After the second World War many Latvian writers were relocated to different areas of the world. Many ended up in Great Britain, Canada and the USA. Living in these new lands they began their own periodicals and publication houses. A new generation of writers emerged. “Living in foreign lands and surrounded by other cultures, these writers strove to capture the influences of modernism.” * One of the magazines that surfaced during this time period was Jauna Gaita (the new course). Ilmārs Rumpēters who designed many of the covers of Jauna Gaita during the 1950s-1970s, wonderfully captured the spirit of this era.
Julius Shulman, photograph of Case Study House #21 (Pierre Koenig, architect)
Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury—opening May 17 at the Oakland Museum of California—looks at the painting, architecture, furniture design, decorative and graphic arts, film, and music that launched mid-century modernism in the United States, and established Los Angeles as a major American cultural center. The exhibition continues through August 17, 2008.
Birth of the Cool is accompanied by a 300-page illustrated book (published with Prestel Publishers, 2007), which provides a thorough reassessment of the era.
Salon Auto Geneve (Salon International de l’Auto) is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. I admire Brun’s decision to represent the event in an a very abstract way. The white circles used as automobile headlamps look like they are derived from a compositional exercise in one of Armin Hofmann’s classes. This would make sense since Donald Brun taught at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule (Basel School of Design) along side Hofmann.
Wow, amazing luggage label from Belgian airlines Sabena. This label is promoting travel to Africa. Look at those colors! I love how the illustrator portrays the faceted shades of the girl’s face in bold “Fauvist” hues.
Industrial designer / illustrator Syd Mead is well known for his vehicle designs and backgrounds for classic science fiction films like Blade Runner and Aliens during the 1980s. Long before these projects, he produced a series of conceptual illustrations and paintings for US Steel. The futuristic automobiles, diagrams and environments were published in several promotional books during the early 1960s.
These books are intense to look at. The full page spreads are over 2 feet wide and heavily detailed. Keep in mind when viewing the images above, that this work is very early on in his career, as he had recently finished his studies at Art Center in Pasadena.
Running with a Japanese theme today. Can’t stop thinking about those flicks I caught this past weekend. Great cover for a Japanese graphic design magazine from the sixties.
I don’t know much about the company that published the book on the right, but the book on the left was published by Kappa in 1963. Keep your eyes out for Kappa, they have other cool covers.
Cool book cover illustration by Staffan Wiren. Great example of swedish modern illustration from the 1960s.
On a sidenote, just talked to my friend Joe Beats and he’s got a killer mix online that he put together for designer vinyl toy store Munky King. Listen to the mix here.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted any type-related goodness, so I figured it was time to post the slab of paper above. The book includes 40 - 50 pages of modern San Serif specimens worked into menus, advertisements and letterheads. In addition, there are several tipped in brochures and posters you can flip through. Given the title, I would assume this is an annual and that there are other years available.
Giant Golden Book of Biology - An Introduction to the Science of Life c1961
Text by Gerald Ames and Rose Wyler - Illustrated by Charley Harper
It doesn’t get much better then this. This is Charley in his prime.
“In a style he called “minimal realism”, Charley Harper captured the essence of his subjects with the fewest possible visual elements. When asked to describe his unique visual style, Charley responded:
When I look at a wildlife or nature subject, I don’t see the feathers in the wings, I just count the wings. I see exciting shapes, color combinations, patterns, textures, fascinating behavior and endless possibilities for making interesting pictures. I regard the picture as an ecosystem in which all the elements are interrelated, interdependent, perfectly balanced, without trimming or unutilized parts; and herein lies the lure of painting; in a world of chaos, the picture is one small rectangle in which the artist can create an ordered universe.[cite this quote]
He contrasted his nature-oriented artwork with the realism of John James Audubon, drawing influence from Cubism, Minimalism, Einsteinian physics and countless other developments in Modern art and science. His style distilled and simplified complex organisms and natural subjects, yet they are often arranged in a complex fashion. On the subject of his simplified forms, Harper noted:
I don’t think there was much resistance to the way I simplified things. I think everybody understood that. Some people liked it and others didn’t care for it. There’s some who want to count all the feathers in the wings and then others who never think about counting the feathers, like me.”
Alexander Girard alphabet blocks designed and produced by House Industries
Many thanks to the guys at House Industries for sending over a box of goodies. Included in the box was a set of Alexander Girard alphabet blocks. These blocks were the result of a collaboration with the estate of mid-century designer Alexander Girard, the 28 wood blocks feature alphabets based on the forthcoming Alexander Girard font collection and a cleverly-adapted House Industries factory logo puzzle. I have been jocking these blocks since day 1. They have been on my want list for a while. My wife and I don’t have kids yet, but when we do, I can tell you one thing for sure. There is no way the kids are going to touch these! ha! These are daddy’s blocks!
Israel -the land of the Bible Tourism posters by Jean David (L) c1954 (r) 195? produced for the State of Israel Tourist Centre
My Knowledge of Jean David (Sometimes referred to as Jan David) is limited. However, what work I’ve seen from him has been nothing less that stellar. Just look at the posters above. I could easily see someone slanging these at a Flatstock poster convention. Dang, I totally nerd out when I see this stuff. Its just so good.
