I dashed together this illustration today for TakePart on the news that an iceberg was headed to Australia.

This illo is free to be reused under a CC license with the stipulation that you provide credit/link to TakePart. Isn’t that considerate?

Donato Sansone shows his dedication to the craft with this clever piece about the flipside to losing one’s head in an argument.

VIDEOGIOCO by Donato Sansone

Never let it be said that I don’t take my pie seriously. Pie, like most of the food I make, I like to make from scratch. Call me a slow foodie, call me obsessive compulsive, just don’t call me late for pie! So here, days before Thanksgiving, I start my meal preparations not with brining a turkey (a practice I frown upon, btw), but with the most basic of ingredients for that most essential of dishes: the pumpkin pie spices, (1) cinnamon, (2) ginger, (3) nutmeg, and (4) allspice.

But is grinding your own spices actually better? With all the spices save ginger, you’re likely starting with a dry product. Most foods, when allowed to dry, lose a good portion of their aromatic, volatile compounds. This effect is much less pronounced with nearly all spices, or people would never use dry spices to begin with. So what’s the primary difference between whole and pre-ground spices if both are already dry? Oxidation! Ground spices will lose some of their potency simply by being ground and exposed to the air, whereas whole spices still have loads of un-oxidized material in their cores.

So grinding spices is the way to go, but I don’t have to do this by hand, do I? No, you can use a spice grinder, either electric (a coffee grinder dedicated to the purpose, perhaps) or an old, manual spice mill. I’ve found in the past that using an electric coffee grinder can sometimes create a maelstrom of flying peppercorns (or allspice) rather than actually grinding them, so experiment to find something that works for you. The harder spices (cassia cinnamon, nutmeg) would need to be broken up (by a hammer or a meat tenderizer) before being tossed into a grinder. The ginger can be put through a food processor (after you peel it).

However, the tools I like to use are pretty basic. (1) A mortar and pestle (marble or stone; wood just isn’t hard enough… ahem), (2) a punched-metal grater (with those pushed up little metal teeth, good and grate-y), (3) a Microplane grater, and (4) a square of cheese cloth. The 5th tool you’ll need is a can of elbow grease. I prefer Pappy Johnson’s Old-Timey Joint Oil, but really, any brand will do. We’ll talk about each of the tools as we take a tour through the spices…

The cinnamon I use is the cassia variety (which is not considered “true” cinnamon) because it’s more pungent. I’m working with 6 inch sticks because they’re easier to hold on to. You’ll need to use the punched-metal grater for this because the cassia variety is a lot harder than true cinnamon, and the harder spices will just destroy a Microplane. Settle in for a holiday Twilight Zone marathon while you do this, because it will take you a while to work up a significant quantity (holiday hyperbole!).

You’ll need the same punched-metal grater for the nutmeg. Your nose, while roused by the cinnamon, will really wake up for this one. The nutmeg isn’t as hard as the cinnamon, so the grater should make short work of each nut. Do watch your fingers as you get down to the end, unless of course you’re making mincemeat pie.

Allspice is the easiest of the four. Take some of the dried berries (fruit, technically), throw them in the mortar, and start pestling away. For anyone who hasn’t ground hard spices in a mortar: yes, you will be grinding away at it for what will seem like a small ice age, but rest assured you will finish before New Year’s.

I use the Microplane for the ginger to get a very puréed texture, but I could just as easily have used a food processor. Because ginger is the only “wet” spice you’ll be working with, grating it will go very swiftly. However, because it’s fresh, you will end up with a very wet mash. If you’re preparing these spices for immediate introduction into a pumpkin pie recipe, you can use the ginger mash as is, or…

You can work the ginger a little further to produce different textures and preparations. Starting with the raw ginger (1), you can grate or purée it to produce a ginger mash (2). Using your cheese cloth, you can take the mash and squeeze out most of the ginger juice (3; useful in making drinks, btw), then use the ginger pulp (4) to put in your pie. If you’re preparing your pumpkin spice mixture in a large batch for storage, you’ll want to dry your pulp thoroughly (spreading it out on a cookie sheet in a low-heat oven is a good method) and then further grind it in the mortar to get dry, powdered ginger (5).

With all of your spices ground and prepared, it’s time to mix them together. The best rule of thumb I’ve found for mixing the spices (because you know I don’t do something sensible like measure or weigh them) is to mix them in equal amounts by volume, but go a little light on the ginger (strong stuff). Your only true guide is your nose. If, while you’re mixing them, you feel the urge to call your mother, you know it’s ready.

How much of your pumpkin spice mixture to use in your pie is between you, your recipe, and your mother. If my overly pedantic description of my preparations for the holy quadrinity of holiday spices has frightened you, rest easy: prepared spices are only a grocery store away.

