Campsite is a New York based design blog and studio run by visual designer Max Ritt.
Number 53 from the new Laurence King book, 100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design, Steven Heller and Véronique Vienne look at ‘shadow play’ and it’s impact on design. My favorite piece is László Moholy-Nagy’s cover for 14 Bauhausbücher (14 Bauhaus Books). Moholy-Nagy had an unparalleled skill for creating depth in static planes, which is even more impressive based on the limited technologies at his disposal.
(via Creative Review »)
Last night I saw Tony DiSpigna lecture on typography, design, life and rejection at Cooper Union. The lecture, which was entitled The Art of Letterforms dealt more with DiSpigna imparting to us that even thoughtful and amazing work gets rejected. A huge thank-you to Justin Thomas Kay and to Type@Cooper for hosting this lecture.
On April 18th graphic designer and film-maker Hillman Curtis passed away in his Brooklyn home surrounded by his loving family. Curtis was a visionary in the web community and helped revolutionize this space during the 90′s and early 00′s. I had the honor of meeting Curtis at an early Creative Mornings talk back in 2009 and I will forever remember the insight and inspiration he imparted. Thank you Hillman.
Charles and Ray Eames’ home in the Pacific Palisades outside of LA, formally known as Case Study House 8 is one of the most iconic pieces of 20th century architecture. It is also one of my favorite mid-century modern homes. I love the juxtaposition between the simple off the shelf aesthetic of the box, which creates the house, and it’s organic and curious contents. All of the houses contents have such a richness and power.
Charles and Ray’s living room is currently being featured in an exhibition at LACMA, called California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way. If you haven’t seen the documentary “Eames: The Architect and The Painter” it’s a must see, and it also has some really great insight into their famed residence. Also pop over to LA Times to see an awesome behind the scenes of the installation of the exhibition at LACMA.
Kraftwerk, the German originators of electronic music are currently prepping for a retrospective exhibition at what could be viewed as a slightly interesting venue for the performers. This retrospective at Moma in New York City falls in line with some of their more outlandish activities over the past few years, such as the addition of the @ symbol into the permanent collection. Pushing the limits of art and what are can be in a museum setting obviously has maintained crucial position and has helped keep Moma current and interesting into the overly saturated waters of the internet age. There are 8 shows scheduled starting on April 10th through 17th. Tickets will go on sale February 25th. A truly once in a life time experience like this cannot be missed.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
After the release of the Burton Kramer Identities Book earlier this year it became abundantly clear that Burton Kramer’s ideas and approach to design deserved to be captured in a documentary. Kramer talks about how design is more the sum of our output, but extends to the products and objects we elect to surround us and the homes we live in. Design for Kramer has been both a way of life as well as what his life has been defined by.
(via Surfstation »)
Industrial designer and architect Jean Prouvé in my opinion is one of the most underrated and forgotten modernist designers. His work laid the ground work for a lot of subsequent styles. Many of which are still prevalent and even hip today. His work was very evidently influenced by the post industrial revolution manufacturing culture and the advent of mass production. In opposition to the changes we have witnessed where mass production has allowed for a drop in the quality of goods. Prouvé used it as an opportunity to make furniture out of materials that were normally used in aircraft and military grade fixtures.
(via Daily Icon »)
“Your Time is limited. Don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs
Every year for the birthday of his site Authentic Jobs, Cameron Moll launches a campaign to raise money(and awareness) for charity: water. This year the ante has been upped. From last years $17,000 to 600,000 Ethiopian Birr (approximately $35,000). The money raised if successful will go to directly fund a drilling rig that will be able to offer clean drinking water to a large portion of Northern Ethiopia. On a brief aside, how bad ass is the micro site Cameron put together for this campaign?
Want to do your part?
Lådan is one of those modernist designs that supersedes age and becomes timeless. It’s name translates as box, but even in it’s practiced simplicity it holds a certain comfort and warmth that only a true legend like Ralph Erskine could envision. Elements that really make this design come alive are the ones that break out of the minimal palette and inject some whimsical shapes and textures into the house.
(via SUBTILITAS »)
I rarely make it into a post office living in New York City mainly because the lines are of life threatening length. The past week while I was visiting my parent’s in MA I happened to stop into the local post office and come across these gems. A new stamp set released by the USPS entitled Pioneers of American Industrial Design. Up until a few days ago I had only seen them floating around on blogs. The tactile feel of a sheet a of perforated stamps is just amazing coupled with the beautiful images of design icons. The lineup of designers includes Eliot Noyes, Dave Chapman, Frederick Hurten Rhead, Donald Deskey, Greta von Nessen, and a few others. You can get the stamps in most local post offices or online at the USPS Shop.
