Merry Christmas my fine young cannibals.
Do enjoy a gentle, merry holiday ... and
remember, I shall be watching. cheers TF

Sadly, our old friend and colleague Henry Lehmann

passed away yesterday.

I've known Henry for about 25 years. He was a

gentleman, sweet and funny, a good fellow, who really

loved to tell stories.

I can remember him as a young sharp, shiny Boulevardier,

talking and writing about art with enthusiasm and skill, and I can

also remember him as a white haired emeritus, slowly taking

his students about a gallery.

Henry was a rare fellow, always gracious, elegant of mind and fair.

I will miss him. He was a diamond.

Free Beer and Sushi ( I'm lying )

An important reminder:

Digital 1 and 2 you must hand in at the beginning of the last class a "portfolio".

It should contain all of your work (graded or ungraded), all of the assignments for your particular class.

Such as, but not limited to: the Pollock assignment, the David Carson Project, The Blog, any/all layout typesetting assignments, le Magazine, the Sculptural letterform poster, the Street Sign assignment, the Onomatopoeia assignment, and the Film Titles assignment, etc. (not all projects apply to all sections)

It can contain anything you want really beyond the basic assignments - it can contain re-working or improvements of projects or personal stuff you've done or just the assignments.

Put your portfolio on a USB key (it will be returned next semester) or on a DVD (it will not be returned), make sure that all the files are there, correctly.

If I open the portfolio and there are files missing, well you can guess what the result will be. Remember to always check your files on another computer, so as to ensure that it is universally openable.

This is not an optional or negotiable part of the class, it is resolutely absolute.

Last class & complete.

Oh and .... I love watermelon sorbet.

the United States of Ameatia

Never one to downplay his own achievements, Wolfgang Weingart
explains why he has shifted his emphasis from design to teaching:
"I had to stop in order to let the things that I produced sink in, and
wait until the next, real explosion comes, so that designers in the
new decade can copy me again." Labeled by some as the father of
New Wave Graphics for his dramatic departure from Swiss style and
his maverick attitude toward design, Weingart considers himself an
"educational orphan." After studying under various mentors, Weingart
abandoned apprenticeship and institutional study altogether, and
accepted a position on the typography faculty at the Basel School of
Design. His unique style of wide lettering, spacing, underlining, and
layering photography with typographic images had an immediate
impact on the design world, and its influence on subsequent design
developments was instantaneous. Weingart advocates a triumvirate
relationship between design identity, typographic elements, and
printing technique. His combative relationship with new technology
is manifest in his efforts to prove, through both theory and practice,
that visual complexities can be produced by hand as well as by technology.
A teacher with an aggressive style, Weingart has given up designing to
travel the world in order to spread his idiosyncratic vision of design to a
new generation of graphic artists.

Five Ways to Change the World

digital one, please read the linked article. You will be quizzed,

for marks, in class. The word World is linked to the article.

here's the first paragraph.

So you want to change the world? Start by changing the built

environment. Buildings shape our experience and open up or

close down possibilities for life. Hardly anyone gets to realize

his or her visions for transforming society, but activism through

architecture is a place to start. Here I offer a guide, idiosyncratic

and partial, drawing on personal experience and American history,

to how architecture can contribute to social reform.

" I hate to say this, but if you really want to be successful,

you have to rethink the concept of the so-called work/life balance.

The most successful creative people I know do not segregate their

“work” and their “play”—it’s all the same. They love what they do,

and do it all the time. If you look at design as a job that you do

between 9 and 5 every day, you will earn a paycheck...and that’s all.

Talent will take you far, but determination will take you further.

I can’t tell You how many people I’ve heard moan about how they

could have started a business, gotten the great assignment, scored

a better position or whatever. The truth is, most people aren’t

willing to put the time and effort into accomplishing their goals.

It’s easier to just live their dreams inside of their heads instead

of putting in the sweat equity.

I look at successful people and I see the same patterns. I know a

photographer who, when starting his career, worked literally

around the clock, and even spent his own money to make shots

memorable. He never looked at an assignment as a job, but as an

opportunity to do something outstanding. He is still pushing

himself today and branching out into new areas. His renowned

career is nothing if not enviable.

When I started my business, I had no clients and very little money.

The first year I worked until midnight most nights, almost seven

days a week. Not only did I work past the point of endurance on

my design, I learned how to do basic billing. I wired my own network.

I wrote copy. I steeled myself and made cold calls. All of the long

nights paid off, I built a client base, and now, years later, I have a

thriving practice. You can achieve great things, if you’re willing

to put in the effort. "

Lynda Decker, Decker Design

dig 2 please check out this English student design blog.

It contains some interesting contemporary, as well as

vintage page layouts that may inspire you to re-do/improve

or upgrade your rapidly approaching minimum 10 double

page, magazine assignment. The circa 70/80's British

magazines are particularly bold & interesting.

