Methinks there’s a global movement afoot… and I love it.

(source)

There’s a stark, graphic beauty to be found in vintage matchbox labels… resulting from the bold design approach needed to accommodate a combination of coarse and absorbent substrates, low-resolution printing techniques, and a limited color palette (often muted, and often printed out of register). Shown above are a few samples of Eastern European designs from the 1950s and 1960s.

View hundreds more here.

(riding back in time)

There’s something about Vespa that takes me back… recognized as the epitome of Italian design, manufactured in the tens of millions, and distributed to almost every corner of the earth, this iconic, curvaceous little scooter from the 1940s has carved out a niche meme for itself that has survived six decades of the “information age” in style.

I first rode a Vespa (Italian for “wasp”) during driver training and then tested on it for my German motorcycle license in 1972. Nowadays, it’s relatively easy to find fine collections of vintage Vespa images online (calendars were popular for half a century), such as here.

Winnipeg, Canada

With tongue firmly planted in cheek, here’s a redux/re-issue of a short comparative guide to religions entitled An Excremental Exegesis that I put together back in September of 2009 (a copyfree 376K PDF version is available here for your enjoyment and free dissemination).

(Quote by George Orwell | illustration by the inimitable Mr. Fish)

New York City

My friend Luba Lukova’s exhibition Graphic Guts opens at La MaMa La Galleria (6 East 1st Street, between Bowery and 2nd Ave.) this Thursday, 16 February, from 6-8 pm.

Internationally renowned, Lukova is regarded as one of the most distinctive image makers working today. Poignant and unrelenting, her arresting images grab the viewer and don’t let go. In her third solo exhibition at La MaMa, she will present a new collection of social commentary and theater inspired art. Lukova’s work is included in the permanent collections of MoMA, New York; The Library of Congress, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris; and the World Bank.

Image above: Delta Blues, 2012, silk-screen, ©Luba Lukova

(quote by André Malraux | original image sources unknown)

Melbourne, Australia

I received an invitation from my friend Mimmo Cozzolino today… so I thought I’d pass this along.

For forty years, Mimmo has been hiding bits of his life in shoe boxes, folders, drawers, and filing cabinets. For the last four years (as part of an MFA at Monash University) he’s been looking at what he put away and choosing the fragments that say something about his life as a migrant and ‘New Australian,’ designer, photographer, and artist. This research has concluded with the creation of nine limited edition books, which Mimmo “wants to share with you.”

The books will be on show at the Monash Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture Masters Gallery D2.09 on Tue. 7, Wed. 8, and Thu. 9 February 2012, between 10am and 5pm. Mimmo will be in or not far from the gallery for the three days. At 5:15pm each day of the show he’ll be meeting friends at the Racecourse Hotel for a drink, and “you’re most welcome to join” him. The hotel is just across the road from the University at 895 Dandenong Rd., Malvern East, Melbourne… wish I could bend an elbow with you there, mate!

You can learn more about Mimmo Cozzolino here, and view photos of his on Flickr account here. I first crossed paths with Mimmo on a trip to Australia in 1999, but we later reconnected during the month I spent as designer in residence at the Monash University Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture in 2006. I drew heavily on his research and writing about early Australian trademarks in the feature article I wrote for Communication Arts magazine about graphic design in Australia back in 2007.

Brno, Czech Republic

“May” is a gorgeous illustrated alphabet by Czech artist Jakub Konvica using words from a poem of the same title by Karel Hynek Mácha. See more here.

“I created an illustrated alphabet in which every character illustrates words which appear in the poem. Afterwards, I cut the alphabet to pieces and rearranged them into new characters…”