Friday 18th May 2012

Entries filed under Typography

Blossom Dearie

Posted on 26/02/10.

Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz/bepop singer and pianist, famous for her distinctive girlish voice. This is a classic sleeve combining simple type with a brilliant photograph by Charles Stewart.

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Herman Leonard

Posted on 17/02/10.

Herman Leonard (born 1923 in Pennsylvania) is an American photographer known for his unique images of jazz icons. Photographing such notables as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk and Miles Davis, Leonard became a fixture of the jazz scene, his photographs gracing the covers of more than 200 albums. These sleeves for Clef Records from 1956 show combine his images with strong colour in a simple and bold graphic style. Leonard’s jazz photographs, now collector’s items, are a unique record of the jazz scene of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and his collection is now in the permanent archives of American Musical History in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.

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Object & Idea

Posted on 17/02/10.

Great to see some of Australia’s graphic design heritage with this Swiss style exhibition catalogue from the National Gallery of Victoria 1973.

Link: http://www.recollection.com.au

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500-year-old Quote

Posted on 12/02/10.

One of our favourite quotes from Leonardo da Vinci. These were simple typographic experiments in a rare bit of down time in the studio, we couldn’t decide which we preferred so here are two. “La semplicità costituisce l’ultima sofisticazione - Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. That’s from around 500 years ago!

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Bob Noorda †

Posted on 25/01/10.

Bob Noorda, an internationally known Dutch-born graphic designer helped introduce a Modernist look to brands and advertising in the 50s and 60s. In 1965, he and fellow Milan-based designer Massimo Vignelli were among the seven founders of Unimark International, an American design firm with offices around the world, including Chicago and Milan. Noorda is best known in the United States for his work with New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority. As city branding goes we think this is up there with Milton Glaser’s I Heart NY, and how lucky for NYC to have two great graphic icons. Sadly Noorda died on Jan. 11 in Milan, his adopted city. He was 82. We took this photo on our last trip to a snowy NYC.

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Heinz Grunwald

Posted on 25/01/10.

These milk cartons are doing the rounds, and rightly so. Designed circa 1980 by Swiss born Heinz Grunwald, one of many top designers to make an imprint on the Melbourne design scene since the 60s.

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Paul Bacon

Posted on 24/01/10.

A major graphic designer and illustrator, Paul Bacon was responsible for many famous LP covers for Riverside and Blue Note in the 1950s before he turned to illustrating book jackets. These classics for Thelonious Monk show why he is regarded as highly as Saul Bass, Herb Lubalin and Paul Rand.

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