With Christmas nearly upon us, I’ve put together a list of books for the designer in your life. Or just treat yourself.

Scripts
Steven Heller and Louise Fili
Thames & Hudson. £24.95

Amazon UK | US

Don’t be expecting a big read – this book is all about the pictures. A fantastic collection of script fonts from Fenwick shop signs to Italian hotel bills. A veritable scrap book, the fonts are grouped by country, and all come from the early part of the 20^th century when the use of script lettering was at its peak. Some you will recognise, others will be less familiar, but as a source of inspiration this book is tremendous value.

Reasons to be Cheerful – the life and work of Barney Bubbles
Paul Gorman
Adelita. £24.99

Amazon UK |US

I grew up with Barney Bubbles artwork without realising it. Elvis Costello, The Damned, Ian Dury and the Blockheads – his artwork graced their albums. A proper down to earth commercial artist, Barney Bubbles (real name Colin Fulcher), was the unsung hero of graphic design in the UK, from his early Hawkwind album covers in the 70s to his work with Go-Discs and Billy Bragg. This long-awaited book (revised edition) about his life and work comes 28 years after his tragic death, and pulls together artwork, photos and reminiscences from ex-colleagues and musicians. A superb book whether you know Bubbles’ work or not.

The Art Director’s Handbook of Professional Magazine Design
Horst Moser
Thames & Hudson. £35

Amazon UK|US

Hardly a handbook. It weighs in at a couple of kilos, but looks good on the coffee table. This is the third edition of the vast tome, written by Moser, and drawing on his vast collection, and it originally hit the shelves in 2002. Well, quite a bit has happened since then, and the book doesn’t appear to have caught up really. There is an update on new independent magazines like Meatpaper, Cut and Elephant. But the world of magazines is a fickle one, and there are so many new ones on the block. Still, a worthy addition to any enthusiast’s library.

100 Years of Magazine Covers
Steve Taylor
Black Dog Publishing. £29.95

Amazon UK|US

I’m a sucker for a compendium of magazine covers, and although there are some classic magazines represented here, like Esquire and Nova, there are some rare or hardly seen magazines on show too, like Zig Zag and Lilliput.

You can never be completely comprehensive in a book with such a wide spectrum to take in. The earliest magazine appears to be from 1894, but those early examples are very much in the minority, with the real focus being on the 60s onwards. Perhaps those years generated the most visually arresting covers.

Exploring the “cultural shifts” over the last 100 years, the covers are split into five distinct chapters, such as “magazines and cultural change” and “magazines and celebrity” – there is no denying the research that has gone into the book. It is fascinating to see the rise of black topics emerging through Negro Digest in the late 60s through to Aspire magazine.

The design is bold – as you would expect from veteran publications designer Neville Brody – but it never takes away from the most important aspect of the book. Those all-important magazine covers.

Team CMYK. Photos: Mike Wilkinson. http://mike-wilkinson.photoshelter.com

There was much excitement last night as CMYK scooped three awards at the PPA Scotland Magazine ceremony.

Aurora, the magazine for Highlands and Islands Airports won Customer Magazine, and FYi, produced for the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland took Best Magazine Design in the business & professional category.

Neil Braidwood, centre, accepts the award for aurora magazine

Matt McArthur, centre, accepts the award for FYi

The much coveted Member Magazine award went to Surgeons’ News, published on behalf of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

John Duncan, editor of Surgeons' News, centre, accepts the award

]]> http://www.wemakemags.com/2011/12/team-cmyk-make-it-a-hat-trick/feed/ 0 http://www.wemakemags.com/2011/11/it%e2%80%99s-a-funny-old-spiel/ http://www.wemakemags.com/2011/11/it%e2%80%99s-a-funny-old-spiel/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:51:37 +0000 Don http://www.wemakemags.com/?p=963

Approaching football in a way that blends whimsy, intelligence, humour and style is nothing new – When Saturday Comes, Nick Hornby and others were doing it decades ago. But the very arty Spiel, sent in our regular lucky bag from Stack Magazines, is taking it to a new level.

A detailed account of the sport’s part in the often bloody history of Algeria is intriguing, though it’s a shame it only takes us up to 2001. There’s a great celebration of Brighton’s revival and an amusing account of an attempt to learn Italian by following a lowly team called Pro Vercelli – though the photos and illustrations facing the latter’s text have no apparent relevance to it.

Any fule kno that football was first played with a pig’s bladder – but Spiel actually tries it, which is rather admirable. Less welcome is a slightly daft poster on how to play conkers – it fails to hit the target.

With an epidemic of charitably patchy face-fuzz sweeping the country, a group of designers and copywriters have gotten in on the Movember action by offering Hairy Lipsum – a placeholder sure to bring that little bit more manliness to your mockups.

It would, of course, be remiss not to mention my own efforts for the cause – all donations welcome!

ROOTING through the CMYK drawers the other day we found two sheets of A4 featuring some rather shaky handwriting that caught our eye. It was a questionnaire filled in for Caledonia magazine by the maverick poet, singer and harmonium player Ivor Cutler.

The ailing genius’s answers, posted to his native Scotland from his adopted home in north London, never made it into print because Caledonia, a glossy consumer magazine that we had much fun producing for five years, folded shortly afterwards. Two and a half years later, on 3 March 2006, Cutler himself passed away aged 83. But now that his characteristically whimsical responses to the magazine’s standard questions have been rediscovered, it seems only right to share them.

What do you wish you’d done differently?

Nothing. My unconscious does all that stuff. It seems to have done a decent job.
A bit slow, perhaps.

What do you wish had never been invented?

The worship of money. What a daft way to pass your life.

Do you have a role model?

That’s like saying “Do you believe there’s a god?”

Have you made a difference?

People come up to me in the street and kiss me (fem.) or shake my hand (male)
but I don’t let the men as my hand hurts.

On the whole, are things getting better or worse?

Both.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve changed your mind about?

See number one.

What was your best ever meal?

I can’t remember.

Describe your ideal weekend.

I haven’t done it yet. It’s the same as the other five days.

Matt had the ink and paintbrushes out this morning for a spot of custom lettering. Whether any of it will make it to print is yet to be seen but I thought I’d share a teeny snippet.

Always nice to get away from the Mac and draw something when you can.