Old fashioned design...

This slideshow from Design Observer was fantastic. I was so impressed with Stephen Doyle's work, and was glad to see most of his samples are done physically, and not in Photoshop.

Photoshop is a designer's tool, in that we need to create something for a client/boss to fill a need, usually on a deadline. An artist should not use Photoshop, they are creating art, and art should have some base in reality.

I know, I'll get a lot of crap for that.

I should really get a subscription to...Blueprint

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I was scanning through the Nov/Dec. Blueprint today and remembered why I love this magazine. I don't even care it's a blatent rip off by Martha Stewart to push her own products without having to go around 'editorial guidelines' that prevent her from doing the same in MS Living. (It's great how they treat her own products just like everyone else's....as if they didn't even know she writes their checks!)

Anyway, I found these gift wrapping techniques interesting, and wanted to save them for future leave-behinds or other creative boxes:


[Nov/Dec. 2007, Blueprint]

Best Covers of 2007

ASME announced 21 finalists in the cover of the year contest, althought these are all spread out over various categories like 'Best Cover/Fashion Cover/Celebrity Cover/Coverline' etc.

Some notes:

• Texas Monthly got props for its Dick Cheney photo illustration, nominated for the tagline “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, Dick Cheney Will Shoot You in the Face”. Now it's a fantastic cover, wonderful example of a well-executed Photoshopped image, and considering the issue is the annual "Bum Steer" Awards, it seems appropriate that they invoke the National Lampoon 'Dog/Gun' cover. I hate to be the one to spoil the party, but they didn't really do much in terms of cover lines, did they? It's a clever take on an old joke, but does it deserve an award? I suppose it depends what the award is honoring-- Amusement? definitely. Originality? not so much.
  
  
• Props to "D magazine" for continuing it's award run for the "Parced" cover. I remember this specific cover when it first came out, and I love to see the smaller city magazines get notice.
  
  
• Vanity Fair was honored for one of the 13 covers they produced for the Africa issue, specifically the one with Ali and Obama. That seems a bit unfair, to not judge that issue based on all 13 covers? I think you have to address them as a whole, especially when the whole point of that issue was to create a 'chain letter' across the world. When you split them up, it takes away from the entire point, doesn't it?
  
  
• Finally, the New Yorker was nominated for "Best Cover", along with Vanity Fair's previously mentioned Africia issue and Esquire's George Clooney "Genius" Cover. It has to be a shoe in, it really is genius and somehow the perfect tribute to the fifth year anniversary of 9/11. What saddens me is that Esquire has been doing such great things this year, I'm sad it has to go up against it. Talk about reinventing cover lines...
  

Imitation is the easiest form of flattery...

Back in the days of my first blog, I discussed a Vanity Fair cover where Annie Lebowitz copied a famous Irving Berlin photograph for a Green cover. This imitation courtesy from the photographer who has been known to be a tad testy when other people copy her own work, I think specifically of the Naked Gun rip off of the famous naked, pregnant Demi Moore photo.

Well, apparently, Radar has decided to start ripping off Vanity Fair. Here's the image from their November political issue:



(Folio has the whole article here)