INVITE TEASER

I'm wrapping up a wedding invitation for some of my best friends and it's looking pretty cool. Here's a teaser. I'll be letterpressing the whole thing with Bryce McCloud at Isle of Printing in the coming week, and will be sure to post some process pics and of course the final product. Stay tuned!

ACT DA FOOL

My friend Harmony Korine asked me to design a poster for a new short film he made with designer Proenza Schouler called ACT DA FOOL. Harmony, an amazing photographer and artist in his own right, gave me a stack of on-set photos to use, many of which Harmony had smeared with different colored paints. Harmony wrote out and painted some title treatments as well in his unmistakable style and instructed me to play around with it all and come up with a one-sheet. Above is the one we went with, which, as is often the case, happened to be my first idea. Stay tuned for more about the short and release info.

DESIGN BOOKSHELF: AGI

Happy Friday... These images come from the book Posters by Members of the Alliance Graphique Internationale 1960-1985, edited by Rudolph de Harak and published in '86. The AGI, of which countless international design legends were members, is still active and even has its own Flickr stream. You can head over to MY Flickr for some additional images (and these are only a fraction of this book) and credits for the designers.

BREATHLESS

I did this quick design for a BREATHLESS poster with plans to make a screenprint for the Belcourt Theatre, but because of a couple different factors it won't be going to print this weekend. Maybe it will turn up in print in the future, but in the meantime I'll have some other Belcourt prints in the works for some upcoming midnight movies to be announced soon. Below is a new BREATHLESS poster illustrated by Yoko Komura for Film Forum (nearly ruined by some obviously flown-in digital type), followed by a great original French poster I'd say is my favorite for the film, and for fun, a surprisingly interesting poster for the Richard Gere remake.

CRITERION #3

I'm very proud to announce my third DVD cover & package for The Criterion Collection: Charlie Chaplin's MODERN TIMES. Waking up to an email with this assignment began one of the most intimidating and humbling projects I've ever attempted, as this movie-- the last of Chaplin's films as the iconic Little Tramp character-- has long been considered no less than one of the greatest of its time-- maybe ever-- and I really wanted to do it justice. The cover will grace the DVD and Blu-ray release of MODERN TIMES on November 16th. I'm definitely planning on writing up another process post, so stay tuned for that, and I also hope to share some of the art for the menus and the rest of the package. In the meantime, you can look forward to this excellent release, which features loads of supplements and a sure-to-be stunning new transfer. Also announced today, continuing one of the best streaks of announcements I've seen from Criterion: Charles Laughton's NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, Lars Von Trier's ANTICHRIST, and a new Blu-ray boxed set that includes EASY RIDER, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, HEAD, FIVE EASY PIECES, THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS and more. I'm so happy to be involved in this project and to be working again with Criterion. Check back soon for more!

ALEXANDER GIRARD

To anyone checking in -- sorry for the lack of posts the past week or two. I've suddenly had a handful of amazing projects fall into my lap and haven't had much free time to post. Many cool things to be announced soon, so do check back.

I'm currently wrapping up a wedding invitation for a good friend of mine, and I'll be letterpressing the invites with the great Bryce McCloud of Isle of Printing -- one of Nashville's true treasures and a print-lover's pleasure dome. One of my biggest inspirations for the design was the work of the late, great Alexander Girard, specifically the layout of this menu design I've translated for the invite. I just love everything Girard, and thankfully House Industries does to, and has released the finest collection of Girard products imaginable: a typeface, custom 3d letters, a wooden nativity scene, cloth dolls, an animal puzzle, a memory game, and a set of children's blocks. Visit the site above to see more great images of these little works of art. Needless to say, my future child's nursery room is gonna be Girardesque. Here's more from the man.

DESIGN BOOKSHELF

I consider myself far more talented at collecting neat art books than I am at actually producing art... Thus I give you these photos of my new Ikea bookshelves stocked with all of my favorite sources of inspiration I've collected through the years. I recommend them all, and will be posting more selected images from some of these books soon.

HANS HILLMANN

Not long ago I was introduced to the poster art of German designer Hans Hillmann thanks to Adrian Curry's great Movie Poster of the Week series, and now I can say that he's one of my biggest design heroes and, hopefully one day, one of my biggest influences. I don't need to go into Hillmann's accomplishments as a designer, illustrator and teacher as they are many, and a great overview of Hillmann's life and work can be found in Lars Muller's brilliant new A5-series title Hans Hillmann: the Visual Work. Hillmann's work is simple, bold, elegant, funny, clever, and striking. I particularly love his juxtapositions of different scales in a single image, and the way in which his prolific output lent itself to a marriage with only one or two simple typefaces. Here are some posters of his that I could find on the web, but if you like what you see, click the link above and pick up that book-- an essential title for any artist or film lover's library. I LOVE THIS MAN.

COMING SOON

Photography by Michael Vallera, Design by Sam Smith

KHUAN+KTRON

I quit! That's how these pieces by Belgian design film KHUAN+KTRON make me feel, with a little bit of profound inspiration thrown in there too. Seriously though -- how beautiful are these Weekend Knack magazine covers that Grain Edit posted yesterday? I'm just in awe. Scanning through their Flickr and their official portfolio, here are some more of my favorites. I would love to know which artists, between Ningtiendo Sehgah, Acidpluto, and Mikail Mitmalka, are responsible for these different images.