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Albert Einstein

Design

Minimalist Posters That Cleverly Showcase Famous Scientists’ Greatest Achievements

By Judy Berman on

For decades, that one poster of Einstein sticking his tongue out has been the go-to dorm-room decoration for eager science majors. Thankfully for the design-savvy future physicists of the world, Indian graphic designer Kapil Bhagat celebrated his home country’s recent National Science Day by creating a series of attractive posters that subtly highlight famous scientists’ most important discoveries. Darwin’s theory of evolution plays out typographically; the “o” in Newton’s name becomes his famous apple; and, yes, Einstein’s famous equation gets a clever shout out. Click through to see the series, which we learned about via io9, and buy the posters at Society6. … Read More

Pop Culture

The Fascinating Business Cards of 20 Famous People

By Emily Temple on

In today’s climate of cell phone contacts, Facebook, and LinkedIn, business cards may be becoming a thing of the past. But they can still say a lot about you. After discovering an utterly charming card used by Isaac Asimov, we were inspired to hunt for more famous peoples’ business cards, from Abraham Lincoln to Lady… Read More

Pop Culture

Extremely Silly Photos of Extremely Serious Historical Figures

By Emily Temple on

We’ve already shown you several silly photos of serious writers and silly photos of serious artists, but what about the less creative figures among us? After all, scientists, tsars, world leaders and intellectual innovators like to blow off steam too. As such, we’ve scoured the Internet to bring you a few photos of historical figures making faces, goofing off with friends, and posing for photos of themselves with their miniature clones (er, just one of those). Check out our mini-capsule of our favorite photos of historical figures getting silly after the jump, and if you have a tip on one we’ve missed, add it to our collection in the comments! … Read More

Books

Photos of Celebrities Reading Books About Other Celebrities

By Emily Temple on

When we came across this photo of Steve Martin reading about Bob Dylan, we had a serious celebs-they’re-just-like-us moment. After all, you’d think that biographies of cultural heroes are for us plebs, who would thrill at descriptions of fame, stardom, and emotional breakdowns. Okay, we’re overstating it a little, but still. Turns out, celebrities are just as fascinated with each other as we are with them — especially the rock stars — and we think it’s very enlightening to see which of our cultural icons are fascinated by which. Click through to check out our gallery of photos of celebs reading books about other celebs, and if you’ve spotted another good one, be sure to let us know in the comments! … Read More

Pop Culture

A Peek Inside the Notebooks of Famous Authors, Artists and Visionaries

By Emily Temple on

It’s no secret that we at Flavorpill are fascinated by the marginalia of our favorite artists’ lives — we swoon over their doodles, dig through their sketchbooks, and posthumously ogle their beach photos. Recently, aided by one of our favorite Tumblr destinations for literary ephemera, Fuck Yeah, Manuscripts!, we’ve indulged in a little more snooping, and put together this collection of a few of the notebooks, journals and diaries of some of our favorite creative minds — authors, artists, actors, musicians, scientists — so as to better get to know their inner selves. Click through to page through the notebooks of a few famous creatives, and let us know which one looks the most like your own in the comments. … Read More

Pop Culture

Albert Einstein on Whether Scientists Pray

By Emily Temple on

In 1936, a sixth grade girl named Phyllis wrote to esteemed scientist Albert Einstein on behalf of her Sunday school class to ask him whether or not scientists pray. This seems like a rather advanced question for a sixth grade class to be asking, perhaps, but maybe it’s just a universal one: the true question — whether it’s possible to be religious and also fully believe in science — is still relevant to many people today. Einstein responds “as simply” as he can, which is to say, not particularly simply at all, though since these sixth graders are already established as somewhat precocious, maybe they took it in with no trouble. We admit that we had to read it twice. We’re not quite sure if he answered her original query, though. That Einstein, always dodging the hard questions. … Read More

Art

Iconic Black and White Photos Amazingly Recolored

By Alison Nastasi on

We first saw this series of famous black and white photographs made new with a little recoloring over at Thaeger. While the concept isn’t earth-shattering, the results are pretty amazing — taking moments from the history books and reinventing them for a new generation. How else are we to fully appreciate Albert Einstein’s smart sweater, or Charlie Chaplin’s baby face, sans mustache? The portraits in Sanna Dullaway’s series have that reach out and touch quality, and the iconic “event” pictures breathe new life into each memorable moment. Margaret Bourke-White’s photo of the breadline during the Louisville flood in 1937 has been reprinted in blurry black and white so many times, it’s refreshing to actually see the expressions on each person’s face. Meanwhile, Alfred Eisenstaedt’s V-J Day in Times Square circa 1945 proves that making out is always better in color. Click through for a closer look at select photos from the series. … Read More

Pop Culture

The Stories Behind Some of the 20th Century’s Most Iconic Portraits

By Emily Temple on

The portrait, as far as we’re concerned, is one of the most arresting forms of art. Not only does it portray a person, but it can affix a million meanings or emotions to that person, adding to and possibly conflicting whatever baseline emotions their visage stirs up in the viewer. Here, we’ve collected a few of what can best be described as the most iconic portraits of the most iconic figures, from musicians to actors to artists to politicians. Note: we’re not claiming that these are the most iconic figures of the 20th century hands down (although some would definitely make the cut), but rather that these portraits rank among the most powerful and enduring photographic images of the century. Indeed, many of these photographs have transcended their subjects to become iconic in their own rights as images — for instance, even those who have no idea who Che Guevara is would probably recognize his face as captured by Alberto Korda and spray-painted on a t-shirt. Click through to see 10 of the most enduring portraits of pop culture icons taken in the 20th century, and since of course there are many more that could have been included on this list, be sure to chime in with your own suggestions in the comments. … Read More

Art

Surreal Pop Art Portraits of Famous Faces

By Alison Nastasi on

Realist painter Mario Soria paints pop art portraits, rendering iconic individuals with surrealistic detail. Andy Warhol, Woody Allen, and Frida Kahlo are the subject of several of the Spanish artist’s monochrome pictures that (not to be redundant here) pop with bursts of color throughout. Soria adds biographical details to each subject — as you’ll notice that Frida Kahlo’s visage is covered with falling baby carriages. The artist wasn’t able to conceive after a near-fatal bus injury where her abdomen and uterus were pierced. Do you like the way Soria treats the sides of his canvas with the same attention to detail, framing Einstein’s portrait in crushed soda cans and Andy Warhol’s with Legos? Head past the break, and let us know. … Read More

Art

Gallery: Original Portraits of Cultural Icons by Noma Bar

By Jason Bailey on

We’re always on the lookout for cool pop-culture related visual art, so we can’t thank the good folks at Brain Pickings enough for drawing our attention to Israeli artist Noma Bar and his book Guess Who: The Many Faces of Noma Bar. This 2007 volume collects 50 of Bar’s minimalist vector portraits of iconic figures from the world of film, science, literature, politics, music, and more. We’ve picked out ten of our favorites from the book; check ‘em out after the jump. … Read More