Yeargh, this stuff sells out fast. Local outfit Orange Beautiful's limited edition "Motivate Prints" are back. The set of four includes "get your sh*t together," "get on with it already," "quit your bellyaching" and "do something about it." But if your nesting instinct leans more to the love-love than the tough-love..........

Ooooh, it looks like our favorite CTA calligraphy enthusiast has struck again, this time at the Fullterton Red/Brown/Purple Line stop. So great.......

There are a lot of spoof posters out there, but this one, by David Friedman of Ironic Sans, is the clear winner.......

Photo by Morydd. Click for detail. Hats off to the calligraphy aficionado who works at the Chicago Brown Line stop. I know I'm a cheese, but I love when people make things nicer than they need to be.......

Editor and Publisher got a sneak peek at what could become the new Chicago Tribune - and it ain't pretty. The news that Red Eye founding editor Jane Hirt would be promoted to managing editor worried a lot of people, and now it appears that the Red-Eye-Ification of the Tribune goes much further than just personnel changes. The design has been completely redone, but the main change would be the name. Since 1847, "Chicago Tribune"......

A new show at the Morton Arboretum, Rising from Ashes: Furniture from Lost Trees, features chairs, chests, tables and shelves made from reclaimed and reused wood from trees damaged by Emerald ash borers. The exhibit includes 30 pieces from members of the Chicago Furniture Designers Association and runs through September 7. All images courtesy of the Arboretum.......

Local photographer Paul Octavious bought The Literature of the United States, published in 1947, for 50 cents at the Lincoln Park library.......

The CPD is considering changing how its cars and SUVs look. And lo, the options are fug. My eyes! According to CPD spokeswoman Monique Bond, "The department is seeking the opinion of the rank and file to make a future decision on color schemes and designs for vehicles." Said opinion-seeking comes in the form of a web survey posted on Fraternal Order of Police website. You don't have to log in or in any way......

On the left, the Trib's front page from June 14, 2008 (via). On the right, today's Orlando Sentinel, which may be what the Trib will look like in the next few months. Changes are afoot at the Tribune, and not just in staffing. Newly installed editor Gerould Kern is overseeing a complete redesign, according to Crain's. A new look has been in the works for a while, but it's moving ahead faster than scheduled......

Local illustrator Frank Chimero (whose state series we adore) teamed up with Portland's TinyMeat to create this wallet. Frank's drawing is based off of a drawing made by Gabriel Guarin, son of TinyMeat proprietors Michael and Mona, whom Frank describes as "a prolific artist" and "a highly functioning Autistic first grader with an appetite for robots and Pokemon." "Michael had mentioned how great it'd be if someone would take one of the drawings and either......

Canadian illustrator Antony Hare whipped up this oddly menacing, intriguing Abraham Lincoln. Previously: Bowie Lincoln, Stencil Lincoln.......

In honor of this year's All-Star game in Yankee Stadium, Major League Baseball is releasing a series of city-specific, unbelievably ugly Statues of Liberty. (Statue of Liberties?) Wow. The Pirates one is arguably worse, but the Chicago ones are pretty rough. There are much, much better ways to spend $24.99. [MLB]......

Photo by Matt Hamilton It's gorgeous out, that bullshit ordinance is on hold—we need to keep the awesome train moving. Choo choo. Suck it, Golden Tee. We're geeking over this vintage coin-op bowling game. And it's only $1,950. Part of the U of C's recently completed Scav Hunt was redesigning the branding for Cholie's. Mahaaha. Sad trombone. Instant rimshot. And people say it's hard to find good help. Fraggle movie. FRAGGLE MOVIE. So psyched.......

Our quest for the perfect Chicago poster will never end (1, 2, 3, 4), but we love Eric Ellis's handy dandy design. (Also insanely cool? His "real world Photoshop.") Don't forget, the deadline to enter the First Chicago International Poster Biennial is May 27. First prize is glory.......

On the left, today's Sun-Times front page. On the right, this week's Time Out Chicago. [Disclosure: I write for TOC, but I have nothing to do with the covers.]......

The Shore Drive Motel used to be on 56th and South Shore in Hyde Park, apparently one of a few motels on that stretch back in the day. We're all over this postcard like a bum on a baloney sandwich. Scan via jericl cat......

