Sergio Membrillas – Illustrated Music Packaging.

Amy@AQ-V — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:12:43 +0000

Sergio Membrillas is a freelance illustrator based in Valencia, Spain boasting national and international clientele. His portfolio is loaded with playful imagery moving in step across a variety of editorial and advertising projects including music-related works like above which I am particularly fond of. Follow the name link to see much more.

[ All work & images © Sergio Membrillas ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Psst… to keep up to date:

You can grab the
AQ-V RSS Feed
And follow
AQ-V on Twitter
And/or the
AQ-V Fan Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Portfolio Magazine, 1949–1951.

Sandi Vincent — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:09:32 +0000

Portfolio – Volume 2
Cover features design for a kite by Charles Eames,
reproduced from his original paste-up made with swatches of colored tissue paper

Portfolio Volume 1
Cover design by Alexey Brodovitch

Portfolio – Volume 1
Back cover design by Alexey Brodovitch

Voting Booths – Volume 3
Painting by Ben Shahn for Container Corporation’s series “Great Ideas of Western Man”

Optician’s shop window – Volume 1
by Irving Penn

Kite – Volume 2
Charles Eames design for a kite, pasted up from brilliant swatches of paper

Cattle Brands – Volume 2
Back cover inset from an article on the same (cattle brands)

Constellations – Volume 3
Floating shapes of brightly colored wooden shapes by Alexander Calder

Portfolio – Volume 3
Cover design by Paul Rand

Poster – Volume 1
by E. McKnight Kauffer, 1938

[ All images © ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

There once was, for a brief and brilliant time, a wondrous experiment in design arts publishing entitled PORTFOLIO, a magazine created under the leadership of Frank Zachary and George S. Rosenthal (editors) and legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch (art editor). I’ve spent some time puzzling over how to best describe this treasure chest, crammed cover to cover with all manner of visual delights. Only three volumes were published, each issue exquisitely crafted and curated.

The idea for Portfolio took root in 1949, when publisher George Rosenthal Jr. suggested to Zachary “that they create a magazine for America such as Graphis was for Europe, only not so rigid in format. “The format itself should be a graphic experience,” says Zachary.” (Frank Zachary Bio by Steven Heller, AIGA) Portfolio’s art director was Alexey Brodovitch, best known for his pioneering art direction at Harper’s Bazaar.

The highest quality materials were used in producing the magazine and incorporated inserts such as 3D glasses, wallpaper samples and shopping bags. Dissatisfied with the types of ads they received, the decision was made to not include advertising. Zachary explains, “George and I spared no expense in buying the best paper and the best of everything else that we could. Then we decided to sell advertising. Well, we hated the ads we got. So we said, ‘Hell, we’re not going to mar our beautiful magazine with these cruddy ads.’ We were terribly idealistic.” (AIGA)

Volume 1 was published in 1949, first issue contents featuring work by future icons Paul Rand, Saul Steinberg and E. McKnight Kauffer. Volume 2, a personal favorite, shared the incredible design for a kite by Charles Eames. Volume 3 gave us work by Ben Shahn, examples of stereoscopy and an extended visit with Alexander Calder’s work. The contents are so much more than what I’ve listed and, hopefully, we will someday see a reissue of them.

See more >> Portfolio Magazine flickr set
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sandi Vincent grew up in the bay area of California surrounded by mid-century modern architecture and other influences responsible for her affinity for the period and its pop style, including her early exposure to The Monkees, The Avengers and Gerald McBoing-Boing. Sandi now resides in Portland. In her day job at a community foundation, she sports the web/social media/print materials coordinator title.

Follow Sandi on Twitter > @SandiV
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Psst… to keep up to date:

You can grab the
AQ-V RSS Feed
And follow
AQ-V on Twitter
And/or the
AQ-V Fan Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ryan Tym – Typographic Hitchcock Prints.

