herge typography

I bought the Tintin 2011 calendar for Oli for Christmas (we get one every year as we are both huge fans of Herge's books) and was intrigued to see that this year's theme is type. I'd never really noticed type in the books before but with these examples you can see that Herge really was the master of attention to detail...

  

a christmas cracker

Comic Sans walks into a bar and the bartender says, 'We don't serve your type.'

from 'Just My Type' by Simon Garfield.

type at the roundhouse

We arrived 10 minutes late for Romeo and Juliet (directed by the very talented Rupert Goold) and were not allowed in until the interval (luckily we were familiar with the story!) In the meantime, in the bar, I spotted this impressive and varied collection of type in theatre posters which I thought I would share with you...

'never judge?' an exhibition at stolen space..

.. in association with Penguin books. 
I came across this on the Penguin books blog. The Stolen Space gallery describes the exhibition as:


The age old proverb is easier said than done, when choosing a read who can't be swayed by good cover art, the cover after all has the job of explaining thousands of words in an instant. Think of the classic covers that grace the jackets of thousands of books and the names of the truly great artists that have put their artwork to novels, creating iconic classic covers for these classic books, but is the book cover dying? With the advent of the iPad it's now questionable how long the printed novel and its cover will be around, just like the album cover, it'll be resigned to a thumbnail in iTunes.
StolenSpace in association with Penguin plan to celebrate the art of the book cover with a show titled ' Never Judge? this December.
The broad and varied spectrum of artists were invited to paint, print, etch, sculpt, photograph, whatever their medium, whatever their style... create a book cover for a novel of their choice, a book that has inspired them, a book that has had a profound impact on them or a book that they remember fondly as a child ... all that we asked was that they create their original artwork to the traditional format and size of a Penguin book 198mm (h) x 129mm (w)
For this exhibition 'Never Judge?' we will be exhibiting these artworks and fill the gallery with original book covers from our favourite artists from around the world. As well as originals we will be producing limited edition prints of a selection of the artwork. The show promises to be a visual feast and working in conjunction with Penguin and their upcoming Penguin Essentials project the show will be a guaranteed block buster.


I was particularly interested to find out what the artists had done because for my final major project on the ABC Diploma I redesigned the covers of J.D. Salinger's books. I really enjoyed the exhibition and thought all of the work so much more interesting than many other contemporary book cover designs. Here below are a selection of my favourites...

Animal Farm by Shepard Fairey (novel by George Orwell)

Here Fairey has done a pastiche of Russian propaganda posters by using red and black and stars. I'm surprised this hasn't been done before given that Animal Farm is an allegory for the relationship between Lenin and Trotsky. Very effective.

Breakfast At Tiffany's by Methane Studios 
(novel by Truman Capote)

This cover has also been done very appropriately in a fifties style. It reminds me of "I Dream of Jeannie' and very much encapsulates the mood of the book with its LBD, Pearls and stylised New York Skyscrapers.

The Snow Goose by Gray 318 (novel by Paul Gallico)

I love Paul Gallico and this novel in particular. Gray 318 has been very literal in his representation of the novel - the book is about a goose and he has apparently turned goose feathers into the letters of the title. Despite being obvious I still think it rather beautiful to look at. Gray 318 has done lots of my favourite book covers including those of some of Jonathan Safran Foer's novels. See more by clicking on his name above.

Mr. Bump by Steff Plaetz (book by Roger Hargreaves)

I found this artwork vaguely familiar and after wracking my brains to remember where I have seen the style before I recalled a hip-hop compilation album, a favourite of my youth...

I looked up the artist who had done the cover art of this album (Hip Hop, Don't Stop: The Greatest) and, although it wasn't Plaetz, it was actually a close collaborator of his, Will Barras, with whom he works on the Scrawl Collective, a group of graphic designers, street artists and illustrators who set up in 1998 (in Bristol I think) and have as their motto 'hand before mouse.'

It is a perfect example of graphic design that works - I like hip hop, and although I may not have listened to any recently I can still recognise the style of graphics synonymous with its genre. And it still appeals to me.

Anyway, here is a Mr. Bump for a less innocent era - he is street, he is rough and he gets into fights. Love it.

happy christmas everyone!

Today was the last day of college and also our assessment day. One of the other students has anonymously assessed this blog and I am looking forward to hearing their thoughts on it. My Graphic Design Fundamentals project was also assessed and we will be getting the results next week... In the meantime we have been asked to immerse ourselves in great graphic design over the Christmas holidays and so I thought this would be a good opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year and to share with you a couple of my favourite Christmas card designs.

 These two cards are by Darling Clementine

And these two are by Sukie.

Have a good one!

people i'd like to work with: JOHN GALL

I was going to do another post on publishers but I got side-tracked when looking through the Book Cover Archive and found a designer called John Gall, whose book covers are quite amazing. Click on his name for a short video about how he works and gets his inspiration.

He is the Art Director for Vintage, and as I've already done Vintage as a publisher this is a bit of a cheat, but I have to post these covers, they need to be seen! I especially like the Vladimir Nabokov ones. There is one for each of his books, all done in butterfly boxes (Nabokov was apparently a keen butterfly collector) and each reflects the content of the particular novel.

what i have learned so far...

