GRAPHIC DESIGN BY SAUL BASS.
Many iconic movies of the mid-twentieth century featured the work of this legendary graphic designer. Like these three Hitchcock movies.
He also designed many well-known American logos.
A Google Doodle, lovingly-made by Matthew Cruickshank, celebrated Saul’s birthday. See the animation here: https://goo.gl/yjCZrK
Matthew’s website: http://yecrookedlegge.com
GUILLAUME KURKDJIAN’S WORK IS TONS OF FUN.
These graphics feel like breath of fresh air, coming straight from Paris. In terms of engagement, they hit all the right notes. See a lot more on Guillaume’s website: https://guillaumekurkdjian.com
Below, some retro tech animations.
Icons for La Poste, the French postal service.
For Welcome to the Jungle, a French recruitment company.
Problems parking the camper van.
Another animation for Welcome to the Jungle.
Cityscapes of New York and Philadelphia for NRG Energy, a U.S. power company.
Animated icons for Le Tank, a coworking space in Paris.
TWENTIETH-CENTURY PERSUASION.
It was a different world back then. Everyone smoked, even astronomers in the observatory.
“Have I discovered a new galaxy, or is it just the smoke from my cigarette?”
Your doctor would recommend his favorite brand of cigarettes.
Even Santa liked a few puffs before getting on his sleigh.
Airline food in the 1950s.
The modern reality.
Cars clearly were glamorous. It’s a shame that they would only go a few miles on a gallon of gasoline.
“Flight-Sweep Styling.” Chrome-cleaner anyone?
In those days, babies drank soda.
DESIGNS TO AIM AT.
Abstract shooting targets.
Vintage hunting practice.
Crosshair bomb target in Nevada. Northwest of Las Vegas.
Reminds me of the registration marks we used in mechanical artwork: https://wp.me/p7LiLW-Mw
The mysterious Nevada Desert Triangle, which is nearby. These targets are about 60 miles (97 km) from Area 51.
And one in Xinjiang, China.
Images from Google maps.
From Wikipedia: “Darts is the sport in which small missiles are thrown at a circular dartboard fixed to a wall.”
Archery has a very long history, and it became an Olympic sport in 1900.
Not a real target, but a very well-known logo. One of the largest retail store companies in the U.S.
MINIATURE ARCHITECTURE.
I have a collection of small metal souvenir buildings, and only ones that I have seen for real, except for the Trylon and Perisphere (the centerpiece of the 1939 New York World’s Fair). For more detailed information on all this, please contact my therapist.
These little architectural caricatures sit on a shelf in my studio, and they‘ve influenced the way that I draw landmarks on maps. I’m trying to capture the key elements of the structures, and a strict aerial view is often not the best way to convey the feeling of a building, especially at a small size. There’s nothing original about this thinking, pictorial map-makers have been doing this kind of thing for a very long time. My two posts about Bollmann Maps showed the work of their illustrated map craftsmen.
https://wp.me/p7LiLW-Ak
https://wp.me/p7LiLW-X8
I clearly am not in the elevated category of Bollmann, as my maps have buildings that are closer to pictograms than they are to architectural renderings. Here are some examples of the metal buildings’ effect on my projects.
There are plenty of interesting buildings to draw in Rotterdam.
A detail.
The landmarks of Paris. My Eiffel Tower model came in handy here.
Post-2001 plans for Lower Manhattan. This and the previous two maps are from Condé Nast Traveler.
Jogging around Chicago.
And around Tokyo. Both maps are from Runner’s World.
MICRONESIAN CARTOGRAPHY.
These charts were used by the inhabitants of the Marshall Islands to navigate their canoes. Shells represent islands. The ribs (made from the midribs of coconut fronds) show ocean swell patterns and currents. Often, only the person who made the map understood it, as there was no standardization between charts. The map-making process was handed down from father to son over many generations. A map was studied before a trip and was not referred to during the voyage.
There were three types of maps:
Mattang
An abstract small chart, used for teaching only.
Meddo
A close-up of a few islands with the main ocean swells.
Rebbelib
Shows a whole chain of islands and the swell patterns.
This mapping system was not revealed to Westerners until 1862, when a missionary reported it in “Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle.”
THE PATTERNS IN OUR CHOICE OF PAINTWORK.
The second of two posts that show creative video. The first one, about Black Sheep Films, is here: https://wp.me/p7LiLW-2aZ
Cy Kuckenbaker (based in San Diego) uses special effects to give us an idea of the relative numbers of various car colors. This seems connected visually to the “Rush Hour” video in Monday’s post, except that these really are the numbers of cars that drove past. Five minutes of footage is reorganized to put some order into the chaos. I wish I could see the world everyday with this kind of infographic vision.
The video: https://vimeo.com/82038912
More about car colors.
The 1996 Volkwagen Golf Harlequin gave owners four colors in one model.
A color chart from 2012, but the numbers may not be much different today. My car is silver (I’m sure you were desperate to know that.)
Ursus Wehrli rearranges a parking lot to reveal some color data. See more of his work in this post: https://wp.me/p7LiLW-Z4
ALTERNATE REALITY FROM BLACK SHEEP FILMS.
This week’s posts both feature creative video. Fernando Livschitz, who is based in Buenos Aires, uses special effects to create these dream-like videos. The fantasy elements are set against everyday urban backgrounds.
These are three of my favorites.
Giant tin toys (above and below)
Wind up Bots: https://vimeo.com/86907417
Warped transport
Perspective: https://vimeo.com/224876461
Traffic nightmare
Rush Hour: https://vimeo.com/106226560
Fernando’s website: https://www.bsfilms.me
As a footnote, I just happen to have one of those rockets (in the tin toys video) on a shelf in my house.
TIME FOR AN INFOGRAPHIC RECHARGE.
Soon people who love infographics and data visualization will converge on Pamplona (Spain) to find out what’s happening in the industry, and set themselves up for a great year of graphics. The M26 conference is from March 14 to March 16. A list of speakers is here: https://goo.gl/CG3Jf5
And registration is here: https://goo.gl/GfNmwZ
For six days, the University of Navarra is the center of our infographic universe. M26 starts with a long-established (and widely recognized) workshop for professionals, which I was involved in for many years. That runs from March 11 to 14. This year, the instructors are Fernando Baptista (National Geographic), Larry Buchanan (New York Times) and Javier Zarracina (Vox): https://goo.gl/AUNFmc
I’m running an international student workshop, along with Lisa Borgenheimer who is a professor at the Free University of Bolzano in Italy. Nine of our School of Visual Communication students are taking part. Which has nothing to do with the image below from 2012, when I was making a presentation celebrating the twentieth-anniversary of the Malofiej event. I’ve put it in here just because I like it.
Photo illustration by Neria Armendáriz.
And now… some other M26 examples.
The M26 constellation is about 5,000 light-years away. There’s probably several planets with infographics in amongst these stars. Do they use script fonts? Have they discovered pie charts?
A vintage tank. We all like making graphics about military equipment…
Photograph by Sgt. Frank C. Kerr.
…and racing cars. This is a 1976 M26 McLaren.
Photograph by John Chapman.
An motorway in my home county, Kent (U.K.)
