The Missed Connections illustrated blog by Sophie Blackall is finding lots of followers. In fact, there’s even a short video about the blog made by Babelgum. Blackall reads Craigslist’s Missed Connections and posts her pictorial vision of these fleeting moments along with the text from the ads themselves. They can be sweet, funny, and at times just plain strange. Her illustration style, with its delicate lines, soft colors, and editorial quietness, lends itself beautifully to this project, and usually adds intrigue and mystery to the described scenario—often one of impossible romance.

Maira Kalman’s blog for The New York Times, called And the Pursuit of Happiness, is based on moments from her own life. She visually narrates her adventures, quotidian moments, and grand realizations. These monthly posts are often funny, peculiar, personal, and inspiring, not unlike her illustrated book, The Principles of Uncertainty.

My new favorite blog, Letters of Note, features actual found letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos impeccably curated by Shaun Usher. These correspondences are selected because of their fascinating content and history, not for celebrities and gossip. There are letters from soldiers that reveal amazing stories (I’ve been brought to tears). A letter to Jesse Owens from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People pleads with him not to participate in the 1936 Olympic Games. It’s amazing to get different accounts of history in this firsthand sort of way. It’s also enthralling from a design perspective to see these artifacts uncropped and legible (a transcript also follows each one).

Last week we wrote about how Anthropologie catalogs feature a rich level of storytelling with their design, through photography and playful layouts. It’s not unusual to experience a larger story reading a collection of separate posts on curated, single-author, or theme blogs, whether it’s intentional or not. And if fashion catalogs can tell stories, most certainly illustration (and found-material) blogs can, too.

Suzanne M. LaGasa
Designer

Popularity: 1% [?]

Last Thursday evening, the local AIGA chapter’s annual fundraiser took place at the four-story atrium of The San Francisco Design Center Galleria. This year, the gala was titled Hung Up. In celebration of the powerful influence of skate culture on the lives of many artists and designers, the organization chose skate decks as a medium and had contributing talents customize them to be auctioned off at the gala.

By trade, graphic designers use their artistic sense and creative skills to visualize ideas and deliver messages on behalf of their clients. On this occasion, we had no client. If we considered the AIGA SF as a client, they essentially told us “do whatever you want and we will take it as is”… and they meant it. I don’t know about other contributors, but for me, the freedom was almost dizzying: “Thank you, but where to go? What am I supposed to do now?”

The possibilities are endless, but, I counted forty-eight of them at the fundraiser. While one contributor decided to build a miniature “seedy” hotel on their deck, another sliced up their deck and rejoined pieces together to create a worm-like creature. One was covered in gold, another in peacock feathers. It was truly fascinating to see the plain skate decks end up being such different—yet all equally amazing—design pieces. A curious person like myself must wonder what went through the designers’ minds when they were creating these pieces.

So here it is. I asked my friends and co-workers, Anne, Eloise, and Wilfred, to give me a quick write-up and snap shots of their concept, inspiration, and sketches to give a sense of their design process. I hope you enjoy a peek inside some of the very creative minds!

I “heart” pink. Anne Donnard.
“I jumped on the opportunity to design a deck – little did I know we had a week to do it in, which turned into creating the deck in 4 hours the night before it was to be handed into the AIGA. My concept was simple – I love pink. I really do. I wanted to do a hot pink deck with stencil cut flowers on the bottom. The guys at Utrech Art Supply on New Montgomery were skeptical of my spray painting abilities, but I think I proved them wrong. The stencils were cut by hand from wax paper that was spray mounted to the board. The result was clean crisp hot pink lines. Special shout out to Ben for keeping me company through the whole process!”

The Jawbreaker. Eloise Leigh.
“As a longtime fan of skater art and culture, I was excited to hear about this event and jumped on the opportunity to contribute a skateboard design. Because the deadline was coming up so fast, the concept had to be realistic enough to execute in such a short time, but still fun. I started with the concept of just filling in the woodgrain of the board with different colors to use the pattern naturally there, and after doing some tests in Photoshop, thought it might translate well with acrylic paint. I started painting the deck like this, but wasn’t as thrilled with the result, and ended up scrapping the idea in favor of an earlier joke idea. I just decided to have complete fun with this no matter how goofy it looked, and painted both sides of the deck with a jawbreaker theme, the most frustrating of candies, but also a slight reference to the hardcore nature of skating! And I couldn’t resist transforming the natural shape of the board into a tongue for the top side, and using the woodgrain pattern to fill the jawbreaker layers on the bottom side. The finishing touch was the splatter paint after many rounds of waiting for layers to dry underneath. It was so much fun to get to the core of two things I love, skateboards and candy!”

