Print Craft from Visual Inclination on Vimeo.

Print fever Pt. II

Hope you all had a healthy and happy holiday filled with food, friends and family. Yes, Santa was good to me this year (apparently three speeding tickets doesn't put me on the naughty list). My favorite gift under the tree:

Patagonia Daily Grind bag:
I'ma get my carry on ...

Need to refuel the inspiration tank? Check out part II of For Print Only's best print design projects of 2010. Delicious!

Print fever

Under Consideration's For Print Only blog unvieled its Best Print Projects of 2010 list today. There's some really crisp work by designers that are maximizing the impact print design can have. Will 2011 be the year of paper?

Grace Potter Fall Tour Poster

Awesome silkscreen poster promoting Grace Potter's fall tour.

Being the band is from Vermont, they asked a Vermont designer to create it. Definitely has a Green-Mountain feel to it. Read more about it here.

Bike City

There is a "bike city" developing in South Carolina? Read here.

Ahh, imagine: A city with happy people strolling around on their bicycles, baskets full of groceries, no exhaust or road rage ... well, maybe some occasional road rage.

Paper, paper, paper

I just got a new job as marketing coordinator at Finch Paper LLC., an integrated paper mill in Glens Falls, NY, that makes high-quality, uncoated white paper.

In my first two weeks I have been overloading my brain with information about the paper business and the technology involved -- and adjusting to the leap from newspaper journalism into the marketing world. My job involves a lot of writing for and editing our website and blogs, as well as promotional materials, spec sheets, and any other text-heavy projects in the works.

One of the things I love about the new job is that graphic designers are an important demographic that we work with on a daily basis, trumped only by the merchants and commercial printers that buy our paper by the ton. Therefore, I am surrounded by great print design each day, fueling what is becoming a print addiction.

Now, before I started this job, I was always one who would say "save a tree, send an email." Well, our head forester at Finch Paper, one of the most respected in his field, has totally changed my perspective. He contends that cutting down trees is not only OK, but that sustainable forestry is needed to ensure the long-term health of forests. It's a really interesting topic that you can read more about here. (Shameless plug: All of Finch's papers are Sustainable Forestry Initiative and FSC-certified).

If you're a designer, it's likely that you or someone you know has used Finch Paper for a print campaign in the past. It's an affordable option to bigger paper companies and -- because it's an integrated mill and more agile in that respect -- it can ensure great customer service. But I I won't use my blog to promote Finch too much, I guess there's just something really satisfying about promoting print for a living. It's tangible, personal and renewable.

So check out Finch Paper's blog, In The House. It highlights design projects printed on Finch Paper and other innovations in the design world. While you're at it, check out For Print Only (FPO), a great blog that highlights the best printed projects out there. A true inspiration for designers and proof that print is far from "dead".

"I used to write letters, I used to sign my name ... I hope that something pure can last." -- Arcade Fire

Avi Buffalo - What's In It For?

Really getting into Avi Buffalo lately. In the comments for the video, pepijnn7 is spot on when he/she says "this is where MGMT meets The Shins."



I'm also excited to hear that the lead vocalists from Dawes, Deer Tick and Delta Spirit have formed the band Middle Brother and will release an album in March. These are all solid bands I would recommend checking out and I can imagine their collaboration will be pure magic. I sure hope they play near my neck of the woods.

Band of Horses The Funeral Austin City Limits 2010

I you're like me, you'll be sitting in front of a TV on Jan. 15 to watch Band of Horses perform their Austin City Limits set on PBS. Word has it they perform material from all three of their albums, including the most recent release, Infinite Arms.

This number, performed at Austin City Limits fest this summer, is off their first album, Everything All The Time.

No One's Gonna Love You (Paul Epworth Mix) - Clean

Gotta love Cee Lo Green, especially when he covers Band of Horses' "No One's Gonna Love You" on his new album.

Update on my story in Powder ski mag

I was contacted by the rad dudes at Powder Magazine in sunny San Clemente, CA. Turns out my story got bumped up an issue and will be published in January rather than February!! The title, as I understand, will be called "'Dack To The Future" and will be located in the Fall Line department of the mag.

I'm so psyched about this, you don't even know!

It features some interesting info about the history of skiing in New York's Adirondack Park and also features some never-before published photos from the 1930s.

Keep an eye out for it on newsstands in January.

-J

New Bright Eyes album

Bright Eyes, featuring Conor Oberst of the Mystic Valley Band and Monsters of Folk, will be releasing the band's seventh studio album, "The People's Key," on Feb. 15. The full track listing was posted on Conner Oberst's site.

Full track list for The People’s Key:

1 Firewall
2 Shell Games
3 Jejune Stars
4 Approximated Sunlight
5 Haile Selassie
6 A Machine Spiritual (In The People’s Key)
7 Triple Spiral
8 Beginner’s Mind
9 Ladder Song
10 One For You, One For Me

It's one that should be really good, however Oberst is not exactly predictable. I will link to any pre-released tracks in coming months. In the meantime, here's a couple cool videos: