{ STATE FARM, state of the art typography }*

Who says typography can't sell insurance? These new State Farm Insurance commercials, feature some great expressive typography. Now I know there are those of you out there who think that a typeface should be invisible ( i.e. most of the people in HELVETICA ) and don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place, but it's not here.

{ tanqueray commercials RESIST SIMPLE }*

These Tanqueray commercials are so well written. Not to mention that they are beautifully shot, and edited. I am so glad they got rid of that cheesy Tony Sinclair character. Am I right, or am I right?

{ AN ABSOLUT rip-off }*

Is this a rip-off of Stefan Sagmeister or what? After watching the commerical I checked to see if he had anything to do with concepting or art direction. Nope. If you don't know what i'm talking about, go pick up a copy of "Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far" Sagmeister's latest book.

{ JUMP ON // the michael jackson moonwalk bandwagon }*

HERE IT IS... in my opinion, the first time man walked on the moon.

{ TOP 10 // summer movies }*

in no particular order:

10. THE SANDLOT - classic americana + baseball. need i say more?

9. THE ENDLESS SUMMER - the search for the perfect wave.


8. FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH - "all iI need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and i'm fine" -- jeff spicoli

7. THE GOONIES - a coming of age tale, with bad guys, pirates and treasure.

6. SAY ANYTHING - "i don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. i don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. you know, as a career, i don't want to do that.

5. COOL HAND LUKE - one man's quest to live on his own terms.


4. PREDATOR - the rainforest, schwarzenegger and the predator... sweet

3. INDIANA JONES: AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK- the only indiana jones that really matters. just imagine indiana in a fist fight with robert langdon. no contest.

2. 500 DAYS OF SUMMER - i saw it at sundance last winter with danielle. it comes to theaters this summer. it's the anti-romantic-comedy romantic-comedy


1. THE GREAT OUTDOORS - dan aykroyd and john candy in one of the funniest summer vacation movies ever.

{ CROXTON DESIGN // new website }*

on monday the new and improved CROXTON DESIGN website was officially launched. this flash based site is both modern and elegant. it features 16 of the most recent projects to come out of CROXTON DESIGN. and in the weeks to come will also feature an archive of the award winning work produced by CROXTON DESIGN over the last 25 years. with insights into the philosophies of BRENT CROXTON, links to collaborators and inspirational sites and in depth notes on each project featured, the site is both educational and beautiful.

designed and implemented by MICHAEL CROXTON, with art direction by BRENT CROXTON.

{ SUMMER INTERNSHIP - planet propaganda }*

so this summer i scored a sweet internship with the design firm PLANET PROPAGANDA, located in madison, wisconsin. i will be interning there for the next two months.

i left salt lake on saturday and spent the night in a motel6...ughhhh... in lincoln nebraska. during the drive i saw the craziest lightning storms ever. and then on sunday made it the rest of the way. total it was an 18 hour drive, with nothing but me, the open road and some books on cd (namely "the appeal" by john grisham, which i do not recommend and "treasure island" by robert louis stevenson, which was amazing.)

i got moved in on sunday night to a small 6x10 room in a house in downtown madison. it's about 2 blocks from the beautiful lake menona (which means lake of the morning, because it's on the east side of madison, on the other side is lake mendota, which means lake of the evening) and about 5 blocks from the sate capitol.

monday was my first day at planet. it was filled with paper work, meeting and trying to remember the 24 people that make up PP's staff, and working on my first project. a poster for the high noon saloon, and local music venue.

their office is amazing, right on the water, and everyone there seems awesome. you can see there work at www.planetpropaganda.com


the main studio at planet propaganda (photograph by mike krol)


planet's entrance

{ INSPIRATION - vinyl toys }*

it's become a recent obsession. one that i definitely don't have the money to indulge in, but a few purchases here and there won't hurt anybody...right?

this past summer i was wandering through soho and came across kidrobot. i had seen a few vinyl toys before, but this store blew me away. two stories of collectibles. with designs from some of the worlds greatest illustrators and artists (baseman, huck gee

to name a couple. so i bought a few... okay like 7. i was hooked. i went back 4 consecutive days for more. i started off with a series called "kirro" designed by japan based devilrobots, exclusively for kidrobot. this particular series has 17 individual figures, each about 2 inches tall. they are sold blind boxed (each figure comes sealed, in x-ray proof aluminum, and then sealed in a cardboard box. it was like being a kid and buying my first pack of baseball cards all over again.

i only have 2 more to go. but they have been discontinued, so i have been prowling the internet looking for the ones i'm missing. keep you eyes out for me, and maybe you'll get hooked too.

i was also attracted to the DIY vinyl toys. the most common of which is called the "munny." the come in basic colors, white, blue, pink etc. just paint, draw, collage or whatever and create your own design.


my first attempt at the munny


the kiiro series

{ INSPIRATION - personal }*

here are some images that i have been taking over the last year or so. they don't have any particular rhyme or reason to the. just stuff i like.

hope you like them too!

at the park near my girlfriends old apartment on the upper east side NYC

 

danielle under the bridge

detail of a pillar in downtown seattle

the staircase in the MOMA nyc

dont ask why... i don't even like clowns

alas coney island is no more

at the mustang museum at the miller sports park

detail of a NYC subway wall

as you move away more names are revealed

these are the names of everyone killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. this wall stretches in both directions

{ INSPIRATION - type }*

i dig type. i guess it's just part of who i am at this point. can't seem to not notice it. here are some images that have really inspired me.