Rockport, Massachusetts

Here’s a fantastic reference tool “for the purpose of appreciation and categorization” of book cover designs and designers—browse by title, author, designer, art director, photographer, illustrator, genre, publication date, publisher, or typeface used (with extended links): The Book Cover Archive.

Thanks to Ian McCausland for the link.

London, U.K.

It’s hard not to be inspired by da Vinci—his sheer genius is undeniable. I was delighted to be able to take in an exhibition of 60 working wooden models of Leonardo’s inventions (faithfully recreated from his drawings by a team of skilled Florentine artisans) while visiting Wellington, New Zealand last November; the Leonardo da Vinci Machines Exhibition. So it was with great pleasure that I came across a post by Carleton Wilson re: the Universal Leonardo website, as inspiring and comprehensive an online resource regarding the great Italian master as the title would suggest—and definitely worth exploring.

Images of inventions from the ‘Browse’ section of the website: Leonardo’s self-propelled cart, flying machine, and giant crossbow.

Vancouver, Providence, Stockholm, Adelaide, New York…

My girlfriend Ev and I received a large box filled with wine-making paraphernalia from her parents for Christmas (admittedly I had enthused about the brilliant home-made dandelion wine I’d encountered last summer at friend Stefanie’s place in Banff, made by her Park Interpreter roommate Laurie Schwartz from prolific back-yard gleanings)… so, naturally, wine-making and wine labels are now on my radar.

Although I’ve encountered some beautiful labels over the years (some were included in the Communication Arts magazine feature I wrote re: design in Australia a few years back), I’ve never really designed any (other than informal labellings for libations given out at Circle from time to time). Serendipitously, a variety of wine label references have crossed my desk over the past week… and shown above are a few that caught my fancy. (Thanks to Gerald Brandt, Mirko Humbert, and Matt Warburton for the links.)

Images (from top): Garagiste Wines (a clever name for “guys who make wine in their garages”) by Matt Warburton; Whatchamacallit for Spit Decisions by Brandever; Dirty Laundry, also by Brandever; B Frank by Talia Cohen; Esule by Mash; Oriel Wines by Julia Hoffmann; Sav (made of birch sap) by Stockholm Design Lab.