Here’s a selection of sites from my Favorites list over the past year, now that I’m cleaning up the computer following completion of the game: Urban Archaeology.

Interesting subject, horrible execution: Ghost Towns. Somebody, anybody, please tell the good people of the world that dropping white text on a textured, picture background is about the most illegible design choice possible. I can’t even select the text to read the knockout—it’s a block of white. Forgotten Stations is a site which does it right: easy, intuitive organization, a ton of links, clean grammar, and intense documentation. Another good urban archaeology site, while not being a great example of design, is Forgotten NY, which is broken down into convenient sections. The wealth of this site is the sheer number of links; the site itself breaks the rule of having blocks of text over dark photos. I am a fan of painted outdoor advertising signs, and the section here is fantastic. Friends of the High Line is a site dedicated to the preservation of the old West Side elevated rail in NYC; it’s beautiful, contains an extensive gallery, and works very well as an informational site. Dinercity is an documentary site about classic aluminum diners; unfortunately it overlooks the one closest to my folks’ house in Auburn, NY. (pictures coming soon.) Roadside America has a day’s worth of reading about all manner of American oddities, including the ubiquitous Muffler Men.

Here’s a new set of sketches from last night’s studio. It was a good night, but by 9:30 I was losing focus, so I packed up early. Sketch one | Sketch two