Making Type Dance

• Detail from a poster for a choreography workshop by Peter Biľak

I haven’t seen anything in quite a while that was so elegantly relying only on type to convey the message.

Posted by Simon on October 11th 2009 in Seen and Found with Comments (0)

Most Treasured Piece of Equipment

• Alan Fletcher’s reply to a question from design students,
taken from An Audience with Alan (2005), spread from Studio Culture

Posted by Simon on October 10th 2009 in Quotes with Comments (0)

On Treating Designers Well

• Adrian Shaughnessy in Studio Culture

Posted by Simon on September 29th 2009 in Quotes with Comments (0)

The Difference Between Solaris and 2001

• HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey

I’m a huge fan of both movies and their directors. They’re both visually and intellectually astounding, so I mention or reference them frequently.

Yet, there is a difference between the two I noticed recently: When talking about Solaris, I usually quote the dialogue rather than its cinematography. When talking about 2001, I “quote” the visuals — like the monolith, the bone to space ship jump cut and the waltzing space station (you probably get the picture, literally) — more often than its dialogue.

I wouldn’t say that 2001 has nothing to offer beyond its visuals, on the contrary. And I don’t think of Solaris as visually dull, quite the opposite. But for me, 2001 will always be a visual masterpiece first while I’ll always think of Solaris as a philosophical indulgence foremost. And I’m starting to wonder how these movies received their particular “branding.”

Posted by Simon on September 23rd 2009 in Thoughts with Comments (0)

On Understanding Science Fiction

• Gibarian in Solyaris/Solaris, still from the latter

One of my most favorite lines from any movie involving space ships.

Posted by Simon on September 14th 2009 in Quotes with Comments (1)

Stefan Kanchev, Applied Graphic Artist

• Some of my favorite SK (1915–2001) logos

I just recently discovered the Bulgarian graphic designer — or “applied graphic artist”, as it was called back then — SK and his work.

I have a particular fascination for his logos, which remind me a lot of Anton Stankowski’s marks (PDF). The sheer amount is amazing in itself. Looking closer, you probably won’t find a single logo that isn’t constructed with great precision or unrelated to its subject, form and content in perfect unison.

This site for SK is a great resource that will hopefully grow over time. I’d love to see more projects like this, which preserve the work of great designers.

Go visit the Stefan Kanchev archive.

Posted by Simon on August 31st 2009 in Seen and Found with Comments (0)

A Serious Trailer

• Still from the trailer

Apple recently debuted the trailer for the next film by the Coen Brothers, A Serious Man. And it’s definitely one of those rare gems. The rhythm and pacing are brilliant while it builds up to deliver the punchline. I’m so looking forward to the movie, which hopefully is just as good as this glimpse.

Go ahead, watch the trailer for A Serious Man.

We’re gonna be fine.

Posted by Simon on August 8th 2009 in Seen and Found with Comments (0)

“Guten Abend. Wir sind die Pet Shop Boys”

• Pet Shop Boys live in Germany

After 15 years of brief acquaintance, I decided it was time to meet in person.

Their show was one of the best gigs I’ve seen so far. They picked up the Gerhard Richter inspired cube elements from Farrow’s artwork for their latest album and leapt with it into the third dimension. Great entertainment.

But there’s another aspect of that evening that amazed me. What I really loved about the PSB is to which extent they don’t take themselves seriously at all while being very self-conscious about it. To me, this felt more authentic than most musicians who try to act all serious. Achieving this might be the crux of pop music.

Both PSB entered the stage with two dancers, all of them hiding their heads within a cube and played/sang the whole first song holding the microphone to its front side. There is no other band I can think of that could pull off something like they did without feeling ridiculous.

After the show was over, a single song was played as tribute to the recently passed away King of Pop: You Are Not Alone. Pure pop magic.

Posted by Simon on June 26th 2009 in Enjoying and Thoughts with Comments (0)

Art Catalogues from the Past

• Stedelijk by Wim Crouwel, 1971 | Akari by Josef Müller-Brockmann, 1975

Recently, these art catalogues found their way into my collection and made me very happy. It’s not just because they’re made by two of my favorite designers. There is so much thought and craft, you can feel it. In the case of the Stedelijk cover, literally—the letter-pressed black type is gorgeous.

I found the JMB at the design museum bookshop in Zürich and the WC at Counter-Print, which is a wonderful source for out of print gems.

Posted by Simon on June 21st 2009 in Seen and Found with Comments (0)

How to Explain Art Movements with Matches

• Excerpt from Swiss Graphic Design by Richard Hollis

Posted by Simon on May 16th 2009 in Quotes with Comments (0)