CHECKERED PAST

 

 

Despite being a remake of a 1938 poster, this 2010 silkscreen composition by the Swiss design collective known as Grotesk.cc has to qualify as an original.

GRIPPING

 

Aluminum barbecue tongs. Seriously.

STICKING POINT

 

 

When Frank Stella is out of reach, there’s always this: a fine looking 36″ vinyl wall sticker.

PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE

In the late 1980′s, American political indifference met its match in the unbridled anger of the New York City activist/artist group, Gran Fury, which countered official dithering over how to address the AIDS epidemic with graphic messaging that still startles decades later.

Gran Fury–which took its name from a car model used by New York City’s police force–launched a blistering propaganda campaign that snatched the AIDS narrative away from an ineffective local and national establishment, and reframed the crisis in terms that could no longer be ignored.

But shock value wasn’t Gran Fury’s only weapon.  More thought-provoking pieces, like 1989′s four-page New York Crimes, smartly and effectively outlined the city’s willful disregard for the suffering of a marginalized community.

SNEAK PEEK

 

 

A pair of eyes look out from a section of a keyboard in Oliver Munday’s illustration for an editorial on password theft.

STRAW POLL

 

Drinking straws as design objects? Why ever not? These Austrian ones–comprised of borosilicate (laboratory) glass–are exquisitely hand crafted, subtly colored, reusable, and preposterously good-looking. And, yes, pricey.

ROUND TWO

 

 

Studio Lin’s proposed visual identity for the Queens Museum of Art was previously featured on this site, and remains a favorite mark. This logotype was created for Stampa, a website that sells limited edition prints by artists.

EYE POPPING

 

 

A beach towel with some very direct messages, from Barbara Kruger.

BLANKET STATEMENT

Would love to have one of these just to admire, never mind use: a 100% Swiss Army blanket, in all its basic purity.

COUNTER PRODUCTIVE

 

Corian, it turns out, is not just for kitchens anymore. The synthetic surface material commonly used for counter tops is officially in the jewelry business. These rings are made from Corian and lined in very brightly colored felt. Hmm.