Brian Paul Nelson – Branding / Design / Illustration">Brian Paul Nelson

Most matchboxes are no more than a couple inches in size, yet that didn’t constrain the awesomeness you see above in these old European matchbox covers. All of these could easily work as posters if they were 10 times larger, yet their small size sort of makes you appreciate them that much more. And even though I can’t translate most of the type, all of which is amazing by the way, there is something about different languages that I have always admired, especially within design. The imagery and play on words, no matter what language it might be in, can still communicate effectively and allow you to grasp the overall experience and concept the designer set out to get across. This in my opinion is what continually pushes the visual arts as a universal language around the world.

Check out more of these covers at Shailesh Chavda’s photostream.

Such great use of color and composition in these science fiction book covers by German designer Eyke Volkmers. Created in the 60′s and 70′s, the vintage airbrush style Volkmer used brings out a nice texture throughout each illustration. These however are only barely scratching the surface, he designed 163 in all for the “Goldmanns Weltraum Taschenbücher” series which can be viewed in its entirety here.

Via but does it float.

Total mind blower. These luggage labels are from the “golden age of travel” from the 1900′s to 1960′s and were used as a small way to advertise cities and hotels. The illustrations, color combinations and typography of these things are incredible — and to think they were all created by hand! If I ever got something like this tagged to my luggage I would flip, it would seriously complete the trip. Something so simple and common as a luggage label can be designed so well that it makes you want to hang on to it forever. Then, after a good amount of time the paper starts getting old and worn and just makes it that much more appealing and sweet. Such a great source of inspiration. I could look at these things all day.

Courtesy of Tom Schifanella’s flickr stream.

With the Olympics about to begin, I had to post these amazing posters from the 1972 Munich Games designed by German Designer Otl Aicher. He is best known for being the lead designer of the ’72 Olympic Games which was completely branded without compromising to the core philosophies of design. The whole campaign would be just as successful today as it was almost 40 years ago. Not to mention, you can’t beat the layouts, type and color combinations above, they are so on point with each other. Now days it has unfortunately come down to things like this, this and this, which falls really short when you begin to compare. Recently is just seems like the designs have been pushed out the door once a mediocre concept has been determined. So unfortunate.

View the posters above along with more from the ’72 Games at Blanka, where you can also purchase some of the originals, at a hefty price of course. Check out more Otl Aicher and Olympic goodness at this flickr set as well.

I love when I come across beautiful info-graphics that successfully bridge the gap between typography, illustration and photography all while keeping the important information at the forefront of the design. One place to always look for awesome info-graphics is Good Magazine, which is where I first saw these a couple months ago, yet I was never able to put a name to the face per say until now. Always With Honor, “a design collective specializing in icon, information and map design run by Tyler Lang and Elsa Chaves,” are the ones who are behind the images above. Their eye for detail is just remarkable and make for a fun and intriguing time overlooking the information. Not to mention, their illustration skills are spot-on. My favorite is definitely “The Hall of Mascots.”

They also have this shirt for sale. Just look at that bear…so totally sweet! Purchase here.