Remember to always backup your work. this is linked

I'd meant to post these over Halloween, knowing that some of
you are very interested in vintage illustration. The word Halloween
is linked to the great site that these covers came from, enjoy.

as an aside, for Dig 2, please read the article linked to this. Thanks to Zarine for der link.

things most remarkable No. 12 ( for an extra mark )

who uses this font in a lot of their work ? and has for years

Extended Evening Lab Hours

until the end of the semester, the lab will be open

an extra 2 hours

Monday ( 2 hrs commencing after last class )
Wednesday ( 2 hrs commencing after last class )
Friday ( 2 hrs commencing after last class )

groovy

Irving Penn (June 16 1917 - Oct. 7 2009) Last week, aged 92 years, an artist of rare genius, passed away. Irving Penn, was an iconic American photographer. Renowned for his uniquely elegant sense of line and form, virtuoso command of natural, classical lighting, and perhaps most notably - his wonderful ability to express the commonplace in the most remarkable of ways.

Irving Penn worked succesfully for decades for all the shiniest magazines in New York and Paris as a studio illustrator, but he was perhaps - as revered artistically for his personal - more private work, than for the brilliance of his commercial fashion and product photography.

Instantly identifiable, Penn's images, more than any other photographer of his generation defined studio photography, and he has had an indelible influence on each succeeding generation of photographers that were fortunate enough to know his work. Irving Penn is irreplaceable, a true visionary, rest in peace. his name is linked, please read

A particularly gifted former student who has since gone on to far away fame and fortune as an animator and 3D imaging software developer, sent me this interesting site.

Digital two please have a visit; a site about informatics, the emerging if reluctant marriage of information and imaging - now enjoying a great leap forward far removed from the land of bar graphs and pie charts.

Word to the wise my little monkeys, while the author of the site genuinely enthuses that beauty is possible in the world of quantization, his work itself, regrettably, is not that remarkable.

In Our Library (an antique colloquialism if there ever was one, they store these things called books, perhaps you've heard of them ?) are a number of really beautiful texts by Edward Tufte, if you're at all interested in the subject or plan to pass our class, (and it is an interesting and vigorously evolving field of work) have a look at his books. the word informatics is linked ...

digital one, consider for a moment how this

cupboard/sideboard by Ettore Sottsass Jr.,

differs from that of the furniture we recently

studied by Carlo Bugatti. Be prepared to

discuss it. both names are linked

In 1980, Ettore Sottsass, Jr., one of the senior

Italian designers of the time, founded the Milan

design cooperative Memphis with two colleagues,

Andrea Branzi and Allesandro Mendini. Memphis

pieces, such as the "Casablanca" cabinet displayed

here, were self-consciously flamboyant riffs on the

postmodern design then in vogue. Although the

cooperative lasted only for five years, its risky

exuberance expanded the boundaries of modern

furniture and continues to influence designers today.

The Plain Beauty of Well-Made Things

digital two, please read the linked article

Arising from our class discussions. Digital 1 ( both sections ) , carefully read and generally commit to memory for next weeks class, not the class immediately threatening, but the next.

The following ....

Try to identify the defining or central characteristics of the individuals, the works, or movements linked to the names below.

I vigorously suggest that you follow the links or connections along their natural progression, perhaps from person to person, or work to work, or even movement to movement, as one might also follow a country path wandering along. Just look about. Try to both appreciate the works themselves, and try also to begin to perceive the enduring connections between them, and recognize that they are as art works or moments in Art History, inextricably bound to each other by context. Each person or work having an effect, an influence upon the other.

It is some of the finest of modern art and represents some of the pivotal

redefinitions of style and ideas, in Modern Art History.

no.1 Vincent

Try not to be obsessive with the minutiae, endeavour to comprehend the work or movements in rather broad strokes (sorry about the pun) so to as better understand the general historical context and the progression of styles, philosophies and ways of working. If you find this all a trifle overwhelming, just think of it as gossip, because some of it frankly, is. Cool

no.2 Davide

no.3 Paul Gaughin

no.4 Cubism

no.5 Henri

no.6 Impressionism

digital too, visit this site.

design two - do work hard on your layout project, as it does tend to show when you don't ...



.... search, investigate, explore - try new things. Go back the way you came and look again, keep moving, collect, experimento, eat ice cream

www.lapp-pro.de/ check this out.

The name light graffiti struggles to do these displays justice.

The fantastic spectacles of colour - which are the latest trend in street art - are as impressive as fireworks.

A host of light sources, from flash lights and bike lights to blinking LED lights, are used to 'paint' a picture straight onto the camera lens. Also known as light drawing or light painting, these arresting images are created with long exposure cameras in the dark. Sometimes the exposures run on for longer than an hour.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1210538/Pictured-The-incredible-light-graffiti-created-host-light-sources-shine-straight-camera-lens.html#ixzz0QA1wXtTJ

my dear hipsters, here's my fall

schedule click to resize image,

and here's the url http://myclass

outlines.blogspot.com/ for the

course descriptions, should you

need. see you soon. aaaaaaarrrr

hhhh !!@^*@3 sputter cheers tf

hope your summers going swimmingly, I'm wearing flippers, and imagining I'm a porpoise on purpose

Dieter Rams, designer - Cold War Modern from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

I'd like to wish everyone a perfect holiday with lots of surprises, brilliant discoveries and extra ice cream. For those of you leaving us, best luck and always remember to always wear clean elephants. Cheers TF

visit the remarkable Jessica Hische, so cool she's peppermint

my new favorite poster, from Steven Soderbergh's
latest film, I've yet to find out the designer's name,
any ideas ?

