Phil Selway – Familial
Design: Traffic
Artwork: Sleeps In Oysters

With the year beginning to draw to a close I thought I’d drop one more entry in this series, which simply examines the trend of using heads in music art in 2010.

Not an entirely unique trend in this industry, but from my observations there have been enough notable examples to warrant the examination. Besides, it’s fun.

You can check out the original article here and the fem-bot focused follow-up here.

I’m kicking Vol 3 off with one of my favourite covers from this year – Phil Selway’s Familial, which is one of many albums in this article that I’m still yet to hear. It’s elegantly designed and features a lovely slice of British domestic surrealism. This cover in fact displays three heads belonging to a typical nuclear family looking rather, well nuclear – as their faces have been adorned (mutated) with feathers and other strange organic artifacts. The rather ornate and bizarre imagery contrasts beautifully against the restrained design. I believe that’s Helvetica, handsome as always.

I’d love to know who’s responsible for the artwork and design of this cover – so if you’re able to fill me in please leave a note in the comment section.

Tracy Thorn— Love and its Opposite
Design: IWANT

Similar in its design and concept is Love and its Opposite, Tracy Thorn’s third solo album and her second collaboration with the massively exciting UK design studio IWANT. The family photo that makes up this cover looks like it was defaced by a child armed with textas. Incidentally that was one of my favourite pastimes as a kid and a look through almost any book from my childhood library will reveal numerous abstract and non-sensical “revisions” rendered in a rainbow of crayon, pencil and paint.

IWANT are really producing an exceptional, psychedelic body of work. Their custom type for Tracy Thorn’s logo is quite lovely too.

Hot Chip— We Have Remixes
Design: Wallzo

To be fair, the Selway and Thorn covers don’t strictly fit into the “head music” canon (I just really like them) so it’s back to the big heads and back to one of the designers that helped kick this whole series off.

Darren Wall (Wallzo) has been Hot Chip’s designer since album #2, and it’s hard to imagine the band working with anyone else. He’s successfully brought something fresh and unique to each release. This particular cover is for We Have Remixes, which is a remix album of their most recent studio release – One Life Stand. The cover doesn’t so much “remix” the LP cover as it does expand on and continue the original idea – which Wallzo talked about indepth on It’s Nice That—

“When statues are installed or transported they are often lowered into place with large, colourful canvas slings. Owen had a few photographic examples of this in action and they seemed to create an interesting theme; classical forms intersected with bright stripes of colour. The idea of a head seemed to appeal to the band most of all, and from there it all came together after lots of experimentation. There’s plenty of Giorgio de Chirico and Hipgnosis reference in there too. I think its essentially quite an over-the-top image – like a prog-cover reduced to a screen-print. The most enjoyable part of the process was working with the Vinyl Factory who created the 12” versions of the album. The special edition is a 2-disc gatefold with an art print and we’ve even printed a pattern hidden on the inside of the sleeve.”

Arp – The Soft Wave

An excellent new release from purveyors of excellent music and design Smalltown Supersound. Between the previous Hot Chip cover and this, perhaps there is a minor trend emerging in the use of Greek (or is it Roman) statue heads?

I’d love to know who designed this one too, as it doesn’t immediately strike me as the work of Smalltown regulars Kim Hiorthøy or Rune Mortensen.

Mark Ronson and the Business International— Record Collection

Up until last week I knew next to nothing about Mark Ronson beyond the fact that he’s produced for Amy Winehouse and his sister is famous for being Lindsay Lohan’s girlfriend/DJ. Since then I have to confess to becoming slightly addicted to The Bike Song – completely unlike what I usually listen to but an undeniably great pop single. The video is brilliant too—

I’m assuming design duties for this one were again undertaken by uber studio Village Green, who took care of Ronson’s previous album Versions, which incidentally features a similar concept. And Ronson’s head.

It’s clever, striking, and reminiscent of both the Sleeveface meme and some of Jonathan Zawada‘s ‘Vintage’ club night posters—

Seems like at least some of these covers are based on real covers too. I can spot Duran Duran’s Rio in there. Are there any others?

Type is set in Poplar. I’ve heard typography fiends complain about the R in this font, but I find that to be one of my favourite characters in the set.

