—Francis Bacon

—Confucius

from Singapore…

This lovely poster caught my eye… “The lives of animals revolve around their living space, the rainforest. And since animals are not able to speak for themselves, the destruction of their habitat leaves them suffering in silence.”

(source)

—Mark Twain

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“Weapons of Mass Creation” is a poster series by Justin Kamerer (aka Angryblue) that juxtaposes creative tools with destructive weapons (two posters from the series are shown here). The posters are for sale as limited edition screen prints…

(source)

—H. L. Mencken

Düsseldorf, Germany

“Beginning in 1928, Gerd Arntz, commissioned by Otto Neurath, developed the Isotype visual dictionary, consisting of over 4000 symbols. The idea was that images can bridge differences of language, are easy to grasp and, when done well, are also nice to look at. The legibility of Isotype is determined by the simplicity of its symbols. These should be instantly recognizable, without any distracting detail…”

Read more about this amazing undertaking and see hundreds more of Gerd’s wonderful illustrated symbols here.

—Mark Twain

London, U.K.

Ronald Searle, the British cartoonist and caricaturist whose outlandishly witty illustrations for books, magazine covers, newspaper editorial pages and advertisements helped define postwar graphic humor, died on Friday (3 January) in Draguignan, in southeastern France, where he lived. He was 91.

Lampooning the foibles of the English class system as well as clerics, politicians and even other artists, Mr. Searle was often described as a latter-day version of the 18th-century British graphic satirist William Hogarth. His cartoons combined an ear for linguistic nuance with a caustic pen and brush. With just a few well-placed lines, he pierced the facades of his targets without resorting to ridicule or rancor…

Read the rest of a tribute by Steven Heller in a New York Times obituary here. View a wonderful, recent interview with Ronald Searle here.

(from the slopes of the vintage Alps)

“High-end UK dealer Vintage Seekers is offering an expertly curated selection of mid-century posters featuring ski resorts throughout the Alps and other destinations. These are all uncommon original prints and the price tags reflect that fact… those of us without the budget for these classic works of advertising art will have to admire them via our computer screens.”

Thanks to my colleague Carisa Romans for the source/link, here (where you can find more links and larger views).