Hot off the presses!

Been looking for the perfect tune to wrap up your Summertime? Look no further...
WALDRON MAHDI RICKS is the perfect fix.
Design by DesignWorks Garage
Photography by Robert Salsbury

We Survived the Man-Made Storm!

Wow! It’s hard to believe that I haven’t posted a thing since December of last year…but then again, THAT IS WHEN the constant loud drilling, sanding, and craziness started at the old resident/office of DesignWorks Garage!

So seven months later and after many lessons in the unreal Real Estate shenanigans of Jersey City, NJ….DesignWorks Garage has officially relocated to the west side of Van Vorst Park, not far from our old location!!!

We still have much reorganizing of desks and computer equipment to accomplish, but I just thought I should let all of you know that THE GARAGE HAS SURVIVED and we look forward to doing some killer design work for our loyal fans and customers in this last half of 2008!

OLLE!OLLE!OLLE!OLLE!OLLE!OLLE!OLLE!OLLE!

Wonderful and whimsical Swedish bird resurfaces at your local Urban Outfitters no less. I don’t normally like to add to the consuming nature of our culture but I make exceptions for books….and well, I challenge you to find another book on Olle Eksell, famous Swedish graphic designer from the Swedish cocoa box! Information in English on this famous Swede is practically nonexistent! All the text in this one is in Japanese with a tiny bit of Swedish, having been published by Pie Books, 2006. Thank heavens for Pie! Who cares if you can’t read the text? Who else can do such wonderful things with sausages, birds and chocolates among other things? The pictures alone are enough to entertain the imagination and warm the webbed feet of the rare bird in all of us. So Run! Fly! to your nearest Urban Outfitters. It’s only 40 bills and worth every cent! Here is some more Olle just for you, including the cover of the this book.

Check It OUT!

Someone is making a nicely drawn graphic novel about Katrina! It appears to be a true story written and illustrated by Josh Neufeld. It is looking NICE! Josh. I can’t wait to read the whole story!
Link one
Link two

Finally somebody has made something worth having!

Panoramic, self-adhesive model railway wallpaper border!
This border is one continuous image with no repetition...Wooooo! Pick it up online at Rose and Radish

Shout Out to Laura Boutwell for finding this for me!

Short letterpress documentary...nice!

Butterfly Madness

The Monarch butterflies have gone crazy over DesignWorks Garage’s butterfly bushes or rather, I should say, our species (Buddleia davidii)! Rarely do these little guys stop moving, so it was challenging to snap a picture worth showing. Fortunately, this one seemed to capture the amazing wings and colorfulness of these small creatures even though it’s slightly blurred. Look at that fuzzy body! What is up with that?

An Inspiring Artist’s Studio and Home

Wharton Esherick (1887-1970) was a wood-working genius. He has been hailed the "Dean of American Craftsmen" by the national art and design community. I had no idea there was a national art and design community but nevermind that. Thankfully he left behind an amazing studio which is now a National Historic Landmark for Architecture. It’s filled with over 200 works of art—paintings, woodcuts, sculpture, furniture, and utensils.

Anyone can visit and tour this beautiful studio/museum in Paoli, PA by calling in advance and making a reservation. It’s well worth the trip for a very intimate look at this artist’s life and personal vision.

He created every detail of this studio/house (from the walls down to a fork in his kitchen) with help from neighbors, friends, artists, and family. Remember friends, this was before powertools, so everything is made with hand tools similar to those used by eastern Pennsylvania's original pioneer builders.

The house also contains an original self-portrait painting, many original sculptures and original woodblock prints by the artist. Restrike prints, notecards from Esherick’s woodcut images, and interesting books and periodicals about the artist are available for sale in the Museum shop which is located in what was once Wharton’s garage! Sounds like another DesignWorks Garage to me!