Tricky— Mixed Race

Tricky’s considerable output is filled with great songs and great ideas, but in my opinion only one truly great album – Maxinquaye. I actually felt that his last album Knowle West Boy flashed moments of Maxinquaye era-greatness, so I’m somewhat optimistic about this one. The cover looks like it might have been shot in the same session as 2001′s Blowback – an album with a far superior type treatment.

Big Boi— Sir Lucious Left Foot

Lots of fuss around this album. I must admit I’ve only heard 3 or 4 songs, but none of them have really turned me on that much. I’ve enjoyed listening, and there’s some interesting production at work, but nothing has struck me as being better or more revolutionary than your average Outkast record. I’m apathetic about this cover too. It’s not your typical hip-hop terribleness, but it’s not a patch on Speakerbox/The Love Below. It also doesn’t reflect any of the inventiveness and visual trickery of Big Boi’s music videos, which are always excellent. That’s a missed opportunity in my books.

M.I.A— /\/\ /\ Y /\

It’s hidden behind a barrage of YouTube play-bars, but that is definitely M.I.A’s head. The logo is made from an animated gif and the album title is rendered in an OSX button. It’s internet punk.

Robert Hood— Omega

I know nothing about Robert Hood.
I’m assuming that’s his head though, and that the typography is custom.

Give Up Art seem to have established themselves as the dubstep artwork specialists – creating the most sophisticated design work in the genre. I’m yet to hear the album, but I think this cover is quite cool.

Matthew Dear— Black City

Cool cover and artwork – really suits the album – but the really exciting stuff is happening with the digital packaging.

Grinderman— Heathen Child

This isn’t the new Grinderman album cover. This is the single.

It’s pretty spooky.

Grinderman— Grinderman 2

This is the new Grinderman album cover. Also spooky.

According to Gavin Lucas at Creative Review, photography is by Polly Borland (who did all those fantastic promo shots for Black Cherry era Goldfrapp) and design is by the always excellent Tom Hingston, marking his second collaboration with the band.

Grinderman seem to have a thing for sininster looking animals – with this snarling wolf taking the place of the hypercolour monkey from the previous record.

Nice blackletter type too. Can anyone identify that for me? Apparently the type on the Heathen Child single will be gold foil block. Delicious.

Very much looking forward to this album too – and everything I’ve heard from it and about it sounds amazing. Warren Ellis has described it as a psychedelic record that melds stoner rock with Sly Stone and Amon Düül. That my friends is a very good thing.

Martina Topley Bird— Some Place Simple

It’s hard to follow up a Julian House cover but this one feels particularly lackluster. It’s not a terrible cover, it just looks like an untreated digital photo standing in for the real thing.

Martina Topley Bird deserves to be far more famous than she is too. Buy her music.

Laurie Anderson— Homeland

Laurie Anderson releases approximately 2 studio albums per decade. All but one have featured her head. She’s married to Lou Reed and strikes me as an incredibly cool lady, although I must admit I’ve never really paid her music that much attention. I think I’ll have to change that – if for nothing else than how great this cover is.

Devo— Something For Everybody

Devo’s first new album in 20 years is yet another I haven’t heard. I must confess to not being much of a Devo zealot either.

It’s a great cover, but for some reason I think it would have been more suitable for a greatest hits set – mostly due to its use of the “energy dome“, which I’m fairly certain has only been used on one other Devo cover.

The head on this cover belongs to Russian model Natasha Romanova – herself a member of the band Discrete Encounter and fondly refereed to by Devo fans as “Sexy Candy Dome Girl”.

Katy Perry— Teenage Dream

It’s lurid. It’s neon. It’s 80′s.

It’s Katy Perry.

It’s actually not terrible cover either -
you know, for what it is.

This seems to be an alternative or an earlier version of the cover. I could never bring myself to listen to it deliberately, but I dig the artwork.

Robyn— Body Talk 2

Would you believe I actually found a great article about the process behind designing and shooting the covers for Robyn’s Body Talk trilogy, and have since misplaced the link?

True story.

Zola Jesus— Stridulum II

Too scary for words.
I also have no idea who Zola Jesus is or are.

