Moonrise Kingdom

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Design, Film, Movie, Typography 1131 Views

This might be old news for you, but I just found out yesterday that Wes Anderson is coming out with a new film, Moonrise Kingdom! I do not claim to be Wes’ biggest fan or anything (I live in LA and do you know how many film friends I have? There is no way for me to compete with them), but I do enjoy his work. I thinks it’s because his work is more photographic/designed than most movies. You could freeze any frame from his films and it would look like a piece of art.
My first surprise when I watched the trailer was that there was no Futura to be found. If you don’t know, Wes Anderson is known for always using Futura for the titles in his films (usually in yellow). For Moonrise Kingdom, he uses a script font designed by none other than Jessica Hische! I love her work. I just can’t get over how amazing that would be to be so tallented at something that such important people in the art industry want your work. Needless to say, I’m a little jealous.
I can’t wait to see it. Here is the trailer. 

Welcome to the Family, Mr. Vandercook!

Jake Blog Post Letterpress, News 1358 Views

As promised, here is some more information on our exciting Facebook announcement from Friday!

We have been in the process of having a new letterpress refinished and shipped to us since early November. It has been slow and frustrating trying to get something that can print the size we want, while staying within our price range. Ever since we purchased our C&P Pilot, the letterpress demand has only increased. That makes prices soar and availability plummet. We thought we had finally found the press we wanted, and settled on a price (which was more expensive than we had hoped). Unfortunately, as it was being refinished, it turned out to have too many problems to be fixed and we were back to waiting for another press to turn up.

Last Wednesday we decided to check briarpress.org (the go-to online letterpress resource) on the off chance that someone was selling a press we’d be interested in. To our surprise, a press with the exact dimensions we were looking for was listed earlier that morning. They were only asking half of the price we had budgeted for a press, and to top it all off, it was located in Los Angeles! We emailed right away to see if the press was available, and sure enough–it was. The next morning we drove to Silver Lake to see the press, and within 20 minutes were driving home with it! It couldn’t have been a more perfect situation for us. The press hadn’t been used in quite some time, so it had a lot of dirt and grime on it. So, Jamie and I got to work cleaning it up.

Here’s an ad for our press from the 1935 ATF Catalog.

We are thrilled to add a Vandercook to our expanding print shop. There are a few tools that we still need before we’re able to print accurately with this press, but we are just thrilled to finally have it in our home. I’m already thinking up ideas for a wheeled cart to build that matches our current work table. And we have so many new things we want to add to our shop now! Pretty sweet, don’t you think?

To Resolve Project

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Art, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Typography 964 Views

Did you make any resolutions this year? I didn’t but these posters make me wish I did. They sure do make the daunting idea of making a resolution a lot more fun. 
The To Resolve Project was started by Chris Streger a few years back and now a handful of other artists have gotten involved by making their own resolutions into some really great designs! I picked a few of my favorite but you should definitely check the rest out over on their site here. 
Oh and we just posted an excited announcement on our Facebook page this morning so go check it out. More on that on Monday. Happy Friday! 

Yarn Bombing

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Art, Graffiti, Inspiration, Michigan, Traverse City 1663 Views

When we were in Michigan last month we stumbled upon a little park in Traverse City’s downtown area that had been yarn bombed. I’ve heard of and seen pictures from this knitting graffiti movement, but I’ve never experienced it first hand. It was so unexpected that as soon as we saw it, both Jake and I got so excited and starting taking tons of pictures. As you can tell from the second picture, not everybody thinks this form of graffiti is art. When I saw that, It made me laugh because whoever spray painted that could use a little practice. 
All I know is that it was a really fun discovery, I liked it,  it made me smile, and therefore I believe it accomplished its goal. Plus Traverse City is freezing, so it’s nice for the trees to have a little knitted blanket to help them stay warm.

Live With Art

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Art, Inspiration 1013 Views

Beautiful floral painting by Lulie Wallace. It makes me want to paint again.
Drawing with Vintage Photo by Spencer Studio. This is such a fun and interesting piece. I remember having to do this kind of project in my high school art class. I would love to try this concept with one of my grandparents’ old photographs.

