The letter L has broke on to the scene and forgot to leave the 70s behind. Looks like a bad version of one of those wolf and moon tees. What was L thinking?

It's OK, letters have a hard time of letting go of the glory days, just like people. Here's to cut off shorts and mid-drift tees. Wow.

It was up to Rhythm yesterday to set up the photo studio. Working with some automatic, remote, flash bulbs. Funny, at the higher shutter speeds, the right umbrella flash lagged slightly behind, creating a shadow on the right side. Conundrum.

Overall it was succesful, and we found the magic aperature, iso, shutter speed and lighting. It's all a formula. If one is off, good luck...

Thanks to Paul for being our stand-in test model for the shoot. Real classy.

If any of you real photographers out there have any input or advice on product photography, my ears are open...

Stay tuned for the Rhythm USA surf catalog...

Nothing much to say here. Just a hedge with a K wedge.

Working on some grid systems right now. Getting ready for some catalog layouts for several clients. Bring it!

The letter K has gone incognito, invincible and all those other stealth, sneaky descriptions. Doing it's best impression of the Cheshire Cat. "You may have noticed that I'm not all there myself." Can you stand on your head?

Yup. There you have it... K

Happy Monday, and welcome Mr. K. Back to vector and pixels...

The letter J letting off some steam. It's been a long week for j, give it a break. Sticking to the whimsical hand lettering. Trying to change it up a bit from just typing a letter. Can't wait to have some letterpress and screen printing options. 3 months...

Have a great weekend. K will be here on Monday with arms wide open. Please show it the respect you have shown J...

The j took a visit to the Getty yesterday, and so did I. I as in me, not the letter i. Such a great place with more than enough to keep the camera busy. Then you have the Da Vinci exhibit, and that took it to another level. The 'sketches' and sculptures were something else. If I was an art writer or critic, I would have all sorts of great words and emotions to describe the pieces, but I am not. So, I say, they were fantasmic. Got it?

The statue sculptures by Rustici were my favorite. Their scale and emotion immediately captivated the viewers, and they were drawn in from surrounding rooms. Keep in mind, when looking at the photo below, that I am about 6'4 and I came to just about their knees. Wow, dudes are big.

Photo Below: John the Baptist Preaching to a Pharisee and a Levite, 1506–11, Giovan Francesco Rustici. Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence. Courtesy the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence. Photo: Mike Jensen, 2009

It looks like the alphabet has taken a turn to the hand-drawn side of things. Getting a little burnt out on the computer this week. This screen is frying my brain! OK, so it's not that bad, I just felt like doodling some letters, alright?

Heading up to The Getty to check out the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit. A true inventor. Can't wait. I will post some pics, in a post to come...  For now, hold hands and keep the letter j company.

The i remains lowercase. However, it decided to let lose and take off the 9-5 suit and tie. A little more loose and laid back, taking it easy at the beach. Might need a wetsuit, as the water temps are staying rather chilly.

What?

The letter i loves the tea cup ride. I hate tea cups. Spin until your sick...

Hello to all my loyal followers. Myself (Brian Lindstrom, that's who I am), Newbaric Design Co., and all thing good have been featured in the OC Gazette. Pick up a copy at your local business, or if you are somewhere else on this lovely planet, surf on over to the OC GAZETTE's website to see the article.

Thank you again to Lisa, Blythe and the rest of the crew holding it down at the Gazette.

Letter i wanted to show of it's iconic potential with it's debut post. Not sure what it's an icon of. Just some silly spinny randomness. I call this iLogo 2.0.

Check out the OC Gazette article on Newbaric here.  We talk about life, design and how I do my deal. You can't miss this one, or maybe you can...? Thanks to Lisa and Blythe and everyone at the Gazette for writing the article, much appreciated. I will post an official OC Gazette post next...

This is the letter H's last performance, and it's decided to go solo. H thought it was time to strip back all the visual clutter and focus all the attention on itself. Selfish? Maybe. A mistake? Only time will tell. Necessary? Absolutely.

Wardrobe provided by Garamond.

Head on over to the Brandaid section to read about Australia's attack on the branding of tobacco companies. 

The letter H has gone plaid. Baskerville looks good with plaid, I think. What's your thought on the state of plaid and flannels? H is all ears...

