Karlie Kloss by Gabriele Revere, LIFE Magazine, 2011.

Found via fuckyeahmagazinecover

‘This collection of stories, instructions, memories and scrumptious ‘must try’ recipes makes a fascinating, entertaining, and revealing read’

Available this month from Baseline, What’s cooking? Famous designers on food.

‘It didn’t last long; true-blue Shadow fans (and, apparently, the owners of The Shadow trademark) didn’t care for Helfer and Baker’s smart-ass approach, especially when they killed the character off and resurrected him as a killer cyborg. It’s not surprising that happened to also be their final issue.’ –Robot 6

The Shadow (1987-89) was my favorite comic book series.

It was a sequel to a Howard Chaykin-penned 1986 update to the classic radio program, pulp novel character The Shadow, ‘What evil lurks in the hearts of men  . . .  The Shadow knows!’

Chaykin had brought the character into the 1980s, with uzis instead of .45s, ‘for mature readers’ emblazoned on the cover. And unlike the rest of his crew (Margo Lane and others had aged), Shadow alter-ego Lamont Cranston was still a rather youngish, dapper guy – ready to take on the New York of the Miami Vice era.

A monthly series followed – and after a few artist changes, writer Andy Helfer and artist Kyle Baker made it something else entirely.

Helfer and Baker’s take on The Shadow became a crazy whirlwind tour of Sopranos-like mobsters, wickedly dark humor, extreme violence, unexpected plot twists and in issue 13, they killed off the main character. Then his sons lost his body and with every successive chapter, one could not predict what would happen next.

digging a bit
In 1989, I found myself at a comic book convention (supposedly) talking to Andy Helfer about the cancellation of his title. But Helfer couldn’t tell me much. Turned out the guy with the ‘Andy Helfer’ name badge was actually his assistant. ‘Andy doesn’t like to fly’ I was told.

He spoke about Helfer’s approach – and how he had little respect for purist interpretations of classics and decided to take The Shadow to a whole different place – darker, funnier and just plain strange. I was hooked and saddened to see it vanish. Because, frankly, comic books at that time were becoming rather boring. Same old shit, different month.

A two issue Justice Inc. kept the magic going a little bit longer but that was it. The Shadow held my interest for three years – and when it ended, I stopped buying comic books.

Not dramatically, but slowly. Just couldn’t find much to hold interest. The Shadow was a hard act to follow. Only thing I’ve really enjoyed as much since has been Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Strikes Again (2001-2), which really leaves purists sitting on the curb.

finding the shadow
There is no trade paperback of this odd series. But the 1980s Shadow can be found cheap with a little digging – here’s a list; best to start with Chaykin’s version tho, then work one’s way thru Sienkiewicz to the Helfer/Baker issues. And keep in mind there is no ending (final issue pictured below), a cliffhanger never to be completed.

ever since: the team
‘It’s funny, everybody thought Conde Nast shut us down, but it was just that we weren’t making any money. When you work on a licensed book, the owner of the license gets half the royalty check. Andy and I, on one of the later issues, ended up splitting a $20 royalty check, and we decided it was time to go.’ –Kyle Baker

After the series ended, writer Andy Helfer became an editor at DC Comics where he headed up the Paradox Press imprint. Paradox specialized in alternative titles, Road to Perdition and A History of Violence among them.

Kyle Baker – who went on to pen Why I Hate Saturn – has been bouncing around the comicsverse ever since. Some of his wares include updates of Captain America and Plastic Man; most of his work contains brilliant social criticism: His Special Forces was called by the NY Times, ‘the harshest, most serrated satire of the Iraq War.’

Baker’s website can be found here, blog here.

And here’s a great review of the Helfer/Baker Shadow – otherwise, more highlights below.

‘Billionaire Sergei Rodionov shows off nude fantasy wife to world  . . .  if it succeeds, perhaps other Russian oligarchs will follow suit and such books could become the hot new status symbol.’

The concept of what is a ‘material possession’ and a ‘trophy wife’ has taken a new direction with Taschen-imprinted The Book of Olga, which showcases Rodionov wife ‘Olga’ in over a hundred erotic photos shot by French photographer Bettina Rheims.