DON'T FORGET EVERYBODY,
THAT YOUR PORTFOLIO IS
DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF
THE LAST CLASS. EITHER
ON A CD/DVD OR ON A USB KEY.
IF YOU PUT IT ON A CD/DVD, IT
WILL NOT BE RETURNED - IF
YOU SAVE IT TO YOUR USB
KEY, IT WILL BE RETURNED
NEXT SEMESTER ONLY. THERE
ARE NO EXCEPTIONS ON
THIS FINAL PART OF YOUR
CLASS, SO MAKE SURE IT'S
READY.

cliques moi

here are the quotes for the text assignment, as requested

careful what you wish for - more wit and whimsy from the Studio DDB

things you should see from a sight full of great ideas, and great solutions ! cliquez moi , site courtesy of the brilliant designer Mohammed Thiam

PEN Canada, for Freedom of Expression - freedom of expression, is something that most of us tend to take for granted (at least until we lose it), yet it's a central, and critically defining aspect of any functioning democracy, and certainly an elemental part of an individual's personal freedoms.

Pen Canada, is a remarkable resource, and one which both eloquently and sadly reminds us, of how precarious freedom of expression is, and how constantly under threat it remains worldwide. Remember Thoreau's dictum that "civil disobedience is civil defence" .. visit the site

Extended Evening Lab Hours

starting next week, until the end of the semester, the lab will be open

Monday 6-8
Wednesday 5-7
Thursday 4:30-6:30
Friday 4:30-6:30

groovy

the great web page debate of 2009 - recently, our
design students have commented on how poorly our web
site design compares with other, comparable colleges'
web sites. (especially Dawson's site above)

I'd like to know what you think .. , visit the sites linked
below, and consider the design and compare the sites.

Does each site design articulate the personality and values of the
representative institution in a creative, interesting and efficient
way ? If so how, and if not why ?

Consider the often "complicated" relationship between data
and design, between functionality and aesthetics.

It can be very difficult to find a balance between the two,
wherein both needs are met. Informatics, traditionally the
design and presentation of information, is an evolving practise,
which has become more and more commonly a part in a designers
sphere of activity.

Are some sites better than others ? If so, how ? What has the
designer done to ensure that the school is seen in its best
and most irresistible light ?

What needs to be done to improve the design ? Remember,
the designer, presumably, doesn't have a lot of time for upkeep,
or a big budget. It's probably a one person job, hampered by
the slow grinding glacial nature of committees.

That's the challenge, how do you work within those constraints ?
What advice or criticism would you give ? Hold your comments
until class please.

























http://www.cvm.qc.ca/Pages/index.aspx

http://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/

http://www.marianopolis.edu/

http://www.johnabbott.qc.ca/

http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/

have a good, safe holiday or I'll smack you. 

FYI ( courtesy of Sean Yendroid )
click it good !

Thursday's D1 class, here's a short listing of ( mostly graphic) designers for your blog to get you started, but remember that there are, thousands more out there. This design art thingy is strangely enough,  a world wide phenomenon, so do some research you monkeys, and explore a little.... extra marks for those adventurous souls who step off the beaten track .... If you see something you like, do it. 

This is an evolving project, I don't expect anything finished next class, but I do expect, at least, a preliminary phase, which illustrates progress towards a final project. 

If you are in Monday's class this notice doesn't effect you yet , but it will. But wait, until class for your questions etc.

http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/?dcdc=top/t

http://www.sagmeister.com/index.html

http://www.aiga.com

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-tiborkalman

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-saulbass

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-michaelbierut

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-alexeybrodovitch

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-gailanderson

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-seymourchwast

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-beafeitler

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-sheilalevrantdebretteville

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-ivanchermayeffandtomgeismar

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-aprilgreiman

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-paulascher

D2, vis a vis the movie Helvetica we were watching. I bring to your
attention an wonderful absurdity, situated clearly in the department
of "I have no idea why".

It seems that the Helvetica version of the moleskin notebook, the
notebooks are small, ubiquitous, and rather useful hardbound notebooks
found everywhere for around 20$.

It seems, inexplicably, that they've have become a real collectors item.
So much so, that there are, entire websites and exhibits devoted to its
celebration, the simple little tome, has become an object of desire, a
kind of Dita Von Tesse liber. The sites and it's acolytes, chronicle its
collection and undertake a weird kind of the cultural analysis of the little
red, but completely empty book.

Will we become a civilization of microscopic obssessors ? Soon to be
collecting sub-atomic particles. I imagine the owners walking them, in
little tartan sweaters on little diamond leashes. I mean the Moleskins
are nice and everything, but who collects an empty book ?

Jeez ... What does that say ?

