Review: A History of Graphic Design for Rainy Days
Posted by Amy on Friday January 27, 2012
A History of Graphic Design for Rainy Days – produced by Studio 3 and Gestalten – is an illustrated journey of one boy and his grandfather as they maneuver through the history of graphic design.
A History of Graphic Design for Rainy Days
Hardcover: 204 pages
Publisher: Gestalten
If you’ve gone through texts on history – any sort of history at all – you’ll notice that it’s drab and dry. What A History of Graphic Design for Rainy Days seeks to achieve is a new way of storytelling. One that engages and interests readers through its full-page illustrations, dialogues and facts littered throughout the 204-page book.
The book is linear in fashion – going back in time and re-tracing history made in the field of graphic design from 1776 to 1994. In between, the young boy (and his grandfather) steps into various studios of designers and inventors who has made a mark in the field. Snippets of info and narrative text by the grandfather accompanies each spread, along with clean visuals and an interesting play with two-color illustrations for each section.
While I do appreciate the efforts of the studio, I thought that the book needed a lot more editing – in terms of flow and structure. But most ironically, I thought that the style of the book would have made for an interesting game instead of its current book form. It’s linearity would be a great idea for gamification aspects, and if that were to happen, it would have a better shot of achieving its goal of engaging its reader/audience.
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Alison Worman
Posted by Amy on Thursday January 26, 2012
I am enamoured by the works of Alison Worman, in particular these gouache sketches/mini paintings. I find myself drawn to illustrations like these because I love the idea of being able to communicate ideas in a simple, yet effective format. I find that illustrations that manage to encapsulate a whole experience within a minimalistic (yet arresting) aesthetic is something that is harder to achieve than it looks.
See more at her Flickr stream and follow her on her blog.
Disovered via Brwn Paper Bag
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Michelle Morin / United thread
Posted by Amy on Wednesday January 25, 2012
I’m poring over the amazing details of Michelle Morin of United Thread’s watercolor artworks. She currently resides in Massachusetts with her fiancé and the subject of her artworks are primarily based on flora and fauna; the love of the former she picked up in Portland, Oregon where she worked at a plant farm and greenhouse.
I love watching the gradual transformation of her style and work from 2009 – it’s amazing. You can also read her blog here.
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Tattly
Posted by Amy on Tuesday January 24, 2012
Tattoos have always been a bit of a mystery to me. I can identify and understand the reasons why people have it, but I’ve always been chicken to have one thing permanently marked on my body. Call me indecisive or that I’m being irrationally fickle – but if I had my way from the beginning, my whole body would be covered in all sorts of illustrations that you could just hang me up on the wall.
But you don’t have to go through such permanent measures any more because Tattly is here! The site was founded by Tina Roth Eisenberg (of Swiss Miss) and features adorable designer temporary tattoos from the likes of artists Julia Rothman and Marc Johns. The sets on Tattly will be able to satisfy those who have cravings of self mark-making, with all the fun but without the pain and regrets.
Top to bottom: Menagerie set by Amy Blay, You’re Very, Very Late set and Complete Kitchen set by Julia Rothman.
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