Pretty / Disturbing

Florence Broadhurst

Her Secret & Extraordinary Lives
by Helen O’Neill

Who knew that  a book about a wallpaper designer could be so full of deception and intrigue! Florence Broadhurst was a woman who changed her identity, nationality and profession to suit her personal goals and desires. From a career as a songstress in Shanghai, to a French couturier named Madame Pellier, to a British socialite/painter depicting the Australian landscape, Florence went from one glorious creative career to the next. (At least, she made her incarnations seem glorious… she had no qualms about telling lies about her credentials, associations and past.)

The book attempts to unravel the truth of Florence's true nature. Interspersed throughout are pretty, kitchy, outlandish and modern wallpaper patterns that ultimately Broadhurst is most famous for. Interviews with past associates reveal that it is likely Florence never actually drew any of her designs (she was going quite blind while at the helm of her company!) and that most are the creative work of the young women whom she employed and left uncredited.

Although Broadhurst lived to be in her seventies (she'd proclaim that she was twenty years younger), she was brutally murdered in her wallpaper showroom in 1977. Her murder remains unsolved, although clues link Australia's notorious Granny serial killer as likely suspect.

The book itself is beautifully designed with a lush red cloth cover with opaque white silkscreened florals. Pretty and disturbing - a rare thing in the realm of design books.

Available at UPPERCASE $32.95

A new Beyond

It took over a year since the last one, but there is indeed a new issue of Beyond available in UPPERCASE or through the magazine's website. Beyond is a non-profit magazine based in Calgary and it was one of the very first design projects I had when I was fresh out of college (thanks to Aaron Leighton with whom I co-designed the first issues). In the past decade, the magazine content has changed considerably — along with my design sensibilities and ability. This issue sports a new masthead and typographic style to reflect the maturing content. Preview Issue 15's content at the Beyond site.

The cover image is by photographer Karin Bubas. 

Patterns in Design, Art and Architecture

In 1908, Adolf Loos condemned decor as a 'sure sign of the degeneration of society".  In his essay, 'Ornament and Crime,' he explained how if one give in to his desire for ornamentation it is obvious he has no regard for the greater good of society.  Much like someone who would cover themselves in tattoos, Loos proposed, the ornamentation of architecture and utility objects is a bold display of 'childish behavior, sexual recklessness and dissipated hedonism'.

Oh how things have changed.

Pattern is exploding back onto the scene in architecture, art and design, and is constantly being reinvented and rediscovered by such designers as Heinrich Weid, Francis Soler and Olaf Nicolai.  This beautiful text exhibits contemporary pattern use in textiles, landscaping, industrial design, architecture, interior design, and art while recounting the history and impact of this fundamental design tool.

Chocolat

UPPERCASE is included in the "Hot Chocolate" section of this new Canadian home design and lifestyle magazine. It's great to be featured in a national magazine (with my photo of our bookshelves included in the table of content graphics as well), but it is particularly fun to be included in the first issue of a newly launched magazine.

First issues of magazines typically have more editorial content and have had significant development and production time. From a design perspective, they are interesting to analyze. The first issue must grab the attention of its target audience (and advertisers) and present the publication's personality with confidence and a distinct style.

Since the folks at Chocolat were kind enough to contact me a few months ago about inclusion in this issue, I won'd be too hard on their design team. However, my main recommendation would be to narrow down the selection of typefaces. There are simply too many, and none of them are particularly refined faces nor do they relate visually to the rather charming masthead.

As a fan of the American homestyle magazine, Domino, I can see that Chocolat is borrowing some of the visual language that Domino has well established in the past few years. I can also see the influence of Martha Stewart's latest magazine, Blueprint, particularly in the masthead and choice of decorative typefaces. Although I see the value in referencing existing magazines and therefore borrowing on their success and subject recognition, it would have been nice for a Canadian magazine to explore some new visual territory.