Röyksopp— Senior

I’ve heard this album a few times now and I love it. It’s the most mellow and down-tempo thing that Röyksopp have done – which is saying something. In the words of the band Senior is “the senile sibling of Junior who lives in the attic.” It’s nuanced, quite beautiful, entirely instrumental. The perfect comedown album.

I like the idea behind the cover, but it’s nothing special. I prefer the cover (and more subtle use of type) for Senior single The Drug, which is a superior visual counterpart to Junior and simply more interesting to look at. Incidentally it’s quite similar to the Phil Selway cover. I guess I just have a thing for the combination of modernist typography and weird costumes.

I’m not proud of myself for posting this abomination, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t. Weezer’s Hurley. Terrible to the last drop.

Of course its not only humans that possess heads, as evidenced by Klaxons on the cover for their new album Surfing The Void. It’s like something Storm Thorgerson may have done if LOLCats were around in the 70′s. Equally amazing and ridiculous.

I’m going to wrap things up now with my prediction for 2011′s album art anatomy trend, as proposed by Scissor Sisters by way of the great Robert Mapplethorpe.

Thanks for reading.

From Adbusters (#90) via Stu Buchanan

“The commercial media are to the mental environment what factories are to the physical environment. A factory dumps pollution into the water or air because that’s the most efficient way to produce plastic or wood pulp or steel. A TV station or web site pollutes the cultural environment because that’s the most efficient way to produce audiences. It pays to pollute. The psychic fallout is just the cost of putting on the show.”

High Rotation—

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Eluvium – Indoor Swimming At The Space Station

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Eluvium – Prelude For Time Feelers

Are these not the most beautiful songs (and song titles) you’ve ever heard?

On a related note, could this be why we listen to music when we’re sad? And is this what’s wrong with the music industry today?

Continuing on from the apocalyptic themes of the previous Roundup – here’s a rather fascinating look at bomb shelters from around the world.

Photographer Richard Ross says of his project – “Some of these people thought they were going to be the new inhabitants of the Garden of Eden. I can’t believe that. But when you think back to the illogic of the Bush/Cheney administration, and the world around you is so devolved, the idea of going underground doesn’t seem so crazy.”

These almost seem like tombs. Homely tombs – but tombs all the same.

It’s interesting to think about a scenario where the inhabitants of the world all exist underground. What would they do to pass the time? When would they come up to explore the surface? How long could you really physically and mentally survive in a shelter?

So Max Headroom is coming to DVD courtesy of the Shout Factory.

I didn’t realize this till today – but interestingly enough, Max Headroom was not computer generated at all. In truth, actor Matt Frewer was hidden disguised behind latex makeup, foam prosthetics and a fiberglass suit. The geometric neon patterns displayed behind him were all hand-drawn cel animations too.

You can see shots of Frewer having his costume applied here.

One of the absolute best design blogs around is back in business. If you haven’t already – subscribe to Michael Bojkowski’s Linefeed and then make your way back through the archives.

Another great blog has popped up courtesy of Suzanne Boccalatte, as a part of her lovely new site. Lots of fabulous work and some fantastic articles about process, inspiration and music.

I feel as though Australian designers are becoming particularly good at building blogs that cover a wide range of topics and provide some literate and insightful commentary. Pip & Co are another great example, and a personal favourite.

This has been around for a couple of years now – but is the Orion Galaxy not the most amazing synthesizer around? A truly beautiful piece of retro-futuristic design.

In other news, two of my favourite designers – Mat Cook & Julian House of Intro have collaborated with artists Hannah Galvin-Horne & Marianne Keating for a exhibition of new works called Super Impose. Screen-printed brilliance.

In response to my own post from a few weeks ago, I’ve discovered that the individual behind one of my favourite pieces of design from 2010 – the artwork for Robyn’s Body Talk – is by the rather obscure and extremely talented Bodil Gustafsson Fürst

Stone cold amazing.

And finally, I’ll leave you with some thoughts from Neville Brody & Co, and their Anti-Design Festival manifesto—

We are living in an age where millions of colours became 256. Difference is the enemy. Generic culture hypnotises us all into generic patterns, where control is visibly invisible. Danger is replaced by fear. New means upgrade. Risk is obsolete. Art made money stupid, and money made us fools. We welcome no_use, no_function and no_fear. Anarchy, crash and burn, the new awaits.

