third: the design used in the application of the colors is freewheelin' and organic. It is a whimsical mix of circles and waves. There is little fault to be found in the entire redesign.

The aesthetic argument that is clamoring in my head can be summarized by the title I selected....rusty metal versus paint. As a business owner, I would welcome the changes made. As a lover of art and creative endeavors, I mourn the loss of that rust. I mourn the loss of a simple and interesting silhouette of a fish. I mourn the loss of these two elements coming together.

I had an art teacher, back in my undergrad years, who spoke over my shoulder as I was grinding away on some project, "It is just as important to know when to stop as it is to know when to keep going." This teacher said many things that still bounce around in my head as I currently work. This "knowing when to stop" idea has impacted me profoundly. I have ruined many drawings, paintings and sculptures by thinking that adding a tiny bit more might help. The line is a fine one.

My vote is for the rusty metal. Eventhough I'm not thinking about the success or failure of the business. I'm just ranting on a beautiful object that I drove past. 

If you ever make it to Matlacha, stop in and have a meal...nice people bring you good stuff in a great setting. Look for the beautifully painted fish out front!

angry strongo #30

fdr needs to go!

The "mercury" dime is perhaps my favorite coin. It survived from the mid teens to the end of WWII. When placed next to the FDR dime (above), you can't help but feel that an era was sadly ended too soon. Just because something is NEW doesn't make it better. People collect antiques and drive classic cars. They reuse old barn wood. People like things that are old for many reasons that go way beyond their looks. This rant is all about looks!!! It is strictly surface. I'm judging this book by its cover. The modern dime stinks! If it were a book....I wouldn't pick it up. It may be a better story than Moby Dick, but I'm willing to take my chances and never even read the first paragraph.

I realize that this installment is a bit of a ramble, but I just get so frustrated looking at these two coins. The lettering is better on the "mercury". The image is better....and the combination of the two leaves the viewer feeling better. Some coins, like artwork (which they are) are better than others. They define our tastes. FDR is flat lining the viewer. We're all snoring.

Today's dimes make us wish we were carrying ten pennies instead.