The book, Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities is out and available. Based on the blog that I seem to reference rather obsessively, Strange Maps, the book will need to live up to some rather high expectations. Via Kottke, who seems a bit let down by the design. Need to check it out. 10.30

"The shells left by this migration were filled by dozens of small businesses, each inhabiting a practically identical structure." Photographer Paho Mann has documented a group of re-inhabited Circle Ks. 10.30

A three-dimensional, digital-based font made for the inaugural issue of Manhattan Magazine. 10.30

Monoscope notes the passing of the great photographer Roy DeCarava, 1919-2009. More over at the Lens blog. 10.29

Significant Objects is a project pairing objects with fictional stories that enhance their significance. The new significance is then tested via eBay. 10.29

Designing type to preserve a vanishing language. 10.29

If you haven't yet, check out Jackpot and Botan Rice Candy and the rest of the Candygram series written by friends of Jason Santa Maria. 10.29

The always great Chris Ware's Halloween cover for The New Yorker and the comic to go with it. 10.28

Another good one over at Designers Books: Pioneers of modern typography. 10.28

Logo designs that include books over at the Book Cover Archive. 10.28

For BB: Vespa chair. 10.27

There have been some beauties from Daily Drop Cap lately. I just made friends with W. 10.26

A set of old General Dynamics ads. 10.26

"This work is about creating order where we expect to find randomness, and also hints that the minutiae all around us is capable of communicating much larger ideas." Art by Kevin Van Aelst. This. This. This. And this. 10.23

"It's a blast of brain candy that will make your serifs stand on end." Ellen Lupton on the new book Lettering & Type. 10.23

Ready-Made talks to Kate Bingaman-Burt of the always great Obsessive Consumption. 10.22

50 years of space exploration in one infographic. 10.22

A bizarre story of one city happily repurposing another's logo, after asking nicely. 10.22

"The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step out of the frame." Some wonderful images of airport tarmac by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. 10.21

Innovative potholes, for my friends on Lyndale Street. 10.21

"Never skimp with the transparent base when screen printing. Also, never run out of beer." Super cool gig poster for St. Vincent. 10.20

"A new collection from Princeton Architectural Press brings together 360 visions of experimental cartography created by artists. It is wonderfully inspiring." The Map of the Art over at The Morning News. 10.19

Hitotoki is an online literary project. It incorporates short narratives describing pivotal moments of elation, confusion, absurdity, love or grief — or anything in between — inseparably tied to a specific place in Tokyo, New York, London, Paris, Shanghai, or Sofia. Via Brain Pickings. 10.19

The History of Land Transportation. 10.16

Make something cool every day, a great Flickr set from designer and illustrator Mark Weaver. 10.16

When the Icing on the Cake Spells Disaster, a NYT article that references one of my very favourite blogs, Cake Wrecks. And here's another random shot of inspired cake decoration disaster. 10.15

A look at the mysteries of British pub signs, part one and more recently, part two. 10.15

Someday I hope to have one of these in the studio. 10.15

Camera drawings by illustrator Christine Berrie. 10.14

"In 1911 a group of scientists and adventurers left Hobart under the leadership of Dr Douglas Mawson. They were bound for Macquarie Island and the then unknown parts of Antarctica." Images from the First Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911-1914). Via C-Monster. 10.14

"The printer was very amused when we told him not to clean out the dust from the plate. Then we smudged the poster directly from the press before the ink dried, making each one unique." 10.14

Impossible? Never. Polaroid lives! Congratulations and many thanks to The Impossible Project. 10.13

I'd just been reading about China's Hakka Tolou dwellings and then came across this series of photographs by Ryan Pyle. Amazing structures and a unique way of life. Via Dark Roasted Blend. 10.13

Dwell reports on Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals by architect and photographer Christopher Payne. His images are a gripping documentation of America's abandoned state mental institutions. 10.13

"Every day for one hundred days… I picked a paint chip out of a bag and responded to it with a short writing." 10.13

Some great covers from The Next Call, an avant-garde magazine published by Hendrik N. Werkman. Via So. 10.12

A recent project by Ron English consisting of skywriting the word "cloud" five times over lower Manhattan. The text soon dissipates into actual clouds. 10.12

More fabulous playgrounds from the 1970's. Via The Egotist. 10.12

Pure primary jolts of yellow from Remodelista to kick off a cool October morning. 10.12

Do NOT MESS with the River Thames. 10.11

Two great ones over at 20×200: think-make-think and Collocation No. 14 (NATURE). 10.9

Some amazing photos of The Berlin Reunion, the followup performance of the Little Giantess, a massive marionette. She was joined by her uncle the Big Giant, a deep sea diver, in Berlin. 10.9

As a followup to my previous post on Japanese typographic town logos, Wikipedia has the full listing of designs and notes on their meanings. 10.8

"It is normally left in public places where it can attract a variety of riders." A circular bike made by artist Robert Wechsler. Via The Post Family. 10.8

The leaves are changing. Prime time to visit some museums, including the always fabulous MoOM, one of the ongoing projects from my many years at Coudal Partners. Today's visit is to the vintage Bicycle Head Badge Gallery at VeloBase. 10.7

Browsing some interesting work by Hubert Blanz, especially the series X-Plantation and Geospaces. Via It's Nice That. 10.7

Trademarkia allows you to search all U.S. trademarks registered since 1870. Some interesting info there. Via Cameron Moll. 10.7

Alphabetical Industrial. 10.7

Tack Sharp, the podcast about photography by Dan Benjamin and Duncan Davidson is back from a hiatus and as interesting as ever. 10.6

"I've taken 20 logos that were originally designed in Helvetica, and I've redone them in Arial. Some people would call that blasphemy. I call it a challenge: can you tell which is the original and which is the remake?" 10.6

The Sesame Street version of Mad Men. 10.6

A cycling PSA animated with Lego. 10.5

"Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society." 10.5

Most graphic designers choose the fonts that best fit their projects. Brian Hennings does the opposite: he chooses the projects that best fit the fonts. I've admired all of the work he's done for H&FJ, so it's great to read about the process. 10.2

Lovely poster design for Wilco, by Mikey Burton. Via Monoscope. 10.2

The Plain Beauty of Well-Made Things, a well-written look at Donald Judd and his appreciation of the intrinsic beauty of simple elements. It's a phrase that applies to Judd's involvement with architecture and can certainly apply to his artwork, as well. Judd's base in Marfa was a place where both pursuits met in perfect balance. 10.1