Philately Fridays: Germany, 1977

Three-stamp set from Germany, putting a subtle 1977 twist on the art nouveau (Jugendstil) styles of the turn of the 20th century.



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A Glossary of Television Terms

Fantastically-illustrated piece by John Alcorn under the art direction of the legendary Lou Dorfsman for CBS, 1964.



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Philately Fridays: Hungary, 1982

Two stamps from Hungary from a year of competitive recreational activities. 1982 didn't just see Budapest hosting a stamp-worthy Rubik's Cube world championship, but also a stamp-worthy European table tennis championship!





Here's some footage from that Rubik's Cube championship:

Stefan Kanchev

When it comes to logo designers, you really couldn't hope for anyone more creative and prolific than the late, great Stefan Kanchev. During the second half of the 20th Century, he single-handedly put Bulgaria on the world graphic design map, pumping out hundreds and hundreds of logomarks, postage stamps, and other incredibly stylish and effective designs. Here is a collection of some of his best work. These images are from a series of photos from an exhibition of Kanchev's work found on logoblink.com

























Check out more from Stefan Kanchev on So Much Pileup.

And definitely check out much much more from Stefan Kanchev over at stefankanchev.com.

Star Wars promotional designs

I've been a Star Wars fan for as long back as I can remember. The original trilogy shaped a lot of my childhood and creative imagination. There was a great deal of fantastic design work associated with the films and here's a collection of some of it, mostly found online.



Early logo before the more commonly-known yellow on black letters came to be.





Poster for NPR's radio dramatization of Star Wars by illustrator Celia Strain. See more of her work at comicartfans.com



My all-time favorite Star Wars poster, from Israel.



The Italian design is also great. I love the creative liberties taken by the artist.



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Incredible comic book ad showing off a ton of Star Wars toys.



And perhaps the most bizarre of all, this poster with C3PO and R2D2 asking parents to make sure their children have been immunized!

Philately Fridays: Laos, 1983

4 stamps from a 6-stamp set from Laos, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the inaugural hot air balloon flight in Paris, 1783. This illustration style isn't really common in Laos, so I'm wondering if the artist was French. If anyone has any information on these stamps, please send it on over!

Snakes!

Here's an array of snake-based logos for various companies.


Laboratorios Ausonia S.A., a Barcelona-based Pharmaceutical laboratory
designed by José Baqués, 1967


Alafoss wool manufacturers


Delta sales company, designed by B.K.Wiese (Germany)


Municipio della Citta di Bellinzona logo
designed by Udo Elzi for the Bellinzona municipality in Italy, 1975


San Giorgio Impermeabili, a Genova, Italy-based rainwear company
designed by Giulio Confalonieri, 1958


Tutta Milano, Italian tourism organization

Philately Fridays: East Germany, 1979

Another great stamp for kids. Stamp designers are just like Wu-Tang.

Vintage Pro Wrestling Logos

I grew up with pro wrestling and still love the 1980s era right before it turned into a freak show. Looking back on the '70s - '80s glory days, there was some pretty sharp graphic design going on. Let's have a look.



The American Wrestling Association was based in Minneapolis MN, founded by wrestling legend Verne Gagne. The AWA ended up being a springboard for dozens of wrestling stars who ended up in the NWA or WWF. Andre The Giant, Hulk Hogan, The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Mean Gene Okerlund, and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan all got their start here in the Twin Cities before they were lured out to the East Coast to join the bigger leagues.





One of the AWA's biggest stars, The Crusher, showing off his t-shirt design.









In 1935, promoter Jim Crockett Sr. founded his wrestling promotion company in Charlotte, NC. When Jim Sr. passed away in 1973, his son Jim Crockett Jr took over, changed the name to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, and eventually merged the group with the National Wrestling Alliance. He made stars out of Ric Flair, Ken Patera, Wahoo McDaniel, and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.





Logos for the first two WWF Wrestlemania events.



New Japan Pro-Wrestling logo, a brief home to the Road Warriors towards the end of their tag team career.



Ladies Professional Wrestling Association

1970's Comic Book Ads

Growing up, I was never much of a comic book fan the way a lot of my friends were (and still are in some cases), but I was always drawn to the artwork in the ads. Maybe there was something about the layout and graphic qualities that spoke to me more than the actual stories did. Here are a few great ads I scanned out of some old comics. I'll be putting more of these online soon!













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