Hasta La Ideas

Better living through typography? See it, believe it, achieve it at The Happy Show, an exhibition of Stefan Sagmeister’s work that opens Wednesday at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania (it will travel to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles early next year). “I am usually rather bored with definitions,” says Sagmeister. “Happiness, however, is just such a big subject that it might be worth a try to pin it down.” The fruits, both literal and figurative, of the designer’s ten-year exploration of happiness will be on display through August 12.

The ICA promises a portal into Sagmeister’s mind as he experiments with potential happiness inducers ranging from from meditation and cognitive therapy to mood-altering drugs and maxims spelled out in jaw-dropping flights of typographic fancy. Visitors will also get a sneak peek at the Happy Film, his still-in-the-works documentary (check out the titles in the below video). Slated for release in 2013, the feature will offer “a proper look at all the strategies serious psychologists recommend that improve well-being,” according to Sagmeister, who decided to do the project as a film in part to stave off the complacency that can come from working in familiar media. “It might fail miserably,” he says. “But if I’ve gotten a hair happier in the process, it might have been worth my while.” Until you can make it to Philadelphia, check in with the ICA’s Happy Show Tumblr, which chronicled the preparation of invitations to next week’s opening party: slices of bologna laser-cut to reveal the word “HAPPY.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

FC Magdeburg aren’t having much luck at the moment. Currently bottom of Germany’s Regionalliga Nord, they haven’t scored in five games. As a last resort their fans gave them some extra, highly visual, support during last Sunday’s match against BAK ’07…

Before the game Magdeburg fans were seen handing out giant brightly-coloured arrows to fellow supporters. As the match started it became clear that the green, yellow and orange cut-outs would be used, swarm-style, to help indicate to the Magdeburg players where the goal was. A kind of in-game, responsive wayfinding system as they no doubt didn’t call it.

According to 101greatgoals.com, a banner was also constructed bearing the humiliating legend “we will show you where the goal is”. To a not-particulary packed crowd of 2,793 the fans kept up the moving pointers, getting particularly animated around corners (see link below).

Sadly, the fans’ exemplary use of movable supergraphics wasn’t quite enough. Magdeburg did score a goal, but went down 2-1. An 89th-minute goal from BAK ’07 substitute, Cakmak.

Some great footage of a Magedeburg corner is here (embedding disabled) while fan, FCM4ever1965, also shot this sequence from further away.

Thanks to @AJWShaughnessy (via @mb_studio) for spotting this and tweeting.

CR in Print

Thanks for visiting the CR website, but if you are not also reading CR in print you’re missing out. Our April issue has a cover by Neville Brody and a fantastic ten-page feature on Fuse, Brody’s publication that did so much to foster typographic experimentation in the 90s and beyond. We also have features on charity advertising and new Pentagram partner Marina Willer. Rick Poynor reviews the Electric Information Age and Adrian Shaughnessy meets the CEO of controversial crowdsourcing site 99designs. All this plus the most beautiful train tickets you ever saw and a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at Thunderbirds in our Monograph supplement

The best way to make sure you receive CR in print every month is to subscribe – you will also save money and receive our award-winning Monograph booklet every month. You can do so here.

Robert Bechtie, 1969

Opening this weekend at the Oakland Museum of California, All of Us or None is an exhibition of posters that have been used in campaigns for social issues from the 1960s to the present day…

OMCA recently acquired the renowned All Of Us or None poster collection which was started by Free Speech Movement activist Michael Rossman in 1977 to document posters of modern, progressive movements in the US. Rossman, who died in 2008, created an archive of over 24,000 posters amassed over some 30 years (see the AOUON site and mrossman.org).

The above poster by artist Robert Bechtie was, according to the account on the OMCA Collections site, “part of the SFSU student strike committee media campaign, and wryly comments on the situation facing students returning for their second semester of the 1968-1969 school year. The artist, then early in his career as an art instructor, went on to become a well-known printmaker and painter.”

Stealworks/John Yates, 1993

A companion exhibition to the Museum’s The 1968 Exhibit, All of Us or None is curated by collection archivist Lincoln Cushing and features 68 original political posters, in addition to a display of digitally printed posters collaged on the gallery walls. An accompanying catalogue is also available from Heyday Press.

East Bay Media, 1971

The posters address a wide range of social issues, including access to healthcare, education reform, environmental activism, and cultural identity. Contributions by well-known artists such as Malaquías Montoya, Rupert Garcia, Nancy Hom, Juan Fuentes, and Jos Sances are shown alongside examples by less recognised and anonymous artists.

