Here's a special sneak peek for readers of The Skinny. Next week, Veer is releasing Compendium, a new typeface by Alejandro Paul for the Umbrella collection. Designed as a "prequel" to Alejandro's TDC award-winning Burgues Script, Compendium explores the calligraphic stylings of Ohio's Platt Rogers Spencer, circa 1866. The Spencerian script style was highly influential in the late 19th century, becoming the predominant penmanship style taught in business schools. Thanks to OpenType, Compendium instantly vaults you to the level of master penman. Says Alejandro: "Nearing 700 glyphs, its character set contains plenty of variation in each letter, and many ornaments for letter beginnings, endings, and some that can even envelope entire words with swashy calligraphic wonder. Those who love to explore typefaces in detail will be rewarded." Peruse the Compendium PDF specimen, featuring extensive samples and photography by Gonzalo Aguilar. Then watch for the official release of Compendium next week.

The well-named Tiny Showcase usually showcases (and sells limited editions of) tiny works of art. Their newest offering is a big 22" x 28" poster by Ray Fenwick, but on the other hand it's full of tiny hand-lettered type. It's called Life of Mystery - An Illustrated Guide, and it is a beautiful thing to behold, and will certainly add a little bit of magic to anyone's life. Get one before they're gone. Then solve the mystery of what Ray's other work looks like by visiting his site.

As part of our annual Summer Activity Book festivities, we invited readers to print out a fuzzy little three-eyed type monster we called Kernie, and photograph his travels. Since then Kernie has been captured all over the world, including the Olympics, pointing out typographic glitches or just hanging out. See the gallery of his travels so far. There's still time to enter. The Kern the Planet contest closes September 15th. It's as simple as uploading a photo to your Member Page and tagging it "Kernie". Above: Blurry Kernie by Kelly Koeppel Missed the Activity Book? Grab the PDF (6.4MB).

Out of context, yet made to measure. Over a period of three years, German photographer Thomas Kalak photographed the amazing art of material improvisation that seems to flourish in Thailand. While many of his images tell an objective and soulful story of creative reuse, unexpected juxtaposition, and practical MacGyverism — others are deliciously whimsical. The results of his documentation of this cultural/mechanical phenomenon have been published in a book entitled Thailand — Same same, but different!

In case you hadn't noticed: nine stylish and summery new desktop wallpaper designs are yours for the downloading. (As long as you're registered and signed in.) Yes, for the iPhone too.

We're raving fans of Laurel Ptak's unerring eye for talent at I Heart Photograph. Laurel's latest project is curating a gallery show entitled Graphics Interchange Format, now on display at Brooklyn's Bond Street Gallery. Says Laurel, "I commissioned 26 photographers, designers, and new media artists to embrace this more than 20-year-old technology. They were given only 3 days to work on their projects and were encouraged, though not required, to incorporate photographic materials. Some had never made an animated GIF before and some were notorious for it." The 67 resulting GIFs will be shown on a 44-inch flat screen in an infinite loop, and sold in an unlimited edition for $20, accompanied by a personalized note from each artist.

What are brightly colored, easy on the eyes, and can really fly? Vespa scooters and butterflies. See the two iconic shapes converge in a gallery of ads from Vespa's bike-as-bug spring campaign. So simple and clever. But if your scooter needs repair, you're still way better off with a mechanic than a lepidopterist.

A very cool feature-length documentary on the sounds, culture, and creators of the Chiptune genre, Reformat the Planet, is streaming at PItchfork TV for one week only. If you don't have time to watch the whole thing right now, get a taste with chapter 2, which features geeky Gameboy mods, an insane Led Zep cover, and dancing in the streets. Above: Nullsleep

Our modern world may be powered by oil, but mankind does all the work. A recent spot by Ambience Publicis in Mumbai makes machines out of us all.

At long last, we've posted footage of our Design, Tea, and Biscuits event. Rian Hughes, the man behind the Device type foundry, holds forth on his diverse designs, illustrations, inspirations, and clients. Choose your resolution and sit back with 26 minutes of modern British creativity.

While humans vie for international medals in running and diving, robots rove the surface of Mars in the name of science, and would-be pirates bask in the cold blue glow of their televisions mouthing the words to Johnny Depp movies, the world's most underestimated pop demographic are up to all sorts of things. Inspirational things. Like ice skating. In Xmas sweaters. To the theme from Rocky. Everything is possible.

What would you do with a pile of disused household appliances? When faced with a similar situation (and an obvious need for a thesis project), recent Hartford Art School grad Brittny Badger took ’em apart and then dramatically arranged the constituent pieces into a series of striking photo compositions. The concept was, as she explains, “… to explore the hidden ‘brains’ … allowing us to view these everyday objects from a new perspective.” Photo Copyright © Brittny Badger Via Signal vs Noise

Like those who have redrawn and staged scenes of drawings before her, Lizette Greco sews plush monsters and critters based on drawings by her two children, using only thrift store and recycled materials. She can also be commissioned to sew creatures that your children have drawn – just make sure you know if they're of the dream-friendly or nightmare-marauding variety first, or you run the risk of scaring the daylights out of junior. (Thanks Kristin!)

Envisioning a new kind of prosthetic leg could be the ultimate challenge for functional design. The technical and practical aspects can't be any less than perfect, yet it also needs to beautiful enough to replace a real human limb. Gathering inspiration for an experimental prosthetic design, Joanna Hawley looked to the lines and shapes of mid-century design master Charles Eames. Her solution is simple and elegant, but also bold and surprising. Via NotCot.org

Paul McCarty's inflatable sculpture Complex Shit broke free from an outdoor exhibit in Switzerland, leaving a trail of destruction, horror, and terrible "luckily it missed the fan!" jokes in its wake. Thanks, Sarah.

Our friend Marian is working hard these days. Hot on the heels of her Love Stories project comes a new poster entitled Design Ignites Change, and it's a stunning, limited-edition, laser-cut piece of Rococoesque Bantjesana. There are only 150 copies, 100 of which are available for a donation of $55 each. Proceeds benefit AED’s Speak for the Child project, which provides assistance to children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Kenya.

Chris Goodwin's got the bug. The bug for making bugs. His insect sculptures are made from found objects wrapped, lashed, and tethered together, without any adhesives. Check out the original sizes for a close-up look at familiar bits. Somewhere there's an office supply cabinet with a few empty shelves.

Finally, a theme park without height restrictions. Not even x-height restrictions. Anything goes at FontPark, where drawings are created one dragged-and-dropped character at a time. You can stick with the default Japanese characters – which break apart into smaller pieces – or add more familiar letters to the mix. In the clutches of your mouse, the characters take on a tactile, liquid form, letting you rotate them with subtle movements, scale them with the mouse wheel, or flick them off-screen at will.

A teen goes to a writing camp and has his fantasy novel (Yeast Lords) stolen by famous novelist Ronald Chevalier – that's the setup for Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess' upcoming movie, Gentlemen Broncos. The fictional Chevalier is played by Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords and has his own website up, complete with a creepy animated avatar, meditation video, and a gallery that includes his pre-pubescent artwork.

July's winner of World of Creative Possibilities 2 is Vicomte de Burdeau Tonino, for his entry Dance & Waves. Proving once and for all that In life and in aquatic dance parties, twelve heads are better than one. Congratulations Vicomte! Get your world-building and world-rating muscles warmed up – the next winner of a $100 merch gift certificate will be announced at the end of August. DID YOU KNOW: Veer merch doesn't usually ship outside North America, but we make special arrangements for contest winners. So if you're in Berne and you yearn for a Kern, here's your chance!