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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
slate: olympic sap-o-meter
it's time for the winter olympics in vancouver, and nbc is all ready with heartfelt stories of success, hardwork, suffering, perseverance...sap. slate has dusted off the ol' sap-o-meter which tallies the daily cheese-quotient of the on-air crew. be sure to check in for your daily dose of schmaltz and the 'sappiest line of the day," it's enough to make a grown peacock cry.

slate: olympic sap-o-meter / complete coverage

sap-o-meter02_72

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alex eben meyer | 4:18 PM | 0 comments

Monday, December 21, 2009
happy winter
we're a couple of days early, but in honor of the great snowpocalypse/snowmageddon which dumped feet(!?) of snow on the east coast this weekend, winter seemingly has already arrived.

happywinter

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alex eben meyer | 3:24 PM | 2 comments

Friday, November 20, 2009
15 Uses for Newsprint
i am very pleased to be part of the illustrators and designers working in the pencil factory building in greenpoint, brooklyn who have stopped being polite...and start getting real...to create a recession special poster-zine for your wall...
15 USES FOR NEWSPRINT.

More information available at www.thepencilfactory.org, heck, you can even buy one!

first 100 orders get an original drawing by one of these drunk pencil factory artists:
Kim Bost, Josh Cochran, Jennifer Daniel, Gilbert Ford, Jessica Hische, Grady McFerrin, Ted McGrath, Alex Eben Meyer, Chris Silas Neal, Zacharia O'Hora, Leif Parsons, Rachel Salomon, Joel Speasmaker, Jillian Tamaki, or Sam Weber.

*special thanks to josh cochran and jennifer daniel for making this sucker happen.

15uses01

15uses06

15uses07

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alex eben meyer | 9:00 AM | 0 comments

Thursday, November 19, 2009
rebel iphone
think you're a tech badass? oh yeah? come on then, jailbreak that iphone of yours. ooooh, it's so precious, i'm scared, i'm scared. yeah, i thought so. (full-disclosure-illustration note: the creator of this illustration's iphone does not have spiky hair, ride a motorcycle or smoke.)

pcworld: jailbreaking your iphone: the pros and cons, by mike keller

pcworld_rebel01_post

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alex eben meyer | 9:30 AM | 0 comments

Monday, November 09, 2009
nytimes: letting your grad student go
a spot last week for the new york time's education life section about parents letting their grad student child go. seems obvious enough, but these are parents who are still helping their kids get into grad school, going on interviews, etc. uh...

nytimes: letting your grad student go, by amanda m. fairbanks

nyt_helpinghands01_post

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alex eben meyer | 2:30 PM | 0 comments

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
slate: why won't anyone give me a credit card?
trying to get a credit card with good credit, but no credit history. maybe i've seen too many of those stupid and predatory (yeah, i went there!) capital one commercials with the vikings (or i just wanted to draw 2x4s).

slate: why won't anyone give me a credit card?, by kevin o'donnell.

credit_stockade01_post

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alex eben meyer | 9:00 AM | 0 comments

Monday, September 21, 2009
happy autumn // portfolio update
it's cooler, the days are getting shorter, and the apples are tasty. much like the leaves changing color, it's time for a portfolio update, so throw on some corduroys and a sweater and take a look.

happy autumn: eben fall portfolio update

foliage_machine

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alex eben meyer | 11:00 AM | 2 comments

Friday, September 11, 2009
vote amp-bear-sand!
thumbs up to everyone who voted/commented/RT'd, bear and i are most appreciative (he's more formal than i am, hence the tie). if you haven't had a chance to vote, you still can! TODAY! FINAL DAY! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

threadless: amp-bear-sand

gfx_091109_threadless01

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alex eben meyer | 12:05 PM | 2 comments

Monday, July 13, 2009
design*sponge: sketch mornings
i am excited to once again be blog-hanging out with my friend grace over at design*sponge (previously ao's and my apartment had the honor of appearing as a d*s sneak peek). this week however, i am guest sketchblogging. the pieces are a collection of coffeeshop drawings from around the neighborhood, so lots of muffins and coffee from some of my favorite hangouts. eat and drink up.

