Sustainability

Steam Punk is the retro fitting of retro fits. It is ironic nostalgia for the Victorian past - the complexity of old steam-run machinery. The great turbines that ran the early technologies are now mere chips. But one thing remains the same: Steam furnaces. They may look a bit more sleek - more like refrigerators [...]

Read the full article →

(This piece is a much expanded version of an article co-written with photographer/writer John Gruber for Print Magazine and the British trade mag Ads International in 1998.) The thought of Chicago in the 1920’s usually conjures up images of gangsters, Prohibition, and other Roaring 20’s clichés, but there was another movement in the Chicago area [...]

Read the full article →

The Bruce Lee craze of the 1970s produced an endless array of merchandise in the hopes of cashing in on the world-renowned martial artist’s popularity – especially after his untimely death in 1973 at the age of 32. I'd been a fan of his since he'd played "Kato" in the old "Green Hornet" TV series, [...]

Read the full article →

It seemed like a fun idea to take advantage of the upcoming holiday season and post a retrospective of some JJSP holiday greeting cards! Even though we did half of them in-house, I have to say that the ones we did with designers and artists OUTside the studio were more fun! It also gave us [...]

Read the full article →

  desigNYC's mission is to improve the lives of New Yorkers through the power of design. desigNYC is a platform that connects talented designers interested in civic engagement with extraordinary nonprofits serving the public good. The focus is local. The approach is multi-disciplinary. The process is participatory and community-centric. Each year desigNYC pairs nonprofit organizations [...]

Read the full article →

When it comes to using a telephone these days, most people spend more time on a cellular phone than a hardwired device. Even the phonesets we use that are tethered to an outlet tend to be wireless. Folks are cancelling their traditional telephone service in exchange for their cellphone plans. And you can forget payphones [...]

Read the full article →

A graphic artist can gain fame while defying client expectations. German Expressionism can still inspire fine artists. Smart-ass sarcasm can baffle design judges. Oh, and Michele Bachmann and Dick Cheney are "DoucheBoobs." "Pivot," last week's AIGA National Conference in Phoenix, covered many other topics. Environmental sustainability and social responsibility were the most recurrent refrains. To [...]

Read the full article →

There is something beautiful about light bulbs and the way they were packaged back in the day when incandescent bulbs were new. We take it for granted that bulbs have always been with us and always will. Did you know the invention of the incandescent light bulb starts in the early 1800s. In 1809, an [...]

Read the full article →

You can never predict when SEX will sneak up from behind. It can creep in when least expected. So be vigilant! Be smart! Be protected! Save lives! So says the crew at  Grey Worldwide, Düsseldorf, Germany, in their "Sex is no accident. Always use a condom" campaign (stumbled upon by accident by Mirko Ilic). Well, [...]

Read the full article →

The bottle wars - plant vs. petroleum based containers - are heating up between Coke and Pepsi, notes the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (here): Two years after Coca-Cola Co. unveiled a bottle made partly from plant materials, PepsiCo says it is introducing a better one. The Purchase, N.Y. company says it has developed the world's first plastic [...]

Read the full article →