In this episode, we talk parody in glorious sticker form. As it turns out, both Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids sprang from the same fountain of genius as MAD Magazine and both were printed and distributed by the trading card company Topps. We discuss the origins of each, the products they poked fun at and connect the dots to share what makes both collections so much fun.

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Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual examples we discuss, additional links and more!

https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/episodes/episode-11-wacky-garbage

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Have a question or idea for Todd and Elliot? Send a note to [email protected] and we promise to read it. After that it’s anyone’s guess.

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Visit https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/merch to have a look at stuff we’ve made for listeners just like you.

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In this episode we take to the road and journey back in time to when car culture was still growing and a couple of iconic brands beckoned travelers who wanted convenience and comfort. We talk about The Orange Ball from Union 76, The Great Sign from Holiday Inn and where these signs can be found today.

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Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual examples we discuss, additional links and more!

https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/episodes/episode-10-roadside-beauties

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Have a question or idea for Todd and Elliot? Send a note to [email protected] and we promise to read it. After that it’s anyone’s guess.

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Visit https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/merch to have a look at stuff we’ve made for listeners just like you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever wonder why a tire company is most known for a blimp? Or why an animation studio has a desk lamp as its trademark? We did. Turns out Goodyear and Pixar didn’t invent either of these things. Learn the origin stories of Goodyear’s blimps, Pixar’s loveable Luxo lamp, and how these adopted objects transcended their initial utility to become known around the world.

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Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual examples we discuss, additional links and more!

https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/episodes/episode-09-adopted-icons

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Have a question or idea for Todd and Elliot? Send a note to [email protected] and we promise to read it. After that it’s anyone’s guess.

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Visit https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/merch to have a look at stuff we’ve made for listeners just like you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hooray for Hollywood(land)! In our first bonus episode (there was simply too much goodness to pack into our movie logo stories), we wrap-up our logo conversation and Todd shares a trivia nugget about Ghostbusters and goes deeper on The Rocketeer. We then shift into talking about the most iconic of movie icons: The Hollywood Sign.

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Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual examples we discuss, additional links and more!

https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/episodes/episode-08-movie-logos

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Have a question or idea for Todd and Elliot? Send a note to [email protected] and we promise to read it. After that it’s anyone’s guess.

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Visit https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/merch to have a look at stuff we’ve made for listeners just like you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re telling a couple of stories you won’t find in Tobin’s Spirit Guide or any World War II history book: the logos for the movies Ghostbusters and The Rocketeer. We connect dots between National Lampoon and Ghostbusters and talk about how amazing Art Deco marketing materials from Disney didn’t deliver the box office success The Rocketeer rightly deserves. Proton pack, rocket pack... Doesn’t matter to us as long as your gear includes quality headphones.

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Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual examples we discuss, additional links and more!

https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/episodes/episode-08-movie-logos

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Have a question or idea for Todd and Elliot? Send a note to [email protected] and we promise to read it. After that it’s anyone’s guess.

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Visit https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/merch to have a look at stuff we’ve made for listeners just like you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we bring our listeners all sorts of candy, both literally and figuratively. We’re talking about a couple of sweet typefaces — Hobo and Cooper Black — that you have definitely seen throughout your life. Ever watched The Dukes of Hazzard? Hobo. Ever enjoy a Tootsie Pop? Cooper Black. Learn about the origins of both typefaces, why you see them everywhere and pick a side as Todd and Elliot duke it out to determine a winner.

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Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual examples we discuss, additional links and more!

https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/episodes/episode-07-first-impressions

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Have a question or idea for Todd and Elliot? Send a note to [email protected] and we promise to read it. After that it’s anyone’s guess.

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Visit https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/merch to have a look at stuff we’ve made for listeners just like you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do a coffee drinking lion, a few black cats, a grasshopper, a penguin and a voodoo priest have in common? Aside from being the set-up for a great joke, they represent regional or lesser-known companies we’ve stumbled upon with logos we really like. We talk food (Royal Cup and Voodoo Doughnuts), shipping (Yamato Transport), clothing (The Original Penguin), and explosive stuff like fireworks (Black Cat) and gasoline (Gashopper).

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Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual examples we discuss, additional links and more!

https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/episodes/episode-06-unsung-logos

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Have a question or idea for Todd and Elliot? Send a note to [email protected] and we promise to read it. After that it’s anyone’s guess.

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Visit https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/merch to have a look at stuff we’ve made for listeners just like you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For this episode, our bar is firmly planted in California and we’re talking illustration and rebellion. We start in the southern part of the state talking about hot rods, music, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and his famous creation Rat Fink. We then travel up the coast to the town of Santa Cruz to talk skate culture, punk music, Jim Phillips and his equally famous Screaming Hand. We then wrap-up by talking about tribes, language and what these two iconic characters have in common.

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Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual examples we discuss, additional links and more!

https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/episodes/episode-05-street-culture

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Have a question or idea for Todd and Elliot? Send a note to [email protected] and we promise to read it. After that it’s anyone’s guess.

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Visit https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/merch to have a look at stuff we’ve made for listeners just like you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You may think this episode is shocking. You may claim it has sizzle. That means our chosen characters are working their magic. Long before the Energizer Bunny or the GEICO Gecko, advertising icons Reddy Kilowatt and Big Boy rose from humble beginnings to popularity stretching from coast-to-coast (and beyond). We discuss how electricity became humanized, a portly youth inspired a diner owner, and those two characters grew to be embraced by multiple generations (including movie director David Lynch).

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Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual examples we discuss, additional links and more!

https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/episodes/episode-04-advertising-mascots

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Have a question or idea for Todd and Elliot? Send a note to [email protected] and we promise to read it. After that it’s anyone’s guess.

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Visit https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/merch to have a look at stuff we’ve made for listeners just like you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We went so “red, white and blue” in our 1976 episode that we just had to keep the train rolling with two amazing poster designs. We examine bringing electricity to rural parts of the United States 80 years later and inspiring a nation to rally behind an unknown presidential candidate named Barack Obama, along with how Lester Beall and Shepard Fairey made these big ideas easy to understand. And since Todd loves controversy, he shares the story of how Mr. Fairey found himself in a legal entanglement over his poster work.

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Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual examples we discuss, additional links and more!

https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/episodes/episode-03-civic-posters

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Have a question or idea for Todd and Elliot? Send a note to [email protected] and we promise to read it. After that it’s anyone’s guess.

- - - - -

Visit https://www.twodesignerswalkintoabar.com/merch to have a look at stuff we’ve made for listeners just like you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices