Publication Design

Lavish graphic design histories are emerging all over the world. The latest to crop up is Linha do tempo do design gráfico no Brasil, written by Chico Homem de Melo and edited and designed by Elaine Ramos, the art director of Editora Cosacnaify, (with a preface by me). This is an ambitious in depth history [...]

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I picked up this book years ago because I was astounded by its naïve “design” and its raw unadulterated (hardly PC) presentation of a GI’s view of the Vietnam War.  I also haven’t seen many cartoon-books done by or about Vietnam GI’s. I wouldn’t go as far as comparing it to Bill Mauldin’s “Up Front” [...]

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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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The Bruce Lee craze of the 1970s produced an endless array of merchandise in the hopes of cashing in on the world-renowned martial artist’s popularity – especially after his untimely death in 1973 at the age of 32. I'd been a fan of his since he'd played "Kato" in the old "Green Hornet" TV series, [...]

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Strike a pose – specifically, a comfy reading position. As we ring in the New Year, iconic magazine Vogue invites us to look back on 120-years of style with their luxe coffee table archive, “Vogue: The Covers.” And just as crazy-excited “Sex and the City” Carrie Bradshaw was to tour the legendary Vogue accessories shoe [...]

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In recent Print magazines, executive editor emeritus Martin Fox has written knowingly about issues and stories from the past 70 plus years. Given the dozen or so articles he's published one can conjure a magazine with a long history that serves as the raw material of design history. Still, there will never be enough issues [...]

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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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It seemed like a fun idea to take advantage of the upcoming holiday season and post a retrospective of some JJSP holiday greeting cards! Even though we did half of them in-house, I have to say that the ones we did with designers and artists OUTside the studio were more fun! It also gave us [...]

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  These days, the so-called San Diego "Comic"-Con's main attraction is sugary TV and movie confectionery. But if you enjoy graphic novels and cartoons – and, well, scary stuff – you may have attended the recent Comic & Horror Con at Long Beach, CA's Convention Center. While SDCC has been around for over 40 years, [...]

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When it comes to using a telephone these days, most people spend more time on a cellular phone than a hardwired device. Even the phonesets we use that are tethered to an outlet tend to be wireless. Folks are cancelling their traditional telephone service in exchange for their cellphone plans. And you can forget payphones [...]

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