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Friday, September 19, 2008
When I Was a Kid . . .
Posted by steve
One of the most heartbreaking, memorable images from my childhood was the photograph (above) of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg on their way to prison, convicted of atomic spying for the USSR and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Their guilt or innocence was always a matter of fierce debate, and many artists, like Picasso, saw them as scapegoats and created art in response (below). The French political cartoonist Louis Mittelberg, also known as TIM, drew a barb at President Eisenhower--pictured with electric chairs for teeth (bottom)--for allowing them to be executed. Last week Morton Sobell, a co-defendant who served 30 years in prison, and whose son I befriended when we were teenagers, confessed that he and Julius did indeed spy for the Russians. I was reminded of the emotional impact this case had on many of us in New York. On Tuesday, the Rosenberg's two sons, who had adamantly fought to vindicate their parents, finally admitted to The New York Times that they now accept their father had spied, but their mother had not and was used as a tragic pawn in the case. I was also reminded how as a teenager, I protested for Sobell's release by carrying handmade signs at the courthouse in Foley Square, perhaps my first use of graphic design.  
Politics | Propaganda
9/19/2008 12:03:11 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, September 18, 2008
Baby Boomer Wit
Posted by Steve
There was a time when the best day of every month was the day The National Lampoon hit the newsstands. Those are long gone. But for some of us, the memories linger (like the savagely prescient cover below). For Rick Meyerowitz, the satiric illustrator who brought us Mona Gorilla (above), the Lampoon legend is an everyday immersion. He is currently researching his book, DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: The Writers and Artists Who Made the National Lampoon So Insanely Great (Harry N. Abrams). It's a mouthful, but it promises to be trove of incredibly funny material (as well as recollections by Lampoon survivors). Steve: How will the book be different from a conventional anthology? Rick: It's about the writers and artists who contributed brilliant pieces every month for years--who they were, what their work was like, where they went afterwards. Each artist and writer I select will get several pages to show his best work, which I am selecting: It's my pick. Steve: Is everyone being cooperative? Rick: The writers and artists have agreed to contribute anecdotes and ephemera and to write short essays about each other. There will be some never-before-published work and much brilliant but forgotten work. Steve: Ah, brilliant! I can't wait. Rick: Well, you'll just have to.
Illustration | Magazines
9/18/2008 6:11:07 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008
What Do These People Have in Common?
Posted by Steve
What, you might ask, do these famous and infamous people have in common? All of them either wanted to be, studied to be, worked as, or simply acted as illustrators. Gary Cooper came to New York to find fame and fortune in the art business--he failed. Katherine Harris, former Florida Secretary of State who skewed the 2000 election toward George W. Bush, studied one summer at the illustrator's program at Ringling School. Enrico Caruso made caricatures of famous artists and musicians. George Lincoln Rockwell (at center of the image below), the leader of the American Nazi Party in the 1950s, was an accomplished illustrator and cartoonist, and even won an award from the Society of Illustrators. Pablo Picasso (painted here by Juan Gris) published cartoons in satiric newspapers in France and Spain. (Juan Gris contributed his own cartoons to the satiric L'Assiette au Beurre.) And Tom Hanks, in his first cross-dressing role, played a "graphic artist" (a.k.a. illustrator) on Bosom Buddies. Can you think of others who gave up the illustrative arts for fame or infamy, fortune or penury? (Ed. note: If you missed the first two e-mails this week due to technical difficulties, here are the entries from Monday and Tuesday.)   
Celebrity | Illustration
9/17/2008 8:02:33 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, September 16, 2008
What This Country Needs. . .
Posted by steve
"What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar," said Thomas Marshall, Woodrow Wilson's vice president. What it certainly doesn't need is to be branded like every major and minor corporation. Yet that's exactly what the brand giant FutureBrand is offering through the Brand America Student Contest, a competition that asks young designers to rebrand the red, white, and blue. For what purpose? The promotion reads:
"Countries are brands, by design or default. A country brand can be a generic label or can become the compelling symbol of pride. When properly conceived and executed, it can elevate a country, focus its tourist offering, fuel its investment opportunities, rally its citizens, and reframe its reputation."