I think when Paris Hilton became famous for being  . . .  well, whatever it is she is, that was just the tip.

Rest of the iceberg is showing. More here.

Found via Sexy Hot Beauty

Neo2 cover. Photography by Paco Peregrin.

Plus, every issue of Neo2 comes with a free font. Details here.

Blog here.

‘the letters and punctuation marks were carved into lino plates and digitized to portray the bipolar nature of the protagonist by using lettering with a harsh edge.’

Juergen Schlotter’s interpretation of Kafka’s Ein Hungerkünstler (A Starving Artist). Details here.

Found via Communication Arts

‘On the 4th we celebrate what it means to be American: Consuming more than we need to and making things explode.’ –Andy Borowitz

Pictured, Alvin Lustig’s 1946 cover design for Franz Kafka’s Amerika.

Image found via Scott Lindberg

‘inspiring homes with heart’

Magazines are great sources for inspiration. Not as permanent as a logo – or brand – periodicals have a timer on them. After a few months, they’re gone.

A good newsstand is a treasure trove of the experimental, conservative, international, concise, good, bad, ugly. I drop by whatever I can find – even the Barney Noble chain if one is not nearby – just for a shot in the arm.

Earlier this year I spotted Chandler 42 being used in an Australian interiors pub. Alexendria-based Inside Out is using my typewriter type as a nice accent throughout their pages.

Here’s a few snaps (taken in my new home office – sleepy dog in background).

Svend Smital’s Super Grotesk used on the cover of Brendan I. Koerner’s Now The Hell Will Start: One Soldier’s Flight from the Greatest Manhunt of World War II.

Found via The Book Cover Archive

Jo Soares’ Twelve Fingers: Biography of an Anarchist. Cover designed by Evan Gaffney (with Futura doing the type honors).

Found via The Book Cover Archive

‘The ‘ella’ on Barbarella was probably suggested by Feiffer’s Passionella, a brilliant satire on the Cinderella theme and much of American culture.’

In 1966, French scifi comic Barbarella was published in a the US in a translated edition.

Minimal color, racy stories. Robot sex.

The original, a serialized comic strip, was created in 1962 by Jean-Claude Forest for V magazine.

Pictured, images from the American edition – which designwise is rather Lichtenstein in its visual approach (see bottom).

Here’s The San Francisco Chronicle’s take on the book – from July 17, 1966 – the clipped review was found in my thrift-store-grabbed copy.

By 1968, Roger Vadim, Paco Rabanne and Jane Fonda made Barbarella into ‘something else.’ And up next, (allegedly) Anne Hathaway.

More original Barbarella here.

A collection of Czechoslovakian book covers. More over at 50 Watts.

Found via Mirko Humbert

Cover design by El Lissitzky for Roget Ginzburger’s Frankreich (France) 1929.

From Neues Bauen in der Welt, a book series on modern architecture published in Vienna.

Below, recent release by Brooklyn-based Dream Diary, El Lissitzky.

Dream Diary: El Lissitzky

Rare Jan Tschichold book design, featuring his use of an early prototype of the Alta Calfornia font.

Cloth cover for Das lustige Buch (The Funny Book), Verlag der Bücherkreis GmbH, Berlin, 1931.

‘[Spy] was cruel, brilliant, beautifully written and perfectly designed, and feared by all.’ –Dave Eggers

SPY Magazine. The New York monthly. The most influential magazine of its time. The Rosetta Stone of modern periodical publishing. Really.

SPY took celebrities and the super rich to task for being, well, celebrities and super rich. Donald Trump was a frequent target. And the best part: SPY was caustically funny and incredibly smart in the way it did what it did.

crafting spy’s ‘look’
The design itself is a work of art – from the drop caps in the letters column to the details in their Naked City section (above).

A strong house style filled pages – set forth by Stephen Doyle and innovated by SPY’s first art directors Alexander Isley (1987-88) and B.W. Honeycutt (1988-91).

