Collections Department

The Winter Exhibitions are now live at The MoOM. It's a big update with lots of variety including The Internet Movie Cars Database, Sneezecount, 9000 TV Channel Logos and The Computer History Museum, where we found the above image, from a 1960s Beckman Instruments brochure. Plus, the second episode of our documentary series The Curators is coming soon. Consider joining our quasi-prestigious Board of Directors. There are virtually no benefits, snootiness or responsibilities, and as an added bonus, it isn't even tax free!

And God Was Alone With Him

Above the Sun

Perhaps a sign of things to come? "One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen." —Rene Daumal. Why did we do it? Because it is there. Or was anyhow. Presenting Above the Sun, a true story. Local Note: the film was part of Tom Skilling's blizzard special "Snowed Under," on WGN which is running again at 9:30pm on February 1, the anniversary of the storm.

From Field Notes Brand

Northerlies

This film documents our latest project from the workshop. More on our newest limited release, "The Northerly Edition" at Field Notes. 3packs of this bright white and silver release are now sold out but there are still a few available as part of a COLORS subscription.

JC at Creative Mornings

What Are You
Afraid Of?

Here's Jim's recent presentation from the inaugural edition of Chicago Creative Mornings. Thanks to Tina, Mig, Gravity Tank and everyone who showed up.

I Think I Read That Somewhere

Field Tested Books

If, like us, your New Years resolutions include reading more and better books, then here's a place to start. We've collected hundreds of books and had them Field-Tested online, including entries from George Saunders, Jonathan Eig, Jessa Crispin, Steven Heller, Lori Andrews, Michael Bierut, and many more. Or, buy the Field Tested Books Book which is available now for just nine bucks.

Search Different

Search Different

We've been working on this new project in secret, keeping the window shades drawn tight and shredding the paperwork along the way. And now we can finally announce it. Say hello to the next generation of search, a new product that promises to change the way people find things on The Internet. "Never Not Find What You’re Looking For Again." Plus, Peppermints! From CP Labs, the folks that brought you The RinseCam 9000™, so you know it's good.

Stuff About Stanley Kubrick

I Am Putting Myself
to the Fullest Possible Use, Which Is All I Think That Any Conscious Entity Can Ever Hope To Do

For the last ten years we've been collecting links and tossing them into various categories. As you probably have noticed, we're a bit of obsessed with a certain film director. Check our big, messy "Stuff About Stanley Kubrick" archive.

Oh This Old Thing?

Button Button

So you know. We've seen a little pick-up in Pinsetter orders lately so we thought we'd let you know that Pinsetter is still, um, setting pins.

This Plus This Equals That

Are You There Godsmack? It’s Me Margaret

This is the sort of thing that Twitter is especially good for, but a washroom full of chalkboard walls works too. A while ago we hosted a quick contest called Booking Bands in which we asked people to combine the name of a book with the name of a band. We received thousands of entries, posted a ton of them and then randomly selected three and sent those people the book and a CD from the band that they mashed together. The process of coming up with funny or unexpected associations in this contest became a central part of a presentation that JC gave at SXSW.

Poetry After the beep

Poetry After the Beep

On a whim, we asked people to read their favorite short poems into our answering machine for a project we called Verse By Voice. And they did, creating maybe the first-ever poetry meme. Make sure to listen to novelist Zadie Smith reading Frank O'Hara's Animals and Laura Demanski reading Gerard Manley Hopkins' Spring and Fall. Note: we didn't include what is surely not Christopher Walken reading EE Cummings, but that's worth a listen too. Jim talked about this project during his appearance on Public Radio's Hello Beautiful! and the photos are courtesy of Sam Javanrouh's Daily Dose of Imagery.

From The CP Labs

Shift Option Rinse

Can you really clean your computer keyboard in the dishwasher? With the help of the RinseCam 9000, Michele created a short film to find out.

January Guests Letterform

Fully Formed

Andy Schwegler and Julie Morelli (let) are the co-owners, operators and designers of Letterform, which just this month is celebrating its fifth anniversary. The company specializes in all things print design, incorporating hand lettering, photography, illustration, or whatever a particular project calls for. Their wide assortment of clients include the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Trunk Club, Quack! Media, Nice Cream, and Chicago musician Neil Dixon Smith. Andy and Julie also run Nourishing Notes, where they serve as the designers, illustrators and printers of their own line of foodie stationary. And as if that weren't enough, they fill whatever free time they have brewing their own beer, making their own mustard, experimenting in the kitchen, and buying books about typography. They can be found on Twitter at @letterforminc and for the month of January, they'll be right here, serving as our Guest Editors.

A list of all the brilliant people who have helped us by guest editing Fresh Signals can be found here.

Other recent features are listed on Page Two.

