A challenge from Paula Scher.

Tonight I had the pleasure of visiting Pentagram through the Architectural League’s “Drinks With A Designer” series. The event allowed for some casual and wonderful one-on-one conversation with design stars like Michael Bierut and Paula Scher. While chatting with Paula, she offered a solid piece of advice (per usual): “The work needs to get out of your head and on to the table, and it needs to be done from the heart.” My somewhat tongue-in-cheek response was that this was the kind of quote that should be on a T-shirt. To which Paula Scher, one of my design idols, replied “Well, you should design it.”

So Paula (and readers), here are four very simple T-shirt designs done at CustomInk.com and based on work by Paula Scher herself. Let me know your thoughts… and maybe I’ll do another round of designs, outsource the project to a more experienced T-shirt designer (or type setter), and/or even have some made. As is, these shirts would be about $20 each.

all t-shirts by Gisela Garrett using CustomInk.com; all posters/graphics/identities by Paula Scher of Pentagram

My font choice is based on a random interview that I found, which identified Accident Grotesque as Paula Scher’s favorite typeface (update: a reader pointed out that this is likely a misprint that should have instead been “Akzidenz Grotesk” – this is a much more logical answer and will be incorporated in any re-designs of the shirts). Not sure if it’s true or not, but I wanted the font to be inspired by Paula. The lettering on these t-shirts is the closest I could get with CustomInk.

March 22’s daily design idea is Paula Scher’s quote: “The work needs to get out of your head and on to the table, and it needs to be done from the heart.“

“All the World’s a Page”

I recently discovered a really interesting shop called “All the World’s a Page” – which I’d like to share with you in honor of my extreme excitement about seeing the show “Sleep No More” tomorrow night.

All the World’s a Page’s wonderfully executed shtick is that they fit the whole of a narrative onto a single page. Their website kicks off with: “Once upon a time we asked ourselves a peculiar question: could you fit an entire literary work onto a single poster? Would it still be legible? What would it reveal about the hidden structures and rhythms of the text? And how impressed would our friends be if we tried it out? So we did and they were mighty impressed.”

The Tragedy of Macbeth. Two-colour offset (midnight black / blood red). Word count: 17,084. Typeset in 2.45pt Malaga. Printed on 150g Munken Pure Rough.

Faust – Teil 1 & 2. Two-colour offset (poodle black / ginko green). Word count: 88,567. Typeset in 4pt Malaga. Printed on 150g Munken Pure Rough.

“Sleep No More” is a production by my all-time-favorite theater group Punchdrunk, with whom I fell in love when I saw their 2006 production of “Faust” at 21 Wapping Lane in London. The show I’m seeing tomorrow is here in New York, and (as you may have guessed) its roots are in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The biggest reason that I love Punchdrunk’s work is because they create an astonishingly full sense of traveling into the world of the story. You could say that they fit the whole of a narrative into a single building.

March 16’s daily design idea is what other physical forms can contain a literary world?

Happy Holidays!

letterpress poster by Chicago-based starshapedpress, $18 on Etsy

December 24’s daily design idea is Happy Holidays. We’ll see you next year!

Time out for 2D.

While my own work is dominated by the built environment and other 3D media, my interest was recently piqued by the following 2D posters. Thanks to The Donut Project, The Best Part, Creative Review, and others for introducing me to these pieces.

“Glass Half Fuller” (Ode to Buckminster Fuller), limited edition letterpress poster, by Lily Smith-Kirkley and Kim Cadmus Owens; “Oil & Water Do Not Mix,” limited edition poster screen printed with oil from the Gulf of Mexico disaster, project by Happiness Brussels and design by Anthony Burrill (all benefits go to CRCL)

“Ensemble: The Style of Music,” limited edition print, designed by Glenn Michael of Moxy Creative House and illustrated by James Alexander; “Chicago-Style 1893,” limited edition screen printed poster, by Billy Baumann of Delicious Design League

“Monster Friends Poster Series,” limited edition prints, by Familytree

November 7’s daily design idea is I wish I could design posters as well as I can lay out a room. Admiring the work of these awesome artists will have to do for now!

SAVOIR-FAIRE

Re-blogged from The Best Part.
Written by Jason Dean.
Originally posted October 31, 2010.

SOHO20 Gallery (a non-profit art space in NYC) are in the last week of fundraising for SAVOIR-FAIRE, their annual performance art series, and need all the help they can get to make it happen. Donations can be made through their kickstarter profile, so support the arts by giving what you can!

>> October 31’s daily design idea is funding is a wonderful (and much needed) form of participation.

Typographic map posters

Re-blogged from Axis Maps.
Written by Andy Woodruff.
Originally posted September 30, 2010.

“Today we’re pleased to show off a pet project that’s been occupying us off and on for nearly two years. After some emotional separation issues, we are declaring finished a few typographic map posters—one of Boston, and color and black and white flavors of Chicago. Everything in these maps is made of type.

>> more after the jump

Periodic typography lust.

Thanks, Squidspot and Cam Wilde, for the totally cool “Periodic Table of Typefaces.” This thing has gotten so popular that various vendors are now selling it as a poster, moleskin cover, and more… so we’re sharing it here too, just for fun:

September 9’s daily design idea is consider curating a non-physical collection of something beautiful. The digital form of Wilde’s table makes it instantly more sharable.