dcbook WIP

7/30/2019 dcbook WIP

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IT IS WHAT IT IS


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This is my design context publication.

in it contains a few of the sorts of things which I enjoy on a daily basis,for various reasons.

Naturally there are certain themes that run throughout this book, how-ever it mainly serves merely as an indication of my creative interests atthis point in time, rather than simply being a book about sign-paintingor a book about hand-lettering.

Vague contents:

words & signs & posters & some other stuff

Crack on..

Im not comfortable with convenience replacing artistry

- Theo Parrish


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TEMPA - my interest in Graphic Design stems almost entirely from this one label.


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LETTERS, SIGNS, POSTERS, WORDS, PAINT, PENS, ETC.


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ESPO


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Steve Powers (ESPO) Interview

Questions: Andy DB

In 1999 steve powers (AKA ESPO) stopped writing graffiti andtending bar to to become a full-time artist. Since then hes be-come known for his witty word-based works that are a hybrid ofsign-writing and mural painting. Here he tells designboom moreabout the themes explored in his work and his myriad influences.

DB: Please could you tell us briefly about your background andhow you ended up working in your current capacity?

SP: I am the fifth of six children that grew up in an chaotic envi-ronment with 24 cats and a gun under my fathers pillow.I was desperate to escape and art was the pick I used on thelock. I attended university of the arts on broad street in Philadel-phia. It was there I acquired the discipline to complete a task,a skill that had eluded me for 20 years. I immediately dropped out

and applied my new found ethic to painting water-icestands and soft pretzel carts. From there its been one foot infront of the other until I got here.

DB: Which have been your most significant and satisfying projectsto date?

SP: In 2009 I went back home to West Philadelphia and painted alove letter to the neighborhood across 50 walls alongthe elevated train line. The love was received and returned to meand that is really the peak experience so far.

DB: When did wordplay and words as images become a centraltheme in your work ?

SP: That was there from the start. When I painted graffiti I wasfocused on one word. Now as an artist Im focused on all of them.

DB: You work at many different scales - do you have a personalpreference?

SP: When I make paintings I feel like Im in communion with all ofart history. I talk to the artists that have been talking to me all mylife.

DB: Do you prefer to work indoors or outdoors?


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SP: The weather is always perfect indoors, but when I paint out-side Im hoping for an interaction with a passerbythat well put up on the wall. When it happens, a fleeting moment

becomes eternal.

DB: Did something or someone in particular influence the senti-ments expressed in your work and your aesthetic?

SP: Im in awe of the power and the reach of music. To competewith the majesty of music, I make paintings that are visual blues.I distill my everyday experience into paintings I call daily metalta-tions. They are painted very fast, fresh from the epiphanies that

inspired them. The larger paintings draw from those metaltationsand go to a deeper understanding of the transactions we makeeveryday to live our lives.

DB: What are the main differences between street art and graffitifor you?

SP: Graffiti is 30,000 years old, more or less, and it continues torelate a simple, eloquent message, I was here. Street art is peel-

ing faded wallpaper advertising a product thats on sale at urbanoutfitters,

DB: How do you think the popularity of online design resourceshas influenced design and art being produced today?

SP: Instagram has been really interesting for me. in the 3 monthsthat Ive been posting daily metaltations, Ive learned what willmove the needle with the internet. so as an artist I resist the

temptation to give the people what they want, and I try to pushdifferent work to challenge them and myself.

DB: Besides your professional work - what do you have a passionfor and why?

SP: I love to lurk on the corner. Paying attention as the city goesabout its business always yields interesting data.

DB: What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

SP: When I was 15, my father, shortly before he ran off to start anew life, told me, I dont give a fuck what you do but you betterhave a plan.

DB: What is the worst piece of advice you have ever been given?

SP: My mother told me twenty years ago that I was crazy to think

the city would ever let me paint walls. She hangs her head nowand tells her students dont listen to me, my son didnt and heturned out fine.

Lifted from designboom.com


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ESPO


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ESPO


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ESPO


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Dan Dusty Madsen interview

Questions: RD Granados

TA: As a third generation sign painter in your family, can you tell us

about growing up around the craft and how long youve been doing it?

DM: Growing up I always remember playing in my grandpas studio. Iwould doodle my name and write him little notes with his calligraphypens. Playing in his studio was my favorite thing to do when we wentthere. My grandpas job was medical illustrator and letterer. Everybirthday we would get these amazing custom lettered and illustratedbirthday cards from him. I think thats what sparked my first interestabout lettering. In 2007 my grandpa passed away. While going through

his stuff in his studio I came across old sign painting books, photos, andmaterials that were originally my great grandfathers. Since then Ivefocused most of my time into learning and practicing sign painting and Ireally do enjoy it.

TA: Do you also work in the digital realm as well, graphic design, typog-raphy etc? If so, hows working with the analog vs. digital?

DM: Most of the work I do is all just by hand. Now and again Ill get a jobhelping someone design some lettering for a logo or a t-shirt design. Ithink its cool. Im always down to use lettering for things other than just

sign painting.

TA: What do you like or dislike most about painting letters and makingsigns? What would be the ideal project for you?

