UPDATED on 4/19/09 with video of Paul Sahre's talk:
Paul Sahre: A Designer And His Problems from AIGA/NY on Vimeo.
The Paul Sahre talk, A Designer and His Problems (or Problmes) was really humorous, inspiring and overall not a bad way to spend a Friday evening. And, we all got lovely misspelled souvenirs to take home. For those who missed the talk, click through Sahre's Regrets archive on his site. I always appreciate when designers own up to their mistakes (or should I say opportunities to learn) and share their experiences.
Below are a few of my pretty awful iphone photos (sorry):
Hand painting signs for a car dealership was on of Sahre's first jobs
We all took home flags like the one seen on the bottom right
a letter by Silas Rhodes
Link: Office of Paul Sahre
I’ve always had a special attachment to paperback books and their design. (Maybe this is because I read paperbacks, while hardcovers often sit on my shelf to accumulate dust and value?) So I was very excited when I got my hands on an old AIGA catalogue for their Paperbacks U.S.A. exhibition. The book includes the book cover designs and credits for 154 winning entries. But as I wanted to take care of the condition, I never sat down to read the text in its entirety. Today I had a change of heart and read the “Comments from the Jury.” I am not well versed in the history of paperbacks in the late 50s/60s, and found the text a little hard to follow…. but it was a worthwhile read. I couldn’t find the text online, so I thought I’d share it for anyone interested. In my short exposure to the publishing world (under 5 years), I have recognized two trends: a decline in overall production values (re: amount of money spent on paper, binding cloth, special effects, etc.), and disconnect between the entire package of the book (i.e. little dialogue or none between cover designer and interiors designer). Of course I know that these points are not true to all publishing houses and niche design studios. But it was very interesting to read a short essay on some of these same points, written almost half a century ago. The book was designed by Philip Grushkin.
Below is an excerpt from AIGA Paperbacks: U.S.A. An Exhibition of Covers (September 1959 /April 1961).
Comments by the Jury
“Nowhere in the world is the art of the book jacket practiced with more expression and variety than in the United States, and in no area of publishing with more forcefulness than in the paperback field. During its comparatively young life of less than a quarter of a century, the soft cover field has sensibly utilized the earlier experiences of jackets of hardbound books, their evolution from a purely protective wrapper to an effective sales force. Submissions to the second “Paperbacks: U.S.A” exhibition demonstrate a continued growth and vitality in the area of cover design. Unfortunately, no comparative progress can be measured in the area of internal design. The indeed unhappy state of the inside of paperbacks is evidenced by the small number selected from the many hundreds submitted. The percentage of poorly, if-at-all designed books, badly printed on mediocre paper, with total disregard for proper margins, reasonable leading, and "not at all rarely" for plain legibility, is astonishingly high. The contrast between the physical properties of package and content, cover and book is alarming. Not more than five percent of all submissions show an aesthetic sympathy between inside and outside. The need for improvement cannot be stated loudly enough. It would seem the acceptance of the ultimate package would more than offset, by a constantly expanding market, the overall cost added to the final price. The price division of the “Call” introduced unrestricted judging for highest standards of design and production consistent with purpose and price. This quite naturally exposes the major portion of what bulges from book racks all over the country to competition with non-mass market design. This type of consideration seems to be the only one which can insure a show of substance with a sound opportunity to contribute to the improvement of graphic standards. If it were the intent to delineate markets in exhibitions of the AIGA, this show could be justifiably criticized. The prime concern, however, is with the broad judgment of graphic communication, of progress and achievement of graphics within a realistic framework regardless of heterogeneous markets. The AIGA “Call” discriminates not against mass market books but rather against the specious premise which would discourage progress in an area of demonstrated and vigorous advance. Indeed, if the graphic cliché be defined as repetitive, automatic solutions, then the higher priced paperbacks are at best equal if not greater offenders. Graphic significance, whether it deals with mass market or limited market, rests with the ability of the cover to communicate. For the mass market publishers to eschew design and design competition with limited market books would be to eliminate or delete the opportunity for prideful accomplishment.”
The Jury
Daniel F. Bradley, Vice President and Director, Harper & Brothers
George Salter, Free-lance Designer
Walter Brooks, Art Director, The Racine Press
The Committee
Alvin Eisenman, President, AIGA
Harry N. Abrams, Chairman of the Committee
Walter Brooks, Liaison Director
Joyce Morrow, Executive Directory
(photographs are of an AIGA catalog, for what I believe is the 2nd annual “Paperbacks: U.S.A” competition. The book includes 154 selections of paperback book cover designs (reproduced in black + white, but showcased in color on the cover, back and inside front and back covers). The book includes winning designs from Chermayeff & Geismar Associates, Seymour Chwast, Milton Glaser, Roy Kuhlman, Elaine Lustig, Paul Rand, George Salter, Ben Shahn, and about 100 designers that I never heard of (which I plan to research a little more on). If anyone has any supplemental information on this competition/exhibition, or knows in what year the AIGA decided to do away with a separate paperbacks exhibition....please comment.)
