Another year, another impressive array of books and covers to marvel at. The turnout for the November 5 opening also impressed, especially since it was a “first Thursday” night when galleries typically debut new art shows.

On hand were designers, design educators and their students, painters, illustrators, musicians and assorted other bibliophilic types for a look-see at the AIGA 50/50 show. While most were of the local variety, there was a contingent from Cal State Chico and at least one attendee from Monterey. Who said the book is dead?

Here are some snapshots of what they saw.

Chronicle Books’ lobby transformed into book gallery

Letterpress-printed commemorative napkins and bookmarks, courtesy of Michelle Clair and designed by Laura Bagnato, Chroniclers both.

A curiosity piece from McSweeney’s: All Known Metal Bands. Really.

Look at me: Photographs from Mexico City

The ties that bind: exposed spine from MIT Press; multi-hued spine from Mark Batty. In the background, Chronicle’s own L Is for Lollygag.

Full metal jacket: printed pressed tin cover from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

That’s right. It’s books, too!

From fruit to nuts–and bookmarks.

Not the last word: yours truly takes to the soap, er, book box, on behalf of the book as we know it.

The penultimate word
I’m not one who seeks to have the last word. I do like to welcome our guests, however, and acknowledge those who worked to make the evening a success. To ensure that I do not have the final word, I include an e-mail from journalist friend Claire Sykes extolling the virtues of real books, as opposed to virtual ones. Claire writes:

“I have had no experience with e-books and am not at all drawn to them. Maybe someday that’ll change, but for now, I prefer the tactile feel of paper between my fingers, its texture and heft, and the sound it makes in that small shift of air as I gather up the corner of a page and turn it. I love the smell of a fresh, new book, my nose in the crease. I love how a book shows its use from my carrying it around in my bag, its cover worn from my touching it so much, its pages buckled from getting wet while reading in the tub. I love seeing the spines of all my books lined up one after the other on my bookshelves, the colors and typefaces as varied as the contents inside. I love just knowing they are there. I love returning to a book over and over again throughout the years, seeing underlined passages and notes in the margins, scrawled in my hand. I could go on, but you get the idea. Nothing will ever replace a real book.”

The AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers exhibition will remain open until November 20, 2009 in the lobby of the Chronicle Books building, 680 Second Street, San Francisco. Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday.

Michael Carabetta
Creative Director

Popularity: 1% [?]

No “soft opening” for this edition of the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers exhibition. This year the show will open with a bang on Thursday 5 November and remain open until 20 November.

We’ve not decanted the books and covers from their shipping boxes yet (see below) but based on the stellar jury, we know bibliophiles and bookaholics alike will not be disappointed.

Jenna Cushner, design studio manager wheels in the winners

2009 will be the seventh year that Chronicle Books, in conjunction with the San Francisco chapter of AIGA and the San Francisco Center for the Book, will host the 50 best designed books and covers as determined by a jury of publishing and design professionals.

Speaking of the jury, they are:

Jane Brown, Distributed Art Publishers (D.A.P.), Los Angeles, CA

Rodrigo Corral, Rodrigo Corral Design, New York, NY

Vanessa Eckstein, Bløk Design, Mexico City, Mexico

Franc Nunoo Quarcoo, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, MD

Brett Yasko, Pittsburgh, PA

Typical of this, the longest running juried exhibition of books and covers in the U.S., the jury had their work cut out for them: over 900 submissions were winnowed down to the double fifty.

The Back Story
Since 1924, the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers competition has recognized excellence in book design and production. Categories range from trade, reference and juvenile books to university and museum publications and include limited edition and special format books.

Each year the show is donated to the Rare Book and Manuscript Collection of Columbia University, which houses the AIGA award-winning books dating back to 1923. Starting in 2004, another set of the show has a permanent home at the Denver Art Museum in Colorado.

We cordially invite you to join us in celebrating the art of book and cover design. And stay tuned for a post on the opening festivities.

Michael Carabetta
Creative Director

Popularity: 2% [?]

On the way back from a cappuccino run (15 miles round trip – hey, it was good coffee!) I spotted a smart car done up with Rex Ray art. Not one to pass up a photo opp, I biked the last block home, grabbed my camera and returned to the scene. I call it the sm’art car.

Cheers,
Michael Carabetta
Creative Director

Popularity: 2% [?]

While the country waits for Congress to approve a stimulus package, I went in search of my own on the streets of New York when I was in the Big Apple for the International Gift Fair.

In between appointments and ducking into galleries to thaw out (temps were 15-25˚ F.) I let my eyes be stimulated by the profusion of signs, graphics, and art to be found for the looking. Here’s a selection of what I saw.

The 411 on Fifth Avenue: sleek, moderne, aglow, just as you’d expect.

“Number nine…number nine…” Chermayeff & Geismar’s larger than life street number on West 57th Street.

319 isn’t exactly Futura but it is elegant nonetheless.

For the design savvy, design firm Pentagram’s Greek Revival entry way on Fifth Avenue, natch.

AVA: I don’t know the origins of this building or the elephant motif on the number plaque of this Greenwich Village building, but it speaks of history–if not mystery.

Helvetica is alive and well as the font of choice for the Metro system. It wasn’t always that way, however. If you’d like the lowdown, see:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/how-helvetica-took-over-the-subway/

A section of West 4th Street near Sheridan Square has been dedicated to the memory of the late Dave Van Ronk, folksinger. He leant Bob Dylan a sofa to sleep on when the young Minnesotan first hit town.

This could be the best bargain in cheeses anywhere, with hand drawn typography par excellence to boot.

McSorley’s is New York’s oldest, continuously operated saloon. Patrons have included Abe Lincoln, Woody Guthrie, and John Lennon.

The Paris Theatre is one of the oldest art houses in the U.S. For a closer observation, see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/nyregion/thecity/31pari.html

DKNY: Not much more can be said about this architectural scale spectacle, as this sort of advert is called. Note the green landscape at ground level. Nice touch.

New York is wild posting heaven.

arts & architecture: Taschen’s facsimile edition, 10 boxes worth, of the landmark mid-century publication. Truck rental optional.

Politics is never far from view, from polished poster to stencil art, to spray can gothic. It’s fresh and it’s immediate.

And then there’s art. No, this isn’t high-rise living. Rather, it’s part of an installation by Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata. There are a dozen of these tree houses perched above Madison Square Park. No vacancy.

Soundsuits are sculptures by Nick Cave–the artist, not the musician. I’d love to see them dance. For more, see:
http://www.jackshainman.com/dynamic/exhibit_artist.asp?ExhibitID=107

The Thinker
One of the appointments I had was with Push Pin Studios co-founder, Seymour Chwast. We will publish Seymour: The Obsessive Imagery of Seymour Chwast in May. Meanwhile, you can study what’s on his bookshelves.

Michael Carabetta
Creative Director

Popularity: 3% [?]

It’s that time of year. Baseball season is over, the Olympics a vague memory, and this year’s election–history in the making.

Also, it’s the time of year for the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers show. For those of us who work and live in the book trade, our hearts beat a little faster. Now is the time the fruits of our labor come into the market and jostle for your attention on the tables at bookstores, and flicker across one of your bookmarked web sites.

It’s the sixth year running that we have partnered with the AIGA San Francisco chapter and the San Francisco Center for the Book to stage the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers show. Once again, we will open the doors of our lobby for the public to see–and be seen–browsing this juried selection.

About the jury

This year the jury comprised of:
• Antonio Alcala’, Studio A, Alexandria, VA
• Marc Blaustein, New York Public Library, NY
• Nancy Ovedovitz, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT
• Cheryl Towler Weese, Studio Blue, Chicago, IL

A bit of history

Since 1924, the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers competition has recognized excellence in book design and production. Categories range from trade, reference and juvenile books to university and museum publications and include limited-edition and special format books.

Each year the show is donated to the Rare Book and Manuscript Collection of Columbia University, which houses the AIGA award-winning books dating back to 1923. Starting in 2004, another set of the show has a permanent home at the Denver Art Museum in Colorado.

Show time

Today the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers exhibition opened to the public. It was installed with the able assistance of Jenna Cushner, the fleet-footed logistics of Anna Carollo, and the spirited tri-color graphics of Laura Bagnato.

For those of you in the Bay Area–or beyond if you happen to be visiting San Francisco–you’re invited to the opening reception Friday, November 14, 2008 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. The place: 680 Second Street (near the corner of Townsend), San Francisco.

Following are a few photographs of the books and covers and exhibition graphics.

Welcome to the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers show. Exhibition graphics by Chronicle Books designer, Laura Bagnato.

A sampling of the 50 Covers gallery.

Unusual cover material treatment from a German entry.

The art of the book is alive and well–and popping off the page–in this book.

The Chronicle Books retail store will feature books that were selected by the AIGA jury for inclusion in the show, but won’t be selling the AIGA titles.

Michael Carabetta
Creative Director

Popularity: 5% [?]