From the tall, thin modern SPY masthead and typography to clip art icons, rebus-like floating celebrity heads and their use of Dwiggin’s newsy Metro typeface – the complexity of each issue was tempered by some great visual organizational skills.

Each SPY was loaded with content – TONS of text – it took some doing just to read each issue.

At the time SPY really hit, I was working for a newspaper. And I remember having the longest conversation about SPY’s design and content with a co-worker. We couldn’t figure out how they manage to pull it off. The detail, the text wraps, the photo licensing. At the time, digital production software not quite yet the standard, SPY was insane for the visual games they were playing.

relive spy
And as of this week, Google is hosting scanned copies of SPY. Half are live, the rest are on the way. Go here.

more spy: the book
SPY: The Funny Years was published in 2006. Written by George Kalogerakis, edited by founding editors Graydon Carter and Kurt Andersen – designed by Alexander Isley Inc. – this hardcover history goes behind the scenes, finally explains how it was done.

How a little operation went out, fucked with the status quo, never got sued for it (tho there is a footnote on this), invented internet journalism and a bunch of other things. Snag your copy here. Dang cheap!

Pictured up top, now former California governor in his early days from SPY’s March 1992 ‘Power Bimbos’ article on celebrity nudity (which, of course, predates the advent of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian)

And at bottom, my SPY stash in its very own genuine unbleached, corrugated fiberboard box with strategically-placed, handdrawn customized lettering

‘Published posthumously in a limited edition of 250, features 142 sets of roman and italic typefaces, a wide selection of borders, ornaments, symbols, and flowers, as well as Greek, Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, Phoenician, Armenian, Coptic and Tibetan alphabets.’

My birthday was last week and to my surprise, my wife got her hands on Taschen’s limited edition reprint of Giambattista Bodoni’s masterwork, his Manuale Tipografico (1818).

Bodoni had almost unlimited funding and resources at his disposal – so the details in his large body of types (he just kept going) is beyond what is seen in most revivals of his work. ITC Bodoni comes damn close, but a lot of Bodoni’s original designs end up on the cutting room floor.

My Jeanne types (named for my wife) have roots in Bodoni – and I used some digital resources to research his Manuale. But it is great to now actually have a print edition in my collection – cause I’m not done with tinkering.

‘The third issue of Avant-Garde, May 1968, ran an attention-grabbing feature entitled ‘Revaluation of the Dollar: 19 Artists Design a New One-Dollar Bill.”

I have this issue of Avant Garde. Managed to acquire a stack of them at a rummage sale. Just thumbing thru, it’s great to see the original stuff that inspired so much 1970s revivalism this past decade.

A look at the money article here.

Found via the Eye magazine blog

‘Either they all use the same newspaper, or all these shows take place on the same exact day  . . .  which kind of makes my head hurt.’

Click to view larger/jump.

Found via Hoefler+Frere-Jones, The High Definite

From 2004: Magazine cover design by Amondó Szegi, co-founder of the Fontana Font Foundry.

‘Photographer Alexx Henry and his team show you how a magazine might look in the not-so-distant future with the October cover and spread for Outside Magazine.’

Kinda like this, but different.

Found via Jake Favour

‘Included are insights into designing covers, formatting pages, selecting photos, using content, choosing a color palette, and picking type for newspapers, magazines, books, and websites’

Another great read. One of my favorites, Mario Garcia’s Pure Design is simple, to the point. A great overview of how to design for publications – from someone’s who been doing it a helluva long time. My copy is maimed by highlighter pen, my own notes and scribbles.

And it’s out of print. But one can easily peruse the free online reader version at issuu.

Follow Garcia’s blog here.

New foodie mag. Nifty design. Go here.

‘Morteza Momayez (1936-2005) was a Tehran-based graphic designer of posters, covers, logos, and books.’ -Steven Heller

More here. And here.

Found via Reza Abedini

‘As the name suggests, we’re going to write, photograph, illustrate, design, edit, and ship a magazine in two days.’

the process
48 Hour Magazine Issue Zero begins May 7, 2010. The editors will unveil a theme and contributors (which can be you!) will then have 24 hours to produce and submit work. The editors will then get it all together in the next 24. The final product will be a website and magazine – completed within 48 hours.

