Tag Archives: Graphic Arts

Things I Like … Right Now

I love this vintage button pin featuring graphic art by Carol Summers, a master American print maker renowned for his intensely vivid colors and woodblock techniques. The pin is stamped 1971, and may have some collectible value as do Summers’ prints. The Santa Cruz resident has works in museums including The Art Institute of Chicago, Biblioteque National in Paris, New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Brooklyn Museum of Fine Arts.

But for me, the cool vintage pin – purchased from my favorite online vintage store http://www.riceandbeansvintage.com/– is all about wearable art. I plan to use it to drape and pin into place some of my oversized, slouchy winter sweaters. Or maybe I’ll pin it on my bag the way my kids do with their superhero pins!

I’m also loving this Claudia Pearson poster for its bright cheekiness. It’s the first in a series of hand-drawn type posters featuring some classic and some more obscure song lyrics. This one was inspired by Roy Ayers “We Live in Brooklyn Baby!” Pearson, a Brooklyn local, has been published in the New York Times, Elle, The New Yorker and The Big Book of Illustration, among others. She also has one children’s book and is working on another. Besides prints like the one pictured, her illustrations are available on tea towels, totes, cards and books. You can find her work in her etsy store.

 

 I am not the crunchy, granola-making sort BUT I am having a clog moment as the weather turns and the Havaianas no longer cut it to run the kids to school on a chilly, wet morning. Plus, I am not very good at wearing shoes. Seriously, no matter what shoes I wear I manage to end up with red, chewed-up heels and other assorted blisters and bumps. I am obviously meant to be barefoot but since that isn’t practical roaming the Brooklyn streets, clogs – which have no back – seem like a practical alternative. What’s more, they could work well with the whole knee-high-sock-trend that’s promising to be big this Fall. I haven’t owned clogs since I was a very young girl back in Adelaide and probably still in primary (elementary) school, and I probably haven’t worn knee-high socks since then either – but this Fall, it’s all about to change. I like the lightweight Sven clogs, available online or at Refinery on Smith Street, the go-to for Brooklyn women searching for clogs or the other staple Saltwater Sandals. I know there are much fancier and pricier clogs out there right now, but I’m thinking Sven might do the job and be a good “trainer” clog so to speak.

Like It, Want It

 

I Like It Too!

I love graphic arts; probably something to do with my job at a graphic design magazine and writer’s thirst for the brief, catchy one-liner. Well, I discovered this Anthony Burrill print hanging on a friend’s wall at the weekend and wanted to take it home.

“I Like It. What Is It?” was exactly what I asked my host, several times, in fact, until he introduced me to Burrill, a UK-based designer whose work spans witty posters, to film and Internet projects. Trained at the Royal College of Art in London, Burrill has designed ad campaigns for London Underground, DIESEL and Nike, among others; and covers for The Economist and Wallpaper. He’s also produced interactive web-based work for bands such as Kraftwerk and Air, murals for Bloomberg and Priestman Goode, and designed the identity for KesselsKramer’s London base KK OUTLET.

But it’s his woodblock posters, each one signed in pencil, that I really fell for. Burrill uses traditional woodblock letterpress techniques to convey his message on 100% recycled paper.

His appreciation of simplicity comes across loud and clear in his trademark one-liners. He’s not saying anything particularly deep or cerebral, but the direct, uncomplicated style makes it something you want to repeat, or at very least hang over a desk someplace visible.  His limited edition prints – including one of the most well-known “Work Hard and Be Nice to People” – have become mantras for the design community and beyond.

The April  issue of Creative Review also features Burrill’s cover art. To see more of his work or to buy one of his woodblock prints, check out his website www.anthonyburrill.com.