A nice collection of posters and tickets from the Expo’70 in Osaka Japan. I’ve been looking for proper scans of these posters forever but I settled on these corrected versions from this flickr set. Anybody know where you can score some copies of these? I found this one on eBay, but not really the style I’m looking for. Nothing I love more than 70’s phtography blow-up with bold Helvetica over top. It’s always a little sad to see stuff like this and realize how rare it is; it’s a shame there isn’t some sort of high res vintage poster repository.
On a side note, Canada: you always have great design instincts but I have to say, you really blew it on this one. Winking Caucasian Indian? Also, what’s with the attempted Geddy Lee up in the corner? Couldn’t you get the actual guy to be in your poster? But I guess not all 70’s Canadian bassists were in Rush. You saved it with the type lockup on the bottom though.
A new edition of the frustratingly infrequent +81 Voyage is out now. Billed as the ‘Magazine Creation and Bookstore Excursion’ issue, it rounds up some of the most exciting and innovative magazines out there today. From Newwork to Monocle, there are example spreads, designer interviews, and just about everything else a magazine lover would hope for. As stated in the introduction, the goal of the issue is to prove that, even in this day and age, the appeal of magazines is alive and well. As a die hard magazine consumer, you don’t have to tell me that, but if you need convincing, there is plenty of terrific and inspirational design to be found in this most recent issue. Above are a few of the magazines profiled.
Our aim with this event is not to yearn for the magazines of yesteryear but rather to look upon those magazines extant in the world today, and in doing so, understand the culture and tastes of our time, reaffirm our awareness of paper’s function, and confirm the intelligence and ingenuity of humanity as seen in magazines.
The above are some examples of the flags of the various cities, towns and villages of Japan. After looking at these, the “logo” for my town is very depressing. If I had one of these instead, flying over the place I lived, I would feel infinitely cooler and forever at ease. I am amazed at 1) how many different logos there are and 2) how many of them are absolutely incredible.
The original post on Pink Tentacle has many more on display. You can also see the full (and massive) list on Wikipedia.
Immediately after I posted a few Max Huber posters earlier this week, I walked into Kinokuniya and saw that the latest issue of Idea was devoted to the man himself. A fantastic coincidence and even more fuel for my Max Huber inspired creative fire. The issue is huge (about 200 pages) and is filled with some pretty incredible stuff. A lot of work I had never seen before; I put a few of my favorites above (the Table of Contents as well). The issue costs quite a bit for a magazine ($50 eek!) but Idea is certainly of much greater quality than most magazines. Well worth a perusal if you find yourself in a Japanese bookstore any time soon.
Loworks is a design company based in Japan. I’ve been on a wacky illustration kick recently, and it’s always fun to see what Loworks is up to. Their old site is one of my all time favorite website designs. It may not be the best design from an accessibility standpoint, but you can’t beat the creativity and absolute craziness at work. I wish it was still active, always made me happy. Computer Arts did a small feature on Loworks if you are interested.
I love simple things like this; you really can’t beat one color on a kraft envelope. Found it at a friend’s house and it reminded me that I really need to get some ISO50 envelopes made up, or at least a stamp.
I had a chance to travel to Japan last June and I came back with many new sources of inspiration. I spent a lot of time digging through little design shops and actually had to leave some clothes behind to fit all of the great books I found. One of my favorite finds was +81, an interview driven magazine about graphic design, fashion, photography, cities, etc. They present a ton of work in each issue and it can be a great source of visual inspiration when you are looking for something stylistically very different than what you see in most American design publications. With articles presented in both Japanese and English, you see a lot of very creative layouts and unique type treatments. They experiment quite a bit, and with each issue focusing on a different theme, you never really know what to expect. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a change.
You can usually find it at Japanese language bookshops here in the States (I know Kinokuniya carries it in SF), or you can check out their website for subscription information. (Currently about 40% of their readership is outside of Japan)