design*sponge sketch morning: monday
(subsequent posts will be appearing in the artwork section of d*s)

032709_oslo01

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alex eben meyer | 11:57 AM | 2 comments

Tuesday, July 07, 2009
tree and squirrel
i couldn't leave well enough alone, messing with the outdoor theater illustration. now with more trees!

slate_summermovies03b

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alex eben meyer | 12:11 PM | 0 comments

Monday, July 06, 2009
slate: the summer movie special
illustrations for the slate summer movie special issue. go read about the indignities of outdoor movies, stunt men's favorite flicks (personal illustration goal of drawing a big ol 'splosion...achieved. kablooey!), and more.

slate: summer movies issue III

slate_summermovies01

slate: that was awesome, by kevin conley.

slate_summermovies02

slate: let's go see a movie in the park!, by juliet lapidos.

slate_summermovies03

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alex eben meyer | 12:29 PM | 0 comments

Monday, June 15, 2009
slate: periodic discussions
a big eben welcome to element 112, ununbium!
slate: periodic discussions, by sam kean.

slate_ununbium02_72

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alex eben meyer | 2:56 PM | 2 comments

slate: friends without money
slate: friends without money, by emily bazelon.
special thanks to gulshan for allowing me to reference the photo of that woman he was stalking at the track.

slate_brownbagging01_72

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alex eben meyer | 2:15 PM | 2 comments

Tuesday, June 02, 2009
slate: the food issue
slate is running a special series this week examining food and food culture, for which i got to prepare some tasty illustrations. i am a little sad that they didn't use an illustration for the article about lard, but really, it's probably for the best.
eat up, people.

- the way we eat: slate celebrates food.
- one part creativity: zero parts recipe: can just using ratios really teach me to be a better cook?, by jennifer reese.

slate_foodsleuth01_72dpi

slate_foodratio01_72dpi

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alex eben meyer | 2:56 PM | 0 comments

Friday, May 01, 2009
texas observer: rick perry's texas tea
cover illustration for the texas observer. upset with the state of the union and the recession, "governor good hair" (texas governor rick perry), tea-partied and threatened secession. in an attempt to explain the situation, my personal texas advisor scoured the intertubes for some commentary to sum up texas politics:

Texas never wanted any government to begin with, so we've just consistently sent our least able, totally wacked-out people to do the job. As our beloved Molly Ivins once wrote, "In Texas, it's actually better if a candidate for office has a criminal record." (via huffington post)


yeah, that sounds about right.

texas observer: rick perry's texas tea

texas observer: secession

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alex eben meyer | 11:24 AM | 3 comments

Monday, April 13, 2009
the social bird project: nerdbird
this weekend i did an icon for the good people of inspired magazine and their social bird project. head on over if you wanna rock the nerdbird and any of the other twitter bird variations.

inspired magazine: the social bird project


nerdbird

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alex eben meyer | 10:41 AM | 0 comments

Tuesday, March 31, 2009
slate and colbert
emily yoffee of slate appeared last night on the colbert report to talk about her article on narcissistic personality disorder (featuring an eben illustration . . . on slate.com, not the colbert report. sigh). way to go emily, you did good!

slate: but enough about you..., by emily yoffe

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
American Narcissism
comedycentral.com

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alex eben meyer | 11:00 AM | 0 comments

Thursday, March 19, 2009
slate: narcissism
these days, we all seem to love blogging, twittering, posting our own illustrations, etc, but this doesn't make us narcissists (i'll chalk that one up to selfimporatant jackasses). slate looks at narcissistic presonality disorder, its causes, poster-children, and societal implications. if you can tear yourself away from yourself, go read it.

slate: but enough about you..., by emily yoffe

slate_narcissism02_blog

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alex eben meyer | 11:53 AM | 0 comments

Friday, February 27, 2009
henry holt: next stop, reloville
cover for peter t. kilborn's new book about "the growing phenomenon of 'relos,' the professionals for whom relocation is a way of life." my friend and former hockey nemesis nick caruso wanted walking houses. for some reason he thought of me, one too many stick checks to the head i'll have to assume. ambulate on, little house.