DM: I dont know, thats a tough one.I really enjoy painting letters. maybewhen a client wants a fun font and I have to convince them thatthats now what I do. My ideal sign or project would be painting a largesign/ advertisement on a raw brick building. Its more exciting painting

outside of the studio.

TA: What would you tell a young graphic designer thinking about becom-ing a sign painter?

DM: Id say if your hearts in it, go for it! we need more young sign paint-ers out there.

TA: Do you sense a revival of the craft and more people taking interestin traditional hand painted signage?

DM: I do. I definitely think theres a lot of people out there that enjoythings that are hand crafted and authentic. Thats exactly what signpainting is. The word just has to spread that sign painting is still aliveand people are still doing it.

TA: Comparing your life working in the digital age to your familys past in


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sign painting, what are some of the differences, advantages or disad-vantages?

DM: Well now a days its definitely easier to market yourself and put you

and your work out there. Although, as an artist back in the day, I thinkyou had more of a personal connection to the work you were creating/designing. There was no photoshop and illustrator short cuts, so every-thing you produced was 100% you.

TA: Do you listen to music when working, and if so, whats playing onyour system?

DM: Im always bumpin some jams. I play Louis Armstrong, The Weeknd,

Sade, Tupac, Stevie Wonder, Teddy Pandagrass, Otis Redding, and thelist goes on. Although its also sometimes nice to work in silence. It alldepends on how Im feeling.

Lifted from typearchive.com


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Dusty Signs


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Dusty Signs


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OPTIMO JD Twitch and JG Wilkes (aka Keith McIvor and Jonnie Wilkes) ran Optimo(a hugely successful club night) in Glasgow for a whole 13 years beforecalling it a day:

For a year and a half we had no more than a hundred people in. Thenone week there were about four hundred people. Then the next weekit was the same, and the next. It was like a lightbulb had switched onin peoples heads suddenly they got it. It might have been somethingto do with our advertising. We put up all these photocopied postersaround the city which started with the slogan Optimo says, kind of likeFrankie says. That helped. That captured peoples imagination. Jonniehas designed all our posters and flyers ever since.

Obviously capturing peoples imagination requires some talent, but whatis maybe more impressive is that Jonnie Wilkes continued to make oneposter near enough every week until the club night eventually rechedthe end of its life. Whats more is that every single poster is different tothe last one, resulting in a wonderfully unique collection of posters.


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A few of the Optimo posters


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STOHEAD Its interesting to see things taken out of context and placed in an unfamil-iar light. In this case Stohead has taken a visual style that is all too familiarin public environments and placed it on the gallery wall, exposing qualitiesthat are often overlooked in more familiar situations.


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SEAN WES In general, most people see words and read sentences to derive mean-ing. I saw letters as beautiful shapes and curves with forms full ofbeauty. It wasnt until years later that I discovered that I had a love forwhat was known as typography. What a feeling of relief and excite-

ment all at once! I discovered that not only was I not some strangeperson with a deranged affection, but that there were also thousandsof others who shared the same love for type. The internet has a uniqueability for making one feel less weird.


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SEAN WES


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SEAN WES


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THIS IS MY COSTUME

thecostumelife.com

Yeah we thought we was cool so we made like an interent blog whichis so hip.we just shove a load of our stuff and stuff we like on it , andhopfully that other people like . We are dead serious


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thecostumelife.com


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thecostumelife.com


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thecostumelife.com


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RETNA At first glance, the work of the artist Retna looks like an undis-covered ancient script: a series of hypnotic symbolscomplex,beautiful and captivating. But Retna has created an original alpha-bet, fusing together influences from ancient Incan and Egyptianhieroglyphics, Arabic, Hebrew, Asian calligraphy, and graffiti. Eachpiece carries meaning, conveying an event or dialogue that theartist experienced.

Lifted from the Economist


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yeah


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ALISON CARMICHAEL Alison mainly works with advertising agencies and design groupsbut has also been called on to do exhibition signage, windowdisplays, pop promos, embroidered lettering, body painting, writ-ing with ketchup, shampoo, treacle, loose tea leaves and even fullscale crop circles. She is known for her huge range of diversityand versatility in lettering styles.


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Ilike

newp

laces


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MESTRE


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AMSTERDAM


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NAPLES


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BUDAPEST


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SOMEWHERE IN CROATIA


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BELGRADE


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ABUZE BEOGRAD ZINE

A small run of 200 zines produced by a col-lective named Abuze from Paris.

Minimal writing, no credits or details, justa series of mainly black and white imagesdepicting an interesting place in the world.


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NUT CITY - zine by Elliot Holbrow, Joel Barton and Nazusk

The image on each cover is hand-drawn, as a nice little touch.


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SAMIYAM - RAP BEATS VOL. 1 Samiyam sold his debut album on CDR format through his Mys-pace and at a few select stores. The quirkiness and innovativenature of his music is reflected by the cover artwork - each traysleeve displays a very different image to the next. Naturally theyall sold out, perhaps due to his music but also maybe the fact thateach buyer happens to possess a one-of-a-kind copy of the album.


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