Category: Admiring

Monk’s Mood

Steve Lacy, undisputed sultan of the soprano sax, played with some of the greatest jazz composers who ever lived. He sat with the likes of Charles Mingus, Herbie Nichols and Duke Ellington. His most celebrated contributions to the world of jazz, however, took place under the watchful shades of Mr. Thelonious Monk.

Below are a handful of gems from the scrawled notes in Steve’s notebook under the heading ‘Monk’s Advice (1968)’. The pithy remarks have relevance across all creative work — whether at the keyboard of a Bösendorfer or a Macbook Pro.

  1. Just because you’re not a drummer doesn’t mean that you don’t have to keep time.
  2. You’ve got to dig it to dig it, you dig?
  3. Don’t play everything (or every time); let some things go by… what you don’t play can be more important than what you do play.
  4. When you’re swinging, swing some more!
  5. (What should we wear tonight?) Sharp as possible!
  6. A genius is the one most like himself.
  7. Stop playing all that bullshit, play the melody!
  8. Always leave them wanting more.

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Categorized as Admiring

Gerd Arntz

Gerd Arntz was a German modernist who created over 500 icons, or isotypes, with the ambitious goal of clear communication to the illiterate masses, newly liberated by socialism. In collaboration with Otto Neurath, they strove ‘to overcome barriers of language and culture, and to be universally understood’ to facilitate the communist revolution. Not exactly my politics, but the man was a master semiotician.

They have a wonderfully curated collection over at the Gerd Arntz Web Archive.

On Making

Don’t try to be original, just try to be good.

Paul Rand

Black / White / Red

If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed.

Mark Twain

The Business of Creativity

Three questions before taking on a project:

Can we make money from it?
We’re a going business. We have mortgages to pay. We have tuitions to pay for our kids. We’re not ashamed of making money.

Are we gonna be proud of it when we’re done?
There’s nothing that will break your heart faster than working three months on a project and then, when it’s all done, you’ve sold your soul and compromised and you don’t even want anybody to see it.

Can we learn something new?
That allows us to continue to grow in the skills that we have. It allows us to be better filmmakers and writers and coders and art directors. And it keeps things interesting.

From Bootstrapped, Profitable & Proud: Coudal on Signal vs. Noise

Lightbulb

Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

W. A. Dwiggins

Type design on the cover of MSS by WAD

I’ve just finished a collection of stories by Roald Dahl (Someone Like You, if you care — utterly brilliant) and throughout the experience I’ve caught myself delayed numerous times by the object itself — enthralled by the meticulous typography and intricate ornamentation that adorns each chapter break. Not to mention the altogether unique cover design and spine treatment. As I rounded the last turn, I was confronted with a paragraph under the heading: PRINTER’S NOTE. What followed was a colophon of sorts that ended with the perfunctory, “The typography and binding design are by W. A. Dwiggins.”

So, who is this mysterious master of modern type and page design?

Turns out, William Addison Dwiggins, or WAD as he apparently preferred, was quite a fellow. He might be most famous for coining the term graphic designer back in 1922 in reference to himself and his work. He designed the (still popular) typefaces Electra and Caledonia and a total of 329 books for A. Knopf, Inc. The hardcover I’ve just finished bears the BORZOI imprint and will go straight on the top shelf where it belongs. Thank you, WAD.

B. Løkeland

I’d never heard of B. Løkeland until the human treasure trove of mid-century magic, Sandi Vincent posted some illustration work to her Flickr account. These are from a 1972 menu for Royal Viking cruise line that she found at an estate sale and I think they’re incredible.

Elementary, My Dear

For strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to life itself, which is far more daring than any effort of the imagination.

Sherlock Holmes in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Icon

Trade marks and symbols by Stefan Kanchev

STEFAN KANCHEV is, to my mind, the preeminent figure in mark making in the modern age. No offense to all you Paul Rand disciples. Born in 1915, Kanchev was the son of an iconographer and a student of Bulgarian folklore and traditions — which served as inspiration for much of his design work. In total, he is credited with authoring some 1,600 brandmarks in his lifetime and was named “National Artist” of Bulgaria. For more context and biographical info, not to mention a look at his impressive postage stamp and book cover collections, visit his official website.

UPDATE: The good-hearted folks over at Logoblink have put together an extremely comprehensive PDF about the life and work of Mr. Kanchev. Download it here (~30MB).