Archive for April, 2007
A few weeks ago I wrote up the French magazine Clark and guest Art Director—and one of my favorite artists of the moment— Parra. Blog reader Okat of Are You Generic? was kind enough to send in some images from a small Parra showing recently at Arrive in Miami. I am totally adoring the Fuck the System piece. I can never decide whether I appreciate Parra’s illustration style or wit more. They definitely compliment one another perfectly.
And for all you Rockwell Clothing fanatics out there weary of the astronomical shipping costs, pick up Okat and Parra’s collaboration t-shirt here.
April 23rd, 2007
Ben over at Covers passed along this link to me the other afternoon. NMCA seeks to preserve creative magazine design and fight the blandness of our newsstands one publication at a time. NMCA is a hobbysite operated by UK Art Director and magazine enthusiast Michael Bojkowski.
NMCA presents well-edited selection of top magazines as a series of indepth cover galleries. Ever wanted to see the cover of the first issue of i-D? NMCA has got you covered. Browse selections from the best of the best. Featured galleries include: Dazed & Confused Japan, Emigre, Esquire étapes, Fortune, Frame, Good for Nothing, Grafik, Harper’s Bazaar, i-D, index, Mad, Index, Neo2, Relax, The Wire, Thrasher, Time, TimeOut London, Tokion and Vogue Paris. For more magazine mayhem from Michael visit his blog Boicozine.
Hmmm…I wonder if he’s currently working on compiling every cover of
The Face for the site?
April 11th, 2007
Design Your Life is the motto of the new lifestyle magazine Blueprint, brought to you by the fine folks at Martha Stewart’s empire. The motto rings true. I am obviously the portrait of the key demographic, because I’ve never come across a magazine that so exactly pinpoints my lifestyle tastes.
I was very curious to see how Blueprint would hold up in comparison to the much heralded Domino Magazine. Had the wost possible scenario occured? Had Martha created the Domino killer? I was pleasantly surprised to discover that while they share definite similarities, most notably the same target demographic, they provided a nice complement to one another. While Domino mostly features interior design with a few splashes of fashion and lifestyle, Blueprint paints itself as the younger, hipper, urban Martha Stewart Living. Create a modern dinner party for your friends, peruse the essential spring fashion must-haves for the urban girl, and organize and clean your closets like a mini-Martha.
I cannot possibly end this post without giving a nod to the impeccable design of Blueprint. It’s feminine, while remaining modern and clean. A lot of thought was obviously put into the inital legwork by the Art Department and it shows. Many magazines tend to fall back into using as few typefaces as possible and only the simplest of grid layouts. Blueprint isn’t afraid to experiment, and somehow it still comes out looking fresh and refined.
Blueprint definitely will not be pushing Domino off the shelves anytime soon. I suspect the sisters are sitting side by side atop quite a few Noguchi coffee tables as we speak. Being domesticated has never been so hip and liberating.
April 3rd, 2007
