Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba
This is one of a series of 25 “What?” greeting-cards we designed for Evelin Richter’s studio, What? Clay Art & Curios, two years ago (cards range from nonsensical and cheeky to puzzlingly contemplative). See a few more here.
(from Facebook—who knew?)
Today I chanced across a lovely collection of Vintage Advertising and Poster Art, here. Much, much, more along the lines of the thumbnails above at the site… enjoy.
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“She batted them pretty little eyes at you, and you fell for it
like an egg from a tall chicken!” —Charade, 1963
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ITC began publishing U&lc, The International Journal of Typographics in 1974. Herb Lubalin was the editorial and art director of the first issue and his seminal design set the stage for future issues of trendsetting and award-winning editorial creations.
The modest 24-page first issue declared, “U&lc will provide a panoramic window, a show case for the world of graphic arts – a clearing house for the international exchange of ideas and information.” Over the 26 years that the large format tabloid-size quarterly was published, U&lc gathered a following of thousands of avid readers (including me) that eagerly anticipated each issue—arguably, it became the most important typographic publication of its time.
The Fonts.com blog has scanned a complete set of the publication as high and low resolution files and will be making these scans available as down-loadable, searchable PDF files—you can access Volume 1 here, and the plan is to make another volume (a year’s worth of the publication) available every month.
Thanks to Miles Harrison for the link.
The woods of Eastern Manitoba
I returned from a trip to Asia two weeks ago to quite the nasty surprise—20 inches (50cm) of standing water in the lower level of my home. It seems that we had a massive dump of rain locally while I was away (5 inches in a mere three hours, I’m told) just when the floating switch that turns on the sump pump decided to give up the ghost—the groundwater would have come up fast, and then the efficient concrete heat-sink below grade prevented it from receding.
Needless to say, the past ten days have been a blur of activity (thanks for your help, brother Jim and Evelin, my love!) what with pumping out the house, carting out wet furnishings and belongings, replacing electrical systems (sewage pump and hot water tank), cutting out drywall, bleaching wood, and thorough cleaning… the job’s still far from done and renovations will stretch through much of the winter.
Among the flooded casualties and ruined nostalgia were portfolios of my old drawings… some of which I hadn’t seen since the 1970s. Though mostly stained, torn, wrinkled, warped, and discolored (black mount-board stains adjacent surfaces blue and indigo when in wet contact for long enough—who knew?) I’ve managed to dry and salvage some developmental sketches, a sampling of which appear above.
To be honest, I’d have to say that some of these old drawings have actually been improved by the flood damage…
Liverpool, England
Yesterday marked 70 years since the birth of John Lennon (1940-1980), a talented activist/misfit and empathetic non-conformist with a burning passion for peace and world unity. Nearly thirty years have passed since John was murdered on a New York street—yet his influence and “presence” continue to loom large…
Here are a few quotes by the former Beatle…
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Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.
If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.
All we are saying is give peace a chance.
If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that’s his problem. Love and peace are eternal.
Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.
Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?
We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.
My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.
A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.
Winnipeg, Canada
My 90-year-old father called me yesterday to tell me that he loved me—and that he had been thinking about and praying for me. I’m not sure I could describe the emotions this triggered… even if I tried.
Thanks, Dad.
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“You don’t have to deserve your mother’s love.
You have to deserve your father’s.
He’s more particular.”
—Robert Frost
Vienna, Austria
I was pleased to come across some great collage illustration today by Marek Haiduk, a talented German illustrator now living and working in Vienna. (Reminds me quite a bit of the work done by Cristiana Couceiro as well as Julien Pacaud… nicely done!)
