Pentagram's Custom Signs Make Picking Up Dog Poop A Religious Experience At Manhattan's Famous Cathedral Saint John the Divine.

Michael Bierut and designer Jesse Reed of Pentagram have created a series of heavenly signs for New York's well known Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine that gently remind visitors to curb and leash thy dogs on Sunday, Oct. 6 (today) for its annual St. Francis Day Blessing of the Animals.



Funerals of many notables have been held at St. John the Divine, such as Soprano's star James Gandolfini, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, writer James Baldwin, inventor Nikola Tesla, musician Dizzy Gillespie and puppeteer Jim Henson.



Visitors will encounter a new set of commandments designed for the institution, which employs the custom font Divine, a redrawn version of Frederic Goudy’s 1928 Blackletter.


above: The font, St. John The Divine, was created exclusively for Pentagram to rebrand the Cathedral by typographer Joe Finocchiaro in 2009.




Throughout the past few years, Pentagram has been refreshing the identity of Manhattan’s Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. Their relationship with the Cathedral, an extraordinary New York institution, goes back fourteen years. They designed its previous identity in 1999.



Shortly after 9/11, the Cathedral was severely damaged by fire; a painstaking seven-year restoration followed, and the interior was reopened to great acclaim last November. The updated identity, which has been slowly introduced over the past years, builds on the success of the reopening.


above: The updated identifier pairs a drawing of the Cathedral's rose window with the name set in Franklin Gothic.

The Cathedral’s identifier juxtaposes a drawing of the rose window (shown below) that dominates the building’s western wall with asymmetrical sans serif typography. The signature is complimented with a new version of Frederic Goudy‘s blackletter text from 1928, which Goudy had based on Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible.



In a process that paralleled the Cathedral’s detailed interior restoration, typographer Joe Finocchiaro “repointed” Goudy’s letterforms to ensure crisp reproduction at large sizes.


above: A comparison of the letter P in Goudy's original blackletter, left, and redrawn by Joe Finocchiaro for the custom font Divine, right.

The signs will be a permanent addition to the Cathedral grounds, a popular spot for walking dogs in the neighborhood.


above: The church also holds many exhibits. Dog Bless You: The Photography of Mary Bloom, opened there last month and will be on view through winter 2013. For more information on the exhibition and photographer Mary Bloom's evocative portraits of Cathedral friends both four- and two-legged, visit here

Related links:
Pentagram
Joe Finocchiaro
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Architectural history and images of the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine
Construction of the West Rose Window

Warp Dogs by Benjamin Grelle aka “The Frogman.”

Benjamin Grelle, who goes by the moniker 'The Frogman' on the internet, is the man behind Babies With Laser Eyes, a tumblr site that introduced him to many a viewer.


above: Benjamin Grelle, aka The Frogman, has a sense of humor, some photoshop skills and as he candidly admits on his site, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

A large lovable looking bear of a guy with a penchant for dogs, his latest collection of photoshopped goodness is Warp Dogs. A collection of images of dogs hanging their heads out of car windows - jowls flapping, ears flying - whose backgrounds have been replaced with galaxies viewed at Warp Speed.

Simple and silly, if these images don't make you crack a smile, you're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.










and an animated gif:



Check out more fun stuff from The Frogman here.

A Holistic Beverage Helps Homeless Dogs Find A Home: Kombucha Dog

You may have heard of Kombucha. It's a fermented sweetened tea beverage said to be a powerful probiotic. Filled with antioxidants, it's a low sugar, carbonated drink that originated centuries ago and controversially claims to 'detoxify the body and energize the mind.'

Whether or not you are a Kombucha-believer, this interesting product/project dreamed up by commercial photographer Michael Faye combines his lifelong love of dogs and his holistic beliefs in one bottle.



After coming up with his own Kombucha brew through much experimentation, he built a factory from the ground up to produce the bottled beverage. He then decided to photograph homeless dogs and put them on the label to try to help them find homes - and voila!  KOMBUCHA DOG was born.





Each dog pictured on their label is available for adoption now at a local no-kill fostering program and can be contacted through their website. The website lists the dogs presently looking for homes, along with lovely multiple portraits of each sweet canine by Michael Faye. I really wish I could take all of them home.





At present Kombucha Dog you can find Kombucha dog here).

And here's a look at some of the beautifully photographed dogs by Michael Faye for the project:

Humphrey Bogart:

Molly:

Mimi:

Donut:

Stewart:

Captain Jack:

Emma:

Chalon:



KOMBUCHADOG

Michael Faye

Great Pet Portraits Capture Goofy and Gorgeous: Furtographs

There's no shortage of adorable images of dogs and cats on the internet these days. Pinterest, Tumblr and Facebook are loaded with them. But not all of them are as well composed or attractive as those done by photographer/artist Andy Stolarek of Los Angeles. His in-home and on-location shots of people's dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, pigs and more other capture beast and beauty in one image.



Simultaneously goofy and gorgeous, poignant and personality-laden, Furtographs offer two in-studio options or will travel to your city by request.























The images work nicely in residences, offices, private and public spaces:



About Furtographs:


Classically trained in bassoon performance and visual art from University of Southern California and California Institute of the Arts, photographer/artist Andy Stolarek (shown above) began to work with animals in 2000. First working with taxidermy and the study of anthropomorphism, Stolarek examined organized groups and document the specific elements that bring the collectives together through narrative gallery installations.

On a drive to San Francisco in 2003, Stolarek came upon his first pedigree cat championship. This discovery began his photographic series ‘Grimalkin’ which focused on the niche arena of feline pageantry and competition. As his work progressed, he began to photograph the animals of friends and family, initializing Furtographs. With his unique aesthetic for portraiture, capturing each animal in an unconventional and dramatic manner became Stolarek’s Furtographs focus.

Furtographs home base studio is located in the Loft at The Urban Pet at 7515 Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles. In addition to working throughout Southern California, Furtographs often works in Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle and your city by request.

They offer two options for in-studio packages:

The Signature Furtographs Session: $350.
•90 minute sitting for your first pet *
•two background colors of your choice with various lighting schemes
•one 8×10, 8×12 or two 5×7 printed portraits
•5×7 digital proofs emailed or put to CD

The Express Furtographs Session: $275.
•60 minute sitting for your first pet*
•one background color of your choice with various lighting schemes
•one 8×10 or 8×12 printed portrait
•5×7 digital proofs emailed or put to CD

*Each additional pet is $100 with 30 minutes added to the base session fee.
*Extra time may be allocated for special cases, please discuss this with us prior to your session.
-Sessions include post production editing, retouching, framing services (if desired) and print delivery to studio location.

In home and on location sessions are also available for pets with special needs, multiple pets, finicky cats or should you just want us to bring the studio to you! (should space and environment conditions be suitable)

Furtographs