Branding

Before Punk and later Steampunk there was Erector punk. Well, it wasn't called that. Yet there were punk kids who loved toying with Erector sets. The kid above is the personification of joyful madness that many Erectorphiles experienced. Erector, invented by A.C. Gilbert and director of the eponymous Hall of Science on 5th Avenue and [...]

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Between the turn of the century and the late 1920s when the so-called "Object Poster" had reached a peak, the most effective posters were those that could be printed in both enlarged and reduced formats without sacrificing any essential visual information. Lucian Bernhard, father of the Object Poster (sachplakat) in Germany, was associated with the [...]

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As long as advertising has existed, advertisers have looked for places to affix their advertisements. Bananas were the big thing in the 90s. Thermometers were the big thing in the 30s. It was one place, among many, that a prospective consumer was certain to look. Here are a few French thermomads (my coinage).

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These simple silk-screened signs from the late 1930s or early 1940s say a lot about the English language and American mores of the times. In just a few words one can guess what kind of establishment (cafe/bar) it was and even speculate as to the clientele. And questions are asked to: Why are ladies not [...]

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A few years back (2003 to be exact) I wrote a story in Print on The NSK State, created in 1992 by the Slovene arts collective Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK), which included the groups Laibach, IRWIN, Noordung, New Collectivism and the Department of Pure and Applied Philosophy. Their trope was needle-sharp parody of Communist and [...]

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What is the role of the printed word and image in collectively inciting societies to brand certain members and groups as evil, and to convince the citizenry to condone—if not incite—murder? During a recent visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, I was reeducated in the power of branding—especially as applied [...]

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Core77 2012 Design Awards celebrates the richness of the design profession and its practitioners, expanding categories, leveraging online scale, increasing transparency and decreasing plane fuel in the process. "For our second year, we present 17 categories of entry, providing designers, researchers and writers a unique opportunity to communicate the intent, rigor and passion behind their [...]

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Mad Men season five… about time! But that new outdoor ad of the guy suspended in white space… what's the big idea? It's certainly eye-catching. And it's already become controversial after just a few days. In those respects it may be meant to announce "Don Draper: the George Lois years." People are offended by the [...]

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Kodak invented digital photography and holds some valuable patents. Yesterday it announced its long sadly anticipated filing for bankruptcy. From the Kodak identity to its products, it has been a mainstay -- and icon of American industry and design. Here's hoping this important company will emerge from Chapter 11 as healthy, wealthy and wise.

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This just in from the folks at House Industries: Fanatical Mechanical: Photo-Lettering and the Paste-Up Era, a new exhibition opening February 6 at Chapman University's Guggenheim Gallery (Feb. 6 through March 9, 2012) displays mechanical-era graphic artifacts with their modern iterations and deftly demonstrates the relevance of traditional graphic arts techniques in a contemporary context. [...]

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