Just Farts

Here I am sitting in traffic waiting for a red light to go green when I turn my head to the right and spot the above sign. Took me a second to figure out what the sign was saying but the right placement of that street-crossing timer made me giggle on the spot.

Thank God for never leaving the house without my little Sony otherwise I wouldn't have been able to capture such smile-inducing "trompe l'oeil" message. Hooray for Delray Beach!

Little-Pumpkins Is For Sinners

Need I say more? Thanks for sinning!

Florida Store Fronts

I just love these two store signs I spotted the other day while driving around here in South Florida. There is a certain naive charm in these hand painted designs, specially the "Afro-American" couple adorning a hair salon's door above and the cute poodle on this pet beauty shop's sign. The pet salon also had this shaggy dog statue by the front door, but it looks to me that it has seen better days. If you owned a pet "beauty" shop, wouldn't you make sure that your store mascot would look its best always?

Miscellaneous Cute Stuff & Signs

A few more images of stuff that catches my eye from my recent explorations.

Florida Life

I was driving around on Sunday when I spotted this sign by a small lake not too far from my neighborhood. Florida is notorious for it's alligator attacks and every now and then I'll watch incidents in the news of people or pets being killed by these huge gators. What struck me about this particular sign, besides being the first one I see, is that is located a few hundred yards from a kid's playground, near a public park. The are so many interconnected canals here in South Florida where alligators might travel so one never really knows where they might pop up. Scary!

World Famous Hot Dog Heaven

Yesterday morning, when I was driving to Miami, I was forced to make a huge detour off US95 because of some Toy For Tots motorcycle parade. They literally closed off a 5-lane highway so that a few hundred bikers could show off their hogs, inconveniencing tens of thousands of people that were either stuck in hour-long traffic jams (me) or had to veer off their way to unknown routes (me). I know that a toy-drive for impoverished kids is an amazing good deed but closing off the main state's highway, that by the way can be driven all the way down from Boston, connecting the Northeast to the tip of Florida, is simply dumb and irresponsible. Let's have this parade next year along the beaches maybe, where people can actually enjoy the view, as not too many people hang out off the edge of a busy highway on Sunday mornings.

On a higher note I was taken down Sunrise Boulevard, somewhere off Fort Lauderdale and was forced to make an abrupt stop when I spotted the delicious sign above. Who can resist a Joe-Cool winged weenie wearing shades? Did I mention the thumbs-up? The place was all boarded up, clearly closed down for a while and up for sale. It is a pity that this super-kawaii sign will eventually be taken down and probably just thrown out in the trash. I had to pull over and take some pictures so at least it will live forever in cyberspace. Just remember that this is the"World's Famous (no small stuff, folks) Hot Dog Heaven - The Taste You Remember".

Rest in peace my little angel sausage!

Sassy Assy Jeans

Sassy Assy Jeans - Brazilian low-rise jeans.

Found on Washington Avenue, South Beach - Florida.

How sassy is your assy today?

Those Pesky Neighbors!

Exterminator shop sign in Williamsburgh and a little friend taking a nap in Soho, NYC

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I found this "street art" sculpture right off the Bedford Avenue subway stop in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn. That's a bargain at US$89,000... I love the sarcasm! Kudos Paul Richard!

Camper Posters In SOHO

Spanish shoe label Camper's new ad campaign is plastered all over NYC and I love the whole concept and colors. A shoe-box-as-head opening up to your imagination. I found the posters above on a street corner in Soho around a construction site and had to preserve it in pixels. I actually do like (and wear) Camper shoes and they are quite comfortable and sturdy. The guy's shoes are all on the casual, clunky side but the women's are very tongue-in-cheek fun and flirty.