D2, a digital layout system , pre-press, and then proofing the plating process,
then proofing the output, developing the inks etc. As it is .. certainly arduous, but
rewarding. The proofing, adjusting and failing, are all an essential part of creating,
nothing is finished the first time - not here, nor anywhere else.

Alvin Lustig's contributions to the design of books and book jackets, magazines, interiors, and textiles as well as his teachings would have made him a credible candidate for the AIGA Lifetime Achievement award when he was alive.

By the time he died at the age of forty in 1955, he had already introduced principles of Modern art to graphic design that have had a long-term influence on contemporary practice. He was in the vanguard of a relatively small group who fervently, indeed religiously, believed in the curative power of good design when applied to all aspects of American life.


He was a generalist, and yet in the specific media in which he excelled he established standards that are viable today. If one were to reconstruct, based on photographs, Lustig's 1949 exhibition at The Composing Room Gallery in New York, the exhibits on view and the installation would be remarkably fresh, particularly in terms of the current trends in art-based imagery.

Lustig created monuments of ingenuity and objects of aesthetic pleasure. Whereas graphic design history is replete with artifacts that define certain disciplines and are also works of art, for a design to be so considered it must overcome the vicissitudes of fashion and be accepted as an integral part of the visual language.

Though Lustig would consider it a small part of his overall output, no single project is more significant in this sense than his 1949 paperback cover for Lorca: 3 Tragedies. It is a masterpiece of symbolic acuity, compositional strength and typographic craft that appears to be, consciously or not, the basis for a great many contemporary book jackets and paperback covers.

things most remarkable No.12 - for extra marks - what is it ? ... exactly.

One guess per customer, and remember
if you get it, you get to take the marks
off of someone who bugs you, or smells.

to all my favorito gellheads - big tina, louie louie, and
Mr.Fabio, this is what happens if you use too much gellatino.
Truth in advertising, veritas .

An innovative hoarding for Berger Paints where a live painter appeared
to be extending the blue of the sky on to the hoarding itself. This was done
by creating dramatic cut outs in the hoarding in the actual shape of the
roller strokes.

Advertising Agency: JWT, Mumbai, India
Copywriter / Art Director: Minal Phatak

D2 product/package design due in two weeks:
1.concept, 2.materials, 3.preperation, 4.execution
.... click image to supersize

some new graphics for Volkswagen in Europe, symbolic of their
new, enviromentally more sensitive technologies. aka BLUE MOTION

design one and two, please visit the website of Pascal
Trembley of Montreal. A young freelance graphic
designer living here in MTL with a wide, and international commercial experience.
This personal work is extraordinary; the subtle layers of image and story, the evocative textures, the compressed yet elegant colour palate, the studied position of all the elements.  Powerfully atmospheric, irresistibly secret. Brilliant,
brilliant work. click image to big it up

a "personal project" by young designer Ritxi Ostariz from Bilbao Spain,
check out his design work, paper engineering and short animation. Really
superb work, full of whit, charm and first class technical execution. Wow !

dont forget, don't forget, dunt firgit, huh ?


D!, design one ! don't forget !, your CD project is due this week !,
at the beginning of your class ! finished !, done !, tout garni !


check out this site http://www.invisiblecreature.com/main.php

CRISTIANA COUCEIRO IS A 32-YEAR OLD ILLUSTRATOR and graphic designer who lives in Lisboa, Portugal. She collage’s vintage/found materials with contemporary images, in the old-fashioned way — with glue and scissors !!!!! Jeez, she actually uses her hands. Whether she follows that hand work with scanning and digitizing the pieces seem likely, as the translucent, overlapping sections would be difficult otherwise. Cristiana has a unique and interesting style that looks deceptively effortless, a style that refers to the birth of modernism, and the collage work of Hanna Hock, Raoul Hausmann et al. It would be quite easy to over-do something like this—but she knows just when to stop. Her work has a beauty to it based on her own sense of mathematical formulas, grids, balance, vintage ephemera, typography and numerals. Software if there is any, is an inconsequential aspect to her work, her designs are about her imagination and her ability to see beyond the obvious, beyond the digital desktop. check out her fantastic work at http://setediasete.blogspot.com/


btw, her work reminds me of a talented former student, Miss Zarine Baloosh !

expression comes in as many forms as there are, and one of the wonderful things about a life of the mind, is that you never know where it will go, I think.

Notice! To all those completely crazy people who asked for letters of reference, help with letters of intent, etc. I'll be doing them this weekend, as soon as the medication wears off... 

design 1 & 2

interestingly, and as if somehow secretly synchronized ... , two former students e-mailed me virtually simultaneously with an item they both thought might interest me, or be of some use to my classes.