We have managed to create for our children, perhaps for the first time in history, a future which is less hopeful than the one we live in today.

*

When was the last time you encountered any culture that you can say was really dangerous, that actually challenged anything?

*

Wherever you are, have a great week.

I’m very pleased and excited to reveal some of the designs I’ve been working on for New Weird Australia – an initiative founded by Stu Buchanan that’s designed to promote and support new eclectic and experimental Australian music.

The project began life as an ongoing weekly radio show on FBi Radio Sydney, which is hosted by Stu and features new music, performances and interviews. It soon expanded into a bi-monthly free compilation download, and now the project is expanding its horizons even further with live shows, events and more.

I was contacted by Stu – an award winning designer and seriously excellent human being – to help take the project to the next level with an identity design that includes a logo, poster designs, web design, and artwork that can be used in everything from advertising to album art.

Stu and I share a strong love of classic Swiss modernist design, and this formed the core of the visual direction for the project, with sans-serif typography, simple shapes and clean layouts built on grids and formal structure. From day one there was the desire to use the simplicity, functionality and beauty of this design theory as a foundation, and build something new, unique and personal from there.

We also looked at Julian House’s work for Ghost Box as a point of inspiration, which itself has a particularly evocative and unique take on Swiss modernism. The Ghost Box artwork is interesting in that it retains a certain amount of formal structure and sameness with each edition, however it also changes and evolves over time while still somehow maintaining its essence and identity. The imperfections in the designs and the overall ambience of the collection is something that provided great inspiration too.

Other points of design inspiration have come from the work of Kim Hiorthøy, German studio Hort, and Sydney based Mark Gowing, who have all done extensive, ongoing design work for musicians and record labels. These designers share a commonality in their work in that it is often strikingly modern while also featuring quite gentle, handmade qualities. It is this philosophy and style that I have worked on achieving with New Weird Australia.

The idea for the logo itself (shown at the top of the page) came to me quite quickly. While I explored a variety of different ideas for a logomark (mostly playing with the letterforms of NWA), the idea of simply rendering the name in a beautiful sans-serif font with a few of the letters either backwards or upside down just seemed to click. I felt that this approach was most in-keeping with our overall direction, and would ultimately be the most modular and adaptable way to go, while still possessing a genuine personality of its own. It is designed to be strong, immediate and timeless.

The typeface used in both the logo and all supporting material is Nimbus Sans by URW++. I wanted a strong, simple grotesque sans-serif that was similar to Helvetica or Akzidenz, but less commonly used. Nimbus (released in 1999) was actually based on Helvetica, so it was a perfect fit.

The logo has each word set in title-case, and features at least one letter facing backwards. The letter spacing is tight and considered, yet slightly imperfect. I like the fact that there’s a subtle element of “weirdness” to the logo, without it being heavy handed or obvious. The weirdness isn’t the defining quality of the logo, it’s just one element. At first glance the type treatment almost looks normal, but upon closer inspection it’s revealed that something isn’t quite right. I think that given the diversity of the music promoted by the project, it was best to create a simple logo with just a hint of oddness about it in order to truly allow for the content to speak for itself and encompass the many different musical styles.

Like the logo, the concept for the artwork and layout design came to me quite early on in the process too. Essentially, the idea is based around a 4×4 square grid which can be filled with a collection of assets that include basic shapes, colours, textures and images. All these elements can be combined in an almost infinite number of ways, thus giving the project a strong visual identity that is flexible enough to evolve over time and present something unique at each iteration.

The square grid means that the artwork can fit perfectly in an album cover, it can leave plenty of room for copy on a poster, and will be able to adapt nicely throughout its use on the website.

Here’s the first sample of the logo, final artwork and identity system in use – as a poster for an upcoming New Weird Australia show on Friday 23rd July at Red Rattler, Sydney). The artwork features scanned cardboard textures (with colours modified in Photoshop), hand-drawn repeating textures from the fabulous resource Neubau Modul, and some slightly haunting images taken from an old book on the history of magick. The images were chosen for their sense of being slightly otherworldly and out-of-time, as well as for the story that they tell when placed together. The shapes themselves were chosen for how they look and interact with eachother, as well as the interesting white space that they create when placed together.

