Graphic design inspiration from national treasures

I believe you can find graphic design inspiration in nearly any environment, especially if that environment is incredibly thought-provoking to begin with. Thus, a visit to the Smithsonian Museum of American History (or its website) serves as an excellent source for idea generation.

Here are a few of my favorite historical gems you might be able to use as springboards to a flowing imagination:

Pac-Man Gumball Bank – The 1980s represented an explosion in cross-commercialism where brand names jumped genres to increase “junk” sales that became today’s collectibles.

H.M. Wood Windmill Patent Model – This 1879 windmill model helped spark new innovation and allowed agricultural workers to pump groundwater using wind as a power source. So … we’re only about 140 years late with the green energy movement.

Whooping Crane Copper Engraving – Robert Havell Jr.’s famous copper plate engraving is a work of art and human craftsmanship, the intricacies of which are unmatched by most artists today.

Carnival Mask – Leonardo Pagan’s carnival masks are creepy, yet stunningly beautiful.

Postcard of Main Street – Americana was perhaps never as sweet as the glory days of Downtown USA. Today’s postcards depict a decidedly different scene than the mid-century snapshot recorded here. Ever wonder what it would have been like without computers?

Civil War Soldier Ambrotype – Ambrotypes were photos made with cased collodion negatives backed by dark cloth, paper or varnish. High-technology at the time of the Civil War, in contrast to today’s photographs ambrotypes have an eerie aura about them that’s made even creepier when you learn that they were often taken before a soldier would leave for war so his family would have a final image to remember him by if he did not return.