Amy@AQ-V — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:00:38 +0000

The Birds – Hitchcock Collection – Limited Edition Print

Psycho – Hitchcock Collection – Limited Edition Print

Saboteur – Hitchcock Collection – Limited Edition Print

Rope – Hitchcock Collection – Limited Edition Print
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

UK designer Ryan Tym has recently released a brilliant set of limited edition typographic prints celebrating classic films by the master of suspense, iconic filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. The print designs are based on Ryan’s original dvd covers featured on AQ-V back in 2010. Learn more about his flagship Hitchcock Collection project here. You will find Ryan’s beautifully spare limited edition prints up for sale in his new shop.

2012 marks the 90th anniversary of what is believed to be Alfred Hitchcock’s first directorial effort: an unfinished, now lost silent film called No. 13. To commemorate this event 90 editions of minimalist images from The Hitchcock Collection are available to buy.

The supporting text on the poster highlights the film title and year of release, as well as the hand numbered limited edition.

[ All work & images © Ryan Tym ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Psst… to keep up to date:

You can grab the
AQ-V RSS Feed
And follow
AQ-V on Twitter
And/or the
AQ-V Fan Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Vintage German Book Covers.

Amy@AQ-V — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:19:30 +0000

Konrad Lorenz: Er redete mit dem Vieh, den Vögeln und den Fischen
( Konrad Lorenz: He talked to the animals, the birds and the fish )
Cover art/design by Celestino Piatti, 1983
A sample of Mr. Piatti’s iconic design work for Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag (DTV)

Erzählungen der Gegenwart VI
( Tales of the Presence of VI – Reading Series, 1969 )

[ All images © ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

This is an abbreviated post as I am heading out of town soon for a few days. Above is a pair of German book covers I recently came across at the thrift. Mr. Piatti’s iconic animal illustration immediately caught my eye. And what’s not to enjoy about the bold modernist red and black cover from the 1960s. Unfortunately I can not find the designer listed.

If my German translations are off, please somebody correct me.

Happy weekend!
–Amy
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Psst… to keep up to date:

You can grab the
AQ-V RSS Feed
And follow
AQ-V on Twitter
And/or the
AQ-V Fan Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

AQ-V Sponsors » Matte Stephens & Kate Banazi.

Amy@AQ-V — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:39:19 +0000

I am quite thrilled to welcome both Matte Stephens and Kate Banazi to the sidebar here on the site. Both are enormously talented studio artists and commercial illustrators with well deserved followings. Additionally, these two are a couple of the nicest people on the planet. Kate’s screen prints are signed with bold graphics oft including moving visual optics and spacemen. Matte’s signature paintings are happy and innocent—full of playful human and animal adventures and shapes with a thoroughly retro tone. Visit their shops to see much more of their work. It will make great wall swag.

Do you yourself create merch that designer types would dig? Then consider becoming an AQ-V sponsor as we like good stuff around here. Spots are limited to maximize exposure. Contact me for information about rates. I look forward to hearing from you.
. . . . . . . . . .

Now on the flip side and unfortunately a less cheery note I need to make mention of the ad network I recently left after a significant time. I have never used AQ-V as a platform to review companies or otherwise but I feel a responsibility to offer a brief heads up to fellow design publishers. And it reads like this… I advise avoiding the InfluAds network. That is if you value getting paid and getting paid in a timely manner per the agreed terms without hassles and defensiveness; sound and consistent business policies; and also if you enjoy working with professional, scrupulous people. Exceptions exist such as you likely will have a better experience with this company if you are one of their larger publishers that has been guaranteed a sizable sum each month even in the absence of adequate advertisers.

InfluAds began in earnest start-up fashion with a conscientious person at the helm but sadly the CEO seems to have lost his center and in the process the company has lost credibility. I am speaking directly to the CEO’s leadership and posture. I have no complaints about the limited staff I have interacted with. Independent information and reviews of the various design advertising networks are needed online but do not seem to be present at this time.

Carry on!
–Amy
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Psst… to keep up to date:

You can grab the
AQ-V RSS Feed
And follow
AQ-V on Twitter
And/or the
AQ-V Fan Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Photo Essay – Eames House, 1950.

Amy@AQ-V — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:59:39 +0000

An extensive photo collection of iconic designers Charles and Ray Eames in their new California home can be found in the LIFE image archives hosted by Google. The photographs above and below were all shot by veteran LIFE magazine photographer Peter Stackpole for a short print feature entitled A Designer’s Home of His Own: Charles Eames builds a home of steel and glass published September 11, 1950:

Charles Eames, whose stark, comfortable chairs in the last five years have made him the best-known U.S. designer of modern furniture and a winner in the Museum of Modern Art furniture competition, recently designed a house and adjoining studio for himself near Santa Monica, Calif. As might be expected of a man whose chief concerns are simplicity, functionalism and economy, Eames’ own house is simply built of steel trusses, bright stucco panels and great curtained expanses of glass. It is extraordinarily functional, built for a couple that likes to live without servants or cocktail parties and work surrounded by the varied objects that interest them. And when work or contemplation pall, the Eameses have the ocean just across the meadow from their home.

[ Images via LIFE photo archives / ©LIFE ]

Charles Eames shows an earnest, reticent, eternally bow-tied man of 43.

Exterior view of Charles Eames house, showing how it nudges into a hillside.

Designer Charles Eames sitting on a beach near his home.

Chairs designed by Charles Eames made of molded plastic and plywood.

Charles Eames spinning a new toy of colored cardboard sections which are easily joined by a child to form odd shapes.

Natural designs embodies in Mojave desert plants fascinate Eames, who likes to mount them on the wall of his studio. From them, he says, he gets ideas for his own designs. The studio’s equipment includes a 22-foot tack board for such specimens and experimental designs and a photographic darkroom.

Spiral staircase in Charles Eames’s home is made of steel I-beam section, pipe, and plywood, wooden hand hanging from step is a Brazilian good-luck symbol. Girl climbing staircase is photographer’s daughter Kathy.

[ Images via LIFE photo archives / ©LIFE ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Psst… to keep up to date:

You can grab the
AQ-V RSS Feed
And follow
AQ-V on Twitter
And/or the
AQ-V Fan Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Craft Horizons Magazine – Part 3.

Sandi Vincent — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:01:46 +0000

July/August 1956
Special issue on Japan, Finland and Italy
Cover design: Ivan Chermayeff, interpreting the issue’s special theme: Japanese paper at the top is intersected by the white cross-on-blue of the Finnish flag, both superimposed on birch wood; the Italian marble at the bottom is overlaid with mosaic tesserae.

September/October 1954
Polychrome decorated faïence pieces by Stig Lindberg.

January/February 1955
Cover design: Fernand Léger‘s four-tile relief Femme et enfant sur un fond jaunes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

September/October 1954
Cover design by Gloria Finn, featuring a rug by Hans Moller, “Meteor”.

February 1957
Cover design: Pin of gold and turquoise by Ruth Clark Radakovich. Cover photo by Frank Guida.

January/February 1958
The world of the microscope suggested these studies in wood by Jan de Swart.

September/October 1952
Pineapple planter manufactured by Robert F. Gottschalk, NYC, designed by Andrée Francis and Reta Shacknove. Cover design by Sydney Butchkes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

March/April 1954
Stone and ivory carvings by Eskimos of the Eastern Arctic, arranged by Sydney Butchkes. Angry Owl by Kipekilik of Povungnetuck; Man on Walrus Head with Fish by Ningeeuk. Both artists from East Coast Hudson Bay.

September/October 1952
Stoneware in primitive and unique forms, characteristic Swedish surface patters; the expression of ceramicists designing for the Rörstrand factory near Stockholm. Carl-Harry Stalhane designed the tall vases in center; others by Gunnar Nylund, Hertha Bengstsson, Maria Hackman.

September/October 1953
Cover design adapted from a wallpaper design by Marion V. Dorn, consultant designer for C.H. Maseland & Sons and Edward Fields Inc.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

January 1958
Cover design: Jan de Swart‘s sculptured form sawed from wood. It is balancing three plastic spheriods that demonstrate the mysterious light-transmitting properties of the medium. “The de Swart cover story was a response to the deluge of reader inquiries about art possibilities of plastic.”

[ All images © ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A new bounty of covers and artisan work from my elaborate stash of vintage modern Craft Horizons magazines. See Part 1 and Part 2.

See more >> Craft Horizons flickr set
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Follow Sandi on Twitter > @SandiV
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Psst… to keep up to date:

You can grab the
AQ-V RSS Feed
And follow
AQ-V on Twitter
And/or the
AQ-V Fan Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Logo Collection – Number Theory, 1960s/70s – Part 2.

Amy@AQ-V — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:04:53 +0000

One Oliver Plaza
Designed by Francis R. Esteban (USA)

Graphis Magazine 25th Anniversary
Designed by Lubalin, Smith, Cornase (USA)

Daisan Mutual Finance Bank
Designed by ?

Funk Taxi AG
Designed by Peter Billiger (Switzerland)

New Years Magazine Issue
Designed by Abram Games (Great Britain)

Toyo Rayon Co. Ltd.
Designed by Takeshi Otaka (Japan)

American Broadcasting Co.
Designed by G. Dean Smith (USA)

8th Exhibition of Italian Furniture
Designed by Aiberto Longhi (Italy)

Kyuyo Kajino
Designed by Kyuyo Kajino, 1968 (Japan)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As promised here is the second part of a two-part series of international digit-centric trademarks. (See Part 1.) These logos are sourced from Trade Marks & Symbols, Volume 2: Symbolical Designs, part of a comprehensive hardback set brimming with thousands of modern logos. The series is edited by notable Japanese graphic designer Yasaburo Kuwayama, published in 1973.

>> More classic logos on AQ-V + flickr

Psst… to keep up to date:

You can grab the
AQ-V RSS Feed
And follow
AQ-V on Twitter
And/or the
AQ-V Fan Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Modernist Album Covers, 1960s/70s.

Amy@AQ-V — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:26:04 +0000

Ravel: Bolero – The London Festival Orchestra conducted by Stanley Black
London Records, 1964

( Back cover )

Leonid Hambro & Jascha Zayde – Magnificent Two-Piano Performances
Command Records, 1961 / Cover art by Josef Albers, Art direction by Charles E. Murphy

The Red Army Ensemble Vol. 2 / Angel Records, 1963

Now Sounds / Seeburg Music Library, 1969
( Embossed silkscreen )

Arise & Shine / Jews for Jesus, Hineni Ministries Inc., 1977
Cover design by T. Hall Rodgers

Imperials – Time to Get It Together / Impact Records, 1971
Cover design by Bob McConnell
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

>> See previous album cover features here + flickr

Psst… to keep up to date:

You can grab the
AQ-V RSS Feed
And follow
AQ-V on Twitter
And/or the
AQ-V Fan Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kate Banazi – Fluoro Optics & Astronauts.

Amy@AQ-V — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:09:25 +0000

Astronaut 1 silkscreen poster (detail)

A0 screen print

Sending illustrator friend Marcela Restrepo up the big latter

Abstract 3 silkscreen poster

Limited edition prints & posters

Astronaut 4 silkscreen poster

A0 fluoro 5 screen print

A0 mono prints

Astronaut 1 silkscreen poster

A0 fluoro screen print

Astronaut 7 silkscreen poster

I always get smack gleeful seeing new work from my chum Kate Banazi, a wondrously gifted screen print artist and illustrator who resides down under in Sydney far from her native city of London. Kate’s latest body of graphic infused work is a bit of a departure from her former work and it is all good. Her extraordinary new op art is choc full of fluorescent hues and forms that pop and move and bend in a dynamic visual play. You can see some of the prints are even life size. Kate’s signature astronauts make an appearance here and there. We at AQ-V are big on astronauts.

For those in the Sydney area, you are in an envious position as these monoprints and posters were created for the opening exhibition of Australian furniture company Koskela‘s new showroom (seen above) in Rosebery, Sydney. They remain on exhibit through the end of March and possibly a bit beyond.

See more of Kate’s exhibition prints here and here. Purchase screen prints and limited edition posters in Kate’s shop. (She sends her work around the globe.) Kate’s new graphics have also found their way on to textiles, specifically hand printed duvet covers, available exclusively at Koskela.

Psst… to keep up to date:

You can grab the
AQ-V RSS Feed
And follow
AQ-V on Twitter
And/or the
AQ-V Fan Page

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .