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Posted by RL Tillman on July 31st, 2009 | It is now possible to print power: researchers have successfully printed super-thin, 1.5 V batteries. The project is being developed by the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems (who else?)
“Using a silk-screen printing method similar to that used for t-shirts and signs,” they printed anode layers and cathode layers (specifically zinc and manganese). The layers react with each other, creating electricity.
Unfortunately the batteries decay quickly, and will only be good for short-term applications. So basically, they’re not archival.
(via)
Posted by amze on July 31st, 2009 | 
While traveling in Shanghai any artist should visit the M50 arts district, a former textile mill the sprawling brutalist factory complex is now home to over 120 galleries, workshops and cafes. One location that stands out among the art world power brokers is No. 17 Gallery, which is not really a gallery at all but a boutique specializing in high-end designed clothes, hats, posters and objects for the hipster set.
An independent-minded, spirited hip youth culture may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about China, and it’s true that the student movements of the 80’s do seem more or less to be a thing of the past but like much of china’s urban population the youth now see themselves as a part of a global (if consumer-driven) scene. Thankfully this means there are lots of hybrid art/design/printed stuff for the aesthetically conscience fashionista. It is important to note that while the gear in No.17 Gallery may relate to the kinds of items seen in Berlin, Brooklyn or Tokyo the youth culture scene in China’s urban centers is a unique fusion.
More images after the jump.
Continue reading Dispatches from China: Youth Culture & The Multiple
Posted by RL Tillman on July 30th, 2009 | All these clever reporters, writing about what they cleverly call the “beer summit,” think it’s so clever to headline their article “The Audacity of Hops.”
But Colorado brewery Oskar Blues made the exact same joke way back during the 2008 DNC convention:
…Too late, Mainstream Media! Too. Late.
Posted by RL Tillman on July 30th, 2009 | Pocket Pal, now in its 20th edition, was first published in 1934. This makes 2009 the 75th anniversary of the indispensable graphic arts manual.
So where’s the love for Pocket Pal this year? Maybe a special article in American Printer? Not that I can find. Surely the Printing Industries of America baked a cake, or something. No dice!
Even International Paper, which publishes Pocket Pal, doesn’t seem too excited about the event. A spokesperson did confirm to me that this is the manual’s 75th Anniversary, but the Pocket Pal website is pretty sparse!
It falls to us, then: let us give thanks for Pocket Pal. We appreciate its many editions, each of which is a snapshot of a specific moment in print history. We enjoy its informative illustrations, which are somehow both stale and quirky. We are comforted by its glossary, which includes two definitions of “wrinkles,” one for paper, one for ink.
To mark this special occasion, feel free to send me any Pocket Pal photos, illustrations, haiku, essays, etc. They will be posted here, below the jump. If anything really touches my heart, I will send you an old copy of the “50th Anniversary Edition” of the Pocket Pal.
Continue reading Pocket Pal 75th Anniversary: Where’s the Love?
Posted by Jason Urban on July 28th, 2009 | …to make a first impression.
Mark Pernice, Lifesize Sticker, 2007. Print Production: Steve Gache.
Times are tough. Looking for a way to make a strong impression on that potential employer? Maybe there’s a print-based solution. From Mark Pernice’s website…
This is a fully lifesize decal of myself holding email correspondence in gold foil. The email suggests that I really don’t want to do silly stunts to work. I really just wanted an excuse to send a giant sticker of myself to a perfect stranger and see where it ends up. I rolled this up and mailed it to the addressed. This got me in the door at Sagmeister. I have no idea where it is stuck.
Posted by Jason Urban on July 27th, 2009 | Don’t get your credit card out just yet… it’s only a prototype by Sergey Safronov and Roma Lubimov.
Posted by amze on July 26th, 2009 | 
Saturday’s New York Times ran an article written by Robert F. Forth and Nazila Fathi titled, Iran’s Opposition Calls Crackdown ‘Immoral’. The article explores the latest push-back by the opposition movement within Iran. It’s a smart article and required reading for those of us following the political turmoil surrounding the contested election.
Interestingly, the article also mentions world-wide solidarity protests, “In cities around the world on Saturday, protests against the election and its aftermath were held in a campaign coordinated by human rights groups.” While this one line summary doesn’t tell us much, the photo chosen to run with the article totally took my breath away. The photo take by Jacques Brinon/AP ran with the caption, “Parisians held images on Saturday of Neda Agha-Soltan, whose death in Iran demonstrations turned her into a symbol of protest.” The picture is an amazing one, as you can see it shows a crowd of protestors all assuming the identity of the victim Neda Agah-Soltan (slain by the police during a crack-down of the student protests to the Iranian election results) by holding up printed pictures of her face.
Neda Agah-Sultan’s image has been used in protest posters since her tragic death, often depicting still images from a video of her dying along with text. As shocking and painful as those posters and signs are, I find the ability of these new posters of her face and name have the ability to signifying solidarity with the victim and embody her role as a symbol for the ‘every-person’ in Iran a real transcendent moment for design in service to a political movement.
Posted by Jason Urban on July 26th, 2009 |
Posted by Jason Urban on July 22nd, 2009 | Avi Oslick, a resident of Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood, has a beef with Bank of America and is using the vinyl signage to let everyone know. In a time when some suggest the power of print media is waning, this is a classic, no-frills example of the strength of a graphic statement. While it may be an extreme reaction to a penalty fee related to a cancelled check, I for one am glad to see someone printing a banner to express thier feelings. Say it loud, say it with vinyl!
 Girard Avenue in Fishtown, Philadelphia, PA.
See more here and here.
Posted by Jason Urban on July 22nd, 2009 | 
Elshopo celebrates the King of Pop with 200 silkscreened pancakes (or maybe crêpes).
Who is Elshopo? According to thier website…
Elshopo is an artistic collaborative platform founded in 2001 in Grenoble (FR) by three young artists. It’s a meeting place for art, design and economy wich is stongly oriented towards an artisanal and experimental practice of the silk-screen medium. Elshopo re-visits the universe of graphic industry and encourages the production of multiple art in order to set up a philosophy based on artistic exchanges and dynamic transmission of the knowledges. It’s the position that Elshopo has kept since the begining and will keep in the future too, even in the cyberspace.
See more of Elshopo’s edible printworks.
(via Karisa at WPG)
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