TIME Picks the Best Magazine Covers of 2015

By David Schonauer   Thursday December 17, 2015

Magazines fired back with photography in 2015.

“Today we continue our look back at the year that was by featuring Time magazine’s choice of the best magazine covers the year.  “Our selection of the top 10 covers of 2015 displays an exquisite use of photography, notes Time Director of Photography and Visual Enterprise Kira Pollack.

Her staff compiled its list after looking at a range of magazine categories, from news and sports to celebrity and fashion, and then interviewing the people behind the covers, including photographers, creative directors and top editors…”

Read and See More at AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY’s site: http://www.ai-ap.com/publications/article/16143/the-year-that-was-time-picks-the-best-magazine-co.html

A Tantalizing, Mysterious Art Book (Or Is It Book Art?)

Yes, here I am again blogging about a new book.

I saw this The New York Times on line review. The timing is perfect for all our exploration into book designing from photo essays to art books.

“The artist’s book, a medium that originated in France at the turn of the last century, gets a digitally inspired reboot with “RadioPaper,” a project launching today at Studio Leigh in Hoxton, East London.Taking its title from the electronic paper that replicates the physical page in Kindles and other e-readers, the exhibition provides a showcase for the debut book work by the British artist Mary Ramsden, which will also be available to buy in an edition of 30. Framed in fluorescent-edged Perspex boxes, each of the copies of “RadioPaper” contains a series of abstract artworks by Ramsden, and perhaps more surprisingly, submerged within their French folds, five specially composed super-short stories by the Granta award-winning novelist Adam Thirlwell…” Read more of Aimee Farrell’s article published on December 12, 2015

See Image: A page in “RadioPaper,” a new collaborative artist’s book by the artist Mary Ramsden and the novelist Adam Thirlwell.CreditCourtesy of the artists and Studio Leigh

“Pacino”! Sells the Poster? Who Sells the Play?

 “The advertising agency Serino/Coyne created a muscular poster design for the sex-and-power drama about a wealthy businessman (Mr. Pacino), his fiancée and a phone call that upends their lives. It’s a bold treatment that features the sinewy back of a pricey-looking jet, above. Mr. Pacino’s name and the show’s title are rendered in clean, oversize block letters that change colors as they overlap the jet’s tail”.

See five more sample designs (all rejected designs) as well as read more of the NY Times article about the design process to promote this Broadway show that is scheduled to open in February 2016.

SECTION: THEATER “China Doll”: An Image Ready for Take Off | The New York Times | November 25,2015 |

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/theater/selling-china-doll-the-art-of-choosing-the-art.html?ribbon-ad-idx=5&rref=arts/design&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Art%20%26%20Design&pgtype=article

New York Books for Your Coffee Table or Your Coffee Break

As you know by now about my blogging on the latest and the greatest… I love books. I took a stroll after Thanksgiving dinner and that stroll led me right to The Strand on Broadway & 12th St. NYC. BUT – I am on a book fasting diet (for now). I woke up this morning and found myself in front of my computer reading my New York Times alerts. One alert was about books. The topic, New York!

Many of your photo essays focused on New York as the subject from firehouses to the subway to the people. The book list is as varied as your essays.

Coffee table books about New York.

Credit Tony Cenicola | The New York Times

Here are a few of the title but take a look at the article,too. You may find a topic (or topics) you want to dive into a bit more.

• “Interior Landmarks: Treasures of New York” (The New York School of Interior Design, the Monacelli Press; $60), by Judith Gura and Kate Wood

• “Graffiti Murals: Exploring the Impacts of Street Art”(Schiffer Publishing; $29.99), Patrick Verel embraces the vibrant collaboration with building owners to ward off vandalism and vapidity.

• From Andy Warhol’s house to Keith Haring’s Pop Shop, “Unforgotten New York” redeems its subtitle: “Legendary Spaces of the 20th-Century Avant-Garde” (Presetel; $39.95).

• As sylvan escape or jostling playground, Central Park has inspired painters from Milton Avery to William Zorach. Robert F. Pasquier explores New York’s premier oasis through their prism in “Painting Central Park”(the Vendome Press; $60), an evocative visual festival.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/nyregion/coffee-table-books-about-new-york.html?emc=edit_tnt_20151126&nlid=66721447&tntemail0=y&_r=0

Why are these 32 symbols found in ancient caves all over Europe?

FROM TODAY’S TED TALK: Written language, the hallmark of human civilization, didn’t just suddenly appear one day. Thousands of years before the first fully developed writing systems, our ancestors scrawled geometric signs across the walls of the caves they sheltered in. Paleoanthropologist and rock art researcher Genevieve von Petzinger has studied and codified these ancient markings in caves across Europe. The uniformity of her findings suggest that graphic communication, and the ability to preserve and transmit messages beyond a single moment in time, may be much older than we think…

Paleoanthropologist and rock art researcher Genevieve von Petzinger studies the geometric signs found in early European Ice Age rock art sites. Full bio

Abbas: Children of Abraham

“My photography is a reflection, which comes to life in action and leads to meditation. Spontaneity – the suspended moment – intervenes during action, in the viewfinder.”

GB. ENGLAND. Yorkshire. Batley. At the Zakaria Muslim Girls High School, funded by the muslim community, girls in hijab (islamic dress) play touchball. 1989.

