Silly Saturday: “Who was that Masked Man?”
Oh, Graphic Design Avenger, where are you when I need you? Thanks to Arena Creative for sharing this hilarious video on their blog.
California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way
“California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way” is on exhibit now through June 3, 2012 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This exhibit features more than 300 items including furniture, ceramics, metalwork, fashion and textiles, as well as industrial and graphic design. It is the first major show to examine the influence of California designers on mid-Twentieth century product design.
Christopher Hawthorne in his review of “California Design” writes:
“California modernism was a distinct style from its earliest years. It traded the social conscience of the Bauhaus for an approach to design that was not only ‘looser, warmer’ and often ‘ad hoc,’ as Kaplan puts it in the catalog, and more expressive of local character, but also entirely comfortable with the notion of salesmanship and the realities of commerce. Indeed, of the exhibition’s four thematic sections, the one on ‘Selling California Modern’ arguably makes up the heart of the show. The other sections are ‘Shaping,’ on the early years of California modernism; ‘Making,’ on materials and fabrication; and ‘Living,’ on housing, furnishings and the indoor-outdoor postwar aesthetic made possible by a benign climate.” Read the entire review.
More information on “California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way” on the LACMA site.
Read our past post on photographer Julius Schulman and California architecture.
Julius Shulman (1910–2009), photographer, Pierre Koenig, architect, Stahl House (Case Study House #22), Los Angeles, 1960 © J. Paul Getty Trust. Used with permission. Julius Shulman Photography Archive, Research Library, Getty Research Institute (2004.R.10).
Source: http://www.lacma.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/Exhibition_Main/image/Shulman.jpg
Saul Bass: Man with the Golden Titles
Editors note: The video posted here was compiled by Ian Albinson and posted on the blog, The Art of The Title in celebration of the release of the book “Saul Bass: A Life In Film & Design.”
While Saul Bass (1920-1996) was undoubtedly one of the most influential graphic designers of the Twentieth Century, he is best known for revolutionizing the discipline of film title design. Throughout Bass’s career he has worked with many prestigious directors: Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese.1
Born in the Bronx in 1920, Bass was a creative child and eventually went on to study at the Art Students League in New York and Brooklyn College.1 Bass worked as a freelance designer in New York City until 1946 when he moved to Los Angeles in search of greater artistic freedom.1
Bass began his film work in the mid-1950s, first working with Otto Preminger on Carmen Jones.2 In 1955, “Preminger again called on Bass to work on The Man With The Golden Arm, for which Bass created the famous jagged arm design, suggesting the jarring and disjointed existence of a drug addict… Bass, along with a small number of other 1950s designers such as Paul Rand and Erik Nitsche, operated against cluttered imagery and towards geometric designs using angular shapes and primary color schemes.”3
During this time Bass was responsible for designing titles for The Seven Year Itch, Around the World in 80 Days and Bonjour Tristesse. He also created titles for Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and North by Northwest. He partnered with Hitchcock again in 1960, providing not only the title design for Psycho; this time Hitchcock asked Bass to work on the film production as well, including Janet Leigh’s infamous shower scene.1
During “the 1960s, Bass’s genius extended to building corporate identities for some of the biggest companies in the USA.” 3 Among the many organizations that Bass developed logos for were AT&T, Quaker Oats, United Airlines, Minolta and Warner Communications. In 1968 Bass took his turn behind the camera to direct “a series of shorts culminating in 1968’s Oscar-winning Why Man Creates.”1
Bass’s film career enjoyed revitalization in the late 1980s and 1990s, when a new generation of film directors became interested in his work. Bass’s projects from this period include Big, Broadcast News, Goodfellas, Casino and The Age of Innocence.1
Bass died in 1996, but his influence can still be seen in current advertising and in movies and television programs such as American Movie Channel’s Mad Men.
References
- Design Museum, (n.d). Saul Bass, Graphic Designer (1920-1996). http://designmuseum.org/design/saul-bass
- IMDB, (2011). Saul Bass (1920-1996). http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000866/
- Nourmand, T. (2000). Saul Bass. Patek
Philippe, Number 9, Spring / Summer. http://www.saul-bass.com/
Born to be Wild
Thanks to the Animalarium for sharing these great animal-themed travel posters. To view more, visit the blog. More terrific posters by illustrator Harry Rogers can be found on Airways Art.
Leo Pecchioni. Costa Viola Poster (1960)
Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JU5_T-pXyaE/TcRcqgz3gfI/AAAAAAAAGTw/1S_jqS5B7Gg/s640/6+leo+pecchioni+1960+brandina.jpg
Harry Rodgers, Japan Poster, Qantas Airlines (circa 1950s).
