Graphic Journey Blog

Happy Thanksgiving Day.

I wish all of my American friends a very happy, peaceful and loving Thanksgiving Day.

The wisdom of Wolff

Earlier this week my very good friend Michael Wolff was made a Royal Designer – and about time too. He is a man of great wisdom and a man who still has a child in his heart.

In this little video he talks about the designer’s three most important muscles and how to look after them. Inspiring stuff. Enjoy HERE. 

 

Friday musing

D&AD, one step forward, two steps back.

I went along to the D&AD annual launch recently and amidst the bustling twenty somethings was a large, wall-mounted diagram plotting the carbon footprint and the environmental credentials of the new annual. It was hailed as “most sustainably produced title to date. Its carbon footprint is 82% less than the 2010 edition.”

Very good I thought, as I had been an outspoken critic of last year’s annual.

Driving back home I thought well, at last D&AD seem to be not just listening to its critics, but more importantly, doing something about it. But then this happened…

Door buzzer…

‘Hello’.

‘Oh hi, Postman here. Is that Mike Dempsey?’

‘Yes’.

 ‘I have a package for you, but it doesn’t have your flat number on it’.

 ‘Number 1, first floor, come up.’

 I sign for an oversized A4, white jiffy bag…

Open it. A black box…

 Inside the box this…

A 'Slice'

I read the contents of the accompanying letter. It informs me that this is a D&AD pencil ‘slice’ and I have received it for being ‘in book’.  Then my brain starts to calculate how many projects are included in the book. A hell of a lot.

Let’s say the approximate number of creative companies mentioned in the book, and therefore qualifying for a ‘slice’, is 1000.  If you were to put these beautiful hand made little boxes end to end, they would rise 93 feet above St Paul’s Cathedral.

Suddenly all that ‘the most sustainable ever’ philosophy evaporated. And just as that D&AD flappy flag project of a few years ago got up my nose, so too has this ‘slices’ extravaganza.

I am all for celebrating achievements. But an award for being in the book, at such a wasteful price? Am I alone on this?

Next I’ll be getting an award for being listed in Yellow Pages.

D&AD are being completely inconsistent in their newfound environmental policy. They should forget all this wasteful nonsense and get their basic communications sorted. A human being at the other end of the phone when you call, and accurate information on the website would be a great start.

 

 

 

Lest we forget

Sam Serif # 30

Japanese jewels

While thinking of the plight of the Japanese community (my last post), I thought I’d share some of these graphic gems from the 1950s and 60s….

Ikko Tanaka 1959

1962

1964

1959 – 1962

The Magazine for the Sogetsu Art Center ( above and below) from 1960 to 1969

Below a children's book by Ryohei Yanagihara 1959

Below designed by Gan (Iwao) Hosoya 1960

Art Tails

A few months ago I took part in Art Tails (my contribution above and below). A project set up to help the people of  Tohoku - the hardest hit area of Japan by the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.  

A group of Japanese artists joined together in an effort to help Tohoku in a simple, yet creative way. They in turn reached out around the world to the wider creative community.

The result is an astonishing body of work donated freely by all concerned to help with this needy cause.  You too can access this work by downloading an Apple App. It costs only 1 US dollar.

It will go towards the many volunteers still working hard to help alleviate the plight of the people of Tohoku.  So instead of having that next café latte or bottle of Bud please donate the money to the Art Tails project right here. 

(I) Need to talk about Kevin

In recent months I have seen 3 films that have left the audience in total silence as the final credits roll. Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, Lars von Trier’s Melancholia and last night Lynnne Ramsay’s We Need to talk About Kevin. This latter is a relentless attack on the emotions, with no relief whatsoever.

Edited in a mosaic of scenes placed out of conventional chronology and laced with the addition of ambient images throughout. From its opening scene, which features a gently billowing curtain floating in white light, it builds to reveal a harrowing portrait of a woman, not only victimised by all around her, but with an entrenched guilt of her on part in the tragedy that unfolds during the film's fragmented structure.  This leads to an esculating series of extremely unpalatable events that disturbs the senses long after the film has ended. 

My difficulty with Ramsey’s is her over-manipulation of the audience. This was achieved through the casting (no one looks normal). The architecture (akin the Nightmare on Elm Street). The interiors (very Lynchian in their soullessness. The colour palette (cold with Hichcockian flashes of symbolic red throughout). The music (50s and 60 pop intertwined with electronic tension) plus the many randomly framed images that become super charged with menace. It was a relentless journey that became more horrific with every step. 

It left me wondering why I had paid money to put myself through such an ordeal. It was without doubt one of the most unpleasant films I have ever seen. And despite my admiration for Ramsay’s ability I would not recommend it to anyone.

The world we live in at the moment is filled with horrors flashed to our TV screens everyday. This film is an unnecessary addition.

Wise words