Friend and former co-worker James Tolentino always impressed with his artistic and graphic talent. From his early wizardry with a spray can working walls to his more recent foray into more traditional canvas-based works, he has developed a unique style which evokes another era, but is solidly current and relevant, stylistically.

His current series, Ellay, presented in a stark black on white, displays a unique view of snippets of L.A. life. As part of Filter Magazine’s Barker Block Sunset Series, his work is on display The Barker Block on July 10 in Los Angeles.

Good interview of the fabulously funky Chuck Anderson over at iStock Photo. I’ve been following his work since he started and find it impressive that he not only carved his own niche with his unique style, but also spread his roots deep early on in his career by making the right connections, and through sheer talent and hard work. Be interesting to see his work in 5-10 years and how it evolves, if so.

Science Machine from Chad Pugh on Vimeo

Vimeo’s Chad Pugh has posted a feast for the eyes. It’s a stop motion (screencaps every 5 seconds) piece that unravels a fully-realized and richly detailed Illustrator vector composition. If you want to see a larger version and I’m sure you do, click here. 

This 1968 Oscar-winning film on the creative process comes from legendary graphic designer Saul Bass. I saw this as a kid and it inspired me deeply. This is the kind of work that sticks with you for generations. It doesn’t have the slickness of today’s design, but instead has a core simplicity that transcends style and trends, making it universally good in the same way that modernist architecture stands the test of time.

Unfortunately, this is only a 5-minute preview and you can’t queue it up in Netflix. The only version to buy is apparently available for $125 as a DVD series set.

Having sat idle for too long, my old friend and personal design site Filter9 has undergone a transformation. Rather than exist a static collection of music, art and etc, it’s now a flowing collection of music, art and etc that I will be updating continuously as new works roll out.

Featuring my personal art and photography (some of which are available for purchase), it also showcases music from a community of undiscovered artists who forge ahead regardless of the world around them. Oh, and some of my tracks are in there too. (wink).

Here’s to a new F9. Hope you like it.

Artist/Illustrator Alex Cherry has a unique, gritty style which is all his own, but what really drew me in is the presentation of his work. It’s a new take on the tired old portfolio gallery. Go have a look.

Designer and illustrator Onesidezero from Leicester, U.K created his site as an “output for experimental design and illustration.” His work is up there with some of my faves, including Emil Kozak and Brian Gossett. Though his style is fundamentally a little similar to other artists/illustrators of that ilk, he manages to keep it completely his own.

Lifted from Cool Hunting.

This is the kind of work that inspires and syncs up with my thinking creatively. It challenges the viewer to dive in and poke around without giving you a left hook of over-simplified UI and cheesy design.

This evokes some of the work from the late 90’s from innovators like Future Farmers, Shift, and Fork. Thanks Nawls for the trip back to the future.

Choice group of mid-century posters from Polish, Czech and Cuban designers, in addition to the U.S.’s own master and my personal hero, Saul Bass.

The whole collection runs some 200 posters, but this is only scratching the surface of the great work produced worldwide during this era, the last great era of commercial design.

Some of my favorites in this collection include A Coure Jole, And the Ship Sails On, Count Basie, Czarna Komedia and Medea. And of course, the legendary Bass works.