Sleevage is a blog / archive dedicated to album cover art.

Accompanying each cover is detailed information about the band, the artist (if known) and any historical art or design references that may have influenced the cover art. It's a quality site and definitely worth a bookmark.

Sleevage

Labels: blog, fine art, graphic design, music, resource, Sleevage

Outdoorsman and photographer Tom Spaulding has put together a fabulous flickr set of over 800 vintage neon signs. The collection has a nice mix of day and night images, stylistic variety and the overall image quality is quite good.

The signs were located and photographed throughout Northern California.

Just Vintage Neon

Labels: design, graphic design, industrial design, neon signs, Tom Spaulding

Norwegian artist and musician Are Mokkelbost has created an elaborate series of paper collages titled ION.

ION

Labels: Are Mokkelbost, artist, fine art, music

Although the site is under construction, the work is still interesting. Si Scott has has a nice organic illustration style, and the way it translates into the typographic pieces is quite impressive.

Si Scott

Labels: graphic design, illustration, Si Scott Design

British guerrilla and graffiti artist Banksy has just opened a secret exhibition of 100 works at Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery (the artist's hometown).

A nice article with images from the Daily Mail can be viewed at the link below.

Banksy Exhibition

Labels: article, artist, Banksy, Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, fine art, museums, video

I thought this was an interesting article about the under-representation of contemporary female artists among prominent museums.

Painting the gender divide via McGill Daily

Labels: article, McGill Daily, Painting the gender divide

I'm a few weeks late with the announcement, but nevertheless, my alma mater has opened a brand new Modern Art wing...

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, the Modern Wing will provide a new home for the museum's collection of 20th- and 21st-century art. Now a decade in the making, this 264,000 square-foot building makes the Art Institute the second largest art museum in the United States. The building will house the museum's world-renowned collections of modern European painting and sculpture, contemporary art, architecture and design, and photography. The extraordinary scope and quality of these collections will be a revelation; each will be displayed more comprehensively than ever before. The opening of the Modern Wing will allow the Art Institute to take its rightful place as one of the world's great collections of modern and contemporary art.

Art Institute of Chicago, The Modern Wing

Labels: Art Institute of Chicago, fine art, museums

Since the 1970s, BMW has commissioned a variety of famed artists to create a unique work of car art. While I certainly don't love them all, it's a pretty interesting collection of varying styles and artistic approaches.

Art Car slideshow via New York Times

Art Car gallery via US Auto Parts

Labels: art cars, artist, BMW, fine art, New York Times, US Auto Parts

If you are into Blues, then you will dig these fantastic Skip James acoustic recordings from 1966 & 1967 respectively.

Labels: All night long, Devil Got My Woman, music, Skip James, video

The UnderConsideration team has launched a new blog focused entirely on print design...

FPO is a blog dedicated to both the visual stimulus and the detailing of the development and production of printed matter: Annual reports, books, business cards, stationery suites, collateral materials, posters, packaging and anything else where ink meets substrate. A subject matter we know, love and understand. A process that, despite numerous eulogies, is still alive.

For Print Only

Labels: blog, For Print Only, graphic design, resource, UnderConsideration

Here are a couple of links for the well-respected Scottish artist Jim Lambie. He's best known for his use of everyday objects as part of large installation works.

I find his pieces using vinyl floor tape the most interesting. The way it integrates and redefines the existing architecture is quite impressive.

via Anton Kern Gallery

via The Modern Institute

Labels: artist, fine art, Jim Lambie

A friend sent me this article from the New York Times about recent corporate logo redesigns.

The article implies that the current US recession has directly influenced the trend of softer, happier, more inviting logo treatments. This may in fact be true, but the trend I am more concerned about...naming the individual parts of your logo. "Spark" and "Flavor burst" are pretty sweet, but I would have recommended "Spirit fingers" and "Jazz hands" instead. Unfortunately, I don't have a MBA, so my opinion is virtually worthless when it comes to these decisions.

The Refreshed Logo

Labels: article, graphic design, New York Times, redesign

The Montana Meth Project will have publications bending-over-backwards to fill their pages with these wholesome, family-friendly print ads. I bet the folks at Ladies Home Journal, Better Homes and Garden, Woman's Day and Good Housekeeping can barely contain their excitement.

The Meth Project print ads

Labels: ad campaign, The Meth Project

I'm officially old.

The realization came while watching the new Wieden+Kennedy created Heineken commercial titled Let A Stranger Drive You Home. It's clear that the music I listened to in school has skipped a generation and been packed-away long enough that it's now retro cool. I'm sure Biz Markie is quite pleased with the result; I on the other hand am not.

On a side note, here are two of the best flows that 90s Hip Hop has to offer — Pete Rock and Buckshot Shorty in da’ house.

Labels: 90s Hip Hop, Biz Markie, Black Moon, commercial, Heineken, music, Pete Rock, They reminisce over you, video, Who's got the props, Wieden+Kennedy

Free donuts today at participating Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme locations. Word.

National Donut Day via The Consumerist

Labels: Dunkin Donuts, holiday, Krispy Kreme, National Donut Day, The Consumerist

Self-taught artist and Beautiful Losers contributor Phil Frost created some killer work for his recent exhibition at NYC's Jonathan LeVine Gallery. Good stuff.

Phil Frost at Jonathan LeVine Gallery

Labels: artist, fine art, gallery, Jonathan LeVine Gallery, Phil Frost

Nice use of hand-written text...seriously.

I have a feeling some middle-aged chubby guy will parody this pose and type treatment in the not-too-distant future. It's unfortunate that Chris Farley is no longer with us; he would have made for a perfect candidate.

Bar Refaeli

Labels: Bar Refaeli, Esquire, graphic design

Opening in December, Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" will feature the first animated black princess in the company's distinguished history. The New York Times has put together an interesting article discussing the cultural significance of the character, as well as early praise and criticism of the film.

Her Prince Has Come. Critics, Too.

(Photo copyright Walt Disney Pictures)

Labels: animation, article, New York Times, The Princess and the Frog, Walt Disney