Design of Dissent at TypoPassage Timisoara and the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives

On Sunday, October 7th, we have a lecture and exhibition on the Design of Dissent in Timisoara, Romania. This DoD show is hosted by TypoPassage Timisoara Micro-museum as part of the MAD(E) IN ROMANIA festival. Organized by Ovidiu Hrin, TypoPassage Timisoara "is an open-air micro museum, dedicated to graphic design and the art of shaping letters."

TypoPassage Timisoara will also feature a Tolerance show. We're incredibly grateful for Ovidiu's dedication in organizing both of these shows. This new DoD show is based on the expanded edition. You can see pages from the book on Amazon.

For the first set of traveling shows, and now for this new show, we got lots of original art from the participating artists featured in the book. In order to make them more accessible to students and scholars, these works have been donated to the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives at the School of Visual Arts, categorized under the Design of Dissent Collection. Enclosed here is a page from the SVA Visual Arts Journal about this collection.

Read more about the donations and the archive online here.

My Work Featured in New Book, "The Illustration Idea Book: Inspiration from 50 Masters"

I'm very honored that Steven Heller and Gail Anderson decided to feature my work in their upcoming book, The Illustration Idea Book: Inspiration from 50 Masters. I illustrated and designed this series of post stamps and envelopes for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. This project was art directed by Sergio Baradat.

This book "presents 50 of the most inspiring approaches used by masters of the field from across the world. Themes covered include creating characters, symbol and metaphor, illustrated lettering, inventing worlds, and caricature."

The rest of this project can be seen on Behance.

The Illustration Idea Book: Inspiration from 50 Masters will be available for purchase on Amazon on November 13.

25 Years Later, on the Walls of The New York Times

Success is a very relative thing. When the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) announced earlier this year that they were putting eight of my designs for The New York Times Op-Ed pages in their collection, I was excited.

However, when The New York Times recently decided to frame and put four of my Op-Ed pages in their waiting room, I was thrilled. Especially because at the time when I was the art director for the Op-Ed pages between 1992–1993, not only were there few Mac computers available in the art department, but also there was a big resistance in general to such a radical approach.









When the NYTimes told me that they were going to frame the Op-Ed pages, I didn't know exactly where they were going to put them. Especially, I didn't know that they were going to put them opposite the wall on which they posted some of the best illustrations created for the Op-Ed pages. And I definitely didn't know that two of my illustrations, created in 1991 and '92 (before I became art director) are a part of that wall.

Illustration on Label for Devetka Craft Beer

9 renowned international graphic and type designers were commissioned to make labels for Devetka craft beer. These two are the first in the series, designed by Croatian designer and typographer Nikola Djurek, featuring my old comics and illustration.
For more about Nikola Djurek, view this short documentary.

Photographs courtesy of Slaven Janđel.

Judi Harvest "Centrotavola Veneziano 2018" Brochure

Our design for Judi Harvest's "Centrotavola Veneziano 2018" brochure just off the press from the printer in Venice. The Venetian glass centerpiece is going to be displayed at The Gritti Palace in Venice, Italy.

Kevin the Bold comic by Kreigh Collins

I recently acquired this Kevin the Bold comic from 1968 by Kreigh Collins. Beyond liking the drawing, I bought the comics because of the astonishing last two frames.

"Kreigh Collins (1908-1974) began his career as an illustrator for magazines in the 1930s. In 1950, along with writer R. R. Winterbotham, Collins debuted his most popular work, the newspaper strip Kevin the Bold.

Kevin the Bold (1950-1968) was a comic strip whose star originally appeared as a supporting character in a strip called Mitzi McCoy, first published in 1948. The original strip focused on the escapades of a 20th-century socialite and heiress. When she met her 15th-century ancestor, Kevin, he became the new star and the strip was renamed for him. Kevin, originally presented as an Irish shepard, eventually becomes something of an errand boy for King Henry VIII."

– Smithsonian

Much more of Kreigh Collins' work can be seen here and here.

Arthur Szyk, "La Muerte del Negro Primero"

I just recently got as a present this beautiful miniature by Arthur Szyk, titled "La Muerte del Negro Primero". Art is 4.25 x 5.75 in gouache and ink on board.

Arthur Szyk (1894 – 1951) was a Polish-Jewish artist.

Best known for his World War II anti-Nazi political art and his Passover Haggadah, 20th century artist Arthur Szyk single-handedly revived the medieval tradition of illumination.

A master of miniature painting and calligraphy, Szyk brought his unmistakable style to subjects as diverse as biblical stories, literary classics, and political caricature and cartoon. Many of his works were published as limited edition fine art books and as editorials in periodicals such as Collier’s, Esquire, TIME, and The New York Post. Other popular works, such as his celebrated Declaration of Independence of the United States, were reproduced and widely distributed as fine art prints.

A self-described “soldier in art,” Szyk was a committed activist-artist, advocating for religious tolerance and racial equality for minorities, especially for Jews and black Americans.

Learn more about Arthur Szyk here and here.

Roman Cieslewicz Poster

To not think I'm only collecting movie posters from ex-Yugoslavia.

Here is a 1979 poster by legendary Polish/French designer Roman Cieslewicz for the Paris-Moscow 1900–1930 exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, Paris.
You can see here a documentary about Cieslewicz—the excerpted clip describes our first meeting.

Secret Agent Corrigan

I just got myself a comic strip, "Secret Agent Corrigan" by Al Williamson from 1976. Despite not having his usual beautifully-rendered drapery and cross-eyed ladies, it's still a great example of minimalist composition and drawing.

Here are comics how they appear in print with deleted blue pencil and aging halftone effects.

Bistre glave (Block-Heads) movie poster

Recently, I acquired this poster for the movie Bistre glave (Block-Heads) from from early 1970's Yugoslavia, printed in Zagreb, Croatia. Designer unknown.

Everything about this poster is unusual. It's printed in silkscreen. It has a huge American flag on it for no particular reason, and in the strange collage under the star, among others, appears Italian comics character Valentina by Guido Crepax. Probably one of the most erotic comics of the '60s and '70s. What does she have to do with Laurel and Hardy? Nobody knows.

Two More Bucan Posters

Two more movie posters designed by Croatian artist Boris Bucan.

The first one is for the movie "Prijeki sud" (Martial Law) from 1978.
The second is for "Zivi bili pa vidjeli" (We Will See) from 1979. The legs in the shape of a T-square is because the movie is about architecture students.

Previous posts of Bucan posters I have acquired can be found here and here.

60s Movie Posters from Old Country

I acquired two more movie posters from old country.

The first, a poster for Mali vojnici (Little soldiers) from 1967, designed by Miloš Ćirić.
The second is a poster Kljuc (Key) from 1965, designed by Mihovil Šimunić-Šim.