The CR Taxi


Our very own Mumbai taxi. Watch an interview with the designers here

For any design-aware visitor, Mumbai’s yellow and black taxis, which constitute a major part of the city’s horrendous traffic, are a wondrous sight. The majority are richly decorated with a litany of the driver’s favourite things: like a MySpace page on wheels. The sacred and profane rub along on rear windscreens, wings and bumpers as visual references to gods mingle with film titles, western brand logos and complex geometric patterns. At night, these vivid forms dazzle under street lights and car headlamps. For our April issue, we commissioned our own Mumbai taxi

April is our type and typography issue, so we wanted to do something special for the cover. I had visited Mumbai last year and, while there, met with Grandmother India. Partner Kurnal Rawat talked, among other things, about the Typocity project that he and colleagues have set up to document Mumbai’s typography. One of their projects, which has already received some coverage in Eye magazine, is a proposal to adapt the system of wayfinding icons developed by Mumbai’s ‘dabbawallas’ (who deliver home-cooked lunches to workers in the city) to use as signage on Mumbai’s train network. Kurnal also showed us the work that the studio had been doing to document fast-disappearing handpainted shop signs in the city as well as the aforementioned taxi art.

You may have noticed that the covers we have been running recently have shared a common theme – taking a list of the issue’s content and asking a contributor to create a layout for us in their own style. We have had woodblock type from São Paulo (January) and hand-lettering from Amsterdam (February). When it came to thinking of a cover design for this, our special issue on type and typo­graphy, I immediately thought of Kurnal and the Mumbai taxi artists as I was intrigued to find out more about how they work. So, I emailed Kurnal to see if we could get a genuine taxi artist to create a cover for us. Despite his imminent wedding, Kurnal immediately agreed to help us out.

He and the team from Grandmother tracked down two of the leading (and possibly the original) taxi artists in Mumbai – Manohar Mistry and his son Samir Manohar. Initially they were not keen: time was tight and it was a lot of work. However, after a solid two hours negotiating and with the promise of several times more than their standard fee, the Mistrys agreed.

Manohar and Samir Manohar Mistry (aka Swami Art) work out of the family’s garage business in the Chinchkopli area of Mumbai. They typi­cally charge around 4000 Rupees to decorate a taxi (about £55). Grandmother India convinced a driver called Shashi to lend us his taxi for our cover. The rear window was taken out and replaced with a new glass (you can see his rear windscreen behind Manohar Mistry in the shot above).

The Mistrys then set about cutting the vinyl for text supplied by us, working with Grandmother’s Kurnal Rawat on the design. Samir is shown here drawing a grid with a chalk pencil on a piece of vinyl sticker and then sketching out the letters.


Using a blade, he then makes light cuts and peels off the waste material in the spaces in between the letters.

Extra colours are then added (blue to the word ‘typography’ and red and orange to ‘type’) using thin strips cut freehand from extra sheets of sticker material. Drop shadows are also added in this way. The pencil chalk markings on the letters are then rubbed off.

Once the lettering had been cut, it was time to apply the designs to Shashi’s taxi which was parked in the street outside the garage.


The main text was posi­tioned on the rear windscreen and the backing pulled away. Extra decorative elements were then added in situ.


Samir cut these freehand with his scalpel, positioning them as he and Kurnal saw fit, both on top of the lettering and at the sides of the screen to form a frame.

Finally, Samir designed a numberplate especially for us (proudly declaring ‘Made in Mumbai’), with the words ‘Creative Review’ on either side. Above is the Swami Art name and phone number.

Shown below with the finished taxi are (left to right) Aashim Tyagi and Kurnal Rawat from Grand­mother India, Samir Manohar Mistry, Shashi (the taxi’s owner) and Anand Tharaney from Grandmother who conducted an interview with the Mistrys about their work which is in the April issue. The interview was also filmed – watch it here.

After the shoot, the team from Grandmother took out the glass and carted it back
to their studio where it now resides.

And here’s the cover of the April issue

When I was in India, there were rumours that taxi art may be under threat as the city government sought to tighten regulations with the introduction of more modern vehicles. But, as they explain in our inter­view, the Mistrys are hopeful that their work will be allowed to carry on. It would be a shame to lose such a rich urban art form to bureaucratic conformity.