A simple update from yesterday. H, all grown up. Found it's way, and moved all the way across the page.

Not much to see here as far as ground breaking creativity, just a nice jump-start to the day of design. The design quota is a nice little work shop for good and bad ideas. Carry on...

Welcome H. Make yourself at home, for the next few days. 

I am planning a change of direction in the near future. I will come back to the alphabet later, but something fresh is being called upon. More to come...

Newbaric's buddy-ol-pal, Joe Turpel, will be announcing the WCT Billabong Santa Catarina event in Brazil this week. Tune in to hear 'the voice' narrate the turn by turn of surfers like Slater, Irons, Jordy, Dane and the rest of surfing's heavy weights. Playing with the big dogs. Congrats Mr. Turpel, have fun in Brazil... Tune in here for live coverage.

I know WCT is now the ASP World tour. Old habits. WCT still has a nice ring...

After the contest is over and Joe is back in the states, you can catch him on Thursday nights at the Hill Street Coffee House's open mic in Oceanside. Good tunes by this up and coming singer/songwriter. See you there...

The G is going lower case today. Keeping it in the Rockwell family. It's fun to see the lower case shapes playing against the uppercase. Sits nicely within the capital G. Same color scheme, with some new shapes added. Shapes create movement, and this g is dancing. You can use that...

This is the sibling of yesterday's TDQ G. The positive space. I really like the vibe that comes through with these colors and subtle texture. A little sense of nostalgia from design's past. If I do say so myself... Brought to you by the typeface, Rockwell. Of course with the addition of the wedge on the counter of the G. The arrow may be the cheapest trick to create movement and motion, but it just works. 

The letter G is up and ready to show off. A little display of negative space. Funny how your eyes will complete an image, especially when you know what to look for. Welcome Mr. G. Welcome...

Univers and the letter F take us in a new direction, for today. Those crazy letters, always doing their own thing. Go ahead, read up on F. Not sure what any of that means. All that history and reason. Leave it to the Greeks. Imagine a bunch of humans wearing leaves and togas whipping up an alphabet. Nice work...

The fence is an F. The F is a fence. Master of disguise, the F is...

Happy Monday to all. This is a week of deadlines. Time to get crackin' and creative. Some new work to be posted soon. For now it's classified. I could tell you, but then I would... I can't tell you.

Oh to be an F. Stretching itself across the lawn. Welcome F to the show, let's see what it can do... Stay tuned.

E3MW. All good choices. Speaking of choices, wow. What a day. Let's just say 2010 is going to be non-stop. 

The letter E has worn out it's welcome. F, come on in...

Ah, so many times in design we try and over think type and image. Here is a nice image of some great architecture, but where to put some type? That's the conundrum. I had a little meeting with the letter E, and decided a nice red stripe in some bright green grass would suit it well. Good call E, good call. Keep it classy. Don't worry, I will venture back into some more experimental type solutions. It's always nice to reign it in every so often to apply some real world applications...

UW Madison. Great place and great people. Badgerland.

The letter E. So subtle, hidden among the board. Not sure about you, but I always enjoy having the company of the letter E while playing scrabble. So dependable.

The letter E is so stealth. Playing hide and seek in the trees. Go, find it. Don't be afraid, it's just Garamond having some fun...

Just wrapped up a birthday invite collab with Dutchess Paper. Good times and fun invite. I didn't include the inside with the birthday details because I didn't want you crashing a one-year old's birthday. So fun...

The letter E waited patiently, and now it has the stage. I present the letter E, overlayed on the Art and Architecture department at UT, Knoxville.

There is some exceptional graphic design work being done at Tennessee. Great facilities and faculty. It was refreshing being immersed with the great design that adorned the walls. And damn, the letterpress shop and print facilities were something to covet. 

Rocky Top, Tennessee...

Look at that, the letter D is sneaking in one more day before E arrives. Mixing some textile textures in there with a flocked script D.

Just got back from a cross-country tour. Thank you Knoxville, TN and Madison, WI. Two great places with some seriously nice people. I will post some photos of the visit later. I have to say some of my favorite photos came from inside the University of Tennessee's Art and Architecture building. I could sit in there all day and just gander at the interior space.