Hiroshima, Japan

This is a day that weighs heavy on the hearts of pacifists and peacemakers every year… 65 years ago today, at 08:15 on Monday, 6 August, 1945 the first nuclear weapon ever deployed on human beings (a bomb named Little Boy) was dropped on Hiroshima by the crew of the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay. Several days later, at 11:02 on Wednesday, August 9, Nagasaki was the target of the world’s first plutonium bomb (named Fat Man) dropped by the U.S. B-29 Superfortress Bockscar, flown by the crew of 393rd Squadron.

In 2005, I was one of 24 designers invited to contribute posters to Lest We Forget: Canadian Designers on War, an initiative marking the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (I’ve posted on that previously, here).

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A clever poster by Joey Roth… sent to me by Gregor Brandt (via kottke.org).

Davos, Switzerland

My brother Phil (together with his über-energetic wife Tammy) has just completed the highest high altitude marathon in Europe—the gruelingly beautiful 42.2 km Swiss Alpine Marathon. The pair ran side by side from start to finish along a demanding route, partially on rough mountain trails, with a total ascent of 1890 meters and a descent of 1710 meters. A record number of participants (5910 entrants) and stellar weather helped make the event an unforgettable experience. More information about the race here.

Congratulations, you two!

Munich, Germany

A year ago, I posted about some lovely illustrations I had come across from Simplicissimus, the satirical German weekly magazine started by Albert Langen in April 1896 and published through 1967 (with a hiatus from 1944-1954). Combining brash and politically daring content, the magazine sported a bright, immediate, and surprisingly modern graphic style… today I came across the online Simplicissimus motherlode, here.

Above images: Simplicissimus covers from 1924, 1929, and 1930 respectively.

Caldas da Rainha, Portugal

Rosa Quitério is a design student I met at ESAD/CR during the days I spent in Caldas in May this year—she had earlier contributed to the feature on Portuguese design I’d written for Communication Arts magazine. Imagine my surprise and delight when I received a beautiful time-themed linocut engraving by post from Rosa last week (printed on Artistico + Fabriano paper, 390 mm x 558 mm). She recalled my mentioning that I was fond of clocks (which she is too it seems)…

Obrigado!

I wasted time, and now doth time waste me;
For now hath time made me his numbering clock:
My thoughts are minutes; and with sighs they jar
Their watches on unto mine eyes, the outward watch,
Whereto my finger, like a dial’s point,
Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears.

Now sir, the sound that tells what hour it is
Are clamorous groans, which strike upon my heart,
Which is the bell: so sighs and tears and groans
Show minutes, times, and hours.

—King Richard in Richard II by William Shakespeare