One of my favorite illustrators, Jordan Crane, has designed a beautiful and elaborate package for Michael Chabon’s new book, “Maps and Legends.” This new McSweeney’s publication lives up to the standards of high production values and design aesthetics McSweeney’s Publishing is already known for. “Maps and Legends” is Michael Chabon’s first book of non-fiction, and it is broken down into 16 sections. (the interior design is quite nice also). Last year, Jordan Crane worked with Penguin Art Director Paul Buckley on the jacket for The Dead Father’s Club by Matt Haig (part of the Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions).
The black cloth (or paper that resembles it) wraps around the hardcover jacket with debossing and foil. Then there are three bellybands with Jordan Crane’s illustrations (has anyone seen a book with three different belly bands?).
On March 1st (one day before the official opening), I had the chance to see the new Color Chart exhibition at the MOMA. Though I sometimes have difficulty with full appreciation of color field paintings, all the work came together beautifully in the show. The contrast with the white and spacious gallery walls was striking, and the flow of color in the gallery was a thoughtful progression.
I was not able to photograph in the show, but below are photos from a floor installation that was separate from the gallery space. This piece is titled ZOBOP!, and is made by multi-colored vinyl tape. The artist is Jim Lambie.
But, the MOMA has launched a gorgeous, interactive website to coincide with the exhibition, where all works can be viewed in high quality (well, for the web). You can sort by medium, timeline, and artist. Some of the artists in the group show include Jim Dine, Marcel Duchamp, On Kawara, Yves Klein, Gerhard Richter, Edward Ruscha, Richard Serra, and Andy Warhol.
The show was organized by organized by Ann Temkin.
Link: MOMA’s Color Chart
In 2001, Scalo published Walker Evans: Polaroids. Until purchasing this book, I had never seen Polaroid photography by Walker Evans. With a Polaroid camera and Evans’ natural aesthetic eye, mundane objects, people and places become works of art.
(I’m going to update this later...)
In a recent AdAge article titled “Gondry’s Movie Captures DIY’s Impact on Professional Creativity,” Teressa Iezzi writes “New Line Cinema has harnessed the sweding premise in an online and offline campaign that does right by the film’s crafty spirit. Visitors to BeKindMovie.com, created by Sydney Australia’s Tequila, discover that the internet has been erased and they must help rebuild (swede) it.”
I find Tequila’s fragmented design for Michel Gondry’s “Be Kind Rewind,” refreshingly original. I’m so used to seeing websites with grids and order----I appreciate the playfulness. One of my favorite parts is the second section where the homepage design of Google is put back to order.
The creative team from Australia’s Tequila\Digital (division of WHYBIN/TBWA agency) included Russ Tucker, Tom Vukelja, and Lee Borowiak. Tequila Australia was also responsible for the design of the Golden Compass Movie site, and Jack Black’s Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny.
Link: Tequila\ Worldwide
I love when great design looks so simple.
Paul Rand’s cover for Six Nonlectures by e. e. cummings, is one of the favorites in my collection.
To hear more about Rand’s book jacket and cover designs, Steven Heller’s video/slideshow podcast “Paul Rand’s Book Jackets and Covers,” is not to be missed. (from the SVA MFA Design As Author: Paul Rand Lecture series)
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About Me:
- Working on:
everything but what I should be doing. - Listening to:
television - Reading:
a few too many things at once: The Host by Stephanie Meyer, The End of America by Naomi Wolf, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami - Watching:
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