Sätty/Wilfred Podreich, 1968

Influential collective workshops such as the Royal Chicano Air Force, Inkworks Press, La Raza Graphics, Japantown Art and Media, and Mission Graphica are also represented.

Unknown artist, 1970

68 posters are also featured in a sister exhibition at Oakland International Airport, until May 4. More details on both exhibitions at museumca.org.

Northern California Alliance, 1978

Jay Belloli, 1970

CR in Print

Thanks for visiting the CR website, but if you are not also reading CR in print you’re missing out. Our April issue has a cover by Neville Brody and a fantastic ten-page feature on Fuse, Brody’s publication that did so much to foster typographic experimentation in the 90s and beyond. We also have features on charity advertising and new Pentagram partner Marina Willer. Rick Poynor reviews the Electric Information Age and Adrian Shaughnessy meets the CEO of controversial crowdsourcing site 99designs. All this plus the most beautiful train tickets you ever saw and a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at Thunderbirds in our Monograph supplement

The best way to make sure you receive CR in print every month is to subscribe – you will also save money and receive our award-winning Monograph booklet every month. You can do so here.

Today sees the DVD release of Don’t Think, Adam Smith’s highly praised film of a 2011 Chemical Brothers concert at Fuji Rock in Japan. Tom Hingston Studio designed the release’s cover artwork using a doctored NY street sign…

The Don’t Think DVD is available in two different format casebound packages (and also as a Blu-Ray release) and each contains a DVD of Adam Smith’s Don’t Think film documentary of the Chemical Brothers set at Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival in 2011, plus a CD of the live audio tracks. The book-like packages contain imagery from the film – which was shot using 20 cameras – though the limited edition 10″ book format (cover shown above) contains exclusive imagery not available in the other formats.

The packaging is, Tom Hingston tells us, a collaboration between Don’t Think director Adam Smith, Marcus Lyall and his design studio. Here are some spreads from the 10″ limited edition casebound book version, in which the discs are housed in the hardback front and back covers:

“The Don’t Think film is an exhilarating, dynamic and explosive journey that really places the viewer at the heart of the experience – so we were keen to capture some of this energy within the package itself,” Tom Hingston tells us of the approach to the packaging design. “Opting for a larger casebound format allowed us to feature the the imagery at a bigger scale and by mixing shots of the actual show alongside portraiture of fans it re-enforces a more intimate snapshot of the concert. Double page spreads are combined with gatefolds to bring the imagery to life and convey the visual journey the viewer is taken on.”

“For the cover itself we customised an an actual New York street sign [shown, above] to read DON’T THINK [instead of DON’T WALK] which was then shot as a mixture of stills and film to give us a resulting image that has movement and vibrational qualities which echo the pace and energy of the film,” explains Hingston.

Here are some shots of the casebound book release:

Don’t Think is out today on DVD. For more information visit dontthinkmovie.com

CR subscribers can read Eliza’s write up of Don’t Think here

CR in Print

Thanks for visiting the CR website, but if you are not also reading CR in print you’re missing out. Our April issue has a cover by Neville Brody and a fantastic ten-page feature on Fuse, Brody’s publication that did so much to foster typographic experimentation in the 90s and beyond. We also have features on charity advertising and new Pentagram partner Marina Willer. Rick Poynor reviews the Electric Information Age and Adrian Shaughnessy meets the CEO of controversial crowdsourcing site 99designs. All this plus the most beautiful train tickets you ever saw and a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at Thunderbirds in our Monograph supplement

The best way to make sure you receive CR in print every month is to subscribe – you will also save money and receive our award-winning Monograph booklet every month. You can do so here.

A new book, published by Stickit, celebrates the work of street artist Eltono, who has painted his unusual, geometric art on the walls of cities all over the world…

Eltono was born in Paris, but lived in Madrid throughout the 2000s, before moving to Beijing in 2010. The book, titled Line and Surface, gives an overview of his work from the last 12 years. As well as his public art, Elonto’s work has featured in exhibitions at galleries including Tate Modern in London and Fundacion Miró in Barcelona.

Featuring design by Jeroen van Mourik and texts by Javier Abarca and Rafael Schacter, Line and Surface is published in a limited edition of 1,000. Here are some spreads from the book, showing Eltono’s work in situ:

The book also features work Eltono has made for exhibitions, as well as public sculptures, such as those shown below:

Cover of Line and Surface

Line and Surface is available from Stickit, priced 24.95 Euros. More info is here. Eltono’s personal website is at eltono.com, where you can also view videos of him creating his works.