E-Book Devolution

Here we go again: A friend of mine, Jim Ball, just forwarded me this e-blast he got from
Digital Book World Daily. Because of the title The Next Ebook Revolution, they felt justified
to use my cover illustration for Dejan Krsic's Book, Mirko Ilic: Fist to Face, that includes the fist.
The problem is, the cover not only includes the red fist, but also the logo for my company.
All this, and without credits, of course.

As far as I know, this site doesn't even sell Dejan's book.

Unfortunately, all of this ripping off and disrespecting of copyrights is NOT an e-book revolution as they claim, but an e-book devolution.

European Unfair Society

The European Citizens' Initiative is fighting for a "fairer and more efficient society." 
Unfortunately, their fight for a "fairer and more efficient society" is fought with total unfair treatment of me.  
They decided to use my image of "Liberty & Justice" on their promotional materials without asking for my permission, giving me credit, and collaging with another image.

Even that was not enough. Because the color was too complex, they decided to redraw the image to be more appropriate for their banner and other internet usages. I have given the "Liberty & Justice" image to hundreds of different organizations and individuals after I was asked, never charging for usage. Most of them have credited me out of respect. That is how that is supposed to work.

This kind of action by the Initiative for a Basic Income in Europe totally contradictory to their mission statement. Fighting the exploitation of one person's work cannot be justified for exploiting another person's work.

Age of Oversupply Illustration

We just received the first copy of
Age of Oversupply: Overcoming the Greatest Challenge to the Global Economy, 
by Daniel Alpert, with my cover illustration.
The book is published by Penguin Group,
and art directed by Joseph Perez.

Denatured Catalog and Honey Jars

We just got the first jars of honey made by honeybees from Murano and Chelsea, NYC by Judi Harvest and Bees Without Borders. Judi is an artist who creates glass vessels and other sculptures reminiscent of honeycombs/beehives. For her installation at the Venice Biennale, she displayed her artworks as well as unveiled her renovated garden.

We designed the exhibition catalog and all the collateral including advertisements, banners, and honey jar labels for the honey.

Her show is in Venice from May 29th - October 31st at the Scola dei Battioro e Tiraoro.

Steve Heller and My New Book, Lettering Large

I just received an advanced copy of my latest book with Steve Heller, Lettering Large: Art and Design of Monumental Typography, published by Monacelli Press. The book will be released at the end of October.

It is one of the first books to chronicle letters as presences in the urban landscape. There are examples culled from sites across the US and throughout the world. The book contains over 700 images of monumental typography projects.

This book was dedicated to Milton Glaser and Mihajlo Arsovski.

(click to enlarge images)

Joule Hotel In-Room Compendium Set

We designed a new set of in-room compendiums for the Joule Hotel in Dallas, Texas. 

There are two different colored versions (red/gold and blue/green), one for suites and one for regular rooms. The set consists of an in-room directory, a bar menu, and a notepad holder. 
Each design features old patented drawings of machinery that were often used to drill for oil, crystals, and minerals. On the bar menu, we used patent drawings of a cork screw. This is part 
of an on-going project with the Joule Hotel. 

You can see more of our work for the hotel on our website.

Matija Dedic's New CD

A few weeks ago when Croatian jazz musician Matija Dedic asked me to help him out and quickly design a CD cover for him, I was delighted. My first LP cover design was for Rimska Ploca by Arsen Dedic (Matija's father). When I first met Matija while working on the Rimska Ploca design, he was only 7 or 8 years old. In time, I designed quite a few more of Arsen's LP covers, but this is the first time for Matija.

Here is a sample of Matija's music from Sentiana, by Blue Bamboo Music Inc.