Hasta La Ideas

Letter from Saul Bass to Stanley Kubrick. Photo: Bobby Solomon/The Fox is Black

Saul Bass, a graphic designer responsible for some of the most celebrated work in film posters, title sequences and identity design, needs little introduction. But famous as he was, it seems he still had time to employ a rather amusing signature on occasion…

In a great post on The Fox is Black blog, designer Bobby Solomon reports back from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art show on Stanley Kubrick. Among the exhibits from Kubrick’s films, one element in particular caught Solomon’s eye: a series of sketches Bass made while making a poster for the director’s 1980 film, The Shining.

Poster sketch for The Shining by Saul Bass. Photo: Bobby Solomon/The Fox is Black

And alongside the designs – which you can see in full on Solomon’s post – are images of some of the correspondence Bass had with the film director in 1978, during the process of making the sketches and sending them over to Kubrick. On two of these letters, the ‘bass’ signature above is employed.

While a more conventionally signed ‘Saul’ follows on from a ‘Best regards’ in the letters, the swoop of the ‘l’ suddenly appears to turn into a bass – complete with the bespectacled face of Mr. Bass. (It’s clearly a stamp, and looks like it would have had to have been made with his face on it.) And in personalising one of the letters even further, Bass went to the trouble of adding a splash of colour.

All of this is, of course, in the context of discussing one of the most frightening films ever made.

Letter from Saul Bass to Stanley Kubrick. Photo: Bobby Solomon/The Fox is Black

The series of Bass’s poster sketches for The Shining are on The Fox is Black, here. Stanley Kubrick is on at the LACMA until June 13 2013, details at lacma.org.

CR In print

In our December issue we look at why carpets are the latest medium of choice for designers and illustrators. Plus, Does it matter if design projects are presented using fake images created using LiveSurface and the like? Mark Sinclair looks in to the issue of mocking-up. We have an extract from Craig Ward’s upcoming book Popular Lies About Graphic Design and ask why advertising has been so poor at preserving its past. Illustrators’ agents share their tips for getting seen and we interview maverick director Tony Kaye by means of his unique way with email. In Crit, Guardian economics leader writer Aditya Chakrabortty review’s Kalle Lasn’s Meme Wars and Gordon Comstock pities brands’ long-suffering social media managers. In a new column on art direction, Paul Belford deconstructs a Levi’s ad that was so wrong it was very right, plus, in his brand identity column, Michael Evamy looks at the work of Barcelona-based Mario Eskenazi. And Daniel Benneworth-Gray tackles every freelancer’s dilemma – getting work.

Our Monograph this month, for subscribers only, features the EnsaïmadART project in which Astrid Stavro and Pablo Martin invited designers from around the world to create stickers to go on the packaging of special edition packaging for Majorca’s distinctive pastry, the ensaïmada, with all profits going to a charity on the island (full story here)

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878 to buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad

Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here

As any graphic designer surely knows, the Internet is home to at least as many bad (or non-) infographics as it is a source for clearly-articulated, visually-compelling ones. This twofold criteria is the subject of Chad Hagen’s “Nonsensical Infographics“: they’re certainly a treat for the eye… but the mind, not so much. Rather, as the title of the series suggests, the vibrant geometries are intended to be metacommentary on the opacity of these purportedly digestible graphics.

The science of infographics is an interesting beast. Infographics’ level of success is always based on how much and how well they communicate their data—the classic form follows function. In this series, I reversed these roles—form is king and dictates what the infographic communicates. Welcome to the world of fictional visual information.

In other words, these infographics convey information about infographics themselves: inscrutable though they may be, they are often more beautiful for it. Thus, despite its aesthetic affinity with the work of, say, Andrew Kuo, Hagen’s work probably has more in common with Tatiana Plakhova’s data visualizations, which express the same sentiment through radically different execution.

(more…)

Dublin’s OFFSET festival will return to the Irish capital’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre for three days in April (5-7) with an impressive line-up of international speakers that include Ben Bos, Bob Gill, Ciarán Ógaora, Craig & Karl, Hvass & Hannibal, Kate Moross, Marina Willer, Oliviero Toscani, Sarah Illenberger and Vaughan Oliver…

As with the last two OFFSET events (which CR’s Gavin Lucas has reported back from), the conference will feature two simultaneous schedules of events: lectures in the main theatre, with a second room of interviews and panel discussions. Here’s the list of speakers announced so far, along with some visual cues:

Dutch graphic designer and author Ben Bos

UK-based illustrator Ben Newman

Designer, illustrator, author, and one of D&AD’s founders Bob Gill will be at OFFSET 2013

Maine-based illustrator Calef Brown

Chris Silas Neal from Brooklyn, New York is also one of the main speakers

Ciarán Ógaora of Dublin-based design studio Zero-G

Australia and UK based design and illustration duo Craig & Karl

London-based live and digital agency Drive Productions

Irish director, animator and filmmaker Eoghan Kidney

Gavin O’Sullivan, Creative Director at Dublin ad agency DDFH&B

Hvass & Hannibal from Copenhagen

Korean designer and image maker Ji Lee

Belfast-based illustrator Jonathan McHugh

French street art photographer JR

Kate Moross from London

New York-based Louise Fili was formerly senior designer for Herb Lubalin and art director of Pantheon Books from 1978-1989. Now she runs her own studio that specialies in beautiful design work, with a specialism in restaurant and food packaging

Pentagram partner Marina Willer

Childrens book author and illustrator Niamh Sharkey

Oliviero Toscani

Sarah Illenberger

The Stone Twins

And British designer Vaughan Oliver is also confirmed.

