Gift idea: Miniature Vintage Video Game Cabinets

Well, this post was intended to be about my love of vintage video game cabinets, and the seductive typography of those game logos: Galaxian, Defender, Donkey Kong. These were the logos of my childhood and without realizing it at the time, I was really affected by them… even today, they get my heart racing.

But since it’s that time of year, and fun gift ideas are always in demand, here’s something pretty cool for you. Miniature vintage video game cabinets! Lovingly and painstakingly made with great accuracy by Justin Whitlock, who’s stated philosophy is “There is no charge for awesomeness”. Damn right! You can see them all on his flickr page here.

The cabinets are about 5 inches tall, and he’s got a fantastic range of games covered. All the pricing and shipping info is explained on his Flickr page as well. They are very affordable – between $20.00 and $30.00 per cabinet. I want one, and I want it now! Galaga is mine.

The ceramic typography of Stephanie Dearmond

I recently stumbled across the lovely work of Dutch ceramic artist Stephanie Dearmond, but judging from all the press she’s had in the past two years, I’m a bit late to the party!  At any rate, seeing her work, I knew instantly she would the subject of my new post. Her ceramic typographic objects are gleaming white with floral images set onto the surfaces – sometimes on the faces, and sometimes into the extruded depth of the 3D forms. Beautiful!

Fiodor Sumkin – Vintage (redrawn)

I’ve always loved vintage typography (as this blog makes pretty clear), and have collected old, rare type specimen books (as well as the wonderful Dover Archive books) for years. I recently discovered the work of Amsterdam/Paris based Fiodor Sumkin who clearly shares this interest, but what makes his work far more interesting than simply using vintage letterforms in his work (as many of us like to try from time to time) is that he “samples and re-renders” these vintage letterforms, into new, eccentric, hand drawn compositions. They represent a kind of anti-technological statement in the face of digital perfection – a movement that has been swelling up for a few years now (see post on Rude from last year) – but also a kind of “remixed history”, taking the ‘old’ (and the personality and historical associations embedded in old type specimens) and making the ‘brand new’, with a decidedly cheeky, contemporary if not occasionally cynical edge. Combine that with child-like, 45° angle magic marker fill lines, and the occasional illustrative elements that wander in, and you’ve got something very interesting indeed.