There’s definitely an element of controlled chaos at work, and the final result is largely judged on what just looks and feels right. I imagine this almost intuitive approach to how everything gets pieced together will continue to be explored. Each shape in the collection is a vector graphic, and is designed to be scalable for all purposes and sizes – provided it fits within the 4×4 grid. Once the shape layout is worked out, the vectors are then brought into Photoshop for textures and images to be added. Slight overlaps and imperfections in this process are left as part of the artwork.

The aesthetic is deliberately lo-fi, and with the set of rules and assets in place, we can push the design forward without too much risk of overworking or polluting the identity. Where it all goes from here is unknown, which is one of the things that I’m most excited about with the project. While we have all the basic elements designed for now, working out how they will come together each time, what materials will be used, what themes will be explored and how the concept might evolve is something that I’m really looking forward to discovering.

It was an absolute pleasure to work on this project, not simply because I was able to experiment with the sort of design that I personally enjoy, but because the project itself is so great, and run by someone who is passionate and personally invested in what they’re doing.

Stu and I are currently working on the redesign of the website, which should be up soon. We have some tentative plans for other places the design will appear, so keep your eye out for new additions in the series. And don’t forget if you’re in Sydney during July, make sure you get along to the show, I’m sure you’ll be surprised and captivated by what you hear.

Change is coming, and I am ready for it.

As I sit down to write this I realize that I’ve had a pretty boring week, and I have very little to report and even less to share from the last seven days.

This image from The Big Caption should more than make up for that though.

If not, here’s some miscellany—

The Ghost Box Study Series Singles – featuring collaborations between Belbury Poly & Moon Wiring Club, Advisory Circle and Hong Kong In The 60′s, and of course some beautiful new cover art by Julian House.

Just for fun, here’s an animated gif of one of my favourite album covers, Mark Farrow‘s design for Pet Shop Boy’s Disco 4.

Actually you’ll need to click that to see the animated version.

An image that I can only describe as a cinematic dreamteam – Donald Cammell, Dennis Hopper, Alejandro Jodorowsky & Kenneth Anger. London. 1971.

Anyone have any idea what they were all doing together?

This is a service station in Switzerland, designed by Iseppi/Kurath.

I have to admit, I often forget about the power of architecture, it’s ability to transform something with a purely utilitarian function into sculptural art. Stunning. Switzerland is a country I need to visit. Learn more about this here

Likewise there’s this Frank Ghery building in Cleveland. The mere existence of a building like this makes the world a better and more interesting place. More images and information at Designboom.

Incidently, Ghery designed my wedding ring. One of my favourite possessions, and the only piece of jewelry I’ve ever felt the desire to wear.

I still can’t quite believe that we live in an age where robots, no matter how primitive, are available commercially.

On high rotation—

And finally, this is interesting talk by Dan Pink on what motivates us to work, and how businesses might rethink the way they treat employees, and structure their work schedule. Inspiring stuff, and wonderfully illustrated.

I guess I did have a few things to share. Enjoy your week!

Inspired by a mutual love of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, cosmic horror, library records, English surrealism, and arts & crafts psychedelia, boutique record label Ghost Box was founded in 2003 by designer Julian House and musician Jim Jupp.

To simply refer to it as a record label doesn’t quite do it justice. Ghost Box feels more like a collection of relics and artifacts from a parallel world. It’s built on fragments of forgotten culture and half-remembered fictions. It’s output contains mysterious allusions and arcane histories, and offers a glimpse into a past that never happened – something that House refers to as “a lost Britain”.

Ghost Box is a genuine attempt to immerse the audience in a fictional world. Our entry point is the small town of Belbury – a place where some type of occult “event” has occurred, disturbing the natural order of things, As a result Belbury has become a site where the past and the future collide, and the real and imaginary co-exist. The pastoral mythology of Belbury is both wondrous and haunting. Disturbing and beautiful. Eerie and amusing. It’s a place that stays with you, long after visiting.