Source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHRagDuYxGQ/TcRcunxyDgI/AAAAAAAAGUE/_B1wzlABJew/s640/10+harry+rogers+japan.jpg
The Evolution of Apple Ads
Web Designer Depot takes a fun look back at Apple Computer advertisements over the company’s history. According to the site:
“Apple first started advertising its products in the late 1970s.
A wide variety of ads were shown in the 80s, some of which served to convince consumers that they should purchase a computer, and, specifically, an Apple.
These ads were text-heavy and light on images, as were many computer and technology ads from that era.”
You can also see a few more ads on Attached. View the iconic Ridley Scott directed “1984” television ad here.
Apple Computer Advertisement, (circa 1977).
Source: http://3-www-accel-pss.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?container=accel&gadget=www.howtobearetronaut.com&debug=0&nocache=0&v=ub09v8cmq5bo21gd8bmjdkiep4&rooe=1&html_tag_context=img&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.howtobearetronaut.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F10%2F471-520x537.jpg
Silly Saturday: Patron Saints of Graphic Design
Slightly blasphemous but nonetheless amusing are W. Lynn Garrett’s Patron Saints of Graphic Design. As a survivor of both Catholic school and art school, I hope these “saints” are watching out for me.
Thanks to Jacob Cass of Just Creative Design for sharing.
W. Lynn Garrett, Saint Typo (2003).
Source: http://images4.cpcache.com/nocache/product/11119214v2147483647_150x150_Front.jpg
Silly Saturday: 50 Reasons NOT to Date a Graphic Designer
As if ten reasons weren’t enough and one would need fifty reasons not to date a graphic designer, we’re sharing the fifty reasons that were originally posted on A Bourbon for Silvia blog. Thank you to @klad2688 of Kevin Lee Allen Design for bringing this hilarious post to our attention.
Some of our favorite reasons NOT to date a graphic designer:
7. You’ll come last out of the movies because you have to see the full list of credits.
27. Do not know how to dress without consulting the Pantone book.
28. They hate Excel.
45. They see ordinary objects and laugh.
Read the entire list.
Microsoft, 2008. Wireframe from patent for mobile dating application.
Source: http://blog.dialaphone.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/miscrosoftdating1_29_02_08.jpg
A Brief Visual History of Vintage Typographic Scripts
Thank you to Maria Popova of Brain Pickings for this review of Steven Heller and Louise Fili’s latest book Scripts: Elegant Lettering from Design’s Golden Age . According to Ms. Popova their book is, “a treasure chest of typographic gems culled from advertising, street signage, type-specimen books, wedding invitations, restaurant menus and personal letters from the 19th to the mid-20th century. Ranging from the classic to the quirky, the 350 stunning images are unified by a common thread: All the typefaces featured are derived from handwriting or symbolic of the handwritten form, and the letters in each touch each other.” Read the entire review.
Source: http://www.brainpickings.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/scripts4.jpg
Designing Tomorrow: America’s World’s Fairs of the 1930s
In an article for Antiques and the Arts Online, Stephen May, independent scholar lecturer, and writer wrote:
“In the 1930s, amid the Great Depression and the rise of fascism in Europe, millions flocked to World’s Fairs in Chicago, San Diego, Dallas, Cleveland, San Francisco and New York City, some of which ran for two seasons. Visitors encountered American optimism and progress in many forms, offering visions of a modern, technological tomorrow unlike anything seen before. The fairs popularized modern design and promoted the concept of science and consumerism as salvations from the nation’s economic woes.”
The visions May refers to manifested themselves in architectural, industrial and graphic designs, some fanciful, others quite practical. Several notable designs are illustrated in the video here.
Read Stephen May’s article in its entirety.
The exhibition “Designing Tomorrow: America’s World’s Fairs Of The 1930s” is currently running through July 10, 2011 at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC.
Links to New York World’s Fair Videos
GM Futurama - 1939 World’s Fair - Part 1
77 Ideas for Remodeling Your Home with Fir Plywood
I’m not one of those folks who has great luck at garage sales, but my new online friend interior designer, Joshua Taylor does. One of his recent garage sale finds is a Douglas Fir Plywood booklet “77 Ideas for Remodeling Your Home with Fir Plywood.”
Douglas Fir Plywood Company Advertising Pamphlet, copyright 1957.
Source: http://www.javiergd.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/douglas-fir_9_sm.jpg
The booklet is wonderful because it not only gives advice on how the product was used during the period, but the graphic design and illustrations in the pamphlet make it an interesting mid-century advertising piece. You can see more from the booklet at Josh’s Blog.
Other examples of use of fir plywood.
Interior, Hadley and Peter Arnold, Bel Air, CA.
Source: http://media.dwell.com/images/230*306/canyon-house-living-room-portrait-interior.jpg
Frank Lloyd Wright, Bench from Unitarian Church, Shorewood Hills, WI (circa 1951)
Source: http://media.dwell.com/images/230*306/canyon-house-living-room-portrait-interior.jpg