SoWa Open Market in Boston

This past Sunday I took a walk through Boston's SoWa Open Market, on Harrison Avenue. SoWa stands for South of Washington Street, Boston's hip & happening warehouse district, home of fancy renovated lofts and artist's studios. The open market is a mix of farmer's market, flea market and crafts fair. There I found artisans, artists, bakers, florists, vintage clothing & furniture dealers and designers to name a few. The eclectic mix has a hip edge to it, not at all granny's old church swap meeting. As it was a warm Fall afternoon the place was packed with young couples with baby strollers, gay guys with baby strollers and the usual bargain hunters. The images above illustrate a bit of the day's outing and the variety of different cool vendors there. I'd definitely advice an out-of-towner to stop by for a stroll and experience a bit of SoWa's hip vibe. The market is open from mid May to late October.
For more info go to Sowa Open Market's website.

Tactile - High Touch Visuals

New developments occur when boundaries are crossed. Today, the most progressive designers are working at the intersection of various creative disciplines. They are challenging existing design principles and defining them anew. Many designers from different areas are choosing to no longer work exclusively in two dimensions and are instead dealing intensively with space, material and physical products. Now, Tactile shows how graphic design is moving into three-dimensional objects and products and presents graphic design that works with space – or the perception of space. The book focuses less on murals than on products, objects, installations and collage that demonstrate how designers are developing and implementing their ideas spatially from the very outset of a given project. Tactile proves that spatial innovation in graphic design is not limited to personal work or artistic endeavours for exhibition, but is being sought out more and more often by commercial clients, for example in store design. With its insight into this experimental field of graphic design, Tactile targets young, progressive designers as well as professionals from the fields of advertising, architecture and interior design. Because its topical content is compiled in a way that highlights the interesting multi-disciplinary interactions between the various works, Tactile also offers inspiration for creatives in fashion, lifestyle and art.

Tactile - High Touch Visuals

Price: € 44,00 / $ 65,00 / £ 33,00
Format: 24 x 28 cm, 208 pages, full colour, hardcover

Via Die Gestalten Verlag

Carioca Street Vendors

A few images of street vendors I captured this past weekend in a public park in Rio. I love all the colorful packaging, some familiar like Cheetos and Fandangos, and others that I never heard of like "Fofura" (cuteness, chubbiness) or "Torcida" (fans in a sports event). The sign sells hot-dogs and burgers, and the "X-tudo" is a burger with everything on top (cheese, egg, bacon, etc). The X stands for cheese, because in Portuguese the word sounds like the letter X, as we pronounce it "sheez". Cute, huh?

Copacabana Beach - Today, 8:40 AM

I took these shots this morning at Avenida Atlantica in Copacabana Beach, here in Rio. Spring is around the corner for us and the weather has been beautiful recently. In the evenings you can still feel the chill in the air but daytime has brought sunshine and beach weather. I love seeing the kids play in the sand and the second picture shows a group of boys in "soccer school". There are several "little schools" - paid classes for soccer, volleyball, body-boarding, etc. - teaching kids and adults to play certain sports, along the beaches of Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana. There are also Tai-chi and regular exercise classes for the older folks. I also love the classic art-deco facades of the traditional buildings along Avenida Atlantica, reminding us of the glamorous "Old Copacabana". Enjoy!

Cool Signs - Hotel Verlaine, Rio

I just love this sign for Hotel Verlaine that I found in downtown Rio the other day. The mascot chick is clearly a working girl, no doubt about it. She is wearing a red mini dress, red pumps and a French-whore beret. She smokes her fags through a long cigarette holder and her heavy lidded eyes say it all: "Wanna a date big boy?" The sign claims "Maximum in Status", humm... The cherry on top is that this sign is the tip of a street lamp, right on the intersection of two streets in a bohemian neighborhood. Could it be more cliche? If Aunt Gladys and Uncle Vern were coming to Rio on vacation, the Hotel Verlaine would not be my first choice for accommodations, unless they want to experience a fun-filled, action-packed holiday.

Beware Of The Dog

There is something about some signs that really catch my eye. Maybe it's the dog's picture or the color scheme but I really like this one I found in the Santa Teresa neighborhood in Rio.