Fresh Signals

Michael Caine is, in fact, such a good Michael Caine impersonator, he was brought in to replicate Michael Caine's voice on Madness' hit "Michael Caine." bb-today

Nobody does a better impression of Michael Caine than Michael Caine. mcj-today

Apropos of nothing. Score for the main title sequence of The Magnificent Seven, by Elmer Bernstein. Enjoy loud. jc-today

"Alone!" jc-today

If you dug the Bleisatz Werkstatt Tutorial linked earlier today, you're probably going to want to meet Dan of Freeport Letterpress and "Wings." jc-today

Longtime FotA Steve Gadlin, creator of such projects as I Want to Draw a Cat for You and Two Film T-Shirts, will be appearing tonight on ABC's Shark Tank, where he's set to pitch more of his very sound business ideas to venture capitalists. Here's a preview. sd-today

Micro-budget music video for Sweet Lime by Congo Tardis #1. dw-today

From photographer Jonathon Kambouris: Beer Garden. ms-today

Look at the Camera, a collection of screen grabs from films when the fourth wall is broken. sd-today

Each opener is manually machined from cold formed steel and hand stamped with the production number. Finish is a dark gun blue with a light coat of wax to prevent rusting. The strap is sewn tanned leather. It has a solid weighty feel yet small enough to carry around. dw-today

For BB: a trip through B&H's conveyor system. sd-today

A city falling apart or a time when it still had some authentic grit? Photographer Steven Siegel's shots of New York in the 80s. Via Doobybrain. sd-today

"This is a book for readers - for eaters as much as cooks. You don't have to cook at all to enjoy it. My goal was to show just how good food can be at its very best." Edward Behr on his cookbook, The Art of Eating, a celebration of 25 years of the magazine by the same name. let-today

Amuse-bouche and Jell-o shot all in one?! Strawberry Margarita Jell-o Shooters. We never liked those big margarita glasses anyway. let-today

Bleisatz Werkstatt Tutorial, a brilliant film based on a seminar from The University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf called "Hot Type - Hand and Work." Credit the lovely cinematography and sound design to Lukas Loss & Roman Tönjes. Via Design Made in Germany. jc-today

"A digital park bench." Intel Visual Life looks at The Sartorialist. ms-today

Was Leonardo da Vinci's famous anatomical chart actually a collaborative effort? ms-today

Type porn relink for Coop. A London Street Scene. jc-today

NASA gives us this incredible high definition image of Earth. ms-today

What a grocer had to reference in 1886. The first cookbook published in America. 308 more cooking related titles here. let-yesterday

Typographica's favorite typefaces of 2011. jc-yesterday

Alex Gross paints on cabinet cards. dw-yesterday

"Thus, after your first game, you will be playing on a board unlike any other in existence, with cities positioned according to your whims, locations named by your opponents, and cards customized per the preferences of your game group." Matthew Baldwin reviews the innovative (and crazy) new version the classic game, Risk: Legacy. Cha-Ching. jc-yesterday

Kevin Guilfoile is the guest on James VanOsdal's podcast this week and talks about his novels, baseball and Wesley Willis. jc-yesterday

Trailer for Wild in the Streets, a documentary about the game of Shrovetide, which is still played in a small British village and is sort of like a football/rugby hybrid, but with thousands of players and spread across two very brutal days. sd-yesterday

The Meaning of Mate. dw-yesterday

A great collection of Vernacular Typography, or "Lettering in the Urban Environment." sd-yesterday

Short clip of Charles Cohen playing the Buchla Music Easel, one of only 14 built in the 1970s. Via Doobybrain. sd-yesterday

Related. David Hudson for Mubi on Room 237. Dig the poster. Plus, here's the official site. jc-yesterday

"...a compelling work of art that acts as a kind of mirror, especially for thoughtful people, who see aspects of themselves that are among the most precious things they have experienced... That's in the best sense. In some cases it might also be a paranoia that they want to expurgate in some way." Director Rodney Ascher on Room 237, a new feature documentary aiming to decipher Kubrick's The Shining. jc-yesterday

No matter your political preferences, here's an interesting look at the writing of the State of the Union Address. sd-yesterday

Photos of and recordings of the Gypsy Bands of Hungary. sd-yesterday

When retail expert Ron Johnson left Apple for JC Penny we suspected something interesting was going to happen. When creative head Michael Francis left Target to join him, we were even more sure. We were right. jc-yesterday

The Rijksmuseum has updated their hi-res image of Vermeer's "Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" which has been recently restored. Sublime. Much more on this painting from Jonathan Janson at The Essential Vermeer. jc-yesterday

Beyond the Borders of Postage Stamps, a lovely post at Colossal featuring the paintings of Molly Rausch. jc-yesterday

Olivier Kugler's Portfolio, an original, beautiful combination of sketching and reporting, "drawn from life." Via It's Nice That. jc-yesterday

Popeye and the gang rock out with Wilco. ms-01.25

Paralyzed by all of the choices in that SkyMall magazine? Mike Barish, Knower of Things, is here to help and it all starts with a Food Pillow. let-01.25

A rundown of 10 popular misconceptions. MS, you might not like the last one. sd-01.25

Two 17 year-olds sent a Lego man into space and filmed it. Via Mefi, where we like this comment, "It's official. Canada now has a better manned space program than the US." jc-01.25

Page Two contains the previous 40 Fresh Signals, recent features, a key to the icons and the categorical archives.

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