Grain Edit- suggested by reader/friend Rachel, Grain Edit is after my own heart. Seamlessly combining classic vintage mid-20th Century found design objects (from matchbooks to movie posters) with new designers in the same classic styles, Grain Edit has a well-defined aesthetic that is, in my humble opinion, exactly what the world should look like.

 LP Cover Lover - ah, the art of the album cover. The great ones are almost as great as the bad ones. You’ll find thousands of both (mostly the bad ones) at LP Cover Lover. The collection of Christian LPs featuring beehive hairdos could make a huge web site all on its own. But there is so much more. This is what makes the internet great.

 Type Theory - if you’re a typography nut, you’ve come to the right place. And if you know you love Helvetica but haven’t dug much deeper, prepare for a master course. Type Theory concentrates on contemporary work, but throws in some vintage goodies for us retro fiends as well. And as the name indicates, Type Theory gets deep into the reasons why it all works.

 Things Magazine - this fine blog is connected with the occasional print magazine of the same name, which is apparently “about objects and their meanings”, and it’s worth reading. But they really got me with their excellent collection of paperback book covers, especially the Pelican Project. 

Typo Gabor - OK, I’m going out on a limb here, since this collection of ”Galeries Pédagogiques de Design & Typo” is completely in French. But following the links reveals some excellent galleries of contemporary work, homages to great designers and typographers, and enough design inspiration to keep me coming back, whether I can read it or not.

Enjoy these five, and please feel free to suggest your favorites.

One of my favorite things in the blog world has been the explosion of great sites concerned with visual arts, design and photography. Some expose the readers to new artists they might never might have found. Others gather discovered items that would otherwise be rotting away somewhere, never to be seen again. And a few add in great analysis of what we’re seeing.

I recommend you check these out if you enjoy having your eyes and brain stimulated. I’ll link to particular posts that I think are outstanding, or are good examples of what the sites are about. If you like one, go to their main pages for more.

And with that, a small supermarket sampling of some great visual arts blogs:

 BAGnewsNotes- great photography analysis from Michael Shaw and company. Also, shockingly for a blog, thoughtful comments from the readers. There’s a lot being communicated in a “news” photo that we might not consciously perceive, and these people can pick apart an AP wire photo like no one else. 

 ISO50 Blog – The Blog of Scott Hansen - aside from showing his own work, Hansen shares inspiration from everywhere. This particular post on audio cassette inserts is stunning. His tastes are wide-ranging, but more than likely you’ll find something that makes your jaw drop.

 Movie Title Screens - not a blog as such, but an immense collection of movie title screens (starting in 1901!) that will keep you exploring for hours. Some are art, some are commerce, but many straddle the two (and isn’t that where the fun is)?

 Design Observer - plenty of writing on design aimed at those working in the field, but also loads of tasty images for the rest of us. It’s also a slick, magazine-style site which bears repeated viewing. Also loads of links and resources, so it acts as a great jumping-off point.

 Waxin’ & Milkin’: A Visual Mixtape - Mark Malazarte is obsessed images, and he posts lots of them on his Tumblr blog. Sometimes it’s hard to know why, because there’s no commentary (a promo shot of Ray Parker Jr.?), but that’s actually part of the fun. His random image link is guaranteed to turn up something that will get you thinking, confuse you, or both.

Enjoy these five, there will be more to come. Please feel free to let me know your favorites.