That they're both very talented young designers, and doing rather well further made me suspect a conspiracy of some kind ... regardless, here are the links, give the matter your due consideration and we will, in honour of Duc Tran and Mohammed Thiam, discuss the issue of " fair use " in class. Neglect at your peril.

http://blog.iso50.com/2009/02/06/ap-sues-shepard-fairey/ and http://www.printmag.com/design_articles/MiltonGlaseronShepardFairey/tabid/492/Default.aspx

According to AIGA, Graphic Design is explained as such: "Graphic designers work with drawn, painted, photographed, or computer-generated images (pictures), but they also design the letterforms that make up various typefaces found in movie credits and TV ads; in books, magazines, and menus; and even on computer screens. Designers create, choose, and organize these elements- typography, images, and the so-called "white space" around them- to communicate a message. Graphic design is a part of your daily life. From humble things like gum wrappers to huge things like billboards to the T-shirt you're wearing, graphic design informs, persuades, organizes, stimulates, locates, identifies, attracts attention and provides pleasure. Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. The designer works with a variety of communication tools in order to convey a message from a client to a particular audience."

design one - quiz 2 - due next week.

1. The Panopticon of Jeremy Bentham and the Maison de Force at Ghent, inspired Havilland to design and build what ?

2. Traditionally what were fine papers made from ? How were they made ? What is an archival paper and what is tooth ? The density of paper, its mass, or thickness is described using what term ?

3. who are/were - Dieter Rams, Achille Castiglioni, and Charles Rennie Macintosh ?

4. William Klein, Richard Avedon, Duane Micheals and Irving Penn are renowned as photographic illustrators, what else do they all have in common ?

5. What was the "salon de refuses" ?

6. Who designed Kew Gardens in London and Central Park in Manhattan ?

British Design Classics,on stamps, click to visit London

Massimo Vignelli has published an amazing 96 page book on better
understanding typography in graphic design. Wonderful! The book is
available for free online in PDF format.

d2 - in reference towards your page/book design project and
designed typeset pages, do consider how type is used in the
following. groovy baby. remember my leetle monkeys, click
images to make more large

d2 please read the linked page for tomorrow, 

we'll be going over some of it in class. ici the link

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.

design two, do not forget to bring your magazines to class next. Do consider your own project, ad nauseum -  how will it all be laid out ? What's its theme ? does it have a subtle visual architecture, and a elegant unified manner ? Perhaps not ... is it a riot of contradiction ? the content, is it singular and focused or illusory, an argument of form ? Does it have an recognizable attitude, perhaps a perspective ? Things to consider, be prepared ! dib dib dob ! work fast , work smart  !

my class outlines,

should you need them.

http://myclassoutlines.blogspot.com/

click on image to go to New York Times video, on kids faces
while they play video games, entitled " immersion"... priceless.

Fifty People, One Question: New York

Herb & Dorothy are like, totally, linked.

The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and
the New York City Subway

"There is a commonly held belief that Helvetica is the signage typeface of the New York City subway system, a belief reinforced by Helvetica, Gary Hustwit’s popular 2007 documentary about the typeface. But it is not true—or rather, it is only somewhat true. Helvetica is the official typeface of the MTA today, but it was not the typeface specified by Unimark International when it created a new signage system at the end of the 1960s. Why was Helvetica not chosen originally? What was chosen in its place? Why is Helvetica used now, and when did the changeover occur? To answer those questions this essay explores several important histories: of the New York City subway system, transportation signage in the 1960s, Unimark International and, of course, Helvetica. These four strands are woven together, over nine pages, to tell a story that ultimately transcends the simple issue of Helvetica and the subway." click HELVETICA to go to story.

at this year's 100% design tokyo, next maruni presented new furniture in a joint
exhibition between maruni wood industry inc. and maysa co., ltd., entitled
'nextmaruni + HA-RU mono'.

included in the exhibition was an armless chair designed by kazuyo sejima and
ryue nishizawa of SANAA.

the duo first designed a similar chair back in 2005. now nextmurani has released
the chair in a wider version. the design consists of free asymmetric 'ears' which act
as the back of the chair. it is made from translucent white beechwood, which speaks
to the chair's minimalist design.

two 'ears' stand upright to form the back of the armless chair

D2
don't forget your blog-post research assignment is due this coming friday !

Please also remember, your portfolio, ie. all your finished projects - especially the extended layout/typesetting/magazine assignment, must be coherently assembled/collected, onto a dvd or usb format. it's due and to be handed in during our final class.

porcelain fragments from the ming and qing dynasties, 2006-2008

li xiaofeng is a beijing artist who creates clothing pieces, made from remnants of traditional chinese ceramics.

he makes the clothing from ceramic shards coming from the song, ming, yuan and qing dynasties, which are sewn together on a leather undergarment.

some of his projects include this suit jacket and tie as well as a number of mid-length women’s dresses. in xiaofeng’s studio, piles of ceramic pieces sit in bins are sorted by date, colour and shape.

‘save as: contemporary chinese art born of ancient traditions’ - is currently running at the virginia miller gallery, and is his exhibition debut outside of asia. the show runs until february 28, 2009.

alejandra laviada - photo sculptures

danziger projects, new york
october 11 - november 22, 2008

alejandra laviada explores both photography and sculpture in her artwork. she assembles found objects into unusual arrays and configurations and then photographs them. this process aims to transform the way we look at these ordinary objects. she was born in mexico city and later studied in the united states before returning home. this exhibit focuses on her most recent series, ‘photo sculptures’. the exhibit will also be her debut american solo show.

the london-based designer / illustrator james joyce recently launched his new website. under the studio name of 'one fine day' joyce produces work for the guardian, creative review,the new york times, guinness and others.