All photos: Aashim Tyagi.
Text: Anand Tharaney.
Art direction: Kurnal Rawat and Samir Manohar Mistry.
Research/production: Anand Tharaney
Thanks to everyone at Grandmother India


Samir Manohar Mistry

You can watch a film about the creation of the CR Taxi here

The Tourist

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Finding items that don’t belong isn’t a new idea. But photographer Scott Whittle’s execution of the concept is definitely inventive.

His minimalist perspective and matter-of-fact visual language draw you into his work. The colour’s that turn up in his work are definitely the hallmark of amazing slide film.

Check out more of his work at http://www.whittlefinearts.com/

ReubenMiller’s Got a Brand-Spanking New Look!

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that we’ve got a fresh new look for the blog. After a lot of coding, tweaking and generally making a mess of CSS, I’ve managed to get it to look half-decent (let me know what you think of it!) It still remains a work-in-progress. The goal of this redesign was to make it easier to get around and add some more color. After all, you know we’re suckers for color!

Last but not least, our large header incorporates the work of a featured artist. We’ll be featuring different artists in that space and rotating them over time to keep things interesting. This isn’t a sponsored spot, but rather a testament to our support of great artists. Our first feature is of the brilliant and witty Simon Oxley, one of our all-time favorites.

Enjoy!


Q&A: Adrian Tomine


Detail from a 2004 New Yorker cover by Adrian Tomine

US author Jonathan Lethem described comic book artist Adrian Tomine’s contemporary fiction series Optic Nerve as “deceptively relaxed and as perfect as a comic book gets”. Tomine’s stories of everyday people living out everyday lives, laced with a heavy dose of humour, have led to comparisons with fellow New Yorker Woody Allen. Simon Creasey caught up with Tomine during a rare visit to London to promote his latest collection of stories, Summer Blonde, which has just been published in the UK by Faber & Faber…

In addition to working to his Optic Nerve series (stories from issues five through to eight are collected together in Summer Blonde) Tomine regularly contributes illustrations to the New Yorker and Believer magazine and in the past has designed CD sleeves for the likes of Eels and Yo La Tengo.

Simon Creasey: How would you describe an Adrian Tomine story to somebody who is unfamiliar with your work?

Adrian Tomine: I’d probably say something self-defeating like: “It’s probably not your cup of tea. It’s kind of boring”. But probably I should say that it’s kind of like contemporary fiction in comics form.

SC: Where do the ideas for the stories come from?

AT: I like the way that David Lynch has described his idea-getting process [“ideas are like fish: you don’t make the fish, you catch the fish”] because it gets at the mysterious quality of it all that’s hard for me to articulate. I think most people think that I just live some experience, change a few names, and there’s my story. But it really is a lot harder to describe than that, and a lot things do come from some unconscious process that often becomes clearer to me after the fact.

SC: Have you always been a fan of comic books?

AT: Yes. I was “reading” comics before I could actually read. Something about the medium just transfixed me at an early age. As a child, I read pretty good stuff, like Peanuts by Charles Schulz, but as a teenager, I have to admit that I got into some pretty questionable super-hero/fantasy stuff.

SC: When did you realise that you could make a living out of comics?

AT: I don’t think I’ve ever made a living completely from my comics. I’ve always done commercial illustration work to help pay the bills. But to answer your question, I think I was pretty determined to become a full-time “artist” by the time I graduated from college, and by some miracle, it worked out.

SC: How long did it take you to develop your own drawing style? Did anyone in particular inspire it?

AT: Ha! I’m still working on that to be honest. I never really had any formal art or comics training, so I think I’m very much the product of my influences. I don’t think it would be too hard to spot the influence of people like Jaime Hernandez and Dan Clowes in my artwork, but there are a million other great artists who have had some sort of impact on my work.

SC: One of the more refreshing things about Optic Nerve is the letters page in which a healthy proportion of the letters you publish are critical of you. Why don’t you censor them?

AT: Why would I want to censor them? I enjoy hearing a variety of perspectives, and I think it makes for an interesting read. I suppose I’m arrogant enough to think that I can publish some of those negative reactions and not worry about it hurting sales.

SC: One of the biggest criticisms of your work on the letters page is from ardent fans bemoaning how long it takes you to produce the next instalment of a story. Are you a slow worker or just lazy?

AT: Yeah, I’m just a lazy bum who almost never does any work. Just kidding! I think the people who complain about my pace were raised on the type of comics that are made on a production line, so they’re trained to expect that monthly fix. I honestly work as hard and as fast as I can without sacrificing quality, but there’s always some kind of interruption, such as interviews like this!

