Herbert W. Kapitzki

Posted on November 17, 2009September 10, 2010 Posted in Design, Design Legends, Grid Systems, International Typographic StyleTagged design legend, graphic design, grid system, International Typographic Style, logo, minimalism, modernism, posters, Typography1 Comment

My jaw dropped when I saw the work of Herbert W. Kapitzki over at Grain Edit this morning. Never heard of him before today but I’m glad I stumbled upon his work.

Kapitzki was a former student of Willi Baumeister, conceived and designed exhibitions for the state industrial inspection board (Landesgewerbeamt) in Stuttgart in the 1950s and the early 1960s. He later invited by Otl Aicher to teach at the Academy of Design in Ulm.

His poster work is exceptional and I also love his logo and pictograms. What an excellent collection of work but unfortunately the quality of the images are poor. I really wish all of this classic work was better archived. Too many great pieces from great designers are getting lost.

Carl B. Graf

Posted on November 13, 2009November 13, 2009 Posted in Design, Grid Systems, International Typographic StyleTagged graphic design, grid system, International Typographic Style, minimalism, modernism, posters, swiss style3 Comments

Carl Bernhard Graf (1926-1968) was a Zürich based graphic designer that not many people know about. But the work that he left behind is just as good as the well-known designers of his time.

There isn’t much information on Graf (hence the terrible quality of the photo above) but Jonathan Turner has put together a Flickr set comprised of his work. You can also see more of Graf’s work in the classic design books “Graphic Design in Swiss Industry” and “Publicity and Graphic Design in the Chemical Industry“.

If you have any extra cash laying around, you can pick up an original Graf poster for $350.

Experimental Jetset Shirts Reissued

Posted on November 10, 2009November 12, 2009 Posted in Design, International Typographic Style, Merch, TypographyTagged graphic design, International Typographic Style, merchandise, t-shirt, Typography3 Comments

After a year of being out-of-print, the excellent collection of t-shirts by Experimental Jetset are being reissued by Yoshi Kawasaki’s new label, Publik.

The first designs available are John & Paul & Ringo & George, New Wave/Neue Welle/Nouvelle Vague, Cu Vi Estas Esperantisto?, Flag/Sabbath/Big and Grow Your Hair. All are available in several color combinations.

I personally have the New Wave/Neue Welle/Nouvelle Vague and Cu Vi Estas Esperantisto? tee’s and they’re awesome. Might have to get these new color combos.

You can get more info on the designs here, here and here.

Hofstede Design

Posted on November 9, 2009November 9, 2009 Posted in Design, International Typographic Style, TypographyTagged graphic design, International Typographic Style, poster, typeface, Typography3 Comments

I love this double-sided A2 poster, by Australia based Hofstede Design, to promote Tobias Frere-Jones’ visit to Melbourne for a conference. Simple and works both folded and opened.

2010 Calendar Wallpaper

Posted on November 6, 2009January 25, 2010 Posted in Design, Grid Systems, International Typographic Style, Typography, WallpapersTagged calendar, graphic design, grid system, helvetica, International Typographic Style, Typography, wallpaper7 Comments

I’ve been working on a 2010 calendar poster that I plan to have letterpressed and figured that it would also work well as a wallpaper. So I put some wallpapers together based on the poster design that features a 2010 calendar and the year written out in English, Italian, French and German. Available in pink and white at 1920×1200.

Studio Von Birken

Posted on November 4, 2009November 4, 2009 Posted in DesignTagged graphic design, multi-disciplinary, nyc, print, web3 Comments

studiovonbirken

Studio Von Birken‘s work has already been written about on many blogs and I try not to write about work that’s been mentioned everywhere, but their work is too good to ignore. SvB is a New York based boutique studio founded by Katia Küthe & Philipp Müssigmann and their work is excellent. See for yourself.