brooklyn

/ Don

A Typical Friday Night at Hometown Bar-B-Que

Tumbleweed

This Halloween, I found myself crossing two rivers by PATH, subway, and bus, to attend the jungle-themed party of a sustainable furniture studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The venue was fantastic. And while the party, libations, costumes, energy, and attendees were stocked in excess, the food was not. It was then that we remembered the massive, metal barbecues that we passed, one lot east of us. The smokers belonged to Hometown Bar-B-Que, he said. And though the lot had been rented to prepare the meat, they didn’t have any to sell.

Strike One.

I walked back to the party, dejected, and spoke with Dan, my host. He said that they had to use Eventbrite for ticket reservation because the previous year yielded unprecedented numbers. This year, they decided to cap the list at 650 attendees before declaring the party sold out. He then fished me and my friends a craft beer from the ice tub, and ladled a hearty serving of jungle juice for my date.

I wasn’t going to last long with this guy offering me free, hoppy beers all night. I returned to the entrance and Googled Hometown Bar-B-Que. Mitchell answered. Read more

/ Don

Animated Gifs, by Rebecca Mock

Rebecca Mock

A few months ago, the internet was all aflutter about a wonderful illustrated GIF that appeared on a New York Times opinion piece about Amtrak’s Quiet Car– the GIF was a sweet and subtle animation of the train interior with muted scenery flying by in the windows. This GIF magic was drawn by Brooklyn artist Rebecca Mock, who has a particular talent for creating charming illustrations with simple animated effects: in one GIF, the ceiling fan lazily spins above a sleeping couple, and in another, nothing is perceptibly moving besides a sign swinging in the wind and one lone “Don’t Walk” signal blinking alongside.  Read more

/ Don

Buttermilk, by Jessica Hische

buttermilk

I rarely get the opportunity to use script fonts. My dabbling in the geometric hand has, for the last ten years, been limited to IDs (see Frances Schultz) and Holiday Cards. For the most part, when hand-written fonts are used, I opt instead for the handwriting of calligraphers and illustrators within our network. Actually, the only deviation that I can think of was when we designed the Target Holiday Boat, in NYC’s Chelsea Piers, and that was a gross overuse of House Industries’ League Night (from the House-a-rama collection). And while I still absolutely love that face, which resembles more of  a hoe-down than a bowling jersey, Ms. Hische’s work has always inspired me to get in touch with the feminine fontographer inside of me. Buttermilk, as well, churns this feeling. As a result of my vulnerability in this catharsis, I believe you should buy Buttermilk and as a gift for all your clients prior to the upcoming holiday season, so that they may, in turn, return to you to design their holiday cards and identities.