Elsewhere

Cincinnati, OH — 15 U.S. Cities’ Emerging Downtowns: nice accolades from Forbes.

City Stores | Cincinnati: Cincinnati-centric videos, photos and more.

Wedding Favors: A First Class Wedding likes our personalized seed bomb wedding favors!

‘Rap Quotes’ by Jay Shells Maps Out Lyrics with Guerrilla Street Sign Installation: amazing; I wish I had embarked on this kind of wayfinding/placemaking campaign.

New York State Pavilion Documentary: Matthew Silva is raising funds for a worthy cause — a documentary about Philip Johnson’s iconic New York State Pavilion, built for the 1964 New York World’s Fair and now sitting in ruins.

Rent from on High: a heatmap of 1-bedroom rental prices in San Francisco, found on Burrito Justice.

Cultural Vibrancy: this essay, which “posits that ‘vibrant’ is the creative class’ code for urban gentrification,” had me alternately shaking my head and laughing my ass off.

VisuaLingual 2012 Gift Guide

It’s time for the annual VL Gift Guide and, as before, the focus is on some of the many amazing independent designers whose work we admire. Three Sheets 2 the Wind in Georgetown, KY specializes in simple, almost childlike screenprints on fine linen, including these sweet canvases above, which would be perfect for a kid’s room.

Elsewhere

‘Urban Landscapes’ Shows Beauty, Potential of Abandonment: a new photography exhibit opens tonight, 5-8pm, at the Betts House.

Brewery District Competition Promotes True Live/Work Space: looking to bring light manufacturing back to Over-the-Rhine.

Film Review: Detropia: I’m adding this Detroit documentary to my film queue.

1906 + Today: The Earthquake Blend: amazing composite photographs of contemporary San Francisco and scenes from its famous earthquake.

Lavender Lake: The Gowanus Canal: an in-depth exploration of a fascinating neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Unlivable Cities: a critique of urban development in China.

Are Boomers the Reason Urban Rents Are Rising?: the answer is “maybe.”

The Parks of the World by Mikell Fine Iles

Mikell Fine Iles is a designer originally from San Francisco, now based in Brooklyn, who has created a series of infographics entitled The Parks of the World, comparing var­i­ous char­acter­is­tics of the large urban parks he has vis­ited.

Elsewhere

Vote Daily for VisuaLingual: please do as i love SoOh says.

VisuaLingual Competing in Martha Stewart’s American Made Awards: get out the vote!

The Sycamore Street Studio of Theodore Gantz: OMG, eye candy overload.

Golden Gate Bridge Designed by UC Grad: just that.

Someone IS home: Exit #9 Photography explores the [maybe not entirely] abandoned Plymouth County Hospital in Hanson, MA.

California Crazy Architecture: Googie and beyond in California, taken from a 1980 book.

A Teeming Metropolis Built Entirely out of Staples!: exactly what it sounds like.

The Art of Matte Stephens

Manhattan by Matte Stephens

Portland, OR-based Matte Stephens is sort of the love child of Georges Damin and Mark Coomer, with a hint of Nicholas Takis and a touch of Jim Flora in the mix, sprinkled with a garnish of early Charley Harper. His gouache paintings are very much rooted in the forms and colors of the middle of the 20th century, and I especially like his scenes of different cities.

Wedding Invitation Suite by VisuaLingual

We haven’t done much client work over the past couple of years, focusing instead on the product side of things. But, a sister isn’t just any client, and her wedding called for a very special invitation design by Michael featuring San Francisco spots meaningful to the couple, printed by Worthington, OH-based Igloo Letterpress. The Del Mar wedding was actually the impetus for our Great American Road Trip.

Elsewhere

Paint Building Next Project in OTR Transformation: the best part is that the Cincinnati Color Company sign is staying put.

Dear Downtown: waah, complaining about signs of urban vitality in downtown Cincinnati.

Cincinnati Fights Its Way Back into Hearts of Hip and Trendy: a Clevelander’s perspective on pretty much the same phenomenon.

Signs of Progress Light Up Museum’s New Home: an update on Cincinnati’s amazing American Sign Museum [grand reopening scheduled for 23 June].

Soviet Nuclear Submarine Base, Balaklava: Chris Glass checks out some crazy sights.

Miracle Mile, 1954 Style: a fascinating peek at 1954 San Francisco.

Letters from Neon: Scripts: amazing eye candy from New York Neon.

Elsewhere

Smale Riverfront Park: 5chw4r7z checks out a brand new park in downtown Cincinnati.

One Year: We Heart OTR recount their year in the neighborhood, including our seed bomb workshop at the CAC last summer.

VisuaLingual’s Seed Bomb Biz Blooms: a summary of what we’ve been up to.

Etsy Finds: Eco-Friendly Goodness: Bijou Bride likes our personalized seed bomb favors.

The Fillmore Stoop Is Unveiled: San Francisco’s newest public space is a parklet [parking space-turned-mini park] at 2410 California St.

Providence: The Rust Belt’s Most Northeasterly Point?: “whether it is the Beehive of Industry, the Renaissance City, or the Creative Capital,” the identity of Providence has been shifting since 1636.

A Photographer Captures Times Square in Color: amazing photos from the 1950s.

The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. Store

The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. store is part of the 826 National network of writing and tutoring centers. It’s located in Park Slope at 372 5th Ave. and offers invisible products, capes, secret identity kits, x-ray glasses, and even intelligence in a can [a bargain at just $12.99!].