next stop, reloville: life inside america's rootless professional class
henry holt / times books

hholt_post01

hholt_post02

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alex eben meyer | 3:14 PM | 1 comments

Thursday, February 05, 2009
slate: what is there to laugh about in gaza?
an article about humor in gaza did not seem like an easy assignment, and my initial ideas centering around a comedian performing on a bombed out stage, or 'the gaza' a comedy club, weren't exactly transcendent. once past all of that, i like how the illustration turned out. look for more groucho glasses in the future.

slate: what is there to laugh about in gaza?, by alex dziadosz.

What Is There To Laugh About in Gaza?

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alex eben meyer | 2:28 PM | 0 comments

Thursday, January 29, 2009
hardwood ale
my friends at the first church of bracketology contacted me in need of a beer tap for their weekly worship, and more importantly for their march high holiday services. after meeting with the delightful reverend raycroft, we came upon a name and visual look for their holy brew, hardwood ale. go defense!

note: hardwood ale might end up being hardwood pilsner, they aren't brewing the stuff, just labeling it.

hardwood ale

update:
the image has since seen some editing, much better now.

hardwood_post02

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alex eben meyer | 1:32 PM | 2 comments

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
allstate: yourplayground.org
i recently completed illustrations for a project with domani studios to create an interactive playground site for allstate. all of the illustrations, including an entire font, were drawn isometrically, which was both a pain in the ass and an illustrative revelation. visitors to the site can build their own playground, with the winning entries being used as inspiration for an actual playground in chicago. many thanks to the entire team at domani for all of their excellent work, and especially to mrs. tickles for letting benjamin out to eat wings.

allstate: yourplayground.org


allstate_playground01

allstate_playground02

allstate_playground03

allstate_playground04

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alex eben meyer | 3:10 PM | 0 comments

Monday, January 12, 2009
slate: the year in illustrations
slate just posted their collection of illustrations from 2008. it's an honor to work alongside the talented illustrators and art directors that make slate go. (words? screw that, it's the art).

slate illustrated: the year in illustrations

slate01_robdonnelly
rob donnelly

slate02_ninafrankel
nina frankel

slate03_robertneubecker
robert neubecker

slate04_charliepowell
charlie powell

slate05_deannastaffo
deanna staffo

slate06_markalanstamaty
mark alan stamaty

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alex eben meyer | 2:49 PM | 0 comments

Thursday, December 18, 2008
footsie
i was contacted by the brothers washburn about doing a piece for their color ink book made up of artists, illustrators and cartoonists. unfortunately, the first time i was too busy (lazy? unorganized?), but second time's the chram. i've been drawing feet lately, so why not draw a LOT of feet? there is no underlying message with these feet, however, i did just get new shoes, so maybe my subconscious is coming out in my artwork...profound!

since it is for a coloring book, ao mentioned that by using halftone shading (the dots), i was cheating the colorer. my response is that it looks better this way, screw the colorer! reader thoughts? also, quick straw poll, would you be offended, visibly shaken or happy to receive this as a postcard? (art directors with huge budget$ are requested to weigh in)

the brothers washburn: the color ink book


colorinkbook_footsie_post01

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alex eben meyer | 2:34 PM | 2 comments

Friday, November 07, 2008
time out new york: uss intrepid
the uss intrepid is back in new york and reopens this weekend after being taken for repairs.
timeoutny: own this city

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alex eben meyer | 7:12 PM | 0 comments

Thursday, October 30, 2008
phinally: philadelphia phillies win world series
last night, for only the second time in their long history, the philadelphia phillies won the world series! i am elated today, philly sounds like an insane place to be right now, good times, wahooo! of course the phanatic is all a-tizzy, and the eben+sonheir combination is at it again...

son and heir shirts: phinally! / phightin' like it's 1980



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alex eben meyer | 11:03 AM | 2 comments

