Go now: "Chris Jordan: Running the Numbers" at AMOA

If you’re in Austin—and especially if you’re an art director, graphic designer, or anyone else who has to organize info in a visually interesting way—get to the Austin Museum of Art to check out “Chris Jordan: Running the Numbers.” Now. (Well, at least before August 15.) It’s well worth the $5.

Chris Jordan turns stats into art. Most of us have trouble grasping the giant numbers we read in the news — that 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags are used in the United States every hour, for example — but Chris Jordan lets you see just how many bags that is.

(Chris Jordan — Paper Bags, 2006 — Click to Enlarge)

An online picture doesn’t do it justice, but his website gallery has a pretty awesome zoom feature. Definitely check out Barbie Dolls.

If you aren’t in Austin, the exhibit (or another similar one) will be touring:

• College of Charleston, SC (Sept. 1 - Dec. 15, 2010)
• Simon Fraser University Gallery, Burnaby, BC, Canada (Nov. 6 - Dec.17, 2010)
• University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, Boulder, CO (Jan. 10 - April 30, 2011)
• Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene (Jan. 15 - April 10, 2011)
• Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene (Jan. 15 - April 10, 2011)
• Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV (April 23 - Aug. 6, 2011)
• International Museum of Art and Science, McAllen, TX (Sept. 1, 2011 - Jan. 1, 2012)
• Sordoni Art Gallery, Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA (Aug. 29 - Dec. 11, 2011)
• Carleton College Art Gallery, Northfield, MN, (Jan. 6 - March 9, 2012)
• University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, (Jan. 27 - April 6, 2012)
• Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, VA, (May 12 - Oct. 14, 2012)

Inspiration Sunday: McGarrah Jessee for Shiner Beers

It's Sunday, and we could all use some inspiration before we go back to work or school or whatever it is we do on the days when having a Bloody Mary with brunch is frowned upon.

These have probably been lauded on countless other blogs and in the annuals, but they're just so damn good that I want to take another look at McGarrah Jessee's work for Shiner Beers.

These are just two of many awesome ads. Check out all McGarrah Jessee's print work for Shiner Beers at their website.

The idea fits the brand perfectly. The copy is smart and not trying too hard, and it makes me feel all proud to have Shiner as my home state beer. (Is it weird that one of my early ad memories is a Shiner commercial with a cute old lady talking about the little brewery from Shiner, Texas?)

Enjoy your week. Do good work.