SC: What’s your view on the need to end a story with a cliff-hanger? Most of your comics just seem to tail off with very little drama in the final cell.

AT: Yeah, some people hate the way I end my stories. I offer no defence, other than that they’re the way I intended them to be, for better or for worse.

SC: What’s the percentage split of your work in terms of comic books and commercial illustrations?

AT: It’s about 73.727% comics, and 26.273% illustration work.

SC: Do you enjoy undertaking commercial assignments such as the stuff you create for the New Yorker where you are working to a brief and as a result you have less creative freedom to take risks?

AT: I’m fortunate enough that for the most part even the commercial assignments I take on are pleasant, gratifying experiences. I go out of my way to avoid projects or people that I think are going to make my life hell. And I also think that it’s useful to occasionally have that collaborative experience.

SC: What projects are you working on at the moment?

AT: Nothing too earth-shattering. Mostly just more illustration work for The New Yorker, and my next book, which I probably shouldn’t say too much about at this point.

SC: I spoke to Charles Burns [fellow comic book artist] recently and he confirmed that David Fincher is on board to direct a film version of Black Hole and that the script was currently in development. Have any of your stories been optioned?

AT: The best advice I received from someone who’s had his work adapted to film is: “Until the movie is in theatres, keep your mouth shut”. The most I can say is that I’m not adverse to the idea, but it’s also not my primary focus.

SC: I understand that you’re married now – does this mean that the relationship issues and problems that plague your protagonists, will give way to sunnier stories, or does it just mean that your stories will move into a whole new ballpark of marital problems?

AT: I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how the next book turns out.

Summer Blonde is out now, published by Faber & Faber; £12.99.


Page from Adrian Tomine’s Summer Blonde collection (click for larger version)

Brooklyn 1970’s

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I am so in love with this flickr set Brooklyn 1970’s.

Hernan Bas Comes to Brooklyn

(Hernan Bas).jpgDid you miss artist Hernan Bas‘s standout Cecily Brown-meets-Where’s Waldo canvas at the Armory Show? No worries. The fractured fairytale world of the Miami-based artist is now featured in a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum. On view through May 24, “Hernan Bas: Works from the Rubell Family Collection,” includes 38 works in various media that have been snapped up by the Rubells over the past decade. Search for references ranging from Oscar Wilde to the Hardy Boys, or just enjoy the pictures in the decadent spirit that inspired many of them. “While I study obscure objects and references, I want the work to have a sort of pop bounce to it,” said Bas at the exhibit’s opening. “If I’m looking at Victorian mourning rites, I want to make it look like something Warhol might have been able to get away with too: an easy understanding of something that comes from a place that doesn’t have to be super-schooled…you don’t have to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica to grasp my obscure references.” But hey, it never hurts.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

MWM Graphics Exhibition

Matt W Moore of US-based MWM Graphics opened his first UK solo show, Coincidence World, at Concrete Hermit gallery in London’s East End last Friday. Moore uses a variety of mediums – some of the work is collage, made cut up coloured paper. Digital prints on paper and canvas also feature as do hand-drawn images created using marker pen and watercolour. All the work shown displays Moore’s fascination with geometric shapes, colourful abstract patterns and letter forms…

Coincidence World runs until 2 May at Concrete Hermit, 5a Club Row, London E1 6JX. Tel: +44 (0) 20 7729 2646. Email: info@concretehermit.com

See more of Moore’s work at mwmgraphics.com/

Arounna at RareDevice

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This is not the typical embroiderie work but amazing art pieces embroidered by my dear friend Arounna from BookhouArounna made them especially for a exhibition at design store and gallery Rare Device in San Francisco which started last Friday and if you are in the SF area please go and visit … the exhibition is called Attachment Series … here you can read a little bit more about the Attachement series, I’m not sure wheter they will be for sale as well, hope so! {ps. thank you Arounna for the you know what I mean!!}

eddy edwina

Eddyedwina


Eddy and Edwina is the very creative and arty shop/label from Karin Kramer, a German jewellery designer, who lives in the Northern Black Forest. All her artwork is truly unique and I very much like the ‘rawness’ about her style, but still so delicate and soft. In her shop you can find everything handmade, brooches, prints, mobiles and beautiful jewelry. On her blog you can read much more about Karin and her family and I’m sure you will enjoy her photography.

Robots with stuff

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Chris G. Chris of The Shoebox Blog will draw 3 robots a week for at least one year’s time. They bust me up!

[via the chopping block]