Salon.com > Gail Anderson

Vernacular signage is a joy

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id="attachment_367731" align="alignnone" width="594" caption="“Big Fish Eats Little Fish”"][/caption]

I’m easy. Okay, not easy like that—you people and your dirty minds. Vernacular signage makes me happy, and so do objects that have been accidentally anthropomorphized. Not long after seeing an upside-down mop in my driveway turn into a smiling woman with gray dreads, I stumbled upon Ner Beck’s small show up at the New York Public Library. It made me happy.

The gift (cards) that keep on giving

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve held on to more used Target gift cards than I’m comfortable admitting—and yet here I am, making yet another public confession about my propensity for over-accumulating.

Apparently, I’m not alone in thinking that Target gift cards are the best thing ever. There are websites dedicated to gift-card collecting, and of course, countless eBay sellers offering starter sets for novice archivists. For the most part, a gift-card collection takes up minimal real estate in the typical congested city apartment, allowing one to focus on quantity without displacing small children or precious pets (or precious children and small pets).

[caption id="attachment_342451" align="alignnone" width="594" caption="I kept this one"][/caption]

Donny Osmond: Design icon

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Before there was a Justin Bieber — before there was even a Justin Timberlake — there was Donny Osmond. One summer night in the 1970s, my poor older brother, Mike, was forced to take his preteen sisters to see Donny and those other Osmonds, as well as the Jackson 5, at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Imagine the stress of worrying about two adolescent girls and their obligatory mutual friend dancing their way down from the cheap seats to the slightly better view one section below. Mike was in college, and my sister and I weren’t even in high school yet. I guess that’s why our brother sat ducked down in his seat, hiding behind a newspaper.

My matchbook addiction

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I thought I was cured.

About a decade ago, I vowed to put a cap on my bottle cap collection, after being injured in the line of duty (an embarrassing story I’ve recounted way past its expiration date, I’m afraid). I was through with mining for small objects, but recently started “pinning” a few crowns on Pinterest just for fun. I figured I’d scratch my recurring itch to admire tiny things by sharing them with anyone who would take a moment to look. Problem solved.

And then a friend gave me a bunch of old matchbox labels.

I am doing everything in my power to resist the urge to start searching online for more of these lovely mini-posters. This past weekend, I spent most of Saturday scanning the fragile slips of paper (pathetic, no?), wondering if my friend had any more labels that she might have forgotten to give me. Would a phone call be too forward? Perhaps a text would be less urgent, or I could play it cool and just email.

Illustrating the icons of graphic design

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Jessie Gang is passionate about design ― and designers ― so much so that she’s hard at work on an ongoing series of “icons of graphic design” portraits ― "Jessie’s Gang."

Jessie, a graphic and product design major at the School of Visual Arts, admits (with a smile) to papering her walls with creations by some of her favorite artists, and in some cases, instructors. The work serves as Jessie’s daily dose of inspiration, and prompted her to immortalize her heroes on paper.

[caption id="attachment_265721" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Paula Scher"][/caption]

These simple ink drawings made me smile. And the portrait of Paula Scher ― also one of my heroes ― is kind of genius. But Jessie’s earnest humor is what captivated me more than anything.

The art of visual punning

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Muddyum Choudhury likes to play with words. In fact, even the name she uses professionally―Muddyum―is a clever twist on the phonetic pronunciation of her given name, Maryam. “It’s a name no one else has and everyone remembers,” the Pakistani-Italian American designer and illustrator says.

Muddyum is inspired by everyday objects, typography, puzzles, puns and her home turf: New York City. In the last six months, she’s been chipping away at a personal project she calls WordPlay, using found objects to create familiar idioms. “I love playing with words and creating designs that make people laugh,” Muddyum says. “WordPlay has been really fun for me because I’m taking two things I love; food and type, and am creating, in many cases, edible type.”

[caption id="attachment_264021" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Jellyfish"][/caption]

Pop art, the beaded edition

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0000

I think of fashion as a medium of communication,” says Victor-John Villanueva. “It can convey ideas, both large and small. On a very personal level, it can convey your mood and state of mind.”

On Feb. 13, Victor became a Fab.com sensation when he officially launched 3PTPOP with a plan to bridge the gap between art and fashion — fashion communication. He’ll be accomplishing that with his line of celebrity fusible bead portraits, using Perler beads, those plastic objects you were tempted to chew on as a kid.

[caption id="attachment_259151" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Anna Wintour on a chain"][/caption]

The amazing portable signs of rural America

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0000

I've been slightly obsessed with portable roadside signage since I first encountered a stretch of white boxes with flashing red arrows along Route 28 in upstate New York. I'd certainly seen that form of advertising before, but didn't realize how ubiquitous it was throughout rural America (or admittedly, what little I know of rural America).