Our obsession with vintage Chicago posters continues... with two more pieces from the same designer, John Rieben (via another PosterPlus and Worship Worthy). You can droll over more of his work here. See also: the Chicago Design Archive's 1960s entries. Our eyeballs are so happy right now.......

Photo by Matt Hamilton Is that a drug deal caught on Google Maps? [Gawker] Best! Our wish came true! Frank Chimero's States set now includes Illinois. [more] The NFL ruled that the 49ers violated an anti-tampering policy by contacting Lance Briggs's agent during the 2007 season. [AP] Steven Frost, 53, of Hanover Park has been charged with seven DUIs since 1989, including a charge over the weekend. [Trib] The Neighbors Project says it's not......

Brainphone, JR1497. We were just talking about all the weird, lovely motel signs scattered throughout the city.......

Behold the awesome of Chicagoland-bred, Milwaukee-based Mike Rea You know what we need today? Yeah you do. Some things that are awesome. Local-ish artist Mike Rea's wooden set-up "Wood Load In," pictured above, is blowing our minds. This interview with him is, you guessed it, awesome. [Fecal Face. Er, unsavory name but totally SFW.] Good questions are always awesome. "What Chicagoland parking garages are most notable?" [Ask MeFi] Sure, the $980 price tag is......

The New York Times Home and Garden section (yes, we sometimes read the Home & Garden section) checked in yesterday on the West Town home of two Art Institute faculty members, Frances Whitehead and James Elniski, whose West Town home is starting to turn heads. According to the article (which is accompanied with a nice slide show), the couple has approached their home like a conceptual art project, and in so doing, they've pretty much......

BHeuer, above, and Mjkmjk take different looks at the same project.......

While the Field’s Fans are too busy protesting poor customer service at Macy’s as they long for the days of Marshall Field’s, customer satisfaction for shopping scabs has increased. An annual University of Michigan Study ranking shopper satisfaction among discount and department stores and supermarkets reported Macy’s saw a 5.6% increase in customer satisfaction, ending with a score of 75 out of 100 points. Nordstrom tops the list with a score of 80, only five......

The Trib unveiled its new website today, and Crain's redesign went live yesterday.......

Photo by Sam Rosen from The Post Family Artists have a reputation of being snobbish, standoffish and altogether pretentious loners. Some are glad to claim that title while others, like the members of The Post Family are out to prove it wrong. The troupe of mostly paper-goods artists share a loft space and website where they collaborate and hawk their wares. They also encourage anyone to say "hello." In their own words: "We enjoy......

Getting ready for tomorrow's big election action, we can't help but notice how much Obama-inspired art, design and crafting we've been seeing. Xtrapop's no-counters text design is perfectly trendy. And there's so much more where that came from.........

So it looks like the Blackhawks aren't going to commit to the Indian--at least not as a slogan. But today's Trib says, "the Indian head became a logo that is one of the most admired in professional sports," and that got us thinking. First, is that even true? And second, what are the other Chicago sports logos we can geek out about? (We've already gone on record about the Owls.) These are a few other......

A few weeks ago we wondered where our Obey/Obama posters were. Behold this poster, from Shepard Fairey, he of the Obey Giant creation: More Obama street art from local outfit CRO.... In additional to cool design endorsements, and the Kennedy stamp of approval, Obama is also enjoying the support of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.......

The Chicago 2016 Olympic "applicant file" is now available to the public and it's gosh-darn gorgeous. It's like getting your eyeballs massaged by angel feathers--visually, it's fabulous. Content-wise...well... what are you, new here? A few highlights: ++ The bidding process alone is budgeted at $49.3 million ++ Forecast revenues from the "domestic marketing program" are $2.5 billion ++ 81 percent of the venues—22 of 27—are existing or temporary. ++ "Athletes, teams, the IOC, NOC......

Today is the last day of the old design. Come Monday morning, we’ll be seeing a “fresh look” for the paper edition of the Tribune, which promises to make more use of white space, more sophisticated fonts, and a page that in smaller by 1/2-inch. We’re not exactly sure if “more white space” means less news or not, but one thing is for sure -- less ink and less finger-print smudge. In an e-mail to......