That's all well and good, but does America need more signs and symbols? Or a more effective foreign and domestic policy? Brand America suggests that a brand bandaid (BrandAid) can cure the current economic and political woes. And what is the prize? "Fame and glory," say the organizers. The winner and selected finalists will receive $1000 and a paid internship. Doesn't that seem a rather paltry sum for getting America back on its feet? (Editor's note: if you missed yesterday's DH due to technical problems, click here)
Advertising | Branding
9/16/2008 5:32:35 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, September 15, 2008
E-Ink Ugh!
Posted by steve
Last night I couldn't sleep-- Esquire's new intermittently flashing E-Ink cover kept me awake. I felt as though I was in one of those 1940s B-movie noir hotel rooms with a neon sign glowing right outside my window. Framed by a black background with shiny, spot-gloss laminated rays emanating from the E-Ink panel, this is the most senseless magazine cover I've seen in years, all in the name of being first with new technology. Esquire has a history of innovative covers, from George Lois' conceptual masterpieces of the 1960s to the current crop of exquisite typographic wallpapers, which are the smartest type/image covers on the newsstand today. Although this month's 75th anniversary cover may be a first, it might also be the last. The New York Times notes: "Using admittedly
rudimentary technology that will flash 'The 21st Century Begins Now,' David Granger, Esquire's editor in chief says, 'I hope it will be in
the Smithsonian.'" One hitch: The power for the panel only lasts 90 days. Frankly, I much prefer the old-fashioned 3D lenticular covers that precede this digital one, like the Rolling Stone cover here.
Design | Magazines
9/15/2008 6:44:05 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, September 12, 2008
Picturing Politics
Posted by steve
To end the first official week of the 2008 presidential campaign, I offer a sampler of current and forthcoming events devoted to picturing politics. Tonight, September 12, the reception for "Politcs 08" opens at The Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators (through October 4). The exhibition showcases the original art from contemporary illustrators focusing on this year’s long campaign--and there is a lot of it. Curated by Edel Rodriguez, the show features the work of Steve Brodner, Philip Burke, Tim O'Brien, Hanoch Piven, Stephen Kroninger, Luba Lukova, and Barry Blitt (he of the New Yorker cover fame). On Monday, September 15, the first of three roundtables in the "Art and Science of Politics" series begins at the Philoctetes Center in New York, focusing its discussion on Left and Right: What Neuroscience is Revealing About Political Thought. October 22 will be devoted to "The Design of Influence." On November 15, the Illustration Program, Parsons the New School for Design, and the Politics Department, New School for Social Research, present a daylong symposium, "Picturing Politics ," featuring Eisner award-winning comic artist Rutu Modan ( Exit Wounds), as well as Peter Kuper, Steve Brodner, Luba Lukova, and Barry Blitt (he of, well, you know), among others. If you happen to be in Berlin next month, the exhibition " Arthur Szyk: Drawing Against National Socialism and Terror" on view at the German Historical Museum (below) celebrates one of the most brilliant political satirists of his day. However, if you can't attend any of these events, you might want to play with the latest crop of candidate dolls (including the Sarah Palin doll above). Bring your own campaign to life in the privacy of your own home--it's like being there, only different.
Election | Events | Museums | Politics
9/12/2008 3:28:10 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, September 11, 2008
Shop Till You Pop
Posted by Steve
Rob Walker is the " Consumed" columnist for The New York Times Magazine and proprietor of Murketing.com, a website (with great pix like the one above) devoted to the murky world of marketing and all the flim flam in between. His recent book, Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, is a must for anyone who toils or luxuriates in the fields of retail (or wholesale). His site is a veritable magazin of trends and fashions seen through the jaundiced eye of a true design critic. For those who question the role of criticism in design culture, Walker is an exemplar. To promote his book tour, Walker, a fantatical letterpress maven, has had various printer/poster makers create missives (below) to murket his talks. Read more about the artists and their process here and here and here. Remember this: Consumption is not just an option, it is a way of life. I shop therefore I am.
Books | Design | Shopping
9/11/2008 5:56:15 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Hold the Mao
Posted by Steve
Last year, the German Historical Museum in Berlin mounted an exhibition of political iconography, including propaganda from Fascist Italy, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany. Plans to bring the show to the U.S. were halted in part because of the controversy over exhibiting paintings and posters of Adolf Hitler. Hitler certainly does arouse raw emotions. But last week, an exhibition featuring Mao in all his guises and the art of the Chinese Cultural Revolution opened at the Asia Society in New York and received a respectful review in the New York Times by Holland Cotter. Following the Olympic Games in Beijing and two American political conventions, the show's timing illustrated that, for very different reasons, the art of propaganda in general is on people's minds. Also, I have a book out on totalitarian propaganda campaigns, Iron Fists: Branding the Twentieth Century Totalitarian State, which includes a section on the Chinese efforts to deify Mao (more can be seen here) during the Cultural Revolution. It's extremely important for designers to know how propaganda they create for so many products, ideas, and ideologies plays on the public's mind. The exhibition " Art and China's Revolution" will add to that understanding.
