Leartset

Zig-Zag

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:13:45 +0000

The Zig Zag company was founded in 1879 by Maurice and Jacques Braunstein. Based in Paris, in 1882 the company built the Papeterie de Gassicourt, a cigarette paper production plant near the town of Mantes-la-Jolie.

In 1894 they invented the process of “interleaving” rolling papers. They called their papers Zig-Zag, after the term used to describe the alternate interleaving packaging process. In 1900, Zig-Zag was awarded a gold medal at the Universal Exposition in Paris.

The character portrayed on the front of Zig-Zag products, colloquially known as the “Zig-Zag man”, originates from a folk story about a Zouave at the battle of Sevastopol during the Crimean war. When the soldier’s clay pipe was destroyed by a bullet, he attempted to roll his tobacco into a cigarette using a piece of paper torn from his bag of gunpowder.

Silhouettes

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:28:03 +0000

From its original graphic meaning, the term “silhouette” has been extended to describe the sight or representation of a person, object or scene that is backlit, and appears dark against a lighter background.

Anything that appears this way, for example, a figure standing backlit in a doorway, may be described as “in silhouette”. Because a silhouette emphasises the outline, the word has also been used in the fields of fashion and fitness to describe the shape of a person’s body or the shape created by wearing clothing of a particular style or period.

The term silhouette derives from the name of Etienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister who, in 1759, was forced by France’s credit crisis during the Seven Years War to impose severe economic demands upon the French people, particularly the wealthy. Because de Silhouette was said to enjoy making cut paper portraits, his name became eponymous with these portraits and with anything done or made cheaply. Prior to the advent of photography, silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a person’s appearance.

The family name Silhouette is a French form of a Basque surname, Zuloeta; Arnaud de Silhouette, Etienne’s father, was from Biarritz in the French Basque Country; this surname, whose Standard Basque or Batua form is Zuloeta, contains the suffix -eta “abundance of” and zilho, Batua zulo, “hole” (possibly here meaning “cave of bats”).

2009 Collection

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:11:06 +0000

All the 2009 Leartset vector collections in one handy editable pdf file.
Contains 12 pages of graphic symbols, design elements and logotypes

Download 2009 Collection (79)

Swirls

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:57:42 +0000

Download Swirls pdf (80)

Old Penguin book covers

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:08:49 +0000

An imaginary Penguin book design based on the War of the Worlds original, more originals and re-workings can be found at
little pixel, and The Pelican Project and Joe Kral’s flickr set.

The above logo design and the artwork you are about to download is the intellectual property of the copyright and/or trademark holder and is offered to you as a convenience for lawful use with proper permission from the copyright and/or trademark holder only.

Download Penguin book cover pdf (21)

Floral ornaments

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:45:13 +0000

Floral vector art and a design made with elements from the pdf using a popular kuler color scheme ‘orange on olive’.

Download Florals pdf (44)

Queens of the Stone Age 2005 Shepard Fairey poster

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:48:23 +0000

Shepard Fairey, (Obey Giant), was one of the seven guest artists chosen by POST NEO EXPLOSIONISM to produce a Queens of the Stone Age show poster. Shepard’s poster, was produced for the March 20, 2005 show at the Nova in Norfolk, Virginia in a limited edition of 250 copies.

Download Shepard Fairey QOTSA 2005 pdf (71)

World of logotypes

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:59:04 +0000

This is a vector file made from a page of the out-of-print publication, World of Logotypes: Trademark Encyclopedia, Vol. 2 by Al Cooper (1978) Sourced from Eric Carl’s Design and Illustration blog where he has posted good scans also links at Scott Hansen’s ISO50.

Below is the cover of the original publication.

The above logo designs and the artwork you are about to download is the intellectual property of the copyright and/or trademark holder and is offered to you as a convenience for lawful use with proper permission from the copyright and/or trademark holder only.

Download World of logotypes pdf (38)

Playing Cards

admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:03:07 +0000

Playing cards were found in China as early as the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty, although an Indian origin for playing cards has been suggested by the resemblance of symbols on some early European decks to the ring, sword, cup, and baton classically depicted in the four hands of Indian statues of Shiva.

It is likely that the precursor of modern cards arrived in Europe from the Mamelukes of Egypt in the late 1300s, by which time they had already assumed a form very close to that in use today. In particular, the Mameluke deck contained 52 cards comprising four “suits”: polo sticks, coins, swords, and cups.

Though specific design elements of the court cards are rarely used in game play and many differ between designs, a few are notable. The Jack of Spades, Jack of Hearts, and King of Diamonds are drawn in profile, while the rest of the courts are shown in full face; these cards are commonly called “one-eyed”. When deciding which cards are to be made wild in some games, the phrase “acey, deucey, one-eyed jack” (or “deuces, aces, one-eyed faces”) is sometimes used, which means that aces, twos, and the one-eyed jacks are all wild. The King of Hearts is the only King with no mustache, and is also typically shown with a sword behind his head, making him appear to be stabbing himself. This leads to the nickname “suicide king”. The axe held by the King of Diamonds is behind his head with the blade facing toward him. He is traditionally armed with an axe while the other three kings are armed with swords, and thus the King of Diamonds is sometimes referred to as “the man with the axe” because of this. This is the basis of the trump “one-eyed jacks and the man with the axe”. The Jack of Diamonds is sometimes known as “laughing boy”. The Ace of Spades, unique in its large, ornate spade, is sometimes said to be the death card, and in some games is used as a trump card. The Queen of Spades usually holds a scepter and is sometimes known as “the bedpost queen”, though more often she is called “Black Lady”. In many decks, the Queen of Clubs holds a flower. She is thus known as the “flower Queen”, (though in many playing cards from Germany and Sweden she is depicted with a fan) though this design element is among the most variable; the standard Bicycle Poker deck depicts all Queens with a flower styled according to their suit.

Download Playing Cards pdf (140)

Logotypes

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:24:34 +0000

A logo is a graphical element (ideogram, symbol, emblem, icon, sign) that, together with its logotype (a uniquely set and arranged typeface) form a trademark or commercial brand.

Typically, a logo is designed for immediate recognition. The logo is one aspect of a company’s commercial brand, economic or academic entity, and its shapes, colors, fonts, and images are usually different from others in the same market. Logos are also used to identify organizations and other non-commercial entities.

The file above is a collection of vector logotypes relating to a classic Pelican book design, other examples can be found at little pixel, The Pelican Project and Joe Kral’s flickr set.

Download Logotypes pdf (56)