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
dr. vino: drink local
dr. vino, aka tyler colman, aka the author of a year of wine, asked me to create an illustration for his boycott of beaujolais nouveau, the young wine that comes from france once a year for its november release. i'll allow him to explain:
Beaujolais Nouveau is a travesty on at least two levels, one gustatory and one environmental. The grapes for this proto-wine were harvested only three months prior to the airdrop. In some years, they are not ripe enough and need to have their alcohol levels boosted by sugar. And most of the Nouveau is made with machine-harvested grapes carbonic maceration, commercial yeast strains and enzymes to give it a confected taste. Don't get me wrong: I think gamay is one of the most food-friendly red grapes and a great value but mostly when it hails from one of the smaller subzones of Beaujolais.

via drvino.com: drink local

some may point out that beaujolais nouveau is being released early this year to allow for less expensive and greener shipping by boat, dr. vino acknowledges that and writes about it here: putting water in my own wine boycott. that said, he argument works for me, and long ago, i decided that beaujolais nouveau was pretty much swill, cheap, but swill.

the posts are good reads for information about wine production, marketing, and shipping. also quite entertaining are the comments for these two articles, as the internets likes to prove time and again, people have strong passions about EVERYTHING, you just need to find them.

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alex eben meyer | 2:11 PM | 0 comments

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
simon and schuster: a year of wine
i recently completed a series of illustrations for the book, a year of wine: perfect pairings, great buys, and what to sip for each season, by tyler colman, aka dr. vino. it was over 30 illustrations of glasses, bottles, seasons, and related wine drawings. you want grapes!? I'LL GIVE YOU GRAPES! the book turned out great, and was a joy to work on. many thanks to all the talented folks involved with this project.

powell's books: a year of wine
also, be sure to check out tyler's wine blog: www.drvino.com



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alex eben meyer | 1:01 PM | 0 comments

Friday, October 24, 2008
slate: . . . or for worse
let's face it, marriage in politics sucks. we hold our politicians to the highest matrimonial and parenting standards, and are disguested when they let us down, but, should we actually be surprised? slate writes about, 'why american politicians have such rotten marriages,' and i get to draw cardboard cutouts!

slate: . . . or for worse, by melinda henneberger.

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alex eben meyer | 12:45 PM | 0 comments

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
slate: happy birthday, you bastard
an article about the dreaded birthday dinner. a ton of folks at a fancy restaurant, a hefty check, and the scheming, conniving and bitterness that goes along with this unfortunate meal. i liked my concept of using the last supper, but someone please remind me to keep it simple on these half day turnarounds.

slate: happy birthday, you bastard, by john swansburg




on a separate note, slate.com relaunched with a brand new site. congrats to the art staff, the new site looks great. it's bigger, cleaner, easier to navigate, you know, all the stuff you want from a big relaunch. if you haven't seen it, check it out.

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alex eben meyer | 4:10 PM | 0 comments

Tuesday, September 30, 2008
phillies: phightin' like it's 1980
the phillies won the nl east again! second year in a row! the mets also collapsed again, but i'm not the type of guy who would revel in that. what happened, happened, no need even to mention it in this post. bring on the brewers, and maybe this year the phillies will win a game in the playoffs.

on a related phillies note, son and heir contacted me about making a t-shirt with the drawing of the philly phanatic from last year, and that shirt is ready for the playoffs. there are also nice shirts for other baseball teams. mr. sonheir himeself is a cubs fan, whom i am willing to root for in the first round, however, let's be honest...go phils! check it and tell'm eben sent you.

son and heir: phightin' like it's 1980



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alex eben meyer | 11:25 AM | 0 comments

Thursday, September 25, 2008
slate: the cell phone wars
a year ago, i did an illustration for slate of iphone vs. curve in a fight to the death. with the launch of the new google cellphone platform android (or google phone, or g1, or whatever you feel like calling it), slate ran a new article about this cell on cell, no holds barred, cage-match mobile phone battle. happily, this illustration felt like a continuation of the previous skirmish, but whereas the first was a street fight, this one turned into more of mma brawl. in the interest of full nerd-fanboy-disclosure, i am partisan towards the iphone.

slate: the cell phone wars, by farhad manjoo





slate: the iphone menace, by paul boutin

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alex eben meyer | 1:27 PM | 2 comments