November 12th, 2008

Categories
Design
Design Collections

The Fine Art of 5 Music Designers

We all have favorite album covers. Sometimes, this affection leads us to look at the full range of design that composes a recording artist’s “brand.” Whenever I see interesting music design, I am always most interested in what that designer is doing when they aren’t working for a client. Almost all music designers have an expansive collection of fine art which is often just as interesting as what they are doing for bands. This is natural, because music graphics are a very equal blend of functional design with conceptual art.

In this gallery, it should be noted that some of these designers, such as Shepard Fairey and Idris Khan, are known primarily as artists, not graphic designers. But again, the line between the two in this industry is very fine.

Rob Sheridan, Nine Inch Nails
www.rob-sheridan.com


Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth


Headache


We Could Build a Better Robot, If We Only Had Arms

Eduardo Recife, Panic! at the Disco
www.misprintedtype.com
www.eduardorecife.com


Panic! at the Disco T-Shirt


The Truth


The Art of Losing


Lost Paradise


New Heights by Eduardo Recife

Shepard Fairey, Smashing Pumpkins
www.obeygiant.com


Smashing Pumpkins, Zeitgeist


Mujer Fatal Mural


No, I’m Vegetarian


Duality of Humanity


Big Brother City

Stanley Donwood, Radiohead
www.slowlydownward.com


In Rainbows


Amnesiac


United States


Residential Nemesis


Meteor Oligarchy


Glass House Disaster

Idris Khan, Editors


An End Has a Start


every…Page of the Holy Koran


every…Bernd and Hilla Becher Spherical Type Gasholders


every…William Turner Postcard from Tate Britain

Note:
Obviously, this is just scratching the surface of the vast pool of music designers out there creating great fine art. However, putting together a gallery like this takes a great deal of time. I plan on revisiting the subject again, and recommendations are welcome.

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November 5th, 2008

Categories
Culture

Voting Blue in a Red State: A Note on the Election for my Evangelical Friends and Family

The election is over and Obama won, much to the disappointment of half of my friends, family and contacts, which I will address in 3 (often overlapping) groups: Evangelicals, southern business owners and Socialism-haters. A good first step is to take a deep breath and remember that God is not a member of the Republican Party, and Barack Obama is not a member of the Socialist party. Let’s talk about Parties for a minute.

Are Some Political Parties More ‘Holy’ Than Others?
No. Political parties are inherently godless. Parties are not concerned with God or Faith, they are concerned with power, control, influence, branding and money. The Democrats and Republicans have monopolized power in the USA, and in the end all elections are a decision between one of these two Party’s candidates. Both groups suffer from corruption, and they both seek money and power above all else. Fortunately, good people can emerge from any system, regardless of how corrupted that system is. With the same logic, we find that no good person or candidate is perfectly good, or they themselves would be God: We will always disagree with a candidate on some issues.

But I’m a Business Owner, Is my Wealth Going to be Redistributed?
No. The rich will continue to be rich. The Government is not going to tax you into the middle class, so don’t sweat it. Despite Obama’s election and the Joe the Plumber rhetoric, at the end of the day you’re still going to live in your huge house, drive your sparkly German cars, and make more money in a month than the rest of us make in 5 years. The only thing that might push you back into the middle class (or bankruptcy) is our plunging market system. Our financial system has collapsed due in large part to unregulated greed and corruption, and remember that the Republicans (as well as many Democrats) supported deregulation up until the collapse.

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November 2nd, 2008

Categories
Culture
Design

Iconographic Propaganda in the 2008 Presidential Election

I don’t think anyone would argue that 2001-2008 was a rough patch in American politics and policy, regardless of whether you voted for George W. Bush. Because of this, the pendulum swings to the opposite of what Bush represents: Even 2008’s Republican candidate John McCain didn’t beat down the White House door to get Bush to campaign for him.

However, regardless of what these 8 years were like, something is amiss in the art/design community and their embrace of Barack Obama.

The above image, by Shepard Fairey, is the most ubiquitous. Fairey is the creator of Obey, a popular street art project/brand.

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October 30th, 2008

Categories
Design
Design Collections

A Collection of Great Horror Movie Posters

Just in time for Halloween, here is a collection of Horror Movie Posters that manage to elicit fear. Either that, or the illustration or typography is good. I show several here from the Saw series: the Saw franchise deserves extra attention because they make tons of different posters for each movie, and they’re always excellent. The images often seem like creepy fine-art photography, and pay little attention to depicting actors or the usual horror movie poster ”scary face.” The Jaws poster would be much better if they would’ve lost that horrible black border and used just the image overlayed with text. But the image is good and iconic enough to receive a place in this collection. Enjoy!

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October 21st, 2008

Categories
Design
Featured Typography

18th Century Typography & Illustration: Diver’s Proverbs by Nathan Bailey

Here is another gem from fromoldbooks.org, Nathan Bailey’s 1721 printing of Diver’s Proverbs. For those of you who aren’t well versed in 18th century culture, this is a collection of cliche’s and other moral or commen sense one-liners. The book lists them and explains their meanings and origins.

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October 15th, 2008

Categories
Design
Featured Typography

Schleich Toys: Impeccable Toys, Impeccable Graphics

Every time I see them at the store, Schleich’s (mouthful huh?) toys stop me, grab me, and suck me in. I stay until I’ve picked up and given a 360 degree rotation to each toy in the display. These aren’t necessarily ‘action figures,’ many of them don’t allow for movement. In a way, they are almost like plastic statues or mini-sculptures (if I keep thinking like this, I can go ahead and buy a ton of them for myself).

I was thrilled the other day while in my Schleich-trance at an amusement park to find a little slot on the display with copies of Schleich’s complete catalogue. I was immediately stricken: the design of the catalogue was just as subtle, detailed, and enticing as the design of the toys. In fact, I had never seen a toy catalogue quite like it. The ones I’m used to seeing are bright, oversaturated and bursting at the seams with round fonts, glowing colors, and dancing figures.

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