My amazing wife Kirsty Brooks bought me a beautiful car badge from a second-hand shop. It’s from a Wolseley 24/80 which was an Australian-only 6-cylinder version of the 1960s Wolseley 16/60 model.
It’s an evocative piece of type for a fairly staid British car and I especially love the shape of the W, which has a touch of the William Morris about it.
While I was visiting Melbourne in September, I took in the National Gallery of Victoria’s exhibition of 68 artworks from the Guggenheim Collection.
Much of the exhibition featured the ‘big hits’ of modern art by Pollock, Lichtenstein, Warhol, Giacometti and Judd. Although familiar, it was still a rare experience to see such iconic pieces in Australia.
But the highlight for me was Matthew Barney’s extraordinary Cremaster Cycle films, played simultaneously on five screens suspended from the ceiling arranged in a circle. Wandering from film to film draws you into a glossy, fantasy world of surrealist eye-candy.
Visit Guggenheim Collection: 1940s to Now and The Cremaster Cycle
A colleague, Peter Bainbrigge, who is a passionate James Bond fan has been kindly lending me his 1960s British Pan editions of Ian Fleming’s novels.
While the sexism and racism are from a different age, other aspects of the books are surprisingly contemporary, especially the obsession with luxury brands. They’re great reads and the cover designs from the early 1960s are superb.
Visit MI6
Alki1, a member of the photo-sharing website Flickr, has assembled a rich depository of twentieth century typography and graphic design.
With a sharp eye for detail, Grant Hamilton’s photography creates art from the colours and contrasts of everyday life.
Compositions vary from abstract close-ups of signage and advertising – mini homages to Mark Rothko, Elsworth Kelly and Jeffrey Smart – to more figurative pieces. And the Polaroid format provides a pleasing uniformity that avoids being contrived.
Visit Mark Hamilton Via Boredom is Your Fault
The diverse talents of the Keystone Design Union’s members are dramatically presented in The Royal magazine.
Fusion’s spectacular concept for a permanent architectural light installation on the corner of Rundle and Pulteney Streets has won a design competition held by the Adelaide City Council.
The concept, which aims to help revitalise the east end of Rundle Street, involves the installation of aluminium panels that by day create an interesting architectural form, and at dusk and night transform into a giant lantern that displays motion graphics using LEDs controlled by a media player.
Fusion has successfully tested a prototype and the project is now being budgeted. Subject to final approval by the council, it’s expected to be live by mid 2008.
Visit Fusion and Sensational Adelaide
Adelaide graphic designer Sue Dyer sent me a wonderful Christmas present. It’s a beautiful book called Words Fail Me that’s written and designed by Teresa Monachino and published by employer-of-my-dreams Phaidon.
Teresa uses simple, clever typography to illustrate the contradictory and inconsistent nature of the English language, from our homonyms and heteronyms to what she calls ‘antigrams’ like the word ‘believe’ which contains the word ‘lie’.
While the book covers similar ground as the popular grammar books that appeared in the wake of Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots and Leaves, there is something about the feel and packaging that is immensely satisfying. It’s also a homage to one of the world’s most popular typefaces, Gill Sans and it appeals to me in the same way as Paul Arden’s books. Thank you Sue.