Theresa Honeywell is a textile artist who is perhaps best known for her knit-wool reproductions of consumer products. however, she has also knit a full-size cozy for a motorcycle and also has a series of reproduction tattoos made from fine lace. her soft textured projects often draw attention to their juxtaposition to the real things. While a tool belt and machine gun are actually hard and tough in reality, honeywell’s reproductions are as soft and cozy as a teddybear.

The groundbreaking ceremony for ‘the vault’ by oppenheim architecture + design will take place during this year’s design miami.

the new art complex fully titled ‘art vault & valuables services’ is located in the wynwood design district of miami. the building will serve as a storage facility for art collections and other valuable goods. investor javier lumbreras who owns similar depository warehouses in major cities around the world, leads the project. this particular structure will be 11 stories and is set to be complete by 2011.

miami and basel based oppenheim architecture + design was selected as the architect and will cover the facade of ‘the vault’ with constantly revolving panels of images. ( how cool is that ! ) inside there will be a state-of-the-art conservation laboratory and access to premium financial and insurance services as well as exhibition
space.

things most remarkable No's.10 & 11
for extra marks - what are they ? ... exactly .
one of them you will find rather ..... unsettling ...

the skippy racer, motion is not solely a moderne concern, what

lovely, sinuous forms. Irresistible to the hand, moving and perfectly red.

Run Wrake is an animator and illustrator. His work includes
the widely acclaimed short film Rabbit, music visuals for U2 and Howie B,
and commercials for Coca-Cola and Natwest. He lives in Kent, England.

It seems that during World War I, in Austria and Germany, there was a moment when the metal that coins were made of became more valuable than the money it represented.

People began hoarding coins, and during the war, the metal which was available was needed for the war. The shortage of metal meant people were having trouble, well, making change.

So individual cities, local banks and organizations and so on began to take it on themselves to print what were called "Notgeld," which means "emergency money" or "necessity money", mostly colorful paper notes in low denominations (although they also used linen, tin foil, porcelain, and coal, to name a few unusual materials).


Notgeld began during the war and carried on into the period before and slightly overlapping the height of hyperinflation, when it took the proverbial wheelbarrow of money to buy an egg which happened in the early 1920's.

So I suspect a lot of these notgeld were printed. And, since they were really, really beautifully-designed (this was the height of German Expressionism, after all), people began to collect them. And, since people collected the pretty ones, there began to be some competition about who could produce the prettiest.

Which goes to show that even in the worst of all possible worlds, a Europe drowning in War and famine, there were microcosms of beauty.

Belgian photographer Filip Dujardin makes images of unexpected buildings
– that is, he "combines photographs of parts of buildings into new, fictional,
architectonic structures"

D2 you will remember - that this week, in class, on Friday, yes, this very and coming Friday, you MUST be prepared to show actually tangible, demonstratively visible, and identifiably evident progress with your mag/tableaux/layout portfolio assignment.

Yes, I know God ate your USB key, and your step-dad has run off with Radiohead, and your dog has begun to talk, again, but .... every life has its own little amusements and diversions. As you have known, from day one - this assignment is process oriented, consultative, ongoing. You simply must do this or you will fail !

Kool, with a k.
I've included the prices just to upset you, items 1 & 3 are vintage, sold as is. The milano chair is new, and has that sexy new car smell. Just kidding, it smells like a chair. Custom design is expensive.















Paul Frankl "Big Foot" Cork Cocktail Table USA 1950. The top is "Bleached Cork" with 3 splayed Mahogany Legs. This is the most sought after of the cork tables. Price $16,000


Milano Chair Wing Back Chair Inspired by Italian Design of the 1940s Frame: Alder, Legs: Walnut Cost $ 4000.00


Paul Frankl Speed Chair
New York 1930 from Frankl Studios. Baby Blue Leather with Canvas Welt. Hand Tied Springs Chair is on hidden castors. Baby Blue Leather with Canvas Welt. Price $11,000

I've been trying to imagine the process, the preliminary
design briefs, early concept meetings ....

(I bet they had lattes and chocolaty croissants)

The genesis of this cruel, visually illiterate, idea impoverished cabal.

The meetings where they sat about on uncomfortable designer chairs
and discussed this logo, the meetings where they agreed
that it was, irresistible - brilliant, absolutely the best one.

Those wankers chose, decided, and who concluded the business are now

infamous, and will probably remain, resolutely invisible (who can

blame them ?) a committee of amateurs, administrators

and sycophants,

you know, ...the ones who have conspired to impose

this new, "improved", and somehow, impossibly,
intergalactically insipid civic logo upon us.

Who are they ? (secretly, I think some of them work where I do)

The immediate cost to the innocent citizen was roughly
$500,000.00, but the long term effect, will be incalculable.