Phaidon has put out a great new book that showcases the absolute minimalist perfection of Dieter Rams seemingly endless sea of work. Named for Rams’ tenth design principle Good design is As Little Design as Possible. The design of the book itself was handled by Kobi Benezeri, and I do mean handled. For someone of the caliber of Rams the book requires a certain level of finesse. Benezeri employed a sensory mesh printing on the covers and spine of the book, and lots of impeccably printed full bleed photography.
(via SeptemberIndustry »)
Growing up hip-hop and rap had this innate link to skateboarding. De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest were two of the first people I started listening to. The beats and the groove just had something to them that you wanted to skate to. Through my work I actually have had the opportunity to meet and spend sometime with Q-Tip, which for me as a fan for more than half my life was truly inspiring. All that said tomorrow Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, a film by Michael Rapaport will be released in New York and Los Angeles.
Artist Donald Judd’s main home and workspace was a cast iron building at 101 Spring St. in SoHo. Design Observer recently published an essay written by Judd in 1989 along with photos Elizabeth Felicella. Together they bring us in beyond what we would normally know and understand about Judd’s work and life. His attention to detail in things beyond his artwork, such as the furniture in his home and the care with which he renovated and restored the 101 Spring St. building. In his essay he touches on how the different businesses and repurposing of it over the years had turned the building into a dark gross place, and he in work to make it livable again he tried to bring it back to it’s original and intended glory. While making it more functional for his needs.
(via Places: Design Observer »)
In this case I must quote my source Erik Spiekermann, “Supermarket brands don’t have to be ugly”. That is a true statement and the wonderful supporting example is of German supermarket chain Tegut. Their branding is anchored down by a proprietary typeface based on Spiekermann’s Officina Sans, and their other collateral elements include other of Spiekermann’s fonts along with ones from Mitja Miklavčič, and Christian Schwartz. For more info about the Tegut brand and their fonts check out the article on Fonts in Use.
(via Erik Spiekermann »)
This year a modern classic has it’s half century birthday. The 606 system was originally released and is still on offer from Vitsoe. Designed by one of my all time favorite designers Dieter Rams, the 606 modular shelving and storage system lives at that rare intersection of form and function. Few pieces of furniture and especially modular shelving do their job with such style and grace. No wonder then that the 606 system has remained a staple offering for Vitsoe for fifty years now.
Anna Craemer has created a wonderful collection of video interviews on design for her personal project entitled Critical Graphic Design.
This particular one is an interview with Karel Martens who is the head of the famed Werkplaats Typografie program. He riffs on curiosity and compares the beauty of imperfect type and design to the great imperfections that make jazz music so great.
(via Frank Chimero »)
The ever entertaining Aaron Draplin offers up some insight and inspiration in a series of videos shot by Jared Souney for Yobeat and Level. Draplin like many of us grew up in the skateboarding and snowboarding culture of the 80′s and 90′s, and was even lucky enough to test his design on some board graphics and other projects like that. Make sure to check out part two of this interview and a little show and tell with Aaron after the jump.
(via WANKEN »)
Sol Lewitt has always been one of my favorite artists, especially of all the folks in the post modernist movement. It isn’t that I find his pieces overly compelling. His approach to art making was highly original and although it does share some similarities with Andy Warhol and his mass production applied to art making, I think Lewitt does one thing that makes his work so much richer is the idea that the end product is not the art. Creating an often vague instruction of how to create on of his pieces. So anyone who has the instructions can create the piece and each one will always slightly vary from the other. This process based art has influenced so many people to come after. Even this whole making movement that has swept the globe as of late is in the wake of Sol Lewitt and his legacy.
In the exhibition I was most captivated by the videos and photographs of the process of fabricating the exhibit and the paintings. The instructions that were displayed next to some of the pieces in addition to the wall painting number were also awesome. The instructions, however vague being more integral to the piece of art than the final product.
The opening of the Sol Lewitt Retrospective also marked the completion and opening of building #7 at MASS Moca. Don’t worry though you have the next twenty five years to make it up there, as the exhibition is committed there for that long at the least.