The trend in magazines is the lifestyle shopping magazine. Many magazines are basically a glorified catalogue of shopping websites, or a paper version of a design style blog (Design Sponge). Domino does a nice job of balancing editorial with the web links and shopping info so that the reader doesn't feel like they're reading a gigantic illustrated shopping list. For me, there is a tangible reason to buy Domino or Blueprint: both the magazines offer a diversion into well-designed world of typography, photo styling, colour and content. For less than the price of a movie ticket, I can be happily entertained for a few hours or more. Other than the personally memorable page on UPPERCASE, Chocolat didn't leave an lasting impression on me. I was left wondering when the new issue of Domino comes out... how nice it will be to curl up on the couch with a new issue!

Strips, Toons, and Bluesies: Essays in Comics and Culture

As a comic book enthusiast, it's refreshing to come across a book that takes the medium seriously.  Published by Princeton Architectural Press, Strips, Toons, and Bluesies appreciates the significance of comics; the role they have played historically and their impact on popular visual culture.

Four essays explore issues such as the relationship between comics and animation -how the emergence of comic strips like Felix the Cat and Little Nemo influenced early cartooning; the 'Underground' comic movement of the 1960s and 70s which pushed boundries with the highly sexual 'Tijuana Diaries' and other counter-culture publications; Jaime Hernandez's 'Locas' stories published in Love and Rockets during the early to mid-eighties which explored the depiction of marginalized subcultures in Southern California; and a look at the portrayal of African American characters during the 1960s, namely by Robert Crumb, Mad Magazine, and Stan Lee's character 'Black Panther'.

Compiled by D.B. Dowd, professor of art at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, and Todd Hignite, founding editor of Comic Art magazine and author of In the Studio: Visits with Contemporary Cartoonists, this compilation begins to explore the significance of an often-overlooked cultural document.

 Available at UPPERCASE $27.95 

Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album

"Does the Catholic Church pour its wine into mouldy earthenware pots? I think not."

                                                                                                                        - co-founder Tony Wilson

As one of Britain's most influential record labels in the late 20th Century, Factory Records brought high design into the mainstream and introduced cutting-edge innovation to the music world.  Between 1978 and 1992, the label launched the careers of Joy Division, New Order and the Happy Mondays (among others), opened the legendary Hacienda club in Manchester and developed an emblematic system of assigning inventory numbers to every single piece it ever created.

Founded by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, two genuinely passionate music enthusiasts, and later taking on burgeoning designer Peter Saville, Factory Records' unique and chaotic story has been explored again and again over the years, in documentaries, articles, even in the 2002 film Twenty-Four Hour Party People.

Author Matthew Robertson compiles every 'FAC' item in this book; album covers, stationary, poster art, even legal documents in order to exhibit the label's non-conformist approach to design and how it set them apart from their contemporaries, and gave rise to some of the most original album sleeves the era.

Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album is published by  Thames & Hudson Ltd., London. 2006. Available @ UPPERCASE $44

Exploring the large gray area in between..

Fresh Dialogue Six

New Voices in Graphic Design:

Friendly Fire 

 
"Friendly Fire," published by Princeton Architectural Press, is the sixth book in the Fresh Dialogue series; a convening of emerging designers in an evening of candid discourse, humor and controversy. Moderated by fellow designer James Victore, Crye Associates and 'the 62' explore issues of ethical responsibilty and explain how their design work has contributed to societal progress.

Crye Associates focus their efforts on engineering and industrial design; work ranging from basic household products to elaborate military items. Recent projects include redesigning camouflage patterns for the U.S. military, and creating an exoskeleton for the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. The Crye studio deals constantly with ethics and political bureaucracy in their mission to better protect those that are protecting the U.S.  The 62 create projects that involve sustainability, social activism and community initiatives. By organizing events such as bicycle refurbishing for kids in the Bronx, creating memorials for unmarked slave graves, and collaborative anti-war poster desing, the 62 hope to inspire a vision of environmental, societal and political progress.

The AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) lost their sponsor and received tons of flack for putting these two studios together on stage, but the outcome is an understanding of their very distinct contributions, and their obvious passion for their craft. As a young design student, I found this book especially inspiring, especially in seeing that both studios are self-started, fueled by a strong desire to affect societal progess, be it municipally or globally. I think it's important that designers remember that they have a responsibility to use their talent not only to inform but also to improve the world around them.

Friendly Fire is available at UPPERCASE

In our library for little ones

Woof-Woof

 

On top of all the unique titles for grown-ups, UPPERCASE also carries books for all the little people in your life!  A recent addition to our library of books for children is "Baby Flip-a-face: Woof Woof," published by Blue Apple Books.  This nine-page soft-edged picture book by SAMi explores 9 different animals, helping little ones associate the animal sounds with the images.  Flip the pages over and rounded die-cuts change the animals from mouse to pig, lamb to bird, all in graphically appealing black, white and red illustrations.  Clear, simple pictures along with the large rounded die-cuts make this cute book a hands-on experience for toddlers, who will have fun sounding out all the animal noises and transforming the little faces.

 

Another great book by Ellen Lupton

Design It Yourself

 
Last year, design educator Ellen Lupton's book "Thinking with Type" was published by Princeton Architectural Press. It is a fantastic introduction to the world of typography: well-written, informative and entertaining, and well-designed. It is must-have book in any design student's (or typophile's) library. (Available at UPPERCASE.) This year, Lupton has edited a design handbook entitled "DIY Design it Yourself"($26.85  at UPPERCASE.) A collaboration with her students at the Maryland Institute College of Art, this book is one page of inspiration after another. From blogs, zines, books, cds, invitations, t-shirts, posters... this lavishly photographed and illustrated guide offers ideas and tips on everything you might want to create or promote. Even if you're an experienced designer, the exuberance of ideas will definitely light some creative fires!

Lupton, along with her sister Julia, is working on her next book. "Design Your Life" will apply "ideas from design theory and practice to some of the basic problems of daily living, from organizing a household and thinking creatively in the workplace to achieving a relaxed and satisfying erotic life." Sounds ambitious... I look forward to participating in their online component and adding their next book to my design library.

Helpful book for guiding your career

How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul

 
Through industry magazines, awards annuals and opulent monographs, graphic designers love showing their work off to other designers. “Look what I’ve done!” they say. We look at this work and admire its surface beauty  with a pinge of envy. “I want to produce work like that,” we say.

But how did they get there? And is that really the ultimate goal for the design profession, to be recognized by other designers? In critiques of the graphic design profession, it has been stated many times that the ultimate goal is to produce good work for good clients, not to proliferate your studio’s fame in industry publications. Although it is good creative motivation to strive to achieve quality work that is celebrated by your peers, graphic design is in service of a client’s message first and foremost. How do you function day-to-day within this demanding service industry and still maintain creative passion? How do you balance your artistic motivations with practical matters such as finding a job, dealing with clients and managing a business?

Adrian Shaughnessy’s new book “How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul”, from Princetown Architectural Press, adeptly presents advice about design as a career. Shaughnessy is a self-taught designer who co-founded the successful London design firm Intro. Throughout the book, the author’s tone is inviting and encouraging as he offers practical information while illustrating his points with his own experiences and interviews with noted figures such as Neville Brody, John Warwicker, Angela Lorenz and Rudy VanderLans. Shaughnessy emphasizes that the successful designer is one who is a thoughtful, caring and culturally aware.

This is an invaluable book for students, recent grads and those trying to define their career path. Importantly, the author begins by outlining the creative, philosophical and practical attributes needed by comtemporary designers. The reader is then guided through interviews and portfolio presentation, finding jobs, being a freelancer and setting up a creative studio as well as dealing with clients, finding new work and nurturing the creative process. This book is unique in that it shares insight into motivations and interpersonal dynamics. Ego, confidence, and personality (not to mention talent) play a big part in the success or failure of a designer.