A branding Chernobyl ladies and gentlemen, whose half-life
of embarrassment ,will be roughly 10,000 years. About
the same length of time it will take us to get over the big O.

Ahhh, here's the file now, ohh look... it's likely the
same folks, who approved these other graphic amusements.

You know, it really does look like somebodies sister or cousin, or
boyfriend designed the thing. Someone who went to desktop
publishing summer camp. Where's my bloody hammer ......

Montreal's new "groovy" logo .... aaaagggrrrhhhHHhhi ,
it's the one below

my eyes are bleeding .... aaagghhhhh...

you guys are always asking what I do on the weekends, so here,
linked , are a few snaps of me and my friends, as we are,
en flagrente delecto. ps. I'm the one  in the ridiculous costume

Photography as a Weapon















D2 please read the linked article

class cancelled this friday, yes, today!
Comrades, I am a leetle under the weather. Work hard, the labs open, and have a safe and happy halloween. cheers T

1. Paul Schuitema 2. Adriaan van't Hoff 1933 3. Wim ten Broek 1936

No.1 In the things, everyone needs to see, series.
Fish Flops, and yes, before you ask, it is what I wear at home.

Inspiration is sometimes, something you find - perhaps an obscured
idea or found image, something unintentional and quite often accidental.
Make sure you don't spend all your time baiting the hook, ... jump.














































1.Lorenzo Petrantoni 2.Lorenzo Petrantoni 3.Lisa Eisenbray 4.Sr.Garcia 5.Sr.Garcia 6.James Gallagher 7.Pep Carrio 8.Wolf Erlbruch 9.Wolf Erlbruch 10. Eva eun-sil han 11.Alma Larroca

some required/essential visiting for both 1 & 2, ... yes you.
the peach of a peach is linked, the brilliant ilovetypography
website. clickez los fritas y picturas

the fascinating work of David Tobin Smith , the name is link'd.




























click on the images to exPAnD

actually found on the street, go figure. update .. the fiendish
Ms.Z has informed me that the quotes from Radiohead. Who knew ?

a San Francisco/Minneapolis ( ? ) design entity, the Test Pilot Collective  

of major graphic, interface and typographic grooveness

This poster was part of a bigger project 

directed toward Nike’s efforts to centralize 

a font ( not funk ) bank for all Nike designers 

worldwide. 

The poster was created by sixteen in­house 

designers, each of whom designed a part 

independently.

 

All of the designs were then composed into 

the inspirational poster created for all 

in­house designers. 

The back of the poster highlights the font 

used in the design.

remember to click the image to 

enlarge it, you mwumby shellfish

Key Magazine Cover
Designer:  Dirk Barnett
Illustrator:  Carin Goldberg

things most remarkable No.9
for extra marks - what are they ? ... exactly .
( ... and judging from your mid-term work, 

some of you really could use the extra marks, 

especially Really Big Larry and Wanda One Shoe )

and like everything else in nature, click to enlarge

i scream, you scream , we all scream for Edvard Munch cream

Today we had a visit from a 

young designer Mr. Sean Yendrys. 

A brilliant former student, Sean 

graciously came back to talk to 

us about the Montreal Biennale. 

It was an interesting discussion, 

which touched upon street art, 

the politics and financing of public 

art and performance, free speech, 

Banksy's et al and the history and 

traditions of Biennale's in general. 

I recommend that you all check 

out the Montreal Biennale site and 

familiarize yourselves with what 

the Biennale is all about. It's still 

looking for volunteers to help out, 

and it might be lot of fun and really 

interesting to get involved with.

low tech fun; a simple, inventive change from the whole 

blindlingly similar, commerce driven, pseudo-high tech, 

lame o, way too shiny, pop record, how does my hair look, 

all about the big sales, music video thingy. it's invention 

kids, and has a sorta hand made in the basement with your 

friends kind of, lets try it this way feel to it, big up !

le New York Times

treading that impossible line, between essential 

but cruelly dry information and dynamic design, 

brilliantly. Informatics - click me donut brain

EMIGRE magazine, cool. way cool, uber cool, totally uber way cool. 

All the hipster kids know about it, do you ?  ..Get with the program

Dead Star, by Michel de Broin, is made from leftover batteries 

at the end of their day. I'm never gonna throw a battery away again.

looking for a great resource for vintage images for 

your work or amusemento, look no farther you.

cliquez moi, svp

the new york public library digital gallery

from the everything comes from somewhere series ....

an interesting if tangential article that my more ruthless, and well dressed students may enjoy. 

one of the few charms of middle age ....  if there are any,  is finally being able to see how things connect, or at least suspect how they might connect, and also, noticing how there are everywhere, very fine, nearly diaphanous ( look it up ) threads, that join so many human endeavours and aspirations together.

like design and the cowboy shirt, enjoy

what a fantastic piece of work; funny and true in equal measures

please click me, now. Yes, now. This now. That's it.

