What are the benefits of people learning about mid-twentieth century graphic design?
You look at graphic design every day. Whether it's a website, a piece of junk mail in your mailbox, a menu at a restaurant, or that billboard along the side of the freeway, we all are surrounded by design as we go about our lives ... both good and bad. Most of the time we don't think about the designs we see, but once you begin to ponder questions about why the designer chose a particular typeface, color, or illustration you become more educated in the visual language of our culture.
Sometimes you pick up a well designed object without knowing who the artist or designer is. What awesome discoveries have you made this way?
Collecting and selling is a constant learning process for me, and just about every piece I pick up somehow fits into the grand puzzle and helps bring together the big picture. In my How.Do tutorial I talk a little bit about the designer Ronald Clyne.
Morris & Modernist Design a micro guide by Scott Lindberg on How.Do
When I bought my first Clyne piece, I had no idea who he was—the design just resonated with me. But as I slowly started finding more and more pieces he designed, I began to understand his importance to 20th century design history. He was a freelance designer mostly known for his Folkways covers, which tended to be big, bold, brash typographic designs. I'm most drawn to his relatively overlooked record covers for Columbia, though.
They have a great sensitivity, and his use of typographic dingbats to create pattern fields reminds me a little bit of one of my favorite designers, Alvin Lustig, whose early work employed typographic fragments to construct a design.
Another designer I stumbled on accidentally is M. Peter Piening. When I first saw his work, I was struck by the grand geometric abstraction. And as I learned that he was educated at the Bauhaus under Laszlo Moholo-Nagy, Mies van der Rohe, and Paul Klee, his importance became clear. Many people remember his work in trademark design, but I think the relatively large surface of the 12-inch square of a record sleeve gave him the opportunity to stretch his artistic wings. His work for The American Recording Society is some of my favorite.
Tell us more about your latest find.
I haven't been out picking much new stuff up lately, but I did go out "hunting" a couple weeks ago and came home with a few things. There was nothing earth shattering in the random assortment of books and records I brought home, but it is a nice survey across mid-twentieth century designers. This jumble includes record cover designs by the husband and wife team of Clare Romano and John Ross, Milton Glaser, M.Peter Piening, and the design studio of Robert Brownjohn, Ivan Chermayeff, and Tom Geismar. There were also a handful of books, designed by the likes of Seymour Chwast, Leo Lionni, Milton Glaser, and Roy Kuhlman.
My favorite piece found that day, however, is an anonymous musical pamphlet designed in 1958 for the Girl Scouts of the USA. The hand drawn typography employed on this cover is incredibly reminiscent of the great jazz illustrator Jim Flora.
And while it's not the latest piece I have purchased, the latest design I have bought specifically for my own collection is a rare Alvin Lustig record design for the opera Lulu. This design was only discovered by collectors as a Lustig design in the past 6 months or so, and is one of only a few LP sleeves he is known to have designed.
Check out more smile-inducing William Morris-inspired projects over at how.do/williamsbday!
Your blog The Desi Wonder Woman is hilarious and now we have your new blog to look forward to. How did the DIY section first come about?
DIY has slowly developed from a hobby to something I love to do now! My blog is aimed towards a combination of food, DIY and life in general. I would ideally be doing one DIY project every week, and have just started with this stamped wall :)
What is it about vintage book pages that inspires you to use them in new ways?
The illustrations used in the show cabinet makeover was inspired by my love for illustrations in general. I love black & white and wanted to add a statement piece to my entryway. Having a fascination for anatomical illustrations particularly, I decided to work with them.
DIY FURNITURE FACELIFT a micro guide by Shehzeen Rehman on How.Do
Check out more smile-inducing William Morris-inspired projects over at how.do/williamsbday!
I originally made a zine thinking of it as a little art portfolio and outlet for my creativity.Then, when I started to get into the zine community I noticed that there weren't many in the fashion/art space. That's when it hit me that I should make it! I also wanted to collaborate with other creators to inspire even more people.
HOW TO MAKE MINI ZINE a micro guide by Friedia on How.Do
I named the project Prism Cloud because we, the creators, go through this cloud (the zine) and a beautiful rainbow comes out. Hopefully, raining out creativity for others! Cheesy I know.... so maybe I will just say " I like triangles and rainbows" instead!
What did you learn along the way creating the "CAT" issue, from inspiration to making and distribution?
I learned that everyone has an endless amount of creativity. If you don't stop yourself it can feel like overload. It's important to edit and not just sandwich ALL of your ideas into one zine! Also, during creation or right BEFORE, you might see all these other zines and get intimidated. Just remind yourself that you are just doing you and that's what makes it different and special!
As for distribution, the zine community is getting bigger so the good part is that there are so many new zine stores, online shops and even libraries that you can be a part of now.
The downside is that there are so many new creators that it's more of a struggle to standout (although I don't think it's a competition since everyone's different). That's why selling your zine yourself on Etsy is such a great outlet. Self promote! And don't be afraid to go into stores to see if they will carry it. You will be surprised with the response you will get. I feel like everyone is always looking for new creators of all kinds. And you could be the next one!
You can find more work by Friedia on Facebook and be sure to check out more smile-inducing William Morris-inspired projects over at how.do/williamsbday!
How did the "DIY Inspiration" column on the PostalPix blog come about?
It started organically from all of our customers! We started with just the idea of printing, but when customers started tagging us in on their projects on Instagram and Facebook, we knew we had something special on our hands. Once we started sharing those projects to our own Instagram feed, we saw the responses start pouring in with how much it inspired others and it was then that we decided to start the blog.
HOW TO MAKE A DIY ALBUM a micro guide by PostalPix on How.Do
What's the coolest DIY project you've seen someone use PostalPix prints for?
We get a ton of creative projects from all sorts of people, but one of our favorites has to be the Instagram Map. Mimi created her own map of New Zealand. She mapped out the places she went to while she was there and attached photos. We love that we can help create memories like this and it was awesome to see her take some simple photos and turn it into a work of art.
Check out more smile-inducing William Morris-inspired projects over at how.do/williamsbday!
I love being creative and have had friends and family say "I wish I could do that" so creating the DIY kits was an easy way to allow them to DIY with me!
Any ideas for personalizing one of these pillows as a gift for someone?
I would use the leather cord and create their monogram with it. Monograms are very popular now and I think it would look cool to have a 3D monogram on a pillow.
And now, here's her excellent How.Do to kick off William Morris' birthday celebration of all things textile and book inspired:
DARBY SMART PILLOW COVER a micro guide by Christen Gregory on How.Do
Like what you see? Follow @howdotdo and @cottonandcrumb on Instagram for more bursts of DIY goodness.
Check out more smile-inducing William Morris-inspired projects over at how.do/williamsbday!
This arts & crafts renaissance man is known for ushering the golden rule: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. Almost 150 years later and this piece of advice is still valid. Here's a glimpse of the exclusive DIYs to come:
MINI GREETING FLIPBOOK a micro guide by Missy Messy on How.Do
Now it's your turn to post your own William Morris-inspired How.Do for the chance to be featured amongst today's top DIYers!
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