Michael Dooley

Hitler declared his paintings degenerate. Of course, Lyonel Feininger was actually one of the 20th century's most important American avant-garde artists: at various times a Cubist, Expressionist, and Secessionist. He's also well known as one of the Bauhaus's original faculty, and was even a distinguished newspaper comic strip artist. But a photographer? Really? Truth is, [...]

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David Mayes is proud to be a CMYK guy in an RGB world. He's in sales – and community outreach – at Typecraft Wood & Jones. This Pasadena, CA company has roots dating back to 1907 and a reputation for handling the most demanding designers. Clients range from universities and non-profits to museums and fine [...]

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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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This is the second half of my interview with Claudia Bohn-Spector and Sam Mellon, curators of Speaking in Tongues: Wallace Berman and Robert Heinecken, 1961 – 1976, a Pacific Standard Time exhibition currently at the Armory Center for the Arts. In part one we discussed Berman and Heinecken as designers, jokesters, and rear-guard revolutionaries. . [...]

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Several decades before AdBusters, there was Wallace Berman and Robert Heinecken. Hardly anyone knew that these two media-manipulating L.A. hipster artists were intimates, beginning in the early 1960s. But now their relationship has been exposed to the public for the very first time. Naked women are also involved. A lot of naked women. And drugs [...]

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Biased. Disrespectful. Offensive. All sterling job qualifications for any good editorial cartoonist. But "racist"? Woah! Thomas Nast was the granddaddy of the American political cartoon. And having lived in New Jersey, he's been nominated for induction into the state's 2012 Hall of Fame. But last month, legislators of both political parties fought to take his [...]

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This is a follow-up to my earlier post on holiday gift suggestions for people who like their art, and art catalogs, served with a hearty helping of design content. . Catalog L.A.: Birth of an Art Capital 1955-1985 Centre Pompidou exhibition catalog For graphic design enthusiasts, the best overview of Southern California's current Pacific Standard [...]

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Forget the Rose Parade; the real reason to be in L.A. right now is Pacific Standard Time... the arts program, not just the zone. A six-month "happening" that kicked off in October, PST is the largest collaborative art project ever undertaken in Southern California. Over 60 museums, galleries, and other institutions allow us to immerse [...]

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  You've read Steve Heller's effusive review of Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design in the N.Y. Times this past Sunday; it's the one that concludes, "... an essential portrait of a designer who successfully balanced art and commerce, and who remains an influence on contemporary graphic and motion design." Well, Pat Kirkham [...]

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The posters beckon us to unite against economic inequality, exploitation, and oppression. They could be signs from an Occupy rally, or even from AIGA's recent national conference [right]. But at Cal State Long Beach they're part of Peace Press Graphics 1967–1987: Art in the Pursuit of Social Change. Organized by the University Art Museum and [...]

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