In the foreword, Stefan Sagmeister writes, “I hope this book helps young designers find their way. I don’t think that the ‘designers don’t read’ bullshit is true. A good book will find good readers.” Unfortunately, my main critique of the book is its design. New designers are perhaps the most susceptible to the allure of design picture books — beautiful reproductions by famous designers dangle like carrots before them. (“My style’s going to be a little like Sagmeister, a little like Cahan & Associates...”) For the most part, the illustrations of work reproduced in the margin appear grey and rather uninteresting. These examples are easily available in full colour glory in other publications, so to show them here in poor quality could be a factor against purchasing the book for those looking for some quick inspiration. The book is designed using a sort of “default” style (given the theme of keeping your soul, I found this generic aesthetic an odd choice) which uses a single sans serif family throughout, and devices such as slashes, underlines, footnotes and varying paragraph widths as visual interest. In such designs, attention to detail is vital because the sparceness requires that all elements stand up to scrutiny. Unfortunately, the paragraphs suffer from awkward justification and word spacing which I found fairly distracting, until the author’s voice superceded the printed words.

Shaughnessy’s friendly writing and sound advice make “How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul” an excellent companion to a fledgling design career.

$26.95 paperback, available in the store. 

Emigre Exits (and the influence of design magazines on my career)

"Everything must come to an end, and after publishing Emigre magazine for over 21 years we’re both relieved and just a little bit sad to announce that #69 will be our final issue. This milestone issue features a behind-the-scenes look at the history of Emigre magazine, while our contributors and colleagues bid us farewell. It was quite an experience." —Rudy VanderLans & Zuzana Licko

Emigre, the magazine and font foundry, has been a significant influence in my design education. I studied visual communications at the Alberta College of Art & Design from 1992-95, so Emigre had already been around for decade when I first became aware of them. It was in the monograph published on occasion of their 10th anniversary where I discovered the origins of digital typography and design.

I remember a most significant purchase made at SWIPE books while on a visit to Toronto. I bought my first issue of Emigre and a copy of the British publication Eye. On my student budget, this was a thoughtul, weighty purchase. And it was the start of what can only be described as a design magazine addiction!

Actually, Communication Arts was the very first magazine to influence my career — in fact, it lead me to my career. I first discovered the magazine in the Saskatoon Public Library when I was in highschool. Until feasting my eyes on its lush glossy pages, I had not realized that my love of images and letters could translate into a real profession. My parents generously paid for the expensive subscription as a Christmas present and very soon afterwards, I made up my mind to become a graphic designer.

Communication Arts has long been my measure for the ultimate in top-quality design, so it was a huge thrill and milestone that my Leaflet project was included in the 2004 Design Annual (and featured on the cover design!). I am equally pleased that they have selected the UPPERCASE line of typographic greeting cards for this year's Annual.

Reading and writing pay off

We want your opinion

Have you recently purchased a book at UPPERCASE that you'd like to review? Was the book an inspiration to your creative process or were you disappointed with some aspect of the book? Let us know what you think by emailing your review to info @ uppercasegallery.ca. If we publish your review on the website, we'll send you a coupon for $10 off your next book purchase. We also gladly accept recommendations on what books or publishers you'd like UPPERCASE to carry.

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Book Design

 

By Its Cover

By Ned Drew and Paul Sternberger

"We all know we're not supposed to judge books by their covers, but the truth is that we do just that nearly every time we walk into a bookstore... It's really not something we should be ashamed about, for it reinforces something we sincerely believe: design matters."

A few weeks ago, I attended the AIGA conference in Boston. The authors of By Its Cover were presenters in one of the focus sessions entitled "Debunking Nostalgia: The Truth about Graphic Design History". The moderator, Véronique Vienne, made a joke about how most designers don't read graphic design books — they just look at the pictures. I admit that I "read" design books for the visuals. When By Its Cover arrived to the store just before I left for Boston, I looked at each image in the book and then put in on the shelf. Now that I have heard the authors speak about their process behind compiling the book cover designs and their research, I look forward to reading By Its Cover and judging it not only on the beautiful images and great book design, but on the quality of the written content as well.

Karlssonwilker inc.

tellmewhy:

The First 24 Months of a New York Design Company

Martin Venezky

It is beautiful... then gone