And they promise, ‘It will be insane. Better yet, it might even work.’

More details here. Twitter here.

48 Hour Magazine is the brain child of Heather Powazek Champ, Dylan Fareed, Mathew Honan, Alexis Madrigal, Derek Powazek and Sarah Rich.

Found via Oded Ezer

The work of Zurich-based Rollo Press.

Found via Urban Outfitters Blog

‘Pursued by the relentless minions of the cruel despot Baron Karza, the freedom-fighting crew of the Endeavor breach the Space Wall and emerge on a strange and dangerous new world – a planet known as Earth.’

In 1979, a comic book series quietly appeared at the local drug store. At the time, comic book stores were not common – and if one wanted each issue, they had to hunt it down.

The Micronauts was a sleeper. And contained story and artwork years ahead of what was going on in mainstream comics at the time.

Micronauts commercial, 1978

its all about toys
The Micronauts comics were based on a series of toys (above). Just like Transformers; so much so, both toy lines actually sprung from the same source.

The comic book tie in tells the story behind the toys – since there actually wasn’t a story. The toys just sort of hit the market and background was left up to childrens’ imaginations.

golden art
Back in the late 1970s – inspired by his son’s Micronaut action figures – comic book author Bill Mantlo persuaded Marvel Comics to set up a license with the Mego toy company.

With Mantlo creating and writing the series, Michael Golden fleshed out the visuals. Golden was the artist for the first twelve issues – which were the best of the bunch.

Golden also invented his own Indian-like Microverse alphabet – and a “G” he used to use as a signature may have inspired my cap G in Jeanne Moderno (I don’t know where my old issues are, so I haven’t been able to find them to check. But it was similar as I remember it).

The Micronauts were cinematic in scope, at one point rumors circulated (on the letters page) that there might be a movie. I remember there was speculation that Charlton Heston should play the lead.

In all, the series did crossovers with other Marvel comics (such as the X-Men) – and ended its oft retooled run with just under 90 issues in the can. It had a longer time of it than the toys themselves. The Mego corporation went under in 1982.

After, The Micronauts comics sort of vanished from the radar, as if it never existed. No collected editions, no trade paperbacks, no Michael Bay masterpieces (tho there is a rumor that J.J. Abrams is interested in making a film). Few things pop up here and there, but not much.

more to read
[1]    Here’s a great recap of issue 2 – the very first issue that hooked me. As the author notes, I remember that I got my copy at Mills Park Drug Store, San Bruno, CA. The visuals from page one onward one cannot forget.

[2]    Here’s an overview of the toys [part one] and a summary [part two and part three] of the initial story – that played out over the first eleven issues.

[3]    Plus, if you’re a collector, here’s a list of the comics themselves.

[4]    Here’s a tribute to Micronauts author Bill Mantlo, who was one of the most prolific writers in the business.

[5]    And here’s an online download of Mantlo – A Life in Comics – the $3.50 cost helps support Mantlo’s current medical care.

Overall, these toys came to life in ways one would not have expected.

Images found via linked sites; including Innerspace Online and The Micronauts Comics Page

‘They are traveling the country  . . .  join us for the day as they work on producing a unique keepsake with the Museum’s presses and materials – and then have a talk’

This Saturday, April 10, Santa Cruz-based book artists Peter and Donna Thomas will be at the International Printing Museum in Carson, CA. Details here.

More about the Thomases here.

Peter and Donna Thomas’ Ditty of First Desire (2007), a ‘cootie-catcher’ shaped book – with paintings of nudes – showcasing the poem by Federico Garcia Lorca

New socially-generated NEWSPAPEP. Go HEPE. Cool design.

‘It’s all in the details. Our end slug was pulled right from the logo itself, the dot on the ‘i’ to be exact. This was a small but proud moment for us. I’m sure you saw the connection right away  . . .  right?’

