Design: 1950s Movie Titles

My dream job is to create the opening graphics in 1950s movies… but I was born something like forty years too late! I adore everything about old typography: bold, stylish, interesting! Gives my eyes a break from working with Helvetica all day long. Every time I watch a classic film, I’m amazed by the perfection. Non-computerized opening credits done by extremely skilled hands. It’s inspiring. I’m not sure when I had the time to do these, but I love working on personal make-believe projects.

This project was featured in Computer Arts’ inspiration gallery, click to view!

Cover Design: Oryx & Crake

(click for a full and clearer view)

Really wanted to use this new font for something! A hypothetical book cover for my favorite book, Oryx and Crake by M Atwood. When I look at vintage book design, I love what was happening in the 80s – book covers were big on typography, and geometric shapes, clean and straight forward.

Type

Work in progress, just settled in on this type for an invitation concept.

greetings from venus

postcards I made, I’ll mail you one!

4FAVE: design books & mags

As a young creative, it’s important to me to not only stay inspired but to be in a perpetual state of learning. I’m absolutely obsessed with owning books and magazines, which makes the contents of my bookshelf my prized possessions. That being said, I’ve begun to accumulate quite a large collection of print, graphic, and web design literature. Though it was a bit difficult to narrow it down, here are my top 4 favorite design books and magazines:

1. Atlas of Graphic Designers by Elena Stanic and Lipavsky Corina. This book is probably the most inspiring to me than any other. It’s a huge collection of graphic designers from country to country, beautifully showcasing an array of inspiring work and studios from all over the world. Because of this book, I was really able to narrow down what I really loved about graphic design. It’s also so interesting to see how technique and concept varies depending on culture.

2. 1000 Graphic Elements by Wilson Harvey. I love flipping through this book, mainly because it focuses on every little detail of a design as well as everything is beautifully photographed. It narrows down into 6 graphic element categories: Printing techniques, surfaces, binding, add-ons, unique materials, and graphic devices. I’ve seen pieces in this book that I’ve never seen before, so that to me is inspiring.

3. Computer Arts Magazine. I love Computer Arts mag because it fuses my computer geek side with my artsy designer side. This magazine feels like it was built to instill every bit of knowledge in young designers that it can. It stays very true to it’s tagline, which is: “Inspiration, Technique, and Great Design”. It always has a handful of really practical tutorials using the Adobe CS3/4 creative software. Did I mention how gorgeous the covers and layout of this mag are? So mint.

4. Grafik Magazine. As far as magazines go, this one is content all the way. It produces work from some of the most appealing graphic designers and artists I’ve seen to date. The articles, artist profiles and special reports are intellectually and creatively written. I also really enjoy that it is completely immersed in design culture. If you’re looking for something both inspiring and intelligent, you should pick up a copy of Grafik mag. I love to sit down with this mag and read it cover to cover, twice over!

I could really go on forever on this topic but I thought I’d keep it short and sweet! So that’s it for my favorite design books and mags. I hope you check them out because I’m sure you’ll love them just as much as I do.

GRAPHIC ACTIVISM- part II

Peter Kennard: graphic activist, artist, madman. I almost don’t know where to begin. I read about this man in Grafik magazine (issue 176) and really just have fallen for the images he’s created. His photomontages depict years of protest against armaments, poverty, war and corruption. Beyond this, his images speak louder than words.

“The point of my work is to use easily accessible iconic images, but to render them unacceptable. To break down the image of the all-powerful missile….after breaking them, to show new possibilities emerging in the cracks and splintered fragments of the old reality.”

He believes very strongly in both the art and the cause, which has made his work such a success. More importantly, he understands the importance of the message, which is what separates him from the rest. Kennard has created waves while imitators are barely a drop in the pond.

“There is a problem with montage in that you see it everywhere now because of digital technology. There is so much transformed imagery around that people accept constructed images without questioning their meaning. I think my work was losing impact because of that.”

An important comment considering what we sometimes accept as art and activism. However, my point is not to separate the weak from the strong, I’m only hoping to create further awareness. Graphic commentaries like Kennard’s do not only strive to lead the campaigns to protest but, more importantly, to lead the blind to see.

www.PeterKennard.com

GRAPHIC ACTIVISM- part I

The Guerrilla Girls, fighting discrimination with facts, humor, and fake fur. The slogan for Guerrilla Girls On Tour? “Changing the world, once sexist city at a time.” If you haven’t heard about this group before, you’re certainly bound to, and quite loudly might I say. The Guerrilla Girls are a group of graphic activists originated in New York City in the early 80s. In 2001 they split into The Guerrilla Girls on Tour, Guerrilla Girls BroadBand, and Guerrilla Girls, Inc. They combine truth, humor, and art with an unescapable howl of feminism.

“We’re a bunch of anonymous females who take the names of dead women artists as pseudonyms and appear in public wearing gorilla masks. We have produced posters, stickers, books, printed projects, and actions that expose sexism and racism in politics, the art world, film and the culture at large. We use humor to convey information, provoke discussion, and show that feminists can be funny. We wear gorilla masks to focus on the issues rather than our personalities”

As for their work… It speaks for itself:

“Being included in revised versions of art history” hahahahaha

Billboard

www.guerrillagirls.com
www.guerrillagirlsontour.com

(Stay tuned for part II featuring Peter Kennard)

rest pretty, warhol

Andy Warhol’s really just ever been a ghost to me, he lived in a completely different time and place. For quite some time I’ve been interested in him as a person, as well as his shiny entourage of creatives. For someone to live so vicariously through themselves is completely inspiring. He died twenty-two years ago today, I wasn’t even born yet.

“I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.”