The music of Ghost Box possesses a timeless quality, drawing on a range of influences as broad as radiophonic electronica, field recordings and musique concrète. There is the bright and mystical Belbury Poly (my favourite), the playful Advisory Circle and the nightmarish soundscapes of Eric Zann & Mount Vernon Arts Lab. New to the label is Roj, whose album is a hypnotic, psychedelic journey into space. While all the releases are unique and diverse, there’s an analogue warmth to each production. They’re oozing with atmosphere and ideas. You get the feeling that it’s all created by tape loop splicing, vintage synthesizers and electro-acoustic instruments. Combined with the inseparable element of the design and artwork, the Ghost Box music truly transports you to that “other-place”.

The label is currently home to 5 artists, and there are 12 releases to date. While the artists involved all share the collective Ghost Box vision, they also contribute their own personal aesthetic and ideologies, and this helps to give the label depth and texture. While the Ghost Box experience is all about the catalogue as a whole, each album is unique, and deserves the be thoroughly enjoyed on its own merits.

The visual elements of Ghost Box are the work of Julian House, who also makes records under the name The Focus Group. Often created in consultation with Jupp, there are numerous visual reference points that contribute to the overall aesthetic, including pulp novels, weird folk-art, modernist institutional textbooks, vintage science fiction and occult paraphernalia. The myriad of influences combine to create a through-the-looking-glass collection of album covers.

Most of the early Ghost Box releases bear a resemblance to the classic designs of vintage Penguin and Pelican paperbooks, however it’s so masterfully deconstructed and reassembled by House that it feels fresh and unique.

With each new release, the layout becomes looser, abandoning old design elements and introducing new ones, and yet somehow they continue to visually fit together. Illustrations usually feature some of House’s characteristic, abstract collage style, although the themes subjects also change and evolve with each release. It’s actually a great study in how to grow and experiment with a brand without slavishly adhering to a style guide.

Of course all the releases feature the unifying Ghost Box logo in the top left hand corner – which itself seems to visually fall somewhere between obscure 70′s community television identity and early 80′s personal computer company.

The visual world of Ghost Box (and Belbury) extends beyond the discography. House has created numerous flyers, videos, and artworks for the label. There’s even a strange, text-book like zine titled Folklore & Mathematics which features fake newspaper clippings, excerpts from supernatural texts and bizarre imagery from the ancient world. It’s this type of myth-making and attention to detail that makes Ghost Box so utterly compelling.

The label also hosts Belbury Youth Club Nights – evenings of multimedia entertainment, featuring music and videos created and presented by the Ghost Box extended family. One such upcoming BYCN (featured as part of the Flatpack Festival) is said to feature public information films, haunted old TV programmes, a new version of Julian House’s short film Winter Sun Wavelength and music by the Focus Group & Belbury Poly.

Also coming up for Ghost Box is their first vinyl release – a reissue of The Advisory Circle’s Mind How You Go, complete with new tracks and remixes. Vinyl is a natural fit for the label’s aesthetic and philosophy, and it’s going to be fantastic to see House’s stunning designs rendered at the larger size.
Order here.

Ghost Box appeals to me in a big way. There’s something in the design and the music that triggers many memories and emotions. The sensation of exploring an abandoned library and finding an encyclopedia of spells and magic. The feeling of seeing a ghostly figure appear in the flickering light of an old television set. From sun-soaked hippie folk to creeping cosmic terror, it really taps into that space of ancient knowledge and psychic wonder. In the age of the disposable and the digital, it’s truly inspiring to see such dedication to the physical product, and providing an honest and unforgetable experience to accompany it.

Phenomena & Occurrences Video:

Ghost Box Flyers:

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Ghost Box
Ghost Box Wiki
GB Facebook Group
The Belbury Parish Magazine

*(sorry trees)
Vince Frost

A chronicle of Frost’s journey from London to Sydney, and from Pentagram associate to international design icon. This is a fantastic book with the right balance of eye-candy and information, exploring case studies spanning from the mid 90′s to the present day. Simply one of the best and most inspiring designers working today.

Not sure what stock used was, but it feels incredible and is unlike any other book I’ve held. I can’t recall any other book typeset in Franklin Gothic Bold either, but it works.

Love the black on fluoro-orange cover too.

Cover Art By: New Music Graphics
Adrian Shaughnessy

One of my favourite books. Cover Art By is an indispensable guide to some of the best in contemporary music design, and features the likes of Julian House, Kim Hiorthoy, Rune Mortensen, Steve Byram, Jeff Jank and Grandpeople.