As soon as I saw this Dog Silhouette over on Design Sponge I decided that when we get a dog, I will be painting one of these. I love the bright pink with the more neutral colors. Of course our dog wil be a dalmatian so I’ll have to work some spots in.

Jake really likes astronomy. Every time we go out at night he points out all the different constellations. I think this Night Sky Map would be fun to have. Stars are so romantic. 
Now if only we had wall space for all these!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Animals, DIY, Home, Inspiration 1938 Views

 The Strange Planet from The Good Machinery
Animag Photo Stands from Photojojo

DIY animal rack from Craft Zine
Candle holder from The Sweetest Occasion

Ocean Blue Bear from Bubblegum Belles

Ornaments from Young House Love

Jar toppers from House to Home
I’ve been noticing a lot of animals roaming around the internet lately and I have to say I’m quite smitten by them. I love all the bright colors and clever uses for the cute little creatures. As of right now we have two porcelain animals gracing our living room decor: a rhinoceros and an elephant. I think they could use a few more friends. Now it’s just deciding which of these ideas I want to try first. 

Going to New York

Jake Blog Post Competition, New York, Vacation 1257 Views

Source: Irene Suchocki 

Some of you may remember that back in July, I entered my company’s first ever employee video competition (see my entry here). Well, the competition ended last month, and I’m happy to say that my video had the most views out of any, and I’ve officially won a trip for two to New York City! This is probably the most exciting thing I’ve ever won, and I still can’t really believe that my video got the most views. We’re going near the end of May for our two year anniversary. I’ve only ever been to New York once, and Jamie has never been. My boss will be planning out our 2 night, 3 day stay for us; but if there is anything you think we should go see, please leave a comment.

Michigan Vacation

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Holiday, Michigan, Photography, Traverse City, Vacation 2472 Views

We finally made it back to Los Angeles last night. It feels good to be home and get back into our routine. It always amazes me how life can be so different going from one side of the county to the other. One night we’re sleeping with a heated blanket and the next night we have our windows open with the fan on. One day you don’t travel outside because the roads are too icy and the next day you stay home because it’s rush hour. Neither one is better than the other, they’re just different. I find it weird that things can change so drastically in one day.
Overall, our trip was a lot of fun. We were able to spend lots of time with family and catch up with old friends. Most days were spent relaxing at home (which I am most grateful for). I’ve probably never consumed so much hot chocolate in my life, mainly in an effort to stay warm.
Traverse City is such a beautiful place. Here are a few of our favorite pictures we took of our trip.

Snowshoeing in Northern Michigan

Jake Blog Post Adventure, Michigan, Snow, Traverse City, Winter 1242 Views

Since our flight back to LA was cancelled because of the snow storm, we were able to go snowshoeing! My parents live in front of an old cherry orchard, so we took my dog Misty and went through the orchards on snowshoes. It was so much fun! And Misty wore herself out charging through the powdery snow. Jamie dressed up looking like an Eskimo, and I got to wear snow pants for the first time in I don’t even know how long. It was only in the 20s, but snowshoeing is such a workout that we actually got pretty hot out there.

It’s Truly an Inspiration!

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Design, Inspiration 1610 Views

Sorry I’m posting so late in the day. I got distracted a little with other things and then we decided to venture out in the snow and go snow shoeing (pictures to come).

Yesterday I mentioned that we want to consolidate our identity for A Pair of Pears. We don’t want to completely redesign, just develop more of a concrete look. We’re actually really excited about it. Be ready for some fabulous changes in the future.

Before we start doing anything for our identity we wanted to have a clear vision of what we want the finished product to be. We searched around online for some inspirational images that show the direction we are wanting to go. I thought I would share with you what we found.

Vintage Spools | Rustic Picnic
In Haus Press Packaging
Rifle Paper Co. Logo | Dalmatian

Percival | Eastfield Village 
There you have it. What do you think? If you have any other things you think might inspire and encourage our creative process we would love to see! 


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