November 21, 2015 – March 20, 2016

“Children of Abraham presents 66 photographs of the monotheistic religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, by renowned Magnum photographer Abbas. Since 1970 Abbas has documented through his camera lens the “political and social life of societies in conflict.” This exhibition is the culmination of over 13 years of research and travel by the artist to record religious practices and their manifestations in all parts of the world. This is Abbas’ first exhibition in America exclusively devoted to the theme of religion. Abbas will travel from Paris, France to present an artist talk, and a series of related programs and events are planned.” from the Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania website – 11/19/2015

For More Information: http://www.arthurrossgallery.org

What? Two Bottles? Start Looking Sideways…

Always roaming in and out of book stores and on book sites, a few years ago I saw the book The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher. I thought – what a visual feast. In some ways it reminded me of Bruno Munari’s book Design as Art. (BUT – not in size). The Art of Looking Sideways has over 500 pages.

The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher
publish by Phaidon Press in 2001.

This book contemplated the differences between pictures as words – and vice versa. As Alan Fletcher states “the pleasing incongruities and serious science behind perception, process and the imagination that fills in the gaps”. A perfect book to review as we start exploring creative solutions to our bottle project.

Fletcher doesn’t set out to teach lessons. It is more of his experiences and insight that he gathered by – well – just being there and absorbing the world around him.

Here is a series of spreads from

The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher:

The Art of Looking is wonderful inspiration to visual awareness, an interesting compilation that will entertain and inspire all of you as you start to SEE the interplay between word and image.

• Here is a link to an interesting interview with Alan Fletcher:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meKUDU0sH5w

• Here is a link to The Art Directors Club Hall of Fame page for BIO info.

http://adcglobal.org/hall-of-fame/alan-fletcher/

NOTE: more on Bruno Munari’s book Design as Art from Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=fIJjI0UC7AEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=amazon+Bruno+Munari’s+book+Design+as+Art.&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAGoVChMIzabT9uyIyQIVxT4-Ch3IzgA_#v=onepage&q&f=false

Find past Munari posts about his books on this blog.

A Reminder: The Grolier Club

You are missing another NYC gem for those of you that have not visited The Grolier Club on the upper Eastside especially if you are a lover of books, printing, collecting…and more. It is a treat to walk through an exhibit in this Club established in 1884.

Here is a quote from The Grolier Club Constitution that can describe this “to foster the study, collecting, and appreciation of books and works on paper, their art, history, production, and commerce. It shall pursue this mission through the maintenance of a library devoted to all aspects of the book and graphic arts and especially bibliography; through the occasional publication of books designed to illustrate, promote and encourage the book and graphic arts; through exhibitions and educational programs for its members and the general public; and through the maintenance of a Club building for the safekeeping of its property, and otherwise suitable for the purposes of the Club.”

Cover Design from Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

Here is a list of their exhibitions (now through 2016).

Go to their web site for more information.

http://www.grolierclub.org

Admission: Exhibitions are open to the public free of charge

CHILDREN’S EXHBITIONS

• Now until February 7, 2016 | One Hundred Books Famous In Children’s Literature

GROUND FLOOR GALLERY

• December 9, 2015-February 6, 2016  |“The Grolier Club Collects II.” Curated by Eric Holzenberg and Arthur Schwarz
• February 24-May 14, 2016 | “The Royal Game of the Goose: Four Hundred Years of Printed Board Games.”
• June 1-July 30, 2016 | “Artists & Others: The Imaginative French Book, 2000-2015.”

SECOND FLOOR GALLERY

• November 19, 2015-January 16, 2016 | “Illustrated by Lynd Ward,” From the Collection of Robert Dance.
• January 28-March 12, 2016 | “Blooks: The Art of Books That Aren’t,” from the Collection of Mindell Dubansky.
• March 24-May 28, 2016 | “‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’,” Miniature Bindings from the Collection of Neale A. and Margaret Albert.

Location & Gallery Hours 

The Grolier Club
47 East 60^th Street
New York, New York 10022
212-838-6690

Call to Confirm the Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10 am-5 pm.

Visually Defining The Gender Spectrum

From The New York Times web site | STYLE Section | In All-Genger Restrooms, the Signs Reflect the Times | By Aimee Lee Ball | November 5,2015

Top, from left, all-gender restrooms at the Whitney; the University of Utah; Founding Farmers restaurant in Washington, D.C.
Center, from left, the Folk Art Museum; Civic Hall; the University of Nevada.
Bottom, from left, the Whitney; Hampshire College; Barnard College.

…”Before the Whitney Museum of American Art moved to its new location in Lower Manhattan, it hosted a discussion about what it means for a museum to be a safe and welcoming space.

Providing restrooms for everyone on the gender spectrum was near the top of the list.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/style/transgender-restroom-all-gender.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0

“Dare to be different” – Elsa Schiaparelli

The Lobster Dress: A collaboration with Salvador Dali.

Elsa Schiaparelli, known as the Queen of Fashion and the designer that gave a name to a color “Shocking Pink”(before a PANTONE Color of The Year), was the supreme innovator of dress design in the first half of the 20th century.

She went beyond the typical fabrics of the time – silk, linen, and wool. She was the first to use rayon, Lurex, see-through raincoats, and trompe l’oeil images. She certainly followed her own advice “dare to be different.”

See-through raincoat – early 1930’s

There was a period in her design career when she collaborated with such artists as Dali,Jean Cocteau,Alberto Giacometti, and others. Her designs went beyond “the dress”. They were concepts.

Schiaparelli’s creativity may be inspiration as you start your Bottle Project.

Here is a link to a radio interview with Meryle Secrest’s. The author of Elsa Schiaparelli: A Biography.

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/11/354636723/schiaparelli-the-shocking-shadowed-life-of-a-fashion-icon

A lambskin belt and suede gloves with gold metal talons – around 1936