Dane Lovett [danelovett.com] is a painter whose work I was introduced to by a friend in Melbourne a few months back. Dane’s subject matter to date, has largely been made up of still-lifes of home taped cassette piles, record sleeves and random domestic plant life, presented in a semi photorealistic manner. Not majorly challenging conceptually or in their execution but super easy on the eye and a thoroughly modern way to inject energy into the age of subject of still life painting.
One of the (many) realisations I’ve had since coming to Amsterdam this time around is that those Dutch masters of design that were drilled into our heads whilst studying had sort of dropped out of my head over the years. In a way it was kind of nice because I started discovering their work a-fresh. I also felt like a bit of a doofus for being amazed by the work of these guys, whose greatness everyone else around seemed to take as godspel.
By way of example may I introduce to you Mr Dick Bruna. Before Miffy (or Nijntje as she’s known in Holland) eclipsed everything else, Mr Bruna was/is a serious (and seriously good) book jacket designer. Did you know this? I felt a bit naive when I worked that out.
Anyways, I stumbled across Boekennacht [boekennacht.nl] whilst loitering about Spui (a public square know for it’s bookstores and open air book fairs) and noticed a few series of boldly graphic book jackets, namely Dutch versions of The Saint and a series of detective novels by Dutch author, Havank. After checking out his signature on the cover (and a little bit of help from Hiyoko Imai [hiyokoimai.com]) I eventually worked out that they were by the guy behind Miffy. I also just found out that Mr Bruna and I share a birthdate. I heart that. :)
Linefeed has travelled, once again, to Amsterdam to spend some more time with the fine folk at Good Inc HQ [goodinc.nl], including editorial design and illustration supremo, Mr Luis Mendo [luismendo.com]. Then we’ll be at the Facing Pages 2012 event in Arnhem from April 20–22 [facingpages.org] (if you’re coming along be sure to come say ‘Hi!’). Before Facing Pages tho, we’ve got a whole brainful of design and Dutch culture orientated stuff to share with you. Hopefully I’ll start getting more and more up here on Linefeed in the coming days for you to peruse.
Lawrence of Belgravia [mubi.com] finally gets a trailer and a vague sort of release date. Yays! A surprise hit at the recent London Film Festival (extra screenings had to be added), it’s a documentary about Felt/Denim/Go-Kart Mozart frontman, Lawrence, directed by Paul Kelly who is best known for his series of films produced with Saint Etienne such as Finisterre and What have you done today, Mervyn Day? [linefeed.me/1660]. Keep an eye on Heavenly Films [heavenlyfilms.net] for more news and details plus you can find out about a few other gems from their collection such as a little series on disappearing cafés in London.
If you’re in London at the mo you could do no better than venturing into Somerset House for Contemporary Graphic Art (ahem… Illustration) Fair, Pick Me Up [somersethouse.org.uk]. Now it’s it’s 3rd year, the fair seems to get fuller and fuller everytime. This year’s Pick Me Up is jam packed (the app is lush too [itunes/pick-me-up]). Seriously, you’ll need to have a bit of a rest half way through and maybe look at a blank wall for a while or something. We’ll definitely be going back for seconds. One of my many, many personal highlights came shoppy bit at the end, and in particular, a collection of publications produced by German indie publishers, Lubok [lubok-books.com] presented by Beach London [beachlondon.co.uk]. A celebration of the raw quality of ink or paper as much as a collectable series of artists monographs, you’ll literally want to pick some of these up to have a bit of a marvel at.
Before ‘the new twee’, before House Industries—at a time in the early 90s, when the word ‘vernacular’ was frequently bantered about—the Charles S Anderson Design Co. [csadesign.com] led the way in a freshly ‘reinvented’ form of distinctly American graphic design. Making a break from the sleek corporatism of the 80s and mired in innumerable discussions about ‘Learning from Las Vegas’ [mitpress.mit.edu] this was a loud and proud celebration of America’s graphic past, in all it’s incarnations, be they lurid or conservative (or an amalgamation of the two, as is what often happened).
Roughly 20 years later, now the dust has settled, CSA Design have built up a massive archive of ephemera and imagery which continues to inform their work as well as allowing them to license artwork for a wide range of products and applications. Their approach hasn’t changed loads over the years, but does continue to evolve, through their long-held association with the French Paper Company [frenchpaper.com] (CSA’s first proper client). Chalres S Anderson Design Co. has also spawned offshoot brands such as CSA Images [csaimages.com] and PopInk [frenchpaper.com/popink]. Most recently they have helped launched the 140th anniversary of the French Paper Company with a series of illustrated portraits of various members of the company.
If this renewed interest in the ‘vernacular’ (see [hipsterbranding.tumblr.com]—and that’s the first and last time I use the ‘H’ word on this here blog) continues, there’s a good chance CSA will be in the spotlight once again. After all, they are the real(ish) deal.
In this second edition of the Linefeed Reading List for 2012, I’m ‘on me tod’, prattling on about magazines and what they look like (in case you weren’t sure). Plus there’s a plug for the Facing Pages 2012 magazine event taking place from April 20–22 in Arnhem—more info via [facingpages.org]. Mags perused in this here video include Dazed & Confused [dazeddigital.com] / Archivist [archivist.cc] / Oh Comely [ohcomely.co.uk] / Vogue U.K. [vogue.co.uk] / Monocle [monocle.com] / The Ride Journal [theridejournal.com] / Anorak‘s Happy Book [anorakmagazine.com] / Crack [crackmagazine.net] / Garage [garagemag.com] / and Ken Isaacs’ How to Build your own Living Structures (I kid you not) [via Issuu].
