Friday Finds 07.12.13

Diana: Portraits of David Cross by João Canziani

Anna and Julia, our fearless photo duo, have been posting Q&As with contributing photographers on dwell.com, which led me to João Canziani's website. Maybe I'm feeling nostalgic for "Arrested Development," but I was instantly drawn to this portrait of David Cross with his head buried in a sofa. Canziani has shot more than a dozen stories for Dwell over the years, including the renovated Tribeca loft appearing in our July/August issue. See all of his stories here.

Kelsey: The Importance of Graphic Design as Contemplative Art

Six graphic design students, a trip through Mexico, and a semester's worth of work. Metropolis posted a piece this week by Santa Fe University of Art and Design graphic design department chair David Grey about an interesting approach to workshopping: Last summer he took six Mexico-born students on a three-week-long trip through Chiapas and the Yucatán with the goal of making a book together upon their return. The group, which dubbed itself "Hexágono," meditated upon their travels, assembled their thoughts into graphic form, and ended up with a book titled The Importance Of…. I love this story because it reminds us that good design and good stories benefit from contemplative thought, not jus throwing stuff at a page.

Aaron: Ugly Belgian Houses

We see tons of great houses in Belgium, but apparently not everyone agrees that the tiny Benelux nation is a hotbed of cool modern homes. This hilarious tumblr takes a whack at the homes of Belgium, never missing a chance to hurl a brick at an odd addition or some head-scratching fenestration. 

Olivia: Herb Lester Associates

A small company with creative, artful travel guides and journals, as well as other little accessories, has sparked my rarely latentwanderlust. From "It’s Nice to be Alone in Paris," to "New York Burger Map" and curations of guides both stateside and in Europe, these maps are equally fun to frame as they are to use. Shown: the New York Collection.

Eujin: Japanese Woodblock Prints of Pastries

To add more fuel to my incessant snacking habits: woodblock prints of bread! Woodblock, or Ukiyo-e, is an ancient Japanese printing technique where you carve an image into wooden boards and print directly from the block onto paper. See the print's evolution here.

Alejandro: Cosmic Surgery / Photographs by Alma Hasser

The series has three distinct stages. Firstly Alma photographs her sitter, then prints multiple images of the subjects face and folds them into a complicated origami modular construction, which then gets placed back onto the original face of the portrait. Finally the whole thing is re-photographed.

Amanda: We Love Our Homes to Death

Brooklyn-based artist Ben Grasso's latest collection of paintings explore the relationship between nature and architecture, and how the natural and the built encroach upon another. If you happen to be in New York City, the works will be on view at Theirry Goldberg Gallery through July 14. 

Cortney: Topics with Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter

Two of the funniest comedians, on the planet, Michael Ian Black (Stella, The State, Wet Hot American Summer, I love the 80s) and Michael Showalter (Stella, The State, Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter) are dropping the humor and discussing real big topics…sarcastically, and its hilarious. If you're familiar with their wit, this podcast will not go over your head. 

Jaime: Cute Construction Barricades in Japan

Japan has incredibly adorable construction barricades shaped like ducks, monkeys, dolphins, and panda bears. Of course.

To see last week's picks, click here!