letters

I love today’s pairing. Two very different takes on where mail should go. Big thanks to Nick Elsden for sharing his awesome picture taken in London. I’m not sure what kind of establishment this is, all I know is that letters are <— that way. Instead of painting a random green square on top of the bricks, the artist got creative and painted one brick green and hand painted the word with a killer arrow (seriously, look how sharp that is!) underneath to direct traffic.

In stark contrast is the picture Mårten Thavenius took in Florence, Italy. While this was also done by hand, it obviously has a much different vibe. In Nick’s picture, I imagine a young guy listening to music (way too loud) on his headphones with a messenger bag strapped across his chest making the daily mail delivery. He is randomly directed where to go by the hand painted lettering. In Mårten’s picture, I imagine a very important person with an official role delivering the mail. It is serious business. There is no messing around. This is where it goes and it is delivered here at the same exact moment every day. Like clockwork.

That’s what I see when I look at letters.

graffitiweek: pro

Yeah.

Whatever you’re thinking when you see this picture. That.

*swoon*

Thanks Stephen Kenny for sharing this with me. It’s one of my most favorite pics. I found some other pictures here and the other side of the debate here.

After doing some investigating, I have found out that this vandalism is also his work. Awesome.
The artist goes by the name Ben Eine (real name Ben Flynn) and this is his website with a TON of pictures of his amazing work. Bookmark that sucker!

Back at it on Monday!

graffitiweek: the ice cream has it

Both of these illustrations blow my mind. Special thanks to my buddies Stephen Kenny and Craig Hazan for sharing their pictures with me. The colors in Stephen’s picture are so vibrant and beautiful. I’m thinking that 3 eyed kitty is holding some kind of a magical ice cream cone. She’s running like the wind to deliver it to her friends who literally CAN.NOT.WAIT. I think if I was walking down the street and I saw this graffiti just hanging out on the side of a building, I’m pretty sure I’d pass out.

groceries

Today’s pairing is two grocery stores in two very different cities. Big thanks to Catherine Flood for sharing her picture taken in London. The minute I saw this picture I thought of the picture I too in Pittsburgh. This was a drive by shooting (ok, that sounds bad) so I’m really bummed that I didn’t get to zoom in on the details but I did the best I could with what I had:

Ugh! Boo you blurriness!

recessed concrete numbers

Here are two pictures that just seemed like a match. Big thanks to Raymond Manookian for sharing his picture taken in London, England. I love the personality of the numbers and how the 0‘s are overlapping.

I took the picture of the fire department in Richmond. What caught my eye was the beautiful way the type and numbers are handled at the top of the building. I was in a car, this was a drive by shooting. Here’s an attempt at a close up:

Totally digging the interlocking numbers. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Look at the 8! Such detail for something that most people won’t pay any attention to.

3D type

I have been very fortunate with the pictures from around the world I get to use on my blog. I’m not the world traveler as it appears (dang!) but I love receiving pictures and seeing the amazing differences (and similarities!) of typography from different regions. If you are wondering where I get the majority of my pictures from, read this. Today’s pairing is a great example.

I thought both of these examples of 3D typography made a really neat comparison. Big thanks to @GoodFontBadFont for sharing their picture of a station kiosk. Each letter is just stunning. Same is true for the letters in London. Thanks MinHan Lin for letting me use this image. Such a different use of type but equally stunning. I’ve never seen anything like this before. And what’s up with that bad ass rat?! What a lucky rat for getting to live under POINT.

a match made in heaven

This is one of those pairings that just seemed destined to be put side by side. They are a match made in heaven. Thanks to Stephen Kenny for sharing his picture taken in London. I love the intricate drop shadow and the great use of orange. Same can be said about the picture taken in Brooklyn. Thanks to Craig Hazan for sharing his picture. In both pictures, I find it interesting how the artist was like ‘screw you vertical ridges!’ I would have found it to be a huge bummer if I had to hand paint on top of a surface that wasn’t smooth. Hand painting type is an enormous challenge as it is. These artist totally used the ridges to their advantage and did an amazing job. Not only that, I actually think it enhances the look of the type.

graffitiweek: the 80′s vibe

To wrap up this week’s #graffitiweek, I’m sending a big thank you across the pond to Stephen Kenny for sending in these amazing pictures taken in London. Is it me or do these have an awesome 80′s vibe (yes! what’s up 1982!). Here’s the group shot and a couple of close ups:

Just to add an extra dose of inspiration to your day, check out Stephen’s awesome website, A Two Pipe Problem, a letterpress shop based in East London.

Thanks for all the submissions and support for #graffitiweek. It’ll make a comeback next month. As always, tweet me any pictures you deem blog worthy to @nikki_vz anytime! Back to the grind on Monday. Happy weekend!

graffitiweek: robots

I’ve been looking forward to having another #graffitiweek and I thought what better way to kick it off than with a couple of awesome robots! Big thanks to Rob Turpin for sharing his picture taken in London. The minute he shared it on instagram, I fell in love with the colors, the graffiti, the robot. It’s pretty much the trifecta of awesomeness.

I had taken the picture in Pittsburgh and actually had to do another loop to actually get this shot. The placement of the robot was hard to see and I almost missed it. But I gotcha, dude! It looks like he’s looking at Rob’s friendly robot like they are long lost buds. Love it!

Be a part of #graffitiweek by tweeting your pictures to @nikki_vz !

graffitiweek: birds

In the spirit of the Olympics, I had to include this picture taken by Stephen Kenny in London. Thanks Stephen for sharing your picture! This bird looks less than thrilled to be carrying the Olympic torch (why?!) and he’s doing the unthinkable on the blue ring (why?!). I love the colors and the random trap door under his bum. For more confusion, it appears he’s wearing a hat with the letter R. What does the R stand for? For today’s purposes, it’s a shout out to his bird friends in Richmond, VA.

I love these 2 very different takes on birds in 2 different cities. Here’s a close up of the birds in Richmond:

Keep those #graffitiweek pics coming! Tweet them to me @nikki_vz to be included.