Tickets are available now at www.ticketmaster.ie or in person from the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre box office.

Early bird tickets (up to March 2013) are €165.
Student tickets are €120.
Standard tickets are €195.
All have types of ticket are subject to a group rate of six tickets for the price of five.

For more info about OFFSET2013, visit iloveoffset.com.

To keep up to date with all the latest OFFSET news, follow @weloveoffset on Twitter.

CR In print

In our December issue we look at why carpets are the latest medium of choice for designers and illustrators. Plus, Does it matter if design projects are presented using fake images created using LiveSurface and the like? Mark Sinclair looks in to the issue of mocking-up. We have an extract from Craig Ward’s upcoming book Popular Lies About Graphic Design and ask why advertising has been so poor at preserving its past. Illustrators’ agents share their tips for getting seen and we interview maverick director Tony Kaye by means of his unique way with email. In Crit, Guardian economics leader writer Aditya Chakrabortty review’s Kalle Lasn’s Meme Wars and Gordon Comstock pities brands’ long-suffering social media managers. In a new column on art direction, Paul Belford deconstructs a Levi’s ad that was so wrong it was very right, plus, in his brand identity column, Michael Evamy looks at the work of Barcelona-based Mario Eskenazi. And Daniel Benneworth-Gray tackles every freelancer’s dilemma – getting work.

Our Monograph this month, for subscribers only, features the EnsaïmadART project in which Astrid Stavro and Pablo Martin invited designers from around the world to create stickers to go on the packaging of special edition packaging for Majorca’s distinctive pastry, the ensaïmada, with all profits going to a charity on the island (full story here)

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878 to buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad

Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here

Pantone’s announcement of its impending Colour of the Year has become almost as much of a Yuletide tradition as family rows and hangovers. 2013, we are told, is going to be all about Emerald, or Pantone 17-5641 to its friends

“This colour will be seen over the next 12 months across the fashion industry, beauty, interiors, plastics & packaging, print and graphic design,” Pantone reliably inform us. And who can doubt them? After all, last year’s Tangerine Tango was simply everywhere wasn’t it? No? Oh well.

Why Emerald for 2013? Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute says: “The most abundant hue in nature, the human eye sees more green than any other colour in the spectrum. Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today’s complex world. This powerful and universally-appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors.”

Pantone continues: “The prevalence of green has been steadily rising for several seasons now, especially in the fashion and couture markets, and even on the red carpet.” Which could be awkward for the colour blind among us.

Apparently, Emerald is also a winner when it comes to beauty products as it “dramatises all eye colours as it beautifully enhances green eyes, is compatible to blue eyes, emphasises the green undertone in hazel eyes and intensifies brown eyes to make them appear deeper.”

In case you are doubting the rigour of this process Pantone assures us that “The colour of the year selection is a very thoughtful process. To arrive at the selection, Pantone quite literally combs the world looking for colour influences.”

So there you have it: 2013 will be all about Emerald. Good news for Ireland, Kermit and Celtic supporters who now find themselves not only through to the knock-out stages of the Champions League but also at the forefront of fashion.

And just in case you missed them, here are Pantone’s previous Colour of the Year selections:

· PANTONE 17-1463 Tangerine Tango (2012)
· PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle (2011)
· PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise (2010)
· PANTONE 14-0848 Mimosa (2009)
· PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris (2008)
· PANTONE 19-1557 Chili Pepper (2007)
· PANTONE 13-1106 Sand Dollar (2006)
· PANTONE 15-5217 Blue Turquoise (2005)
· PANTONE 17-1456 Tigerlily (2004)
· PANTONE 14-4811 Aqua Sky (2003)
· PANTONE 19-1664 True Red (2002)
· PANTONE 17-2031 Fuchsia Rose (2001)
· PANTONE 15-4020 Cerulean (2000)

CR In print

In our December issue we look at why carpets are the latest medium of choice for designers and illustrators. Plus, Does it matter if design projects are presented using fake images created using LiveSurface and the like? Mark Sinclair looks in to the issue of mocking-up. We have an extract from Craig Ward’s upcoming book Popular Lies About Graphic Design and ask why advertising has been so poor at preserving its past. Illustrators’ agents share their tips for getting seen and we interview maverick director Tony Kaye by means of his unique way with email. In Crit, Guardian economics leader writer Aditya Chakrabortty review’s Kalle Lasn’s Meme Wars and Gordon Comstock pities brands’ long-suffering social media managers. In a new column on art direction, Paul Belford deconstructs a Levi’s ad that was so wrong it was very right, plus, in his brand identity column, Michael Evamy looks at the work of Barcelona-based Mario Eskenazi. And Daniel Benneworth-Gray tackles every freelancer’s dilemma – getting work.

