Roy De Forest

Sad to read that the painter Roy De Forest died. He loved dogs. Always had at least two. Often used them as subjects in his painting.

Mr. De Forest identified himself as an “obscure visual constructor of mechanical delights” and quoted a talking dog, named Samuel Johnson, who said, “What is current taste but old desires made palatable by present boredom.” -- from NYT

The Ampersand and the Treble Clef

There can be considerable pleasure in making a connection between things. Hard to resist drawing a ductile line between heterogenous things, even when it serves no clear purpose.

Pleasure of Things Virtual

Perhaps we now live in a time when the virtual realities are often the preferable reality. Must confess that the painted curtains make this house far more memorable than it once was with bare windows.

re Toilet Training

It was recently reported that Seattle's public toilet project is being phased out. What fun they were. Designed in Germany. A product that combined the talents of graphic designers, engineers, medical doctors, plumbers, sociologists, and the homeless beta testers. During their short tenure in this city it was hoped that they would provid a secure and relatively clean place for one, to shoot up, to make love, to get warm, to wash up, and even to read the Sunday funnies. The installation of an outside security camera did not deter the abuses of one facility, since there were apparently 7,418 reports of human waste on the floor in the first two years. Apparently it is easier to toilet train dogs than it is people. Seems it will cost $700,000 to vacate the $700,000 a year maintenance contract that was set to run until 2014. One can only wonder if maybe the project failed because the signage used the wrong typeface. As they say at IBM... "No one ever got fired for using Helvetica." -- F.U.

Just Say Non

Before and after concepts are a good way to test the rules. Mondrian was one of the first graphic designers. He made it very easy to steal his ideas, thus insuring his permanent place in history. The Grateful Dead understood this tactic in that they allowed concert goers to freely record and share their music. Even a computer can be programmed to produce a fairly convincing Mondrian.

Great graphic design is not rocket science . . .but it is like chemistry. A great poster design often starts out in a test tube. -- F.U.

In the old days all type was set by hand. Each individual letter had to be picked up and placed in position. For better or for worse. . .photography has changed all of that. -- F.U.

“Take a point, stretch it into a line, curl it into a circle, twist it into a sphere, and punch through the sphere.”

— Albert Einstein

Big News

The news is out. A big new book is about to fly out of the bindery via Chronicle Books.
Hint: It will be required reading and prolonged looking for every image hungry designer on the planet.

Watch this space for further announcements.

F.U. esq.