As this term draws to a close I thought I'd write a little about how things have been so far..
The course is undoubtedly the right one for me - it is vocational and really focused on teaching us how to get a job and work as Graphic Designers. The students, all 100 of us, seem a great mixture of ages and cultures and the teachers are friendly, inspiring and, most importantly, seem to know what they are talking about. I am already looking forward to next term's project  (hopefully I will get a place with Okido) although I have to say I've found it challenging to get my head around how the course works and to keep up with the plentiful and various assignments we have received this term. One of the hardest parts so far has been keeping up with this blog itself - learning how to use the frustrating templates available on blogspot and also learning how to describe the way I feel about art when my appreciation always seems to be more visceral than intellectual. The first project, Graphic Design Fundamentals, has been a really useful one in learning different methods of research. Now I am just looking forward to actually making something! Here's to the next term...

type in the environment

We were asked to take about 20 photographs of interesting examples of type in the environment. Here are my 20, which I have put into black and white for the sake of avoiding clashing colours (my worst thing). Some are corporate, some vernacular, some are fun and some are serious. 

I took this photo on the tube on my way to college (it is a bit blurred as I took it quickly - you are not allowed to take photographs on the tube in case you are a terrorist). As a person who thought the White Stripes were the big new thing (after discovering them a decade after their first album came out) it is unsurprising that I had never heard of Antony and the Johnsons. I love this vernacular type though, kinda naive, kinda squiggly and cool. Might just have to listen to their music!

I came home one day to find this on our fridge - our painters had been busy with Lola's fridge magnets. I actually want to get her some new magnets because I really hate the font of the ones we've got - none of the stroke widths make any sense and the colours clash really badly. Don't think Lola minds though.

Gordon's Wine Bar - a fantastic little cellar bar just by Embankment tube station on Villiers Street. I've no idea how long it has been going but judging by this lovely delapidated old lantern it must have been around for a while.

This EAT. logo was designed by Pentagram studios back in 2007 and is fantastic in its minimalist and clean cut look. No mess, no fuss, just EAT. The font is Akzidenz Grotesk Bold.

Herman Ze German. A brilliantly stereotyped  German man turned into a logo. He is a sausage, he has a funny moustache, he is called Herman and he can't pronounce his 'th's. Lovely.

This is a crop of the sign for the 'ha ha bar and grill'. The typeface is traditional and comfortable but the actual words 'ha ha' and the lack of Upper Case lettering says ' we are easy going, we don't bother with formalities, we like a joke, come on in and join us!'. Very effective.

I used to work for Foyles when I first moved to London in 2003, and again when I came back from Istanbul in 2006. This lit-up sign will always evoke fond memories for me.

This type was printed on a tarpaulin on the Southbank. Because of the heavy rain and howling wind I couldn't, as hard as tried, get a photo in focus. But because the word is 'move' I think the blurring is quite suitable.

Let's go to heaven - why not? I took these 3 photographs at the Southbank skate park. There is so much grafitti there I almost missed this message, spray-painted casually across the concrete. I wonder who wrote it?

Not really sure what to say about this one other than it is a nice message to come across when hurrying along on a wet and miserable evening.

I took these 2 pictures on my way to the corner shop this morning. I live on Holyport Road and Crabtree Lane is just around the corner. They are both brilliant old rusty signs and much nicer than the modern, reflective plastic ones. (note the snow coming down over the 2nd picture!)

I took these 2 pictures at the V&A museum on my way to a Photoshop class. I think they are both screenprints or maybe Letterpress. I love the way the word 'taxi' jumps out of the first picture as is it is being shouted from a street corner. The 'Cor Blimey Trousers' is a close up of an Evening Standard billboard poster. Great.

Not so much type in the environment as my own handwriting. This is a page from my 'book book', a notebook in which I write down all the books I have read. Sad, I know.

Some nice examples of typographic work from 'Pick Me Up', a contemporary graphic art fair held earlier this year at Somerset House.

Another one from the Southbank Skate Park. I like the way the D has a little devil horn coming off it. And that makes 20. Phew.

okido!

This FdA is flying on by and it is already time to decide on a project for next term. Out of a list of 8 interesting choices I have decided to go for a project that is slightly out of my comfort zone. Although I enjoy drawing I have never considered myself to be an illustrator but I love the medium and think this is too good an opportunity to pass up. I actually have some postcards of Rachel Ortas' up in Lola's bedroom although I did not know her name until now. Very exciting to think I might get to work with her. Here below is the brief and a few of her beautiful illustrations...


Okido: Illustration

This project will be led by Rachel Ortas (www.rachelortas.co.uk) who is an illustrator, graphic artist and artist in residence at Central St Martins, in addition to contributing to many art publications.

Her screenprinted illustrations include weird and wonderful characters who look cute but have a slightly menacing edge, which is what makes them appealing to adults as well as children. One of her most well-known characters are the AiAis, monsters from outer space, which have been exhibited in Magma and the Science museum. These characters appear in comic strips, books, cards and in 3D form.

Rachel is also one of the creators and founders of OKIDO (www.okido.co.uk) an educational and fun art and science magazine for children.

If you choose this project, led by Rachel, the kind of work that’ll you’ll be working on includes:

Designs for young children (based on a theme) including:

● developing/researching ideas

● working for a magazine

● graphic design

● illustration

● interactive design

● typography

All the work you produce for this project will be evaluated by the Okido publishing team who will decide on the best pieces of work that could go forward and be published in Okido Magazine itself.