Book covers

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer whose book covers have catched my attention since I was first introduced to the novel "Norwegian Wood." What I found interesting about all the books by Murakami was the constant use of people's face in some kind of art manipulation and the use of simple but elegant typography.

I found out that the artist behind this book covers is John Gall, who is the vice-president and art director at Vintage and Anchor Books. Gall's work is eccentric and eye catching and the books of Haruki Murakami are great. I guess it's true that sometimes you can judge a book by the art cover.

An actual floating thought

While in the process of fixing and putting my portfolio together, I was browsing the website
www.designarchives.aiga.org/ and I felt very intimidated by the kind of work other designers do compared to mine. I know that each designer has his/her own style and that through experience one gets better, but the competition is there and it looks tough. One of my biggest fears with this major is that I might not find a job due to the competion out there. As a graphic design student in CSLA, I can only hope to do better and to take advantage of the education that is being provided by the art teachers in this institution.

Typeface composition

This works are from CSLA Graduate Thesis Exhibition 2009. I'm just displaying 3 images that I found interesting as it relates to typography. These images are from graduate student, Yi Lu.

The Ming chair and the Hui Pattern are typeface compositions created from one single image. For example, in the Ming chair picture, all the shapes of each letter of the alphabet come from the shape of the chair, and the shapes of each letter in the Hui pattern picture are all related to the hui. When I was looking at these pictures, I was trying to analyze how each letter came to be an alphabet from one single overall composition. One has to appreciate how difficult it is to come out with a whole alphabet by using exactly the same structure.

Grand Theft auto propaganda

Driving around the city, I keep on noticing these kind of billboards. What catches my attention is the typography this company uses. The letters are very bold and heavy, the visuals are usually represented by a "cool" person in some kind of media.

Mr. Brainwash

Marilyn Manson

Michael Jackson

MadonnaOn September 18, 2009 the new Madonna hits compilation was released. What I found interesting about this album cover were the vibrant colors and the Andy Warhol Pop art influence. The vibrant red lipstick, eyeshadow and hair style feels like a replica of Warhol's Marilyn Monroe print. I came across the original artist, whose name is Mr. Brainwash, and happens to expose his art everywhere in Los Angeles.

Check http://www.mrbrainwash.com/, it's the artist's official website and if you are ever on the intersection of LA BREA Avenue and Edgemont PL in Los Angeles, I also recommend you to park you car and walk around to look at some of the murals on display or you can google his name and check his art. I've really come to admire his work, after noticing his work in my usual hangout places and coffee shops.

Span/English Billboards

Dasana water has come out with two different billboards. Both billboards are a combination of English and Spanish words that mean "Move your Water." These ads are aimed at Spanish-speaking Americans and they show two different individuals moving in water, which I found very interesting and creative. I think that the typography works really well and the people moving in the water is visually striking and memorable.

My venice beach trip

For my poster assignment I was assigned to explore beaches in Los Angeles. One of the beaches I chose was Venice Beach. I took a trip during a sunny day to explore this beach and I was amazed at how much of a visual experience it was; it was more than a surfer beach. Every palm tree was painted with graffiti art, and the walls around the shore walk, such as the second picture above, was decorated with colorful spray paint. As an Angelino resident, Venice beach it's a beach filled with many creative artists who can spend almost everyday creating new forms of art and/or selling thier art on their famous boardwalk. Their is no way you can escape the art in Venice beach, everywhere you turn, you are faced with vibrant and dazzling works of art.

The Ed Hardy's fashion craze

In the picture above (right), the famous Ed Hardy is posing next to his most famous works. To the left is Hardy's famous artwork that we now find everywhere; starting from the shoes, to your pens and shirts. Ed Hardey’s art has become popular throughout the world. People of all ages, from young children to adults, wear his art, but many don’t know exactly who this popular artist is or where his art is influenced from. Through browsing on the internet, I came across the website
www.donedhardyarchive.com/about.html, where I found out that Ed Hardy is a Californian tattoo artist who spent some years of intense studying in Japan, and according to this website, he became "the first non-Asian to gain access to that world." I find his work very interesting; it catches my attention, but I've never bought any merchandise by him, such as a shirt or a hat with his art work. His work is obviously inspired by Japanese art, which has become famous everywhere. For many people, his work represents freedom, rebellion or rock and roll. He has made some serious money out of it!

Starbuck's Mermaid

I love drinking coffee everyday from Starbucks. If I skip a day, I get a headache. I know that I'm supposed to post pictures, preferably my own, but I've always being curious about their logo. If you look at the first brown Starbucks logo, it's a spooky looking topless mermaid with two tails, which is not relevant to the company's "Fresh Roasted Coffee," it has no connection to coffee, plus it's topless with two tails. The idea of the mermaid reminds me of the "Chicken of the Sea" canned tuna brand, except that the chicken of the sea brand's mermaid is better looking and it has only one tail.

The second green starbucks logo looks cleaner, is more readable, the chest is covered, and you can barely recognize that it's a mermaid, except for the two tails that are almost hanging from side to side, around the mermaid. In my opinion, I preferred the second one, although starbucks uses both, but coffee is an important beverage to awaken the senses.

So this has been my coffee moment, for a starbucks logo thought.