Scharwath Carwash

Skateistan is a skateboarding school in Afghanistan. It came about when Australian skaters Oliver Percovich and Sharna Nolan took a trip to Kabul to skate. Local kids were fascinated by their boards, and insisted the two teach them how to skate. They did, and now Skatistan is a full on skateboarding academy.

To raise funds for the school, Skatistan is auctioning off a quiver of hand-painted decks by good group of skate-friendly artists. I contributed the one you see above. You can bid on the board on eBay here. If you’re interested in bidding, you will need to act fast. The auction ends tomorrow.

Click on the images to get a better look.

On Friday at noon, I will hunker down with a group of brilliant people to create a new magazine. By Sunday afternoon, it will be finished. All of the writing, photography, illustration, editing, and layout will have been completed in a span of 48hrs. As I type this, I am not completely confident that I will even survive. Luckily for me, I will have lots of help.

When I say I will have help, I’m not talking about amphetamines, automated software or an army of interns. What I’m counting on is a bunch of incredible submissions from people like you. Want to make something cool this weekend instead of your usual routine of eating and/or drinking way too much?

Here’s how it works: This Friday Aug. 27th at noon, we will announce the theme. You will have 24 hours to create something that relates to that theme. It can be a photo, a story, or a comic strip. You could paint a portrait of Bo Diddley, or maybe make a sculpture out of pipe cleaners and take a picture of it. We need all the things that make up a magazine. Illustrations, photo essays, writing… a cover (!) it’s time to bring out all those brilliant ideas. At noon on Saturday, the submissions close and we take the remaining 24 hours to choose from the work and make the magazine.

Go here to sign up for the Longshot mailing list. The theme will magically appear in your inbox at noon on Friday. After that, it’s up to you!

If you’re particularly observant, you may have noticed a poster for the typeface Helvetica in the background of this week’s Mad Men.

Ok, let’s face it, Helvetica is super-overused and boring. Even in the context of a 1960’s ad agency. So I’d like to propose a replacement.

Hobo, designed in 1971, has no hard corners and minimal descenders. It’s not suitable for text use and barely suitable as a display face. But hey, it’s Hobo. What do you expect? When Mad Men gets into the 1970s, I will have the poster ready, and I think a few designers might actually be excited to see it.

Take a bike sometimes.

Remember to have fun.

Build it yourself.

Don’t do drugs.

Listen to your dad!

Nowness is featuring an exclusive clip from a film that I worked on, Become A Microscope 90 Statements on Sister Corita.

Become A Microscope is the second film by Aaron Rose, the follow up to the documentary Beautiful Losers.

This short film is organized around 90 statements that are made by the interviewees about our favorite radical art nun.

I created the numbers that flash on screen to denote the statements.

I used the same observational techniques that Corita taught to her students to create the numbers.

The clip is one of my favorite sections in the film, where she takes her students to a Carwash.

The editing on this was skillfully handled by my friend Lenny Mesina. The really cool ABC animation was made by Max Erdenberger. The music for the film was all written and performed by Money Mark.

Check out all of the numbers I made for the film here.

Today is my last day as guest editor of Coudal’s Fresh Signals. It’s been a fun ride and I want to say thanks to everyone at Coudal Partners for putting up with my endless 80’s references, skateboarding and car-themed shenanigans. Below you’ll find a few of my best links from the month:

French artist Nils Guadagnin creates a working replica of the hoverboard from Back to the Future Part 2.

Missing that old Trapper Keeper? Get your 80’s geometric shape fix with these cool sweatshirts from Teenagers in Love.

Ural in Russia makes a nice olive-drab sidecar-equipped motorcycle.

Coming soon to the Whitney: highly modified Olivetti typewriters by Tauba Auerbach.

Two guys from Wisconsin made one of the most creative skate videos I’ve seen in years.

“Sweep the leg. No mercy.” Uncomfortable bully moments from every ’80s coming of age movie worth watching.

“Everything I touch turns to mold.” Incredible provocative sweaters by Lisa Anne Auerbach.

