Heinz Edelmann was the chief designer for the Beatles animated film Yellow Submarine. He died on Tuesday. He was a great illustrator and graphic designer.

Read more about him on the New York Times.

We have become enamored with Hans Ledwinka and his Tatra T 87. Hans was the chief designer at the Czech car company Tatra from 1921 to 1937. He designed some very beautiful streamlined cars that were technologically advanced. Jay Leno did a great video about his Tatra. Check it out.

Hans Ledwinka

Tatra 600

We just got back from Nashville where we visited the Hatch Show Print letterpress. They have been in business since 1879 printing a wide variety of very cool stuff. Interestingly enough there is an article in Forbes magazine about the revival of letterpress printing.

Forbes – Print Isn’t Dead

Hatch Show Print Exhibit

Hatch Show Print Gallery

I came across this and thought it quite amusing. You don’t often get videos about fonts. I prefer to hang with the Helvetica gang. This brings a whole new meaning to tagging.

The Texas drivers license just got a makeover. It is uglier than the last. If Texas wants to improve its standing in the design world then they need to get a good Texas design firm to design their drivers license and safety inspection sticker. They have been poor for years and reflect badly on the great state of Texas. If they can get outside firms to do advertisements why can’t they do the same for graphic design?

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6387283.html

The film and interactive part of SXSW are winding down today. The Music part is on the way! Ward Sutton is a poster artist who did a SXSW poster 10 years ago. I think it is brilliant! Be sure to check out the Flatstock show

Flatstock

Ward Sutton

I went to see the premier of the documentary film Objectified by Gary Hustwit. Gary Hustwit directed Helvetica a couple of years back. It was an interesting look at industrial design and our relationship with objects. I recommend it to anyone interested in industrial design, consumerism and sustainability. I have been interested in the work of Marc Newson for some time and it was good to see an interview with him. The interviews with Jonathan Ive were quite good as well. The film is showing again on Tuesday during SXSW.

http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/about/

http://sxsw.com/film/screenings/schedule/?a=show&s=F16467

We finally redesigned our website. It was a long time coming. Hopefully we can make this blog worthwhile to the design community here in Austin.