Pontedera, Italy

Remember Vespa? I sure do… first rode one during driver training and then tested on it for my German motorcycle license back in 1972. Recognized as the epitome of Italian design, manufactured in the tens of millions, and distributed to almost every corner of the earth, this iconic little scooter from the 1940s really is the cat’s pyjamas. Enjoy a fine selection of vintage Vespa images here.

Los Angeles, California

Good magazine has produced a chart showing how many small choices during the day can add up to a per person saving of 8600 L  (2270 U.S. Gallons) of water in a single day(!).

(thanks, Gregor)

From silhouettemasterpiecetheatre.com…

On this day in 1948 the Marshall Plan came into effect. Much of Europe was devastated with millions killed and wounded during World War II. Fighting had occurred throughout much of the continent, and sustained aerial bombardment meant that most major cities had been badly damaged, with industrial production especially hard-hit. Many of the continent’s greatest cities lay in ruins. The region’s economic structure was also ruined, and millions had been made homeless. Especially damaged was transportation infrastructure, as railways, bridges, and roads had all been heavily targeted by air strikes, while much merchant shipping had been sunk. Although most small towns and villages in Western Europe had not suffered as much damage, the destruction of transportation left them economically isolated. None of these problems could be easily remedied, as most nations engaged in the war had exhausted their treasuries in its execution.

The only major power whose infrastructure had not been significantly harmed in World War II was the United States (it had entered the war later than most European countries, and had only suffered limited damage to its own territory). American gold reserves were still intact as was its massive agricultural and manufacturing base, the country enjoying a robust economy. The war years had seen the fastest period of economic growth in the nation’s history, as American factories supported both its own war effort and that of its allies. After the war, these plants quickly retooled to produce consumer goods, and the scarcity of the war years was replaced by a boom in consumer spending. The long term health of the economy was dependent on trade, however, as continued prosperity would require markets to export these goods. The Marshall Plan aid would largely be used by the Europeans to buy manufactured goods and raw materials from the United States.

(Read more here).

Images: Marshall Plan poster (created by the Economic Cooperation Administration, an agency of the U.S. government, to sell the Marshall Plan in Europe—the blue and white flag between those of Germany and Italy is an incorrect iteration of the flag of the Free State of Trieste, a City state created by the United Nations Security Council in 1947); Burned out buildings in Hamburg after the bombing (taken in 1945 or 1946 by the UK government).

Since 1903…

The first box of Crayola crayons was sold 106 years ago for five cents and included the same colors available in the eight-count box today: red, blue, yellow, green, violet, orange, black and brown. Nearly 3 billion crayons are made each year (an average of 12 million daily)… find all 120 Crayon colour names (along with hex codes and RGB values), Crayon-inspired colour palettes, and more trivia about the ubiquitous little “oily-chalk” wax sticks here. (thanks Gregor)

Stockholm, Sweden

An intriguing re-telling of the Grimm Brothers’ well-known narrative—information design meets fairy tale. View the cleverly animated piece here.

(thanks Gregor Brandt)

Zürich, Switzerland

Otto Baumberger (1889–1961) was one of Switzerland’s first poster designers. As an employee of Wolfensberger AG in Zürich he gained a sound knowledge of lithographic techniques—which he used to advance the medium as evidenced in his design of over 200 posters. The diversity of his work exemplifies Swiss poster art in the first half of the twentieth century, showing the development from the painterly artist’s poster to corporate design shaped by graphic art. (I feel fortunate to have three of Otto’s posters in my personal collection).

Posters: “Educated shoppers shop at Globus,” 1934; Motor Comptoir, 1932; Qualité for PKZ, 1932; Swan, 1919; Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 1928; Zürich airshows in 1932 and 1937. (images via designboom)

Córdoba, Argentina

A portrait of (Ronald) Shakespear has mysteriously appeared in the form of anonymous grafitti on a park wall in this central Argentinian city, where the veteran designer was recently invited to talk to students. Says Ronald (quoting MacArthur): “I came through, and I shall return.” We don’t doubt it my friend, we don’t doubt it—though even the finest images can be fickle, and a pipe is not always a pipe… :-)

I’m not sure why—but I’ve been thinking about Joseph Beuys once again (deutscher Aktionskünstler, Bildhauer, Zeichner, Kunsttheoretiker und Pädagoge)… and then I came across the above image here (thanks to Silvie for the link).