A Public Service Announcement from Yee Haw Industries: Danger Zombies Run.

A shopping guide for re-living your childhood, as seen in the movie Stand By Me.

A sweet short film about California’s empty pool surplus.

Sculptor Andrew Lewicki brings us The Oreo Manhole Cover, and a few other ideas that advertising agencies wish they had thought of.

Charles De Mar or George Calamari? This infographic compares the four films that make up the peak of John Cusack’s 80’s career.

Peel back a few layers of animal anatomy with Belgian street artist ROA.

“It literally feels like you are in the cockpit of a blue flying angel.” Man posses as yo-yo champion, fooling multiple morning news shows across the country.

In Herb we trust. In 1968, Herb Lubalin asked his friends to re-design the One-Dollar bill for Avant Garde.

“It was funny because everybody brought 40s and no one really drunk 40s back then. We had to make it look like we drank some so we just opened them up and poured a little bit out.” Members of N.W.A. describe what was going on in the cover photo on their first album, N.W.A. and the Posse.

Space-age illustrator Matthew Lyons has been looking at this Nation Geographic article on the 1965 World’s Fair for inspiration.

A brilliant graphic design solution helps a cigarette company break numerous laws preventing them from advertising on F1 cars in Europe. Via The Scout

“Many of us have had the American flags in front of our houses stolen and replaced with much larger flags that we do not recognize.” U2 guitarist The Edge answers questions about his new home development in Malibu.

A list of 132 Criterion Collection films that are available to watch instantly on Netflix. Via @ztf.

How to wash George Harrison’s car, and spread a “nice film of muck” on Paul’s.

First Person Tetris is best played on a full stomach.

Today on The Street Use Blog, homemade cameras, prison crafted weapons and a chicken coupe built from a discarded washing machine.

“If you look at Mozart, who had this strict classical framework, you see that within that formula, he got results he might never have gotten if he had all the options in the world.” A visit to the studio of Irving Harper, the designer behind many of George Nelson’s iconic works for Herman Miller, including the Marshmallow Sofa and Starburst Clock.

Don’t jump! Ace photo contest gives us the best images yet of Antony Gormley’s Event Horizon installations.

One black olive? designer James Reynolds shows us what a last meal looks like.

A cool film from an EXPO past: Impresssions of EXPO ‘67.

Brazilian graffiti duo Os Gemeos have a new blog. It means “the twins” in Portuguese. Via Aaron Rose.

Today is my first day as Guest Editor of Fresh Signals on the Coudal site. When Steve Delahoyde sent me the login info for the Coudal CMS this morning it was like being handed the keys to a $250,000 Ferrari. There’s nothing left to do but put my foot on the accelerator and pray that I don’t drive one of the best link feeds on the web off a cliff on Mulholland Drive.

If any of you Carwash readers want to climb in the passenger seat, send your finest web content to keith@scharwath.com. You’ll get a credit, and I’ll keep my eyes on the road.

I’ve been whittling away at a major overhaul of the Scharwath site and today I think it’s finally ready for public consumption. I have a new portfolio of my work that is running on the Cargo platform, and also a small web store for selling goods.

The new header image you see above is a photo of my great uncle, race car mechanic Henry Weber. This image was taken at the Indianapolis 500 in 1914. Henry is riding (not driving), as was a common practice for racing in those days.

I never met Henry, he was killed in a hunting accident long before I was born, but it’s safe to say I have more than a little in common with this guy.

Here he is testing out a motorcycle on a banked wood track in Woodbridge NJ.

Thanks to my Aunt Emily and Uncle Harry for tracking these down and scanning them for me!

Here is my illustration of Obsessive Consumption, a book by my friend Kate Bingaman-Burt. Kate illustrated many of her purchases over 4 years, and the result is this amazing book. My interpretation is a hardcover, and is populated with some of my own indulgences. The rest of the covers from others are not to be missed, with Frank Chimero, Always With Honor, Jennifer Daniel and more paying tribute.