Archive for June, 2008
CBT Hardcover Edition, originally uploaded by rantzh.
First look at the hardcover edition of Comic Book Tattoo – the Tori Amos comic anthology, designed by Mr & Mrs Muller.
WBR logo
As part of the 23rd International Biennial of Graphic Design in Brno (Czech Republic), Brno Echo: Ornament and Crime from Adolf Loos to Now is an exhibit created & curated by Pentagram’s Abbott Miller built on the visual motif of the original logo for the biennial designed by the Czech designer Jiří Hadlač.
Brno Biennial logo
The exhibit features work across multiple design disciplines that share the visual motif of the original logo through time, and I’m really pleased that the World’s Best Robots logo I designed for Ashley Wood a few years ago is part of this exhibit.
Yes, it’s June, and that can only mean one thing: college graduation. Last weekend we were out and about at Brick Lane and decided to hop in and see some graduation projects on display at the annual Free Range exhibit at the Truman Brewery, anticipating to see some interesting work from this year’s fresh batch of designers unleashed into the wild.
My wife Liz almost immediately commented how depressing the atmosphere was and I had to agree… The floor space was pretty much abandoned in places (maybe because everyone was outside soaking up the sun) and overall the work was pretty average. My immediate reaction was that I could only see maybe half of the people getting a job, if even that. I don’t want to sound overly pessimistic, but out of all the work there were maybe 1 or 2 people that impressed me enough to inspect their work up close. Maybe I was expecting too much and maybe I’d forgotten what it was like when it was my work on show – and I remembered what a thankless effort these graduation shows are. You have your allocated space, and try your best with the limited means available to present your work in an interesting way. You have your business cards next to your work and then for the next 2 weeks or so you hope that someone that is in any position to maybe give you a job might pop in to look at the fruit of your labour.
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Ltd edition book and Case view 2, originally uploaded by rantzh.
CBT editor Rantz has the first photos of the Comic Book Tattoo Ltd. Edition slipcase and cover printer dummies – one month to go until it hits the shops!
I recently completed a poster redesign for Logan’s Run, as part of the Now Showing exhibit curated by Darren Firth/Wear It With Pride and on display at the Cosh gallery in London until the 16th of June 2008.
When Darren invited me to participate I immediately chose Logan’s Run. It’s one of my favourite science fiction movies and a prime example of the dystopian theme in SF movies that were so typical of the 70s – think of Westworld, Silent Running, Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, THX 1138, etc…
Logan’s Run stood out to me, because while it presents a grim future, its also sexy, camp, and very stylized in terms of production design and presenting the future. As an aside – I’ve always felt, and still do, that The Future looks more alien in films from that decade, than, lets say, Minority Report. Back then it seemed they really tried to come up with visuals that were really *out there*, never mind if they were actually feasible, as opposed to the current trend in SF (in movies at least) where they try to make it all believable – resulting in visions that still impress, but they don’t look alien to us.
Logan’s Run 1 sheet, 1976
Anyway, back to Logan’s Run. What was I going to do? The original 1976 one sheet is a classic and so synonymous with the film that I wanted to avoid any similarities with it. Instead of presenting the typical collage shot of the movie, I wanted to pair it down to the single element that ran through the movie: the life clock.
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