Looks like the whale is riding a boat of waves. Meanwhile, Jonah is relaxing after downing a keg of Vitamen C. Just look at all that orange!
Many thanks to Eszter at Hatch Design in San Francisco for sending over this promotional piece for the firm. The birds are letterpressed and screenprinted onto egg carton material. The wife and I (and the cat too) had a great time putting this together.
We are gathering items for our new series on promotional goods from designers and design firms. This is the first part in an ongoing series. If you would like to contribute, please email me.
Flickr user ex.novo has posted some amazing examples of spanish modern design in advertising from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The ads are taken from magazines/ journals titled “Clínica Rural” and “Glosa”. Anyone know anything about these journals? Most of the advertisements seem to be related to pharmaceutical products so it’s a great follow up to my previous post on Swiss modern design in the chemical industry.
Big ups to Mike from Burlesque for dropping this gem on me.
Publicity and graphic design in the chemical industry - Hans Neuburg 1967 (Chemie Werbung und Grafik) Contributions by Josef Muller Brockmann
Clap your hands if you love swiss design.
This is got to be one of the best books on graphic design in the chemical industry. Ha! this probably the only book on graphic design in the chemical industry. Most of the design work in the book is for pharmaceutical companies. Companies include J R Geigy and Ciba Aktiengesellschaft, both located in Basel, Switzerland.
The index in the back reads like the whos who of Swiss design. Designers include:Karl Gerstner, Herbert Leupin, Siegfried Odermatt, Hans Erni, Max Schmid, Fred Troller and Kurt Wirth amongst others.
Just look at the pictures above, the work is incredible. Anyone have any nominations for pharmaceutical/ chemical companies that have great design? Maybe we should put together a top 5 list. For example, the always fun top 5 favorite poisonous gas logos.
Westvaco Inspirations was a promotional journal produced by the Westvaco Corporation, formerly known as the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company. The purpose of the journal was to highlight the printing processes and quality of paper achieved by the Westvaco paper Mills. Bradbury Thompson (1911-1995) served as designer and editor for over fifty issues of this publication including the issue featured above.
Things magazine..wheew sweet mother! They have put together a kick butt gallery of penguin book covers. Includes beautiful covers overseen by Jan Tschichold as well as the late typographer Hans Schmoller. My favorite years are between 1961-1972 when Italian art director Germano Facetti was in charge of design. Facetti enlisted Polish graphic designer Romek Marber to redesign the look of the Penguin series and the rest is history.
Side note: Watched Jules Dassin’s Brute force last night. Great Flick. I also recommend Riffifi which was directed by Dassin as well.
Alain Gree - l’electricitie c1969 vintage kids book Published by Casterman as part of the Cadet-Rama Collection
Woah! Pastel overload! Someone went crazy with the pink crayons. I love it though. Alain Gree’s illustrations are great. I can’t get enough of the bubble heads, mod clothes, pop colors and psychedelic scenery. In this book, Alain looks at electricity and how its used. It’s filled with teal buses, pink trolleys and mustard colored sewing machines.
On a related note, I have to give a birthday shout out to my friend Sean. Sean introduced me to Alain’s work so this post seemed fitting for today.
Hotel Astoria Lucerne was located in Luzern, Switzerland. As they claim in their promotional material, they were the “most modern Hotel of Central Switzerland”. After looking at this I brochure, I believe them. I’m not sure if the hotel still exists. I was able to find some information on a Hotel Astoria Lucerne designed by Herzog & De Meuron but, I’m not sure if bears any relation. I realize Herzog & De Meuron are modern day architects, but possibly they renovated the existing structure? Anyone have any info on this?
The recent excitement over Penguin covers has resulted in a renewed interest in paperback book cover design. I’m starting to see discussion groups popping up as well as new books being published on the subject. Several titles come immediately to mind; Seven Hundred Penguins and World Paperback design. In future posts I’ll discuss both of these books as well the as the book covers of dutch designer Dick Bruna. For now enjoy the pieces above.
We just started a Paul Rand fan group on Flickr. As of this writing we only have 12 members. Surely there are more then 12 people who appreciate one of the greatest graphic designers of all time! Its good wholesome fun! Bring your whole family. Show all the little ones why Mommy keeps stealing their copy of Sparkle and Spin.
Kieler Woche is a festival that takes place each year in Kiel, Germany. The festival includes nautical competitions as well as cultural events. Each year 5 designers are invited to submit 3 sketches for the event’s poster. The rules are simple. The text on the poster must be limited to only Kieler Woche and the year. The type for Kieler Woche must be set in Adrian Frutiger’s Univers. Lastly the the image must give equal weight to the sailing competition as to the cultural aspects of the festival.
Designers that have contributed to this event include: Wim Crouwel, Michael Engelmann, Celestino Piatti, Anton Stankowski, Waldemar Swierzy, Otto Treumann, Hans Schweiss, Jean Widmer, Ruedi Baur, Ben Bos, Siegfried Odermatt and Rosemarie Tissi. For those interested, I uploaded the Otto Treumann poster to the grain edit flickr account.
1961 Neste Oy Corporate annual report designed by Olli Stelander. Great use of limited color. This was when drilling for oil was hip, the indie rock (Get your shale on!) of the energy industries. This annual probably doubled as their tour poster.
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