I received my 365: AIGA Year in Design 28 Annual today. The immediate + unanimous reaction amongst my coworkers was, “Wow, that got even smaller...” (the measurements are approx. 5" x 7"). The book includes the winners from the 365: AIGA Annual Design Competitions (2007) and the 50 Books/50 Covers Competitions.
At first I assumed AIGA was skimping out on the annual for one reason only: to try and phase out the printed annual altogether because of cost, and they are just taking small steps to get there. (their online archive is incredible...but on principle I wanted the printed book)
Anyway, I approached the smaller format and ultra light paper selection with a negative view.
As I was sitting on the train with this small book in hand that read like a magazine, I started to appreciate the convenience of the format. My old AIGA, Graphis and ADC Annuals are not very portable, and always provide extra stress when moving apartments.
I was starting to reconsider my standpoint...and then I was struck by the introduction by executive director, Richard Grefé.
Executive Director Richard Grefé’s introduction message was beautifully written. He writes,“Their contribution to communication occurs within the Frame of Vitruvius’ legendary canon: utilitas, firmitas et venustas— durability, convenience and delight. Design today must face challenges, drawing on the two most significant talents of the successful designer: creativity and empathy. The challenges include issues of not only durability and convenience but also sustainability, cultural sensitivity, truth, relevance...”
Next I read his “Note on Sustainability”
“Some designers have asked about the scale of this book, which for its first 20 years was a heavy coffee-table book. The current scale of the book provides photographs relatively the same scale AIGA has always published, in respect of the work. However, consistent with more recent principles of social responsibility, the designers have been asked to minimize the resources consumed and the energy used both in making the materials and in shipping the book.
For some, this is seen as a diminution of our celebration of great design. For us, it has been an effort to tell the same story in a more responsible way.”
I understand and now support the standpoint the AIGA is taking. It would’ve been nice to have nicely aligned spines on the shelf, but ever-changing formats are actually more interesting. And if we save some trees in the process———that’s great. But as I begin to support design sustainability initiatives (such as my new Sony Ereader at work), what does all of this predict for the future of print design?
5 years from now, will designers in the field of print design (especially book + editorial publishing) be looked down on by there peers because of the notion that print publishing is not as sustainable as other means of communication?
To share your thoughts on the annual, AIGA has set up an online survey.
credits for 365: AIGA Year in Design 28:
Concept/design direction by Rick Valicenti/ Thirst
Catalogue design by John Pobojewski/ Thirst
Link: AIGA Design Archives
AIGA has posted the full list of winning books for the annual 50 Books/50 Covers 2007 show, which is scheduled to open in New York, September 26th.
I was excited to see I didn't recognize quite a few entries on the list this year. Though between Gabriele Wilson, Rodrigo Corral, and Evan Gaffney, all with multiple wins, you already have about 20% of the winning book covers. An Inconvenient Truth made it to the list as a winning book entry which is interesting.
Congratulations Henry Sene Yee, for getting the The Taxonomy of Barnacles in the show (and Pete Garceau for the bird illustration used on the cover). The cover illustration of the sisters is by Pierre Mornet).
Pure + Applied designed the exhibtion.
Link: AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers 2007 list of winners (books published in 2006)
On April 10th, AIGA National Design Center in NY will have a member's opening for their new exhibit, Suupaa Pop: Package Design from Japan. The show will be open to the public April 12th to May 25th.
I expect this to be one of the most interesting shows to be held at AIGA NY in awhile.
Tags
advertisements advertising aiga/ny frere-jones amsterdam animation annual architecture art artist author avatar book book cover book covers book design books bookshelf branding brands brazil bridge british browse cards cartoons chairs character character design characters children children's chris ware clients clocks club collage collection color comics commercial competition concept conceptual covers cranbrook creative culture currency cute decoupage democracy design designer disney documentary drawing eames education elephant engineer environment ephemera ephemra erik nitsche event exhibit exhibition exhibitions fashion festival fiction film film video flash flea market flickr french furniture furniture design games george nelson good google graffiti graphic design graphic novel graphic novels green hand-drawn hand-made haruki murakami hello kitty holiday humor icon icons identity illustration illustrations industrial industrial design influences installation interactive interiors international internet interview japan japanese jazz jean carlu jewelry john gall jordan crane journal kerning language lecture legend lego letter lettering letterpress letters logo logos louise fili magazine magazines marian bantjes matchbox matchbox labels memoir michael bierut michel gondry miffy mike perry mirko illic moma motion motion graphics movie movies munich murakami music new york news nostalgia obama olle eksell olympics packaging painting paper cut paperback paperbacks patterns paul buckley paul rand phaidon photography pixar polaroid polaroids politics pop-up pop-ups portfolio poster poster design posters print prints product products promo propaganda public art publishing pulp reading record album record albums redesign reel research resources retail retro rug russian science sculpture self-promotion signage signs simpsons spanish stamps steven heller stop-motion student studio studio ghibli sustainability sustainable tdc technology television textile design textiles tokidoki tokyo toy toys trailer tv type directors typography ugly uppercase video video game video games vintage vinyl vitra wallpaper web website wolfsonian
About Me:
- Working on:
everything but what I should be doing. - Listening to:
pandora - Reading:
"Perfection" by Julie Metz - Watching:
old episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
