Mid-Century Knoll Ads

Posted on April 15, 2010April 15, 2010 Posted in Advertising, DesignTagged advertisment, classic, graphic design, mid-century, minimalism, poster, vintage1 Comment

This exceptional Flickr set of vintage ads contains a few Knoll ads from the 50s and 60s that are utterly perfect.

Via Monoscope

New Posters on Blanka’s Flickr

Posted on April 2, 2010April 2, 2010 Posted in Design, Grid Systems, International Typographic StyleTagged graphic design, grid system, International Typographic Style, minimalism, modernism, posters, vintage2 Comments

The stuff that gets added to Blank’s Flickr page always leaves me amazed. I have no idea where they get all this vintage work from. They’ve recently updated their page with a ton of posters by Hans Neuburg, Herbert W. Kapitzki, Armin Hofmann and Josef Müller-Brockmann, many of them I’ve never seen before.

Vintage Audi Poster

Posted on December 2, 2009December 2, 2009 Posted in Design, International Typographic Style, TypographyTagged graphic design, International Typographic Style, poster, vintage42 Comments

Today I received an email with the following image attached from an AisleOne reader named Rob, who’s a designer and instructor. According to Rob, the image of the poster was found by one of his students who was doing research for a report. No info can be found about it, other than it being created by the great Armin Hofmann.

I did a little research myself and couldn’t find any info about this poster, but I did find info on the model shown. It’s an Audi 60 which was produced from 1968 to 1972, giving us a slight idea as to when the poster was created.

What strikes me the most about this poster is the simplicity, elegance and beauty of the visual. The white background, large type and straight-on angle of the car create a stunning image. Rob explained it well in the email:

I love the way the AUDI logo is reflected in the roof of the car and visible through the back window, which would have been a lot more difficult to achieve in the pre-Photoshop era.

I agree.

As for the typeface used, it’s hard to tell but it seems like it could be either Akzidenz Grotesk or Univers. Anyone?

I wish there was more info on this poster and I wonder if there was a series of them done by Hofmann. If anyone has any info, please email me. In the meantime, we can all admire its beauty.

Vintage Porsche Posters

Posted on September 10, 2009 Posted in DesignTagged classic, color, graphic design, minimalism, modernism, posters, vintage4 Comments

porsche_posters

Check out this amazing collection of classic Porsche posters over at Grain Edit. The colors, typography and the simplicity of the designs are breathtaking. I really wish more designers these days would create in this way.

Vintage Maps

Posted on June 29, 2009July 7, 2009 Posted in Design, International Typographic StyleTagged brochure, graphic design, International Typographic Style, maps, vintage4 Comments

Shell Atlas

Here’s an awesome collection of vintage maps that Scott Hansen has compiled. I love this kind of stuff and I always scour eBay for these gems. The simplicity of these cover designs is fantastic. I wish they still looked this good. We now have to settle for this kind of crap.

The Corinthian

Posted on March 24, 2009March 24, 2009 Posted in PhotographyTagged camera, photo, Photography, snapshot, vintage17 Comments

I don’t post much about my photography, maybe it’s because I don’t shoot enough to warrant it, but I want to change that. I’ve been thinking about my next camera and it comes down to a Nikon D90 or a Leica D-Lux 4. The Leica is winning because it’s compact and I’ll use it more, but I don’t like the lack of a short depth of field.

Anyway, I currently use a basic Panasonic FX33 which isn’t even good for family photos. I sometimes manage to get some decent shots from it like the one above. I came across this interesting apartment building in Manhattan and just snapped away. The curves of the building and the gray sky made for some excellent silhouettes. You can view more photos of the building here. I also snapped this nice pic this past weekend.