Digest 3: Record Label Retrospectives & Obscure Design Collections
Between traveling, summer vacation, and sleep training twins, my media consumption has taken a bit of a hit lately. Work has also been busy, so my blogging hasn’t been as consistent as I’d like it to be. But I am hoping to keep these digests going, and I’ve got some new blog post ideas for the fall. Slow and steady wins the race... hope you enjoy!
Movies
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The Criterion Channel
Between this and the upcoming Disney streaming service, my movie watching needs are covered for the next few decades. I’m enjoying the discovery aspect of the new Criterion site, and it’s much more than just movies - it has interviews, documentaries, shorts, etc.
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Nina Saxon: A Career Retrospective
There are so many interesting connections to follow throughout Nina Saxon’s career. She got her start creating all of the laser bullets in the first three Star Wars films and went on the design some of the most memorable title sequences of the 80s and 90s, including Back to the Future and Romancing the Stone.
Music
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Merge Records: 30 Years, 30 Tracks
I’ve been on a big “Record Label Retrospective” kick lately, eagerly consuming all the books and music lists I can get my hands on. Merge put out some of my favorite albums of the early 00s, including Spoon’s Girls Can Tell and Kill the Moonlight.
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Jazz Photography
One of my favorite Jazz album covers has always been Ramsey Lewis’ The In Crowd. The image of his black stretch Cadillac pulling into the Bohemain Caverns nightclub is the epitome of cool. Although Gottlieb didn’t take that photo, this Library of Congress collection is full of that kind of vibe.
Books
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Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War
Historians contend that the American Civil War was bookended by the execution of John Brown and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Horwitz’s book is a digestible, well-written account of Brown’s life and influence.
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Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2018
This is a great list that spans a variety of subjects, most of which our world is currently struggling with (immigration, climate change, and racism, to name a few). I’ve only read a handful of the books on this list, but I’m especially looking forward to picking up God Save Texas by Lawrence Wright.
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Kurt Vonnegut Font & Book Covers
I love to see side projects that evolve out of a hobby or passion. Designer Jack Smyth re-imagined book jackets for the entire library of Kurt Vonnegut’s work, and ended up creating a new font in the process (which is free to download).
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Hip Hop Family Tree
Ed Piskor’s work is such a delightful rabbit hole. I started with his Hip Hop Family Tree series, which led me to discover an interview he did with Time Magazine, which led to his most recent work for X-Men Grand Design. More than anything, I love that he prints his comics in a large, non-traditional format.
Design
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Old Milk Caps
I need to give a long overdue shout-out to @presentcorrect. Their twitter feed is full of so many interesting and obscure design-related collections, like this one for old milk bottle caps (which also reminds me of the pog craze).
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Cigarette Packaging from Mexico
Speaking of obscure design collections, I love these old cigarette boxes from the Museo Del Objeto in Mexico. They have a bunch of other fun groups on their site, including batteries, detergents, and matchboxes.
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8/16 Bit Video Game Titles
Title Scream has been around for a bit, but I love re-visiting it. Bonus points for the animated gifs of all their title screens and adding platform and publisher filters.
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Old Department of the Interior Brochures
As I was getting ready to embark on a National Parks vacation, @davatron5000 brought this collection of old brochures to my attention. Being the design hoarder that I am, seeing the digital scans makes me want to collect the originals.
History
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Demon Underneath: John DeLorean and the Invention of the Future
If you looked up “80s Excess” in the dictionary, you’d find a picture of John DeLorean. There’s an upcoming film with Alec Baldwin as DeLorean, but it’s crazy that it’s taken Hollywood this long to make a movie about his life.
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Robert Swanson: Advertising’s King Of Jingles
I love making connections through my blog posts and seeing what kind of memories they stir up. Lars from New Orleans sent me a fun little story about listening to the Northwest Orient jingle in the 70s, which led to this NPR piece about its composer, Robert Swanson.