Museums | Propaganda | Travel
9/10/2008 9:59:12 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Deitch's Retrospective of Broken Dreams
Posted by steve
If you're a fan of the original flower child, " Sunshine Girl," as I have been since I was 16 years old, you'll want to see the Kim Deitch retrospective at The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) opening today, September 9th, and running through December 5th. (Reception on September 12). Kim Deitch: A Retrospective will display original comics pages and other work covering the artist's entire career to date, beginning with full-page comic strips drawn for the East Village Other (where I first encountered him) in the ’60s up to recent graphic novels including "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Alias the Cat," "Shadowland," and "Deitch's Pictorama." Rarely seen work, such as elaborate preparatory drawings, hand-colored originals, animation cel set-ups and lithographs, will also be on view. You may even get to see Mr. Deitch himself (bottom left ... I mean right) lurking in the shadows nursing his broken dreams.
Comics | Museums
9/9/2008 5:28:51 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, September 08, 2008
The Power of Baths
Posted by Steve
 If you're ever planning an overnight in Boston, be sure to check out the Boston Public Garden in the Commons and its famous swan boats. If time allows, check into the Taj Hotel (just minutes from the duck pond) and avail yourself of its special Bath Menu. Specifically, the "Make Way for Ducklings" drawn bath serves "as an antidote to jetlag for long distance travelers, a reward at the end of a successful day." If the ducklings in Boston Public Garden could have this bath, the menu says, "they would never leave for the winter." It continues, "This delightfully cozy bubble bath is joined by a playful rubber duck, a mug of hot chocolate or chocolate milk, and freshly baked cookies. Whatever your age, this bath will bring out the child in you. Thirty-five dollars." A bath butler will draw the bath for you fifteen minutes before the desired time. You can't make this stuff up. Just try not to get crumbs in the water, okay?
Shopping | Travel
9/8/2008 5:35:44 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, September 05, 2008
The Power of Symbols
Posted by Steve
Speaking of signs and symbols, what could be more charged than the swastika? The ancient sign, whose origins are not entirely clear, stood for, among other things, good fortune, fertility, and fecundity; it was usurped in the early 20th century by Adolf Hitler, who transformed it into a symbol of a repressive and criminal regime. There is considerable debate whether the Nazi use of the sign forever altered its meaning. I even wrote a book about it. The caption for the photo above (thanks to Jeff Roth) reads, "Indians ban Swastika," Tucson, Arizona, February 27, 1940: "Four Indian tribes of Arizona--Navajos, Papagos, Apache, and Hopis--banned the use of the swastika from all design, whether basket weaving and blanket making." It's one of many instances where the venerable mark was expunged. Yet there is a town in North Ontario, Canada, called Swastika that defied the trend and protested the Nazis by retaining the name to this day (photo below). Who can say a name is just a name, and a sign has no inherent meaning? 
Signage
9/5/2008 5:49:40 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, September 04, 2008
Live Long and Prosper
Posted by Steve
As an antidote to Rudy Guiliani's painfully smug speech at the Republican National Convention last night, I started thinking about Star Trek's Mr. Spock, which caused me to conjure the Vulcan hand sign for "Live Long and Prosper" (one of the most venerated sayings in popular culture). Did you know that the actor Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, created the extraterrestrial sign of hope based on a Jewish cemetery symbol? On old European Jewish tombstones, a carving that shows two hands
arranged for the Priestly Blessing (see above) is the symbol of the Kohen. Kohanim are the direct male descendants
of Aaron, who was the first Kohen and the brother of Moses. Today, if one is so inclined, it is possible to trace a priestly lineage from the tombstones that bear this symbol, which, if you follow the logic, gives new resonance to Mel Brooks' classic Jews in Space. It certainly takes one's mind off Guiliani.
Jewish Culture | Science | Signage
9/4/2008 3:27:38 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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