Our Monograph this month, for subscribers only, features the EnsaïmadART project in which Astrid Stavro and Pablo Martin invited designers from around the world to create stickers to go on the packaging of special edition packaging for Majorca’s distinctive pastry, the ensaïmada, with all profits going to a charity on the island (full story here)

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878 to buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad

Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here

White, handpainted, deliberately crude lettering in the style once used on shop windows – it’s all over the place

We’ve been meaning to post about this trend for quite some time, but a new spot in the past week, plus the re-occurrence of some old friends, brought it to top of mind.

Our local Sports Direct is promoting its latest super sale thusly:

Here’s the poster currently promoting the Rolling Stones’ O2 gigs – check out the lettering bottom right.

One of the first ad campaigns we spotted using the style, which is often achieved by painting on glass or acrylic, was for the National Apprencticeship Service – this is the ad currently running, but the campaign’s been up for perhaps a year at least. The campaign is by Purpose (see comments).

Here’s an earlier one

One of the first websites we spotted using the style was Brand New in its promotion for last year’s Brand New conference – a more colourful variation on the theme which closely references shop signage

While It’s Nice That use a more classical version of the style for their Weekender section

If you don’t have the requisite skill with a paintbrush, Shutterstock now have a whole series of handpainted letters

A quick check of our Feed section reveals that the style is still alive and well – in projects such as 21.19’s work for the Australian Design Biennale

And, in slightly more refined form, Prada’s Il Palazzo iPad app

The Prada version looks more chalk-like. H&M, in contrast, use a more inky variant on shop windows – like the Oxford Street branch in London

While the sleeve for Scott Walker’s new album Bish Bosch by Ben Farquharson and designer Philip Laslett (featured here) takes a messier, painterly approach

Where’s it all coming from? We’ve certainly been noticing it for well over a year. There has been a general revival in signpainting techniques (as we reported on in our October issue) but this is not quite the same thing. It’s a more vernacular style – much more in the vein of ‘everything must go‘ daubings on plate glass or hurriedly painted protest messages.

As with all trends, this one has been around the block.Probably the first time we can remember seeing something similar in a design context was the masthead for 90s teen magazine Sassy – here’s a cover from May 1990

But another current ad campaign shows that the style goes back way further – check out the graffiti behind the sailor in Cecil Beaton’s photograph

Let us know any examples of the trend which you’ve spotted and we’ll add them to the post

EXTRAS:

Tom Actman at Mat Dolphin has spotted it on this Converse Christmas campaign

Check out the cover for horror novel Nightmare Me by designer/illustrator Aldous Massie (and his notes on how he did it here)

Thanks to CR contributor Jeremy Leslie of magCulture for reminding us of the section dividers used in Port #6, the food issue earlier this year (see his post here), done by Sara Cwynar

Ocky Murray at Cog Design suggests the 2010 London Design Festival identity from Pentagram

Via Twitter, White Hole Studio (@WhiteHoleStudio) suggest the cover to Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball album from earlier this year

Nike ad campaign for the French football team from January 2011, as spotted by ‘Char’ (see comments)

SWD started using the stye in 2009 for Danza Contemporanea de Cuba (see comments)

Website, packaging and brand design for G’nosh by Mystery, as spotted by Steve McCardle

Rick Banks has also suggested Multistorey’s identity for the Lyric Theatre, in Hammersmith.

CR In print

In our December issue we look at why carpets are the latest medium of choice for designers and illustrators. Plus, Does it matter if design projects are presented using fake images created using LiveSurface and the like? Mark Sinclair looks in to the issue of mocking-up. We have an extract from Craig Ward’s upcoming book Popular Lies About Graphic Design and ask why advertising has been so poor at preserving its past. Illustrators’ agents share their tips for getting seen and we interview maverick director Tony Kaye by means of his unique way with email. In Crit, Guardian economics leader writer Aditya Chakrabortty review’s Kalle Lasn’s Meme Wars and Gordon Comstock pities brands’ long-suffering social media managers. In a new column on art direction, Paul Belford deconstructs a Levi’s ad that was so wrong it was very right, plus, in his brand identity column, Michael Evamy looks at the work of Barcelona-based Mario Eskenazi. And Daniel Benneworth-Gray tackles every freelancer’s dilemma – getting work.

Our Monograph this month, for subscribers only, features the EnsaïmadART project in which Astrid Stavro and Pablo Martin invited designers from around the world to create stickers to go on the packaging of special edition packaging for Majorca’s distinctive pastry, the ensaïmada, with all profits going to a charity on the island (full story here)

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878 to buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad

Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here