The Victoria & Albert Museum in London invited nineteen architects to submit proposals for structures that examine notions of refuge and retreat for their 1:1 exhibition. From these nineteen concept submissions, seven were selected for construction at full-scale, one of them being this massive book tower (almost 6,000 books!) by Rintala Eggertsson Architects. Pretty amazing, wish I could see the show!
On exhibition at the V & A until August 30th.
Pretty great autochromes from around the world in 1909, see more here.
I know it’s officially baseball season and all, but the NFL draft begins today, and that’s all it takes to get me excited about the upcoming football season. I have been trying to get my hands on a copy of The Illustrated History of the American Football Uniform for quite awhile now, but it appears to be decades out-of-print and very hard to find. Here are a few favorite images I have saved.
Decatur Staleys (aka: da Bears!), 1922 & Green Bay Packers, 1921
New York Giants, 1934 & Detroit Lions, 1940
Chicago Bears, 1936 & Los Angeles Rams, 1948
Duluth Eskimos 1926 & Cleveland Browns, 1950
It’s here! I’m really excited to get Christoph Neiman’s I Lego N.Y. book, which has all the cute images that made the web-rounds a few months back.
OK, I just found the perfect gift.. for anyone. Taro Gomi is an illustrator whose work I have loved since before I even knew I wanted to be an illustrator. Probably best known for his book, Everyone Poops (hehe), he also has a series of coloring/doodle/activity books that are fun for kids and adults alike. Some pages are blank, some are a collaborative effort, and others have art directions. My favorites include:
Draw babies. Make them as cute as you can.
Make up a recipe using rice. Draw the finished product.
Oh, no! It’s a wolf! Make sure he doesn’t eat the pigs!
The passengers are throwing confetti.
Get them HERE.
Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas just reported that a rare copy of Detective Comics No. 27, graded an “8″ on a scale of 10, from 1939 (where “The Batman” first appeared) just sold for a record $1,075,500. Holy millions, Batman!
I’ve really been meaning to go see this at the Museum of Arts and Design. It showcases artists who are all inspired by paper, and use it in many ways as their medium. Slash runs through April 4th, 2010.
Ariana Boussard-Reifel
Chris Kenny
Mia Pearlman
Nava Lubelski
(detail below)
Sometimes I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such amazingly talented friends in so many different fields. It’s truly one of the benefits to going to art school.
Jen Heuer is a graphic designer who does book covers, collages, photography and typography. She’s like a really cute, pint-sized design monster.
Lenny Bacich passed away yesterday. His impact on generations of designers is huge; he was kind, strange and had a serious set of eyes on him. For four or five decades he was the wizard behind the curtain of the Pratt Institute Industrial Design program, the cultivator of talent, and the guardian of decades of three dimensional design principles which he has instilled in thousands of students. He impacted my time at Pratt, and my life, in an indelible fashion. Always youthful, inquisitive and insightful, he had a way of finding what your strengths and weaknesses were, and helped hone them into something better. He believed in his students, he delighted in life, and his life and his work were intrinsically intertwined- he loved teaching. I am thankful that he went in style; that he had a class today that he missed- he is and will be missed.
I don’t think there are many former students of Lenny who don’t ever think to themselves “what would Lenny say?” while they are making an aesthetic decision. Thousands of beautiful objects look the way they do because of design decisions made while thinking “what would Lenny say?”
First class with Lenny, Fall 1999
February. 4, 2010
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Lenny preached constantly that the key to making things visually interesting is found in the two simple words “Contrast and Variety. He also told us that those two words didn’t just apply to art and design, but applied to our lives as well. He told us that he lived his life by those two words… “contrast and variety”. He surrounded himself with a great variety of people with contrasting personalities and backgrounds. He sought out a variety of different experiences and contrasting opinions. He truly believed that contrast and variety wasn’t just the key to making the world visually interesting, but that those two words are also the key to leading a life full of variety, interest and excitement. I have never forgot that final lecture of my freshman year, and continue to strive to live by those same two words.
When I came to Pratt my intended major was Graphic Design. I had Lenny for 3D Design my freshman year. I excelled in his class and one day he asked what I was planning to major in. I said “Graphic Design”. He said “No you’re not”. This banter went on for weeks until the day came when I had to declare my major and register for sophomore year classes. I saw him right before I went for my academic advisement appointment and he asked again, “What are you going to major in?” As usual, I replied… “Graphic Design”. He laughed and walked away. I was really intending on declaring graphic design as my major but when the academic advisor asked me I blurted out “Industrial Design”. I almost couldn’t believe it, but yes, that is what I said. I have never regretted that decision in part because I was able to spend 3 years taking Lenny’s classes at Pratt, and I wouldn’t be were I am today without that, being one of the most valuable parts of my education.
First class with Lenny, Fall 1998
February. 4, 2010
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Lenny’s Lookout for great PDF downloads
Lenny was critical to the formation of this book and I highly recommend it. Elements of Design: Rowena Reed Kostellow and the Structure of Visual Relationships
Stephen and I both felt like Lenny’s design children, as I am sure many of you did… Larry I know you did,
More of Lenny’s children…
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one of my favorite stories of all time, so you can imagine my excitement when I found out that Parisian department store, Printemps, had asked a few designers to design a piece based on it for their window displays in February.
The first piece I’ve seen so far has been Nicholas Kirkwood, who was inspired by the White Rabbit. Kinda over-the-top, but it makes me really excited to see what everyone else comes up with.
(click image to view up close)
I read my first Nancy Drew book, The Secret of the Old Clock, one summer when I was about 10. It was one of only two vintage copies my mom had, and I was immediately hooked. After that, I went to the library where I ended up checking out and reading the first 25 volumes in the series, just during that one summer.
For the last couple of years I have been trying to collect the whole series (the vintage hard covers, preferable the ones illustrated by Rudy Nappi). I usually try to pick up one up whenever I hit a antique/thrift store, but it’s getting to the point where I need to refer to my list of ones I don’t have.
I love these hardcover, cloth-bound classics put out by Penguin. The only problem is that they released just 8 of them in the US and I need the whole set of 20!
I saw this gigantic Limited Edition, 6-vol. Playboy set at the Taschen book store while down at Art Basel Miami and thought it was pretty fantastic.
It presents an illustrated autobiography of Hugh Hefner and chronicles the first 25 years of Playboy running from 1953-1979. I really love all the design and illustration that was used in the old issues!
-k
click below to see more Playboy!
