The 1946 Paperino, an early ancestor of the modern Vespa.

In 1946, Italy was attempting to find its place in a post-WWII Europe. One target of Allied bombing raids were the plants of the Italian company Piaggio, who’d built bombers for the Axis forces. Now that peace had returned, the company and one of its young owners, Enrico Piaggio, began thinking about ways to rebuild the company – and perhaps benefit the unhealthy economy at the same time. He could create a low-cost form of transportation for the masses – a lightweight motorcycle, perhaps?
Aeronautical engineer and inventor Corradino D’Ascanio designed a prototype called the “Paperino” (Italian for Donald Duck”,) but Piaggio was unimpressed. Riders would have to straddle the bike, leaving women in skirts at a disadvantage, and the tires were difficult to change in the event of a flat.

D’Ascanio went back to the drawing board and returned soon thereafter with the MP6 prototype. It featured a step-through body, upright seating position, direct mesh engine, integral stress-bearing body, gear lever on the handlebar, legshield to protect the rider from mud and dirt, and a one-sided supporting arm rather than a front fork, making flats easy to change. Piaggio took one look at the narrow waist and rounded rear end of the scooter and remarked, “Sembra una vespa!” It looks like a wasp!

This 1948 Vespa embodies the design which has survived (with minor changes,) for almost six decades.

Following its high society debut at Rome’s elegant golf club, Piaggio almost immediately began selling Vespas as fast as they could build them. Fifteen million scooters later, Vespa is today just as much a timeless example of youthful, economical independence, as it was 60 years ago. To me it’s a picture of perfect design, rooted in the stripped-down design sense of the 1940’s and ’50’s, but every bit as meaningful in today’s world. It represents freedom and ease of mobility in a way that no other mode of transportation can compare with.

My vision of a seafaring trailer. © Airstream Life Magazine.

My recent illustrations were just published in the Summer issue of the new-but-already-pretty-well-known quarterly, Airstream Life Magazine. Last time around, I did a single spot illustration but this time it was a mini-series depicting five imaginary travel trailers to go along with their fanciful descriptions. I’ve been officially given the staff position of Editorial Illustrator, which feels great – a small sense of entitlement in exchange for my years of doodling on napkins. Who knows, maybe one of these days I’ll get my name on a sign, designating my very own parking spot.

I don’t need to remind you that all copyrights for this stuff belong to their respective creators, right?

For my next trick, I’m attempting to get them to give me the cover of the magazine – I’ll keep you posted. I’m pretty happy with the first cover idea I’ve submitted, hand done in gouache, in the style of the old classic New Yorker magazine covers. I won’t show that off until they choose whether or not they’ll use it.

Gwaii Haanas National Park, British Columbia.

National Geographic has posted a “destinations scorecard” of the U.S. and Canada’s best national parks. I only just started browsing the list, but already I’m seeing many places I’ve never even heard of. Few offer El Capitan-style jaw droppers… but still, they are arguably some of the most pristine and beautiful spots on Earth.