Hasta La Ideas

If you cherish the likes of Little Lulu, Richie Rich, and Archie and the Gang (“Eeps!”) as much as we do, you’ll want to put that Barnes & Noble gift certificate (the chances of receiving one at this time of year are 78.6%) to good use and procure a copy of The TOON Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics (Abrams ComicArts). Edited by the dynamic duo of Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly, the volume collects sixtysome tales from the golden age of comic books, which according to our sources was the late 1930s through the early 1960s. Chapters such as “Hey, Kids!” and “Funny Animals” highlight the work of master comics writers and artists, including John Stanley, Walt Kelly, and Basil Wolverton, along with brief biographies. For Steven Heller, who reviews the volume in the new issue of Eye, The TOON Treasury induced “soothing pangs of nostalgia” and led him to make some new rodent friends.

For me, the biggest joy was the introduction to Walt Kelly’s little known Hickory and Dickory in “Help the Easter Bunny.” Who can top this exchange between the two protagonist mice, when Hickory says: “Now that we’re out of sight, let me ask you—does the Easter Rabbit lay Easter Eggs?” Dickory responds, “Golly—” Hickory adds: “Because if he does, it leaves us in a rather awkward position.” Dickory: “You mean—” Hickory: “Exactly—he told us to supply the eggs—and that can mean only one thing…” Dickory: “Have you ever laid an egg?” Ahhh, to return to the important questions of one’s youth, rather than grapple with the health-care debate and war and peace in the Middle East.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Rob Ryan’s large-scale project for Yorkshire Sculpture Park is the focus of a lovely new book on his work, which offers a wider insight into his highly detailed paper art…

While Ryan’s previous collection, This Is For You, published by Sceptre two years ago, offered an extended look at his art, You Can Still Do a Lot With a Small Brain features plenty to interest any fan of Ryan’s and delight those who are new to his detailed, almost-beyond-belief paper cutouts.

Detail from this piece shown, top

Ryan uses the same type of white paper in each of his pieces (it’s a thin, smooth, large-format Bible stock) and colours each one using spray paint.

His overtly pastoral creations belie his studio’s base in east London, but Ryan unashamedly admits to being a fan of German Romanticism, elements of which flow out from his work. Moreover, every element of paper detailing is linked together, forcing a decorative pattern to emerge.

One of Ryan’s windows for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park commission

For YSP, however, Ryan has gone large-scale and created a 22 metre-wide, vinyl decal window piece (on until February 2010). Of equal interest in this supporting book though are the many photographs of his working process (meticulous use of pencil and scalpel, shown bottom).

There’s also an interview with Ryan, which adds weight to an impressive little book, offering a great insight into how he creates his delicate work.

More of Ryan’s work is at rob-ryan.blogspot.com, and the new book can be purchased from jeremymillspublishing.co.uk.

Yesterday we told you about another friend-of-UnBeige’s new book, and that felt good, so we thought we’d keep the lovefest going by telling you that our pal David Airey will soon be publishing a book version of his popular blog Logo Design Love. We’ve long been fans of Airey from the very launch of the site, and even got the chance to help him out for the first annual Logo Design Love Awards. So we’re plenty pleased that, come the 28th of this month, you’ll have the chance to see him in print. Here’s a description of the book:

David not only shares his experiences working with clients, including sketches and final results of his successful designs, but uses the work of many well-known designers to explain why well-crafted brand identity systems are important, how to create iconic logos, and how to best work with clients to achieve success as a designer. Contributors include Gerard Huerta, designer of many high-profile logos including Time magazine and Waldenbooks; Lindon Leader, who created the current FedEx brand identity system as well as the CIGNA logo; Jason Little, who took charge of the recent City of Melbourne visual identity by Landor; Richard Moon of Moon Brand, responsible for the NHS brand identity; and many more.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Dezeen and design firm Pentagram have got together to give away five copies of Typographic Conundrums by Pentagram partner Harry Pearce. (more…)

London designer Tim Fishlock has put together a limited-edition book for design brand Habitat, featuring twenty removable large-format prints by artists including Anthony Burrill and Shepard Fairey. (more…)