1970s Ravensburger Travel Series

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While searching for who knows what, I found these vintage Ravensburger Travel Series games from the 70s. What immediately struck me were the beautiful package designs and the stunning color palettes. Simple, straight to the point graphics with the name of the game set in Helvetica.

It goes to show how graphic design for consumer products has lost its way. Just compare these wonderful package designs to one of their current games. Terrible.        

Pre-Postmodern Swiss Posters Exhibit

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Designer Morgan Smail sent me an email about an exhibit called Pre-Postmodern Swiss Posters that was held at San Jose State University from November 17-December 18, 2009. The posters are from the private collection of designer Aaron Marcus and feature some real gems. Morgan was kind enough to snap some photos of this wonderful exhibit, which I’ve uploaded to my Flickr page.

While doing some research for the exhibit I found this blog post by Aaron Marcus that goes into the history of how he assembled this wonderful poster collection. There’s also a PDF of Aaron’s presentation at the exhibit opening.

The students that attend San Jose State are sure fortunate! This was the same school that held the Spiele: Otl Aicher’s Olympic Graphic Design exhibit two years ago.        

Anouk Rehorek

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Even though I’ve never done it, I love magazine design. Something about seeing a well-designed spread get’s my creative juices flowing. It’s unfortunate that the magazine industry is hurting because I’d hate to lose all the great creative.

Some of the best magazine designs I’ve seen are by Swiss graphic designer, Anouk Rehorek. His use of black and white color along with serif type is stunning and the way he integrates imagery really creates a perfect balance.        

Roger Willems

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Here’s some lovely work by Dutch designer Roger Willems. I’m particularly fond of these covers for the architectural publication, OverHolland. The bold colors, obvious grid and solid typography give these covers a classic feel as if they’re right out of the 60s era.