Check out this great, detailed article about the recent NYT Magazine redesign at the Society of Publication Designers Blog.

Vintage covers by Alvin Lustig and more. Available thru Out of Print.

‘A chance to re-design any classic book is always exciting. Classics usually allow for a more personal interpretation, since most people are already vaguely familiar with the premise of the books, and I didn’t have to compete with one well-known cover, as I might have with a more recent book.’

The work of Jim Tierney. More book jacket details here.

Would make Doc Brown proud.

Found via ColourOfAir and Jessica Hische

From LIFE Magazine, March 1969.

Found via OBJECT <> PLASTIC

The Complex of All of These, written by Abigail Uhteg, was letterpress printed at the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY.

Music by Ratatat.

I always forget to get a calendar. And it’s already the 30th.

Here’s one: The 2010 42-line Rare Book Calendar features images from Hogarth (1753), William Blake (1793), Charles Le Brun (1806), an 1805 edition of Shakespeare and more. Info and ordering details here.

‘Gradually, I realized that the books I had put off reading for so long all had covers that screamed: ‘Pulp me! Pulp me!”

Joe Queenan looks at Huckleberry Finn, Elijah Wood (pictured, with Courtney B. Vance), Gatsby, Doctor Faustus, Death of a Salesman – and how a BAD cover design can ruin a perfectly good book.

NYT essay here.

What to do about an ugly cover: 1. Brown bag it; 2. Reverse it; 3. Try spandex; 4. Use house paint; 5. Duct tape it; 6. Tear it off

exit strategy, digital
The two editions of Aaron Winters’ Exit Strategy art annual are now available to peruse online at Issuu. Featuring art by Jessie LeDoux, Attaboy, Steak Mtn, Jay Howell, John Stuart Berger, Skinner and many, many more.

For Exit Strategy #1 (2005), go here.
For Exit Strategy #2 (2006), go here, registration required ’cause of naughty bits.

exit strategy, print
Some print editions are still available. ES #2 features a 10″ vinyl LP; bands include Sincabeza, PETS, Butch vs Femme, GOLAB and The Tangles (also available as a download).

Go here for more info.

So we just sat thru a really sucky decade. And there’s just a few weeks left.

And even though it was predicted, oh, almost 15 years ago; the End of Print may finally be here. Next year.

Watch the video.

The stiff hands may be caused by some atomic power issue thingie. I hear they’re working on it.

‘The Magazine for Graffiti Writers, Street Lovers & Other things’

The latest issue is now available for free download. 102 pages. Go here.

Every time I teach a publication design course, I assign a famous designer (or other acclaimed individual) as a biographical research subject. As part of the class, students have to do their own research, write their own text and design their own book.

Back in the 1980s, Charles S. Anderson pioneered ‘bonehead’ design, which involved a midwestern attitude and lots of clip art. Art Institute of California Sacramento graphic design student Trixy Riggan ran with it, developing the handmade biographical tome pictured.

On the side, Trixy runs a clothing company, Fabulously Butch. I still have to snag one of her shirts. I’m told there would be irony in me wearing one.

‘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.’ -Steven Heller, Eye Magazine

Alvin Lustig (1915-55) didn’t limit himself to the field of graphic design – as a ‘generalist’ he designed just about everything he could leave his mark on. Including a helicopter.

Check out the incredible collection of book jackets designed by Lustig here. More here.

And for even more, visit the Alvin Lustig Archive.

Found via Twitter.com/Sandoer

When Star Trek first became a global sensation, Toru Kanamori landed a gig illustrating Japanese translations of the original series stories. Wouldn’t it be great to reprint a bunch of these in an art book with text from the Blish novels?

You know, I’d love to design something like that. Somebody call me.

For more about the work of Toru Kanamori, jump here.

Mitchell Hooks was one of the pioneers of the ‘literal’ illustration style employed on pulp paperback covers.

Overview here. Flickr collection here.

And
UK Vintage has a whole photostream of paperback covers in the same genre here. Even more here. And gads, here.

Found via Drawn!