Dig 1 and 2, also read this interview with Zuzana Licko in
Eye magazine, the picture is linked !

dig 1 and dig 2, both, please read the interview with Zuzana
Licko, found at the site below, before next class, also peruse
the interesting web site GLOSSÁRIO TIPOGRÁFICO

just because it's perfect

dig 2, layout/tableaux assignment.

Here are some current/actual examples.

A simple but effective visual prose - a robust, interesting. layout. and also enjoy, some visual gossip, extra stuff from fashion week, held last week in NYC, whether it's miscellanea or marginalia, its your call.

Do consider, please, how the layouts fit together or how they contrast. Do they collide visually, against their neighbor or entreat you towards the next page or image ? Consider the conversation that the page elements must be having amongst themselves. Is it a nice chat over a latte or a sibling's screaming match ?

Then look far, far, below, for a much earlier post on the genius Alexi Brodovitch, and please compare/contrast all this recent work, this current approach with his.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Please try to remember everyone ! 
there always should be enough cake !

(personally, that just about sums it up for me, at least metaphysically) I do have other opinions, on other less corporeal topics, but eugenistically at least, the cake bit covers just about everything of actual importance. It can be, as other great philosophic insights have been, applied universally, to seemingly, all human concerns, conundrums and constructs.

 

Let there be cake !  I mean really, .... what else is there to say ?

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

some wonderful illustrations by Brasilian designer/illustrator

Rubens LP, do check him out. and here

is link.

digital one, don't forget to review the video tutorials located here.

Select the getting started section, and get started. the link is below,
do at least the first three video tutorials before next class, or I will kill

this piece of sushi, by eating it.

http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

time to wake up, and it's the last chance.

Monday, August 25, 2008

my new schedule
click it to expando

Free Counter

counting since oct.19 2008

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

There once was a time - long long, ago - where people themselves actually used hand tools and touched physical materials. Some of these items were called, pens and paper, people also used, these strange little picturesque rectangular things, called "stamps".

Adventurous souls, desirous of some form of written human contact, might actually, on a sunny day ( there were sunny days too, long ago) walk to something called a "mail box".

Here, they would just leave the letter ( amazing I know..), for apparently, another human called a "postman", would conduct the handwritten letter on forwards, towards its eventual destination.

Is seems, or so I've been told .... that, ..  as well, once upon a time , ( clearly, must have been well  before Einstein's General Field Theory )  not all time and all space was identical, ..... things and people might be, actually far apart, separated somehow, by time or space, or by fate,  but somehow they acted and somehow they felt,  closer together too ? 

But that was a long time ago, in a far, far distant galaxy. A place apparently, where people still could remember how to use their hands.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Satire

Recently there has been some agitation regarding

a satirical drawing depicting Barack & Michelle Obama from the

cover of a recent NewYorker magazine.

Some have argued that the drawing is of questionable merit; and have
insisted, that it is at the best, in bad taste, and at the worst, racist.

While others retort, that the illustration isn't really either in fact. These learned (wink) people reason, that the drawing challenges the actual racist stereotypes themselves, and makes fun not of the candidate at all - but rather, pokes fun, and points fingers at his critics, and their absurd, and rather antique calumnies.

I must admit in the spirit of clarity, that I agree with the latter,

and think that the cover is rather brilliant, despite its um... impact.

Since its publication a couple of weeks ago, the wits at Vanity
Fair magazine have responded to the conflict in their own notable way, by coming up with a cover of their own. A somewhat familial, and sympathetic riposte, as it were.

This cover depicts in its case, candidate McCain and wife, in an equally
absurd context, and is a play on the Obama cover imagery, American social history, political correctness, and on the nature and importance of satire.

Do compare and enjoy the ( short ) articles which are linked to
each magazine's particular name, and consider for yourselves, the effect
and nature of this tempest in a teapot.

Lastly, there is a "political" etching from the late 1800's, by James Gillray, (which admittedly - is perhaps a trifle, historically remote). Gillray was, much in the manner of the great Jonathon Swift, a true English satirical genius.

Gillray was a prolific artist and a merciless social critic. His work and
attitude continued a long and notably vigorous British tradition of political dissent, through satire - which mercilessly lampoons the rich, enraged the Royals and caustically challenged societies excesses and moral failings in general, and perhaps most importantly, all en flagrante, in public.

"Fashionable Contrasts; – or – the Duchess's little shoe yielding to the magnitude
of the Duke's foot, originally published by Hannah Humphrey on January 24, 1792.
The print shows the feet and ankles of the Duke and Duchess of York (Frederick,
Duke of York and Albany 1763-1827, son of George III, and Frederica Charlotte
Ulrica 1767-1820, his wife), in an obviously copulatory position, with the Duke's
feet enlarged and the Duchess's feet drawn very small"

and I think we are far, far, better off, for them having done it.

From the department of Totally Funny - but also rather pointedly poignant
and acridly accurate - a Gentleman's point of view on things graphical, a
slightly unguentistic rant kind of thingy - warning .... British Celebrity
chef style language - warning.... Click below to go to the site you narfy buggers.

http://www.vimeo.com/1465284 here's the link

read this short article if you are interested in type design, this headline is linked.