I was looking around for some papercraft animation and stumbled upon… well, exactly what I was looking for. Johnny Kelly’s The Seed follows the life cycle of a single apple seed. Nice handling of the excretion transition, you sly devil.

Another by Mr. Kelly, too.

A bit of cooking, a bit of typography. Next meal will likely have a more elaborately written and designed menu, but this was just a bit of fun.

I was, however, playing with a new approach to faux letterpress shading that I’m fairly pleased with. It’s delicate, but decidedly letterpress in appearance. The coverage noise is a little pronounced, but it’s digital, and we usually need to exaggerate these things.

In order to avoid shilling for Frito-Lay, I will refrain from delving into this animation’s raison d’être. But really, what a treat of little animated shorts these are. I saw the first in an online video ad, looked around for a YouTube copy, and stumbled across 4 more. Has Frito-Lay decided to support the animation community in these troubled times by employing as many talented artists as possible to produce work that is (let’s be honest) only tangentially related to either chips or dip?

Next, let’s see Doritos sponsor some mimes.

Made For Each Other videos

I’ve spent the better part of my creative career trying to hone my skills at crafting designs that appear to come from another era. In fact, I’m in the middle of trying to game AfterEffects and Final Cut Pro to produce believably 70s videos (or at least believably borrow the aesthetic, I’m not trying to create a forgery).

So seeing the above video promotion for The Watchmen was a real treat. I’m fairly confident they’re using vintage equipment and methodology to firmly place the news report in the time period. The effect is stunning.

Perhaps even moreso for standing next to the 80s-inspired clip below. I cannot put my finger on it, but the effect is far from complete. The lighting is off, or the focus is too crisp, or… I really wish I knew why I’m not fully buying it. The animations seem right, but the studio footage simply doesn’t feel genuine. What’s wrong with it? Or is it just me?

(via Laughing Squid)

Blambot has a fantastic breakdown of how type conventions work in comics and graphic novels. Full of things that are news to me, like the use of breath marks. Great as a supplement to the always relevant work of Scott McCloud and Will Eisner.

Comics Grammar & Tradition (via BoingBoing)

Score your bend lines. To get a shape to pop up as desired, you need to be able to define where and how the metal bends. Not surprisingly, you do this by weakening the metal (scoring, essentially) at the place you want it to bend. Using the hand card as an example, the fingers are articulated because they bend where the knuckle design is etched; not below, not above, but right at the knuckle where the metal is weakest.

3 ways to score. The photochemical etching process, at least with 0.01″ sheet steel, etches at 2 depths: half-way, or all the way. So we have 3 basic ways to plan where the metal will bend: half-way, all the way, or not at all. Let’s take a closer look:

1. Make it skinny. The metal will bend where the metal is weakest, and it is weakest where it is narrowest. Pretty straightforward, this.
2. Etch a score. By etching a line all the way, or even most of the way, across the metal, you thin the metal at that point, forcing it to bend there and not elsewhere.
3. Perforate. A variation of #1, perforation is a series of small narrow points. But the basic rule is the same: less metal = more bend.
4. Mix and match. Try some combination of the 3… maybe only perforate to half-depth, or make it skinny and scored.

Bend + bend + bend = break. Understand that bending sheet steel also weakens it, and repeated bending along a score will eventually lead to a break. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way. As neat as the Hand + Eye cards are, that thumb can really only be well bent a couple of times. Then you have a thumbless hand.

Remember your papercraft. While there are many things metal can do that paper cannot, like hold a bend, metal cannot do everything paper can: without tools, you can’t fold it, roll it, or tuck a flap under another flap (think origami). Nonetheless, the history of papercraft is rich with technique that can be applied to metal. Start looking there for ideas.

Get samples. The biggest piece of advice I have is to get samples of the sheet steel, cut it up, play with it, bend it, destroy it. You won’t really know how the metal will behave during bending until you test it out for yourself.

That’s about it. Have fun, stay safe. If any of this is helpful to your project, please share your results with the class.

• How were they made? The cards were produced using a process called photochemical etching.
• Where did you get them made? The Hand + Eye cards were produced by Acu-Line in Seattle. There are other outfits around the country, but Acu-Line was the one closest to me. I was very pleased with the result.
• Will the metal cut you? The metal is thick enough that a flat piece with a smooth edge, with most normal handling, will not cut you. After the photochemical etching, the cards are deburred to smooth the edges, removing any metal snags. However, if you design the card with sharp corners, they are capable of scratching and poking, which is why rounded corners are recommended.
• How much does it cost? At the time they were made, these cards were roughly $1 each to produce, but that price appears to have gone up.

That’s the basics. Acu-Line, or some other outfit, is best able to answer production questions.

Tomorrow, I’ll post something more specific about designing for metal cards, especially the cool bendy stuff that gets three-dimensional.