Wardrobe Update

It's time to spiff up your wardrobe for the fall season. Why not enjoy some type t-shirts? (Middle-distance upward stare in optional.)

When the Spirits Move You

 

Every designer hits the wall. You're working feverishly on a project and reach a dead end. Ideas stop flowing... you look with increasing disdain at the work you've done... you need fresh ideas, new inspiration. Soon you find yourself staring at a bottle of booze.

But instead of looking for the liquid to inspire fresh ideas, perhaps the bottle itself could. That's certainly the case with packaging from Stranger & Stranger. The bi-continental firm specializes in souping up the sauce. Their designs for beer, wine, and spirits are intricate, nuanced, and—like a smooth pour—timeless.

Duckpin Pale Ale

Just in time for the fall bowling season, Union Craft Brewing has rolled out Duckpin Pale Ale. And what fine city would produce such a beer? Why, Baltimore of course. Now you can celebrate Charm City's two favorite pastimes at once: duckpin bowling and getting drunk. Bottoms up!

h/t to Chris for the find

2012 Calendars

What better way to start the year than with a fresh letterpress calendar?

Pictured above is Studio on Fire's 2012 desktop calendar. The theme of the set, "positive apocalypse", is appropriate for both the mom and the emo kid in your life. And how about calendars for those others in your life?: the bicyclist, the Chiroptera enthusiast, the naturalist, and that preachy designer-type.

Enjoy, and a happy, inky new year!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Pantone

Now that Columbus Day has passed, it's time to decorate for Christmas!
Get a colorful jump with these Pantone-licensed "Xmas Balls" from Seletti.

(Hat tip to Santa James)

Ink-scented Wretches

Sniff your screen.
That's right, sniff up here close and tell me what you smell. What? Nothing?

That's right. As much as this blog might stink, it doesn't stink. Absent in electronic communique is the familiar scent of ink on paper, a nasal elixir for us printers. For those missing the olfactory experience of reading, enter The Times of New York candle. Combining “hints of guaiacwood, cedar, musk, spice, with a powdery note and velvet nuance," this candle will emit everything you love about your morning paper–except the ink.

What'll it cost you to capture that ol' smell? Just $65. (Or you can subscribe to the real thing for $7.40 a week.)

Type Nerd App

Unless you're obsessed with type—or like to chide those who are—stop reading now.

Now you can think about type 24-7 via the iPhone app "KERN". The idea is to score points by inserting missing letters into design-related words while maintaining optimal letterspacing and avoiding unnecessary ligatures. (If you have no idea wtf this means, remember, you were warned.)

Since I haven't actually downloaded the app, below is a mix of user reviews and my own snarky commentary. Guess which is which:

A. "This app should come with its own black mock turtleneck!"

B. "What may be the first and only video game in history with the potential to get typographers all hot and bothered.”

C. "The iPhone's first design-nerd game."

D. "Better than a girlfriend."

Cookiegraphy

How appropriate are these? Helvetica cookie cutters.

Ewwwww

Like a reverse Secret Santa, every office has their own Sandwich Grinch. You know, that employee who enjoys pilfering someone else's lunch. Want to avoid being the next target? Protect your grub with these anti-theft lunch baggies from Lost at E Minor. They're preprinted with moldy splotches, making your sandwich an instant turnoff. Viola, no more roast beast for the Grinch.

(While you're over at Lost at E Mionor, check out their Bob Ross coverage.)

2009 Holiday Gift Spectacular

In a pinch for some last-minute stocking stuffers? Let us help you outfit your designer buddy in time for eggnog drinking:

Gotta start with a t-shirt, right? Will it be Cooper Black or the Original Design Gangsta? Either will go nicely with a set of Pantone espresso mugs. Better include a nifty, typographic coaster so your designer friend doesn't scald the table. Why not slip in a fashionably nerdy, broken image necklace, then top it all off with an old skool, dot-matrix wallet?

Congratulations, you're now a new best friend.

Stock up for '10

If you're thinking of stuffing a few stockings with printed goodies this holiday season, look no further than Yee Haw Industries' letterpressed calendars. There are a couple dozen crazy-awesome designs to chose from. And if you're looking to stuff our stocking with printed goodies this season, we like these ones. We're just sayin' is all.

A Night of House

One of our favorite font houses is holding an exhibition at the Type Directors Club in New York City this Tuesday night. House Industries will be showcasing their work in an exhibit titled "Type as Object". Perhaps better still, they'll selling their distinctive type-related items (including the blocks shown above). Many more of their wares can be found here, including the best nativity set ever. And thanks to Mom and Dad M., you can see it up close and personal at Duckpin HQ.

Feeling a Bit Dirty?

Your friends at Fred Flare have just what you didn't know you needed: 3-D type soap. Though I doubt anything with a "crushed ice" scent is going to do much about that ink underneath your fingernails, at least you'll look cool scrubbing up.

The letters on this soap don't appear to spell out anything in particular. If you were to make your own word soap, what would it say?

Ampersand Cufflinks

For the well-dressed printer, Veer is offering ampersand cufflinks. While the dress code at Duckpin is what you might term "industrial casual" or perhaps even "lazy," we'd welcome these smart accessories anytime.

Duckpin Swag

Fresh in from the Duckpin satellite office in sunny Florida, Jim models the white tee and large coffee mug. Be like Jim and get yours today. You don't even need to have white hair -- the shirts are also available in young people's sizes.

Photo by Mrs. Jim

Progress as Process

The march of time leaves many remnants in its wake. As letterpressers, we're keenly aware that the treasures in our collection are the detritus of a once-thriving industry. There's a long history built into each font of type we own, and pondering its previous life is a frequent diversion in the shop -- along with playing "what's that smell?"

From old letterpress equipment to rotary phones to manual typewriters, the road to progress is littered with obsolete technology. Red Camper has capitalized on this by taking outmoded film-based slides and upcycling them into handbags and laptop bags. Now you can anachronistically tote around your laptop to upload photos from your vacation in Cleveland. The best part? Instead of struggling to set up a rusty projection screen for a captive audience, you can now bore your friends simply by sending them your Flickr page.

Who says progress isn't wonderful?

Drop Caps, Not Bombs

Someday we're gonna put together a comprehensive guide to all the corny (aka awesome) graphic design themed t-shirts out there. For now, though, we'll continue running through them piecemeal. Enjoy the latest from Mental Floss, Duckpin's favorite magazine.

Pimp Out 'n Print Out

You can now sport the finest in Duckpin threads by visiting our Cafe Press store. You'll find men's tees, women's tees, kids stuff, a coffee mug and more. We didn't mark up the base rates for the merch, so the prices are as low as they can be. In other words, this thing ain't making us any money, but it is making you look good!

Thanks to Chris B. for the nudge to make this happen. Happy shopping!

Better Make Mine Decaf

This tribute to Helvetica makes me laugh every time I see it. Raise a mug to your overcaffeinated typographer friend. If you don't have an overcaffeinated typographer friend, consider yourself lucky. They're really no fun to have around. Especially when they insist on calling out the typeface on every piece of signage they pass by. Wanna know how annoying that is? Ask Christine, 'cause Pete does it all the time. She likes to call it "Font Tourette's".

Now if we could just find this mug in Hobo....