Stefan Kanchev, Applied Graphic Artist
• Some of my favorite SK (1915–2001) logos
I just recently discovered the Bulgarian graphic designer — or “applied graphic artist”, as it was called back then — SK and his work.
I have a particular fascination for his logos, which remind me a lot of Anton Stankowski’s marks (PDF). The sheer amount is amazing in itself. Looking closer, you probably won’t find a single logo that isn’t constructed with great precision or unrelated to its subject, form and content in perfect unison.
This site for SK is a great resource that will hopefully grow over time. I’d love to see more projects like this, which preserve the work of great designers.
A Serious Trailer
• Still from the trailer
Apple recently debuted the trailer for the next film by the Coen Brothers, A Serious Man. And it’s definitely one of those rare gems. The rhythm and pacing are brilliant while it builds up to deliver the punchline. I’m so looking forward to the movie, which hopefully is just as good as this glimpse.
Go ahead, watch the trailer for A Serious Man.
We’re gonna be fine.
“Guten Abend. Wir sind die Pet Shop Boys.”
• Pet Shop Boys live in Germany
After 15 years of brief acquaintance, I decided it was time to meet in person.
Their show was one of the best gigs I’ve seen so far. They picked up the Gerhard Richter inspired cube elements from Farrow’s artwork for their latest album and leapt with it into the third dimension. Great entertainment.
But there’s another aspect of that evening that amazed me. What I really loved about the PSB is to which extent they don’t take themselves seriously at all while being very self-conscious about it. To me, this felt more authentic than most musicians who try to act all serious. Achieving this might be the crux of pop music.
Both PSB entered the stage with two dancers, all of them hiding their heads within a cube and played/sang the whole first song holding the microphone to its front side. There is no other band I can think of that could pull off something like they did without feeling ridiculous.
After the show was over, a single song was played as tribute to the recently passed away King of Pop: You Are Not Alone. Pure pop magic.
Art Catalogues from the Past
• Stedelijk by Wim Crouwel, 1971 | Akari by Josef Müller-Brockmann, 1975
Recently, these art catalogues found their way into my collection and made me very happy. It’s not just because they’re made by two of my favorite designers. There is so much thought and craft, you can feel it. In the case of the Stedelijk cover, literally—the letter-pressed black type is gorgeous.
I found the JMB at the design museum bookshop in Zürich and the WC at Counter-Print, which is a wonderful source for out of print gems.
Irma Boom Lecture
• Irma Boom, book designer / rockstar
Just a week after the Swiss Style Forever? panel discussion, IB gave a lecture at the Museum of Design Zürich on the 13th of May.
It was an insightful presentation of her work and the stories behind the making of her books. Sometimes even stories about single pages.
IB uses a camera and a projector to display the pages she flips through while she talks about them. I can’t think of a better or more intimate way to show book projects to a large audience. Currently, she is working on her own monograph. She might find a great way to show books in books, as well.
Swiss Style Forever?
• Lars Müller, Agnès Laube (host), Richard Hollis and Manuel Krebs
On the evening of May 5th in the Museum of Design Zürich, LM, RH and MK argued about the Swiss Style in graphic design. There was no answer concerning its future, of course. But there were many notions about its origins and history.
The panel offered lots of insights into this huge complex. If you want to delve further into this topic, there is a comprehensive book by RH about Swiss Graphic Design.
Jakob Bill, Max Bill’s son, and Johanna Lohse James, Richard Paul Lohse’s daughter, were among the audience. This evening had a particular smell of graphic design history attached to it, which was hard to deny.
Music for the 8bit Generation
• From Mega Man 3 on the NES
Nerd Music is a growing collection of, well, music for nerds and nostalgists. Some of my personal favorites so far: NES-style Drum’n’Base and 8bit Nine Inch Nails.
Boing Boom Tschak
• Kraftwerk live in Wolfsburg
I’ve already seen Kraftwerk live three years ago at a festival. Their setlist didn’t change much, but they played the songs differently this time. Not like a Jazz combo that does an improvisation. It was more about fine-tuning the samples and experimenting with parameters. The songs were perfectly recognizable and still it was fun to discover all the tiny variations.
For the second half of the show, the security passed out 3D glasses and the visuals advanced into the third dimension. It was an amazing experience.
Kraftwerk managed to surprise and impress me again — even though I thought I knew exactly what to expect.
More photos on my Flickr.
For the Love of Vinyl
• Barry 7’s Connectors, designed by Non-Format
Lately, I developed an interest in vinyl records. I’m not sure about a possibly higher audio quality, but the artwork just shines. Apart from the obvious visual obsessions, I actually love the inconvenience you have to go through before you can listen to a song. It makes the whole music experience much more deliberate than iTunes.
Which reminds me of my childhood, when I used to consume music sans computer. Those were the glory days of the Compact Disc, for those who remember.
