Signs (and wonders)

Berlin: vintage metal-box neon

I’m not sure what attracts me to these metal box signs. Perhaps it’s their bulky physical presence, the seams, the dents, the peeling paint, the dirt — or the simple fact that they were crafted by hand. An internal backlash to years of staring at 2-dimensional representations of mathematical constructs?
Yeah, I think that might [...]

Berlin, Moabit: ’50s signage + glass mosaic wall

Spotted in a working-class neighborhood in a northern part of Berlin — the storefront of a ’50s-era architectural glass workshop, sheathed in gloriously ’50s style tiny glass mosaics.
The signage is even more beautiful … yeesh, need I write anything at all? Those colors, that texture, the Bauhaus-meets-the-Fifties vernacular letterforms … Just. So. Cool.

Berlin, Mitte: handpainted sign from the 1930s

I spotted this sign on the side of a recently renovated building in Berlin’s hipster-cum-yuppie neighborhood “Mitte“. Every year more and more money pours into this area, and more of the gorgeous multi-story turn-of-the-century buildings here — fallen into terrible disrepair during the 60-odd years of Communist rule — are brought back to life.
Because [...]

Fluent Self: “the Dissolve-O-Matic”

Fluent Self Dissolve-O-Matic

The “Dissolve-O-Matic” is the latest in the series of illustrations created for Havi Brooks’ self-work products, in the quirky style semi-officially dubbed “Steampunk meets Yellow Submarine”… »

Berlin S-Bahn portal + graffiti

In anticipation of my annual journey to Germany, an alluring photo of a partially obscured green and white S-Bahn sign — these ubiquitous, illuminated typographic symbols beckon Berliners towards the over/underground network which (along with the U-Bahn) connects the re-unified metropolis with shining, singing rails.

Humor in the produce department

The work of some smarty-pants at the Alberta Street Co-op — intended to quell the fears of the squeamish, or quash the hopes of vampires straying into the produce department?
Can’t say for sure, but it succeeded in inducing an involuntary chuckle from me.

Berlin — Bau und Moebeltischlerei

Gorgeous modernist signage for a cabinet maker’s shop in the Bergmannstrasse, Berlin, dating from (I believe) the late ’20s — early ’30s. The typography, the colors, the arched entryway and even the textures of the metal and painted surfaces … beautiful.
I can’t get enough of photographing signs, type, and even graffiti in Berlin … the [...]

Alexanderplatz

The fabulous commie sign over “Alex”, the famous train station in east Berlin more properly known as Bahnhof Alexanderplatz. It’s a beautiful sign, severely elegant — installed (I believe) during a retrofit in 1964.
This style of 3-D illuminated letterform is seen all over Germany’s capital city, a look that’s so appealingly tactile that I [...]

The Calyx Design blog – an online journal of creative inspiration, design experience, and a magpie-esque pouncing upon of bright and shiny things.