271 Year Old Color Guide

Posted on May 7, 2014May 7, 2014 Posted in Art, Grid SystemsTagged color, guide, painting

1692 Boogert Color Guide

This blew my mind.

“Traité des couleurs servant à la peinture à l’eau” is an 800-page color guide, written in 1692 by an artist known as A. Boogert. The book describes and shows in detail how to use and mix colors. I can’t even begin to imagine how long this took to make, and the fact that the colors are still so vibrant is astonishing. This is a work of art, and I would bet that most of what is in this book is still relevant today.

It’s also great to see that Boogert was also educated in grid systems. Have a look at how those swatches are organized.

A hi-res gallery of the entire book is available here

Via Colossal

Network Osaka

Posted on April 14, 2014April 13, 2014 Posted in Design, Grid Systems, International Typographic StyleTagged grid sytem, International Typographic Style, minimalism, print

Network Osaka

Derek Kim AKA Network Osaka recently launched a new site with a some great new work. I’m a big fan.

AG Fronzoni

Posted on April 9, 2014April 9, 2014 Posted in Architecture, Design, Design Legends, Grid Systems, International Typographic StyleTagged Architecture, design legend, graphic design, grid system, International Typographic Style, minimalism

AG Fronzoni

The unofficial site of Italian designer and architect, AG Fronzoni, recently launched. A lot of great content on here including his work, articles, philosophy and quotes.

Artiva Design

Posted on March 19, 2014March 19, 2014 Posted in Design, Grid Systems, International Typographic StyleTagged black and white, grid system, International Typographic Style, minimal

Artiva

I haven’t posted about Artiva in a while, and was happy to see a bunch of new work on their site. They definitely have a specific look nailed.

Manuals 1: Design & Identity Guidelines

Posted on February 13, 2014February 21, 2014 Posted in Books, Design, Grid Systems, International Typographic StyleTagged grid system, guidelines, identity, manuals

Unit Editions Manuals 1

Unit Editions just announced a new book titled Manuals 1 Design & Identity Guidelines. It’s a study of corporate identity design manuals from the 1960s to early 1980s. The book includes manuals created for NASA, Lufthansa, British Steel, NYC Transit Authority, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC, and more. The ABC manual is from my collection that I’ve contributed.

I’ve been really looking forward to this book. Manuals are such a great learning resources because they’re not only great to look at, but they also give you insight into the rationale and thinking behind each system. You get to experience what the designers were thinking.

The foreword was written by Massimo Vignelli and the book includes text from Adrian Shaughnessy, NASA designer Richard Danne, Greg D’Onofrio and Patricia Belen of Display, Armin Vit, Sean Perkins and John Lloyd.

Available in March and you can pre-order now.

Ken Briggs

Posted on February 3, 2014February 2, 2014 Posted in Design, Design Legends, Grid Systems, International Typographic StyleTagged grid system, International Typographic Style, posters

Ken Briggs

Ken Briggs was a British graphic designer best known for the excellent poster and programs that he designed for the The National Theatre in London during the 60s and 70s. Some of these wonderful designs are pictured here. He was the companies first graphic designer, his work has had a huge influence on the theatre’s design, even to this day.

Sadly, he passed away recently. We’re left with a collection of work that is legendary.

Eye Magazine has written an article in his honor. The National Theatre also honored him on their Tumblr. They mentioned that The NT Archive took in Ken Briggs’ collection, and you can visit it by contacting them. If I ever make it to London, I’m definitely checking this out.

They’ve also digitized all of their posters, which can be viewed here.

And lastly, In 2009, Occasional Papers published The Master Builder: Talking with Ken Briggs that details a conversation between Sara De Bondt, Fraser Muggeridge and Ken Briggs. The book also includes a lot of his work, but it seems to be out of print.