It’s great to just flick through and enjoy the hundred of images, but there’s actually some quite in-depth interviews with the artists and designers profiled, as well as detailed information on all the images.

Typeset in Lineto’s Simple— which is a personal favourite.

Made You Look / Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far
Stefan Sagmeister

If you don’t own both of these books, stop reading and purchase them immediately.

Sagmeister’s two books compliment each other nicely, and not just because they are identical in size. Made You Look doccuments Sagmeister’s life (literally from day one) and professional development, and provides one of the most honest & candid accounts of the design business you’ll ever read. Things I Have Learned… is more of a design exercise than an autobiography, but it still essentially picks up where Made You Look left off, and examines where Sagmeister’s journey has taken him and where it might go next. Very inspiring.

Both books are also incredibly rich in content and detail too, with visual gags and little anecdotes hidden throughout.

Vaughan Oliver: Visceral Pleasures
Rick Poynor

The amazing, inimitable Vaughan Oliver. Poynor’s book chronicles almost all of Oliver’s career, and provides plenty of images and insight into his work with 4AD. This is one of my most read and beloved design books.

display copy only, a book of intro work
Intro

This is extremely hard to get hold of, but it’s well worth hunting down, particularly if you’re as huge a fan of Julian House & Mat Cook as I am.

There’s a great forward by Intro founder Adrian Shaughnessy, followed by another great forward by John O’Reilly, but beyond that there are very few words. This is no bad thing when you’re treated to the beyond-brilliant work the studio has done for Stereolab, Broadcast, Primal Scream, and Depeche Mode to name just a few.

Plastered. The Poster Art of Australian Popular Music
Murray Walding / Nick Vukovic

Like Symbols of Australia this book is the result of a labour of love, and it too is a must have for any lovers of Australian design. It features an abundance of music related poster art collected from the 1950′s to the present day, and is an absolute feast for the eyes.

There’s plenty of information about each period, interviews with selected designers and artists, and almost all the posters are annotated.

Perfection.

Perverse Optimist
Tibor Kalman / Peter Hall

This book will make you a better designer and a better human being.

Mmm Skyscraper I Love You
John Warwicker & Karl Hyde

A non-musical collaboration between one of my favourite studios Tomato and one of my favourite bands Underworld. This book is essentially a typographic map of New York, taking in the architecture, culture and movement of the city and translating it into designs built from abstract illustrations and fonts.

It’s part concrete poetry and part experimental sketchbook. A dark, dense and hugely compelling exploration of the city that never sleeps.

I haven’t been able to get my hands on a copy yet, by John Warwicker’s new book The Floating World looks incredible too.

Non Format Love Song
Non Format

Who doesn’t love Non Format? Their work is big, bold and incredibly sexy. It’s what the future should look like. The sheer volume of incredible images makes you forget that it’s pretty light on written content. It contains quite a few images that are only available in this book too, including a selection of fantastic typographic experiments.

Pure, unadulterated, and delicious eye candy.

The End Of Print
David Carson / Lewis Blackwell

Carson is probably the most contested and debated designer of all time. Few designers inspire such extreme positions of love and hate within the industry. Whichever side of the fence you sit on, there’s no denying his influence, particularly during the 90′s where his gritty, digital, rule-breaking designs changed everything.

There are a number of books by and about Carson, but this is my favourite. It contains mini essays on Carson by luminaries such as Tibor Kalman and Douglas Coupland, and covers some of his best work, including the groundbreaking designs for Ray Gun Magazine

Town Of Mirrors
Robert Pollard

While I don’t listen to Guided By Voices much these days, they provided much of the soundtrack to my high school years. Singer Robert Pollard composed not only most of the band’s music, but also the artwork for their album covers.

Pollard’s collage art is sublime, quite surreal and mostly quite minimalist. There’s a great deal of humour and fun (as well as some darker material) in there, and you can see Pollard’s love for vintage film and animation in almost every image.

As well as all the artwork for Guided By Voices, there’s a huge amount of content from Pollard’s personal sketchbooks and collections, some of which is published for the first time in this book. Great stuff.

Jazz Covers
Joaquim Paulo / Julius Widemann

Of all my many Taschen books, this