Qubik Design is a graphic studio based in Leeds UK. I like everything about these pieces except the color. The layout and type compositions I find very interesting; personally I just don’t prefer the chosen hues of green, blue or gold. Otherwise I think this work is fantastic. Especially that first one! I also like how clean and organized their site is. I’m starting to appreciate this much more now as a writer; recently I’ve come upon a number of sites that are so poorly laid out I give up researching, even if the work is amazing.
I met Christopher and Edward from The Silent Giants at a show a while back where they gave me this beautiful The National poster along with a couple even beautiful-er hand-screened business cards. Being firmly planted in the digital world, I’m always fascinated by artists going the traditional route. The Giants are all about screen printing and their work is oozing with hands-on goodness. I especially like their packaging work.
Check out their portfolio and blog for more (the blog is highly recommended for some nice process shots)
These are some original mock-ups of Cuban posters; painted on boards and then sent to the printers to have the shapes cut out and separated into colors for silk screening. It’s amazing to see how much the printing industry has changed. It seems that back then the printer had a more of a role in the composition itself, defining the edges and choosing the colors. I can’t imagine dropping off a painting at a modern print shop and expecting them to deliver a silkscreened masterpiece based on it.
These images are taken from a 1970’s era Chinese poster series entitled “Modernization Cannot Be Achieved Without Energy” (click for full versions). I love this illustration style; particularly the technical diagrams. I’m not sure if you can still score any copies, but they were for sale at The East is Red.
This set of North Korean propaganda posters was originally posted on Reddit today but the images were soon removed. I’ve mirrored them here and you can also find alternate mirrors along with translations at the original Reddit article. Pretty incredible these images made it to the outside world and the goat one seems so friendly. Here are the translations in case the original goes down:
· “When provoking a war of aggression, we will hit back, beginning with the US!”
· “Though the dog barks, the procession moves on!”
· “Death to US imperialists, our sworn enemy!”
· “Prevention and more prevention. Let’s fully establish a veterinary system for the prevention of epidemics!”
· “Let’s drive the US imperialists out and reunite the fatherland!”
· “Let’s extensively raise goats in all families!”
· “The US is truly an Axis of Evil.”
· “When we say we will, we will. We do not talk idly!”
· “Wicked Man.”
· “Do not forget the US imperialist wolves!”
The Auteurs has a post on their picks for the top movie posters of the decade. Considering that the vast majority of modern movie posters fall short of the standards set in heyday of film, this must have been a difficult list to assemble and a boring task to complete. Nevertheless, they have managed to dig up a few gems. Good to see The Bank Job in there — always a favorite — but I was pleasantly surprised by Funny Games, hadn’t seen that one.
Determined to find out the history behind these beautiful posters, Frederico Duarte did some extensive research and learned how “Pan Am’s short-lived Helvetica dream” came to be. He chronicles this process over on the Eye Blog and in an article for Eye Magazine. These posters are incredible and their story is well worth the endless emails and phone calls he had to make to determine their origin.
Pan Am is no longer. But the story of its redesign, as told by the people behind it, proves personal connections, proximity and chance are all makers of (design) history. How many other great design stories are left untold?
Fredrico’s post reads like a design mystery and I lamented how little of this research I do, or even curiosity I possess when I come across work that interests me. For example: I wake up, see something amazing on FFFFOUND, then I bookmark it. End of story. If it’s especially awesome maybe I blog about it, but I rarely dive deep into whatever visual universe I’ve uncovered. I usually just absorb it quickly, then move on with a slightly augmented sense of visual understanding. This is why I both love and hate sites like Dropular or FFFFOUND. While they allow me to quickly consume lots of high quality design, they remove context and discourage the exploration that would otherwise go along with finding out about a new artist. (Of course there are many benefits to sites like these, but the removal of the ‘story’ that goes along with the work is one of the primary downsides.)
As Fredrico mentions in his article, the research was done for an SVA class where the rule is “No Google”. I thought this was interesting because I tend to use Google and “research” interchangeably, especially when thinking about design. To be stripped of my only research tool! Of course this makes sense these days, as most of us young designers primarily exist on the web anyway (which is a scary thought if you think about it…if the hardrives go, so do I). What the story hammered home for me was the importance and overwhelming benefits of a design education. What allowed Fredrico to take this much time plunging into the depths of design history (and what allowed me to spend so much time with Playboy) was the freedom and time provided by the design education environment. While you could always try and inspire yourself to do this on your own, it’s hard to beat limitless boundaries coupled with external motivation.
I’m doing a solo exhibition at Function 13 Gallery in Toronto next Friday where I’ll be showing some new work and large format stuff. I’m still working on the main poster for the event so I’ll be posting that on Monday probably. For now, here’s all the details:
