Images

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).

Wim Crouwel is the Dutch typographer and designer largely to blame for my love of grid-based posters and the International Style in general. See more from his incredible body of work »

Josef Müller-Brockmann, 1914 – 1996  |  The Swiss maestro of poster design. More on Flickr »

Recently received a reissued edition of John Coltrane’s 1957 masterpiece Blue Train and was reminded of just how incredible Blue Note album covers tend to be.

The cream of the crop has got to be the work done by Reid Miles through the fifties and early sixties. During his eleven year tenure, he created some of the most iconic and enduring images of jazz to date. His distinct approach of combining bold color, funky lettering, and clean typography with half-toned images by photographer and Blue Note co-founder Francis Wolff left an indelible mark on mid-century graphic design. Not to mention everything that’s come since.

Before I knew anything about graphic design or music, I knew these had some serious mojo.