I fantasized about owning a portable sign of my very own, and made mental lists of what it would say. In the end, the beauty of the sign was in its flexibility. I could advertise a pancake breakfast one week and a yard sale the next. Maybe I’d post words of wisdom, or raise philosophical questions. I could keep it in the yard as an art installation of sorts, or hitch it to my car and drag it to the end of the driveway to alert the fire department. It seemed like an investment that would pay for itself.

The oldest designer in the room

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Last fall, I was invited to give a lunchtime lecture at Hyperakt, a groovy design firm in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Much to my surprise, I don’t get terribly nervous before large groups. Maybe it’s because the lights are out and I’m speaking into the darkness, unable to focus on my audience’s sleepy eyelids. But give me a group that I actually have to make eye contact with and I simply lose my words. The Hyperakt space was about the right size to send me into a psychic tailspin.

I arrived typically early and sat on a bench a few buildings over from Hyperakt, peering nervously at the office’s exterior (a cool storefront). A few young designers were busy hauling plastic-covered food platters, which I assumed were for my lunchtime soiree. I suddenly found myself gasping for breath and leaned back on the bench to suck in some crisp October air. I was probably twice as old as those kids; what on earth was I so anxious about? I was twice as old as those kids; that’s what I was so anxious about.

The end of a type-collecting era

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

I’ve ogled the Veer font library for quite some time now. And I am currently in mourning over what appears to be the end of the company’s active type-collecting days, as Veer restructures to increase emphasis on user-generated imagery (“micro-stock”).

The many tasty typefaces former “Head of Type” Joe Newton curated over the last three years will remain intact; but the collection will be frozen in time -- at least for now -- with no new additions on the (near) horizon.

New typefaces would come across my desk almost daily,” Joe recalls. "What a wonderful thing to have the opportunity to play with them all! I think we are in a golden age of type design -- such variety -- everything from 'spaghetti western film poster' to serious and meticulous revivals. From craft project to fine craftsmanship."

Alejandro Paul's fonts are among my favorites,” Joe continues. “They’re beautifully designed, endlessly intricate and ornate. Ale Paul has really helped redefine what a script font can be.”

When two sisters run a type shop

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0000

It is way too easy to spend money at Greenwich Letterpress. Without fail, I manage to leave with some extremely necessary item each time I visit the sunny West Village shop ― a journal, some letterpress greeting cards, or maybe a book plate ― you know, life’s staples.

I am a girl on a tight budget these days, so I’ve had to resist this year’s batch of holiday cards (bah humbug) in favor of last year’s leftovers ― assuming I can find them under my bed. And I haven’t quite rationalized picking up the lovely datebook I’ve decided I absolutely need for 2012. I’m still trying to convince myself that any of the six or seven notebooks I’ve purchased from the shop over the last year will suffice for someone lacking in notable appointments beyond therapy and the dentist.

Advice to job market newbies

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0000

I delivered what was probably the best talk of my career this past May in Lancaster, Pa. ― and that's big coming from someone who is neurotically self-critical. I was invited to do the commencement address at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, a small school in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country area, and accepted without really thinking through the enormity of the task.

I knew that I had to keep my remarks brief and would need visual aids ― after all, I was talking to a bunch of excited graduates who were ready to party (just a guess). I stood at the auditorium door and watched excited students file in wearing caps and gowns, their proud families snapping pictures, and wondered if what I was planning to say would be of any real use to them. I had been asked to provide words of wisdom, and instead came armed with glib comments about not texting at work.

What teaching design taught me

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:00:00 +0000

After 20-plus years as adjunct faculty at the School of Visual Arts, I still get myself all knotted up at the beginning of each semester. Will everyone drop the class? Will they see me for the fraud that I am? Standard issue concerns. And perhaps I was even more nervous this September, since for the first time, I was taking on a full course load as part of my plan to reinvent myself. I was thinking "Room 222," but was afraid I’d end up with "Welcome Back, Kotter."

I started teaching while I was still in my twenties, and wasn’t much older than the continuing ed students in my first class. I arrived for the initial session in the middle of a torrential downpour, soaking wet, portfolio wrapped in a black garbage bag. I nervously asked if I was in the right room, and I am guessing the students probably hoped I wasn’t.

What I learned from a witch doctor

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:00:00 +0000

The only connection most people have to Santería is Ricky Ricardo pounding on the conga drum in old "I Love Lucy" reruns. “Babalú, Babalú Ayé,” chants Cuban icon Desi Arnaz, bow tie loosened. Four decades after my first "Lucy" episode, I have learned that Babalú Ayé is the name of the West African orisha, or intermediary between God and man, that translates to “Father, lord of the earth.” Ayé is renowned for the control he exercises over disease and healing, and he is among the most powerful deities in the African and Caribbean spiritual traditions. Babalú is not just a nostalgic TVLand reference. He is an essential figure in Santería.