GOOD is for people who give a damn – read more below.

but first   . . .
OPEN studio’s Scott Stowell headed up the original design team for GOOD. And I have to write about Scott because he’s been a major influence on my work. Scott = GOOD influence.

I’ve been a fan of Scott’s work for years, ever since I saw a talk he gave at one of the 1990s ATypI conferences. His views/advice on design and teaching – for me – has been invaluable.

Scott Stowell, photo via Sappi

Scott was art director of COLORS magazine and worked for Tibor Kalman at M&Co. (über-designer Stefan Sagmeister has similar pedigree). Kalman was dedicated to social responsibility in design – alone, his ideas are world changing.

Since, Scott opened OPEN – a studio where signs all over New York City would advertise his business for him. OPEN developed the nifty Bravo logo, they’ve been involved in numerous causes with progressive clients and they have oodles of cool, smart stuff under their belt. Just browse thru the portfolio; print, motion and more.

Scott’s approach is about simplicity. Simple, direct communication. It’s refreshing in a world gone mad.

It was mind-opening when in 2006, ADAC brought him to Sacramento for both a talk and workshop (as president, I had made sure he was on our mailing list, and each year angled to bring him here) – and I wish I had more time before shuffling him to the airport to actually get him the In-N-Out Burger he wanted. In-N-Out = (unfortunately) long lines.

(We were also camera-less, so it was impossible to take some cool shots of the old signage in Sacramento Terminal B – one of the few airport buildings still using Univers for wayfinding)
 

going good
Scott had just started on GOOD magazine (above) – OPEN established the design and produced the first 15 issues. If you haven’t been exposed yet (GOOD is everywhere these days) – is a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward.

GOOD is into world changing and has some serious backers. The design approach harkens back to one of my favs, SPY magazine.

And content is king – the Transparency features are graphically nummy. Here’s an incredible archive at Flickr.

Plus  . . .  100% of your subscription dollar goes to support a social action project thru GlobalGiving.com. Really. Details here.

but, it’s more than just a magazine
Today, GOOD has grown beyond the confines of print and has become rather excellent at using social media and blogs, as well as setting up local social events. GOOD even had a short-lived newsprint edition – point-of-purchase – at Starbucks.

The current GOOD design team is headed up by creative director Casey Caplowe – who is taking the style set forth by OPEN in new directions; including The GOOD 100 (above) which features a 3D take on the style established by Scott and Co. It’s always fun to see design evolve.

So if you haven’t gotten GOOD yet, START here.

Because you give a damn. Or you wouldn’t have read this far.

One thing I know about journalists: They’re slow to change. Once dug in.

Here’s an opinion piece about where newspapers could be headed. It involves The Times of London’s ePaper, which is a nifty idea.

The online market – which, c’mon, papers still haven’t figured out – is tappable. Just have to reframe the conversation. It’ll be interesting to see where all of this goes.

Found via Japan_Blogs on Twitter

At one point in my life, I was going to be a journalist. So folly along  . . . .

I love history, so every one of my fonts falls into some historical category (or categories, if you look at Jeanne Moderno).

Alta California is my artist’s response to Susan Kare’s early Macintosh font, San Francisco. And it was a tricky build, as I was literally going thru book after book after book of old types – then messing them up, then messing them up more; and redrawing the edges until I had what I wanted.

(Please note, when it comes to ‘grunge typography’ – I don’t trust anything automatic; I’ve always gone in and tweaked the edges until I have something that looks – printed. Printed poorly, but printed.)

Alta California font specimen

moniker
So when it came to naming the font, I selected a newspaper I knew from college: San Francisco’s Alta California. The Alta was published c.1849-1891.

For my very last research paper as an undergrad, I wrote a detailed report on the daily community findings of San Francisco – from one month in 1863.

And since I love to obsess, I actually skimmed almost all editions of The Alta California from that month – via microfilm (which did give me quite the headache; one has to really experience old microfilm equipment to understand why). I waded thru the bias, the hype and the oft butchered writeups to build my report. 19th century San Francisco was quite the bawdy town.

the dude
Found out years later that Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, wrote for the Alta California – and his book The Innocents Abroad or, The New Pilgrims’ Progress (1869) was culled together from letters sent to and originally published in the Alta.

The Innocents Abroad Vol. I Harper’s Library Edition (1903), from my own collection

archive
And today, there’s some great stuff online. But it’s buried a bit. Check out the newspaper archive here (just do a search for Alta California).

And, of course, aside from my Alta font, you can also snag some Alta merch here.

So that’s why it’s called that, where it came from and I’m sticking to my story. Like any good journalist. Like glue.

Merch from the Alta California Vintage line by mehallo

Original Alta California newspaper images found via CDNC

It’s not often one gets to meet one of their heroes.

When I was in high school, a bunch of kids thought it would be funny to sign me up for every magazine subscription they could find – by sending in a large pile of subscription cards. My parents were not amused; but it was Rolling Stone that I kept. I fell in love with the hand-inked masthead – and decided that that was what I wanted to do.

Hand-ink mastheads.

Not a big field. And who knew people actually did this? I wanted to do it, and early attempts (for my high school paper) netted not so wonderful results. Who knew that someday I’d actually be drawing fonts as a consequence.

Rolling Stone masthead by Jim Parkinson

Around five years ago, I finally met the guy behind the logotype – lettering artist Jim Parkinson. And the conversations have been great – as long as I don’t actually call him hero, he’s cool. And (who knew?) we both like fresh anchovies. Which I’ve found can gross out anyone who is eating near us.

using jim’s fonts
I used Jim Parkinson’s Sutro fonts on promotional materials for the 38th season of the Sacramento Art Directors and Artists Club. I was the newly appointed president, so I was determined to use fonts from the best of the best and (of course) Jim was on my list.

Some of the collateral included an events calendar (above) where I digitally ‘channeled’ Morris Fuller Benton’s original ATF Cheltenham calendar cuts using the Sutro family as well as an experimental t-shirt design (below) listing all speakers and events planned for the season:

The pattern was created by setting Sutro Shaded Initials with negative leading in two almost identical overlapping text boxes. Each box was in a different color – one aligned justified, the other centered.

type at the fair
The following summer, I had the honor of giving a talk on California-themed typography – with Jim – at an unusual venue, The State Fair. I gave an historic overview of 19th century typography and Jim showcased how he adapts from these types for contemporary projects.

It was an odd thing to do (flyer below), but really fun. Spent the week before pouring thru specimen books to make a slide showing ATF Jenson, the forerunner of both the Rolling Stone logotype and Jim’s Parkinson fonts.

a california guy
Most of Jim’s fonts are named for California locations and he keeps busy designing magazine logotypes and painting. Drop by his website here.


Jim Parkinson

And for a great overview of his body of work, here’s a MyFonts interview with Jim. Or if you want to see some interesting posts about a Chilean soap opera going hog wild with the Rolling Stone logo, go here (I just had to include that one).

And if you read magazines – even just staring at them while in line at the store – you’ve seen his work. It is everywhere, which is the coolest part. Can’t pass a magazine rack without thinking of Jim.


Jim’s archive, via Stewf on Flickr

More typographic details via The Font Feed here.

Check out Joe Kral’s Flickr collection of some of Penguin (and Pelican)’s best cover designs.

And  . . .  check out Phil Baine’s Penguin by Design: A Cover Story 1935-2005.

Found via LifeClever

When it comes to design, UK-based Penguin Books produces some beautiful specimens. And here’s a write up by Ace Jet 170 on the Penguin Collectors Society and their wonderful Penguin by Illustrators monograph.

‘as a source for creativity in the human brain’
Yesterday, I thumbed thru Chronicle Books’ trade edition of Johnny Carrera’s Pictorial Webster’s: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities. The video (above) details the inspiration for the project, historical cataloging, Linotype setting, as well as the design and hand binding of the fine press editions.

More detailed details are posted here. Also, check out the very Victorian Wall Cards and Stamp Set.

Carrera is the proprietor of Quercus Press, based in Waltham, Massachusetts.