I “heart” brown. – Aya Akazawa (me!)
“I was very charmed by the simple and natural feel of the plain deck, and immediately drawn to the idea of creating something that will retain these qualities. Then I thought of production methods that might work with this material. I couldn’t start working on this until Halloween was over, because Halloween IS a serious business here at Chroncle (but that is a story for another day.) So I had about two days to produce and wanted to do it by my hands, which narrowed down my options quite a bit. I am a big fan of Rex Ray and I thought that was my primary inspiration for this particular piece, but as my friend pointed out, the Carol costume that I was making for my little Hayden must have been subliminally driving my path of thinking to a crafty direction.”

And last but not least, the skateboard design by Wilfred Castillo, which came close second at the people’s choice award.

“The initial inspiration that would drive the process of illustrating a skateboard was a particular watch designed for jet pilots. I then researched military wayfinding and color palettes. From jet pilots I thought of carrier ships which seemed rather fitting since the illustration would be placed on a deck. After researching, I sketched and experimented with some elements. I decided to let the process create the end result rather than having to attempt to illustrate an idea in my head. Other influences started pouring in, such as the work of design studio Bionic-Systems, Element skateboards, and Willi Kunz. Towards the end, the initial inspiration came back in full circle in a form of an hour glass. I left the skateboard untitled as I felt it could be interpreted in several ways.”

Aya Akazawa
Senior Designer

Popularity: 1% [?]

If there’s anything that those of us in publishing can appreciate, it’s a good story. Over the years, Anthropologie has proven itself to be a master storyteller, particularly through their catalog. For me, receiving an Anthropologie catalog in the mail is like receiving the next installment of a very engaging story. I’m never sure exactly what format the story will take, where it will take place, and what fairytale will flutter out of its pages, but I can hardly wait for the next one to arrive.

What I’ve always appreciated about these catalogs is their willingness to push the creative boundaries of a typically quick-to-the-recycling-bin medium. While certainly in the business of selling fashion and housewares, Anthropologie also understands the significance of story as commodity. Think of that apple tart you bought because it smells like Fall and childhood trips to the orchard. Or the song you downloaded because it’s the song that was playing when you received your first kiss. Anthropologie’s catalogs are evocative and romantic, and take the recipient to a place that exists in one’s dreams. A place where wild spotted mushrooms grow from floorboards, where fabled characters step into knee-high leather boots you, too, can wear.

What makes the stories so strong are the bold creative visions and attention to detail. The photography shifts to fit the changing mood. The styling is art in itself, often transforming the simplest of materials into miniature lands, gypsy caravans, explosions of butterflies and grass. Scale shifts take you down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland. And like many a good story, there are new twists and turns in every telling, whether it be a change in trim or paper stock, an international cast of real people as models, favorite artists featured, or destinations miles off the usual tourist map.

In no other retail catalog I can think of would I see the Carl Sandburg quote, “Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.” In an Anthropologie world, they’re not only dancing, they’re throwing a masquerade ball.

Jennifer Tolo Pierce
Associate Design Director

Popularity: 1% [?]

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% [?]

A few weeks back, I attended the Golden Gate Park Book Fair with my friends and co-workers, Geoff and Sandy, roaming the aisles in search of long lost treasures and inspiration.

Old paper goods, in general, make me swoon, but there were two things at the end of the day that truly left me awe-struck and longing to be part of the days when hand-crafted type and attention to detail were, as it seems, a given.

Around these parts, people know that I’m crazy for “pretty things,” and these books and their use of gold foil definitely fall into the “pretty things” category for me. They show such gorgeous attention to detail, and maximize the use of the foil to make some really eye-catching covers!

The second thing that I found so inspiring was the attention to detail in the spine designs.

With such a constrained space, sometimes designing spines can be a challenge, but seeing how successful these spines are in commanding your attention reminded me that a well-designed spine is as important as a well-designed cover.

If you are looking for some more inspiration, we are lucky enough to be hosting once again in the lobby of our office, the AIGA’s 50 books, 50 covers exhibition through November 20th.

See related post here.

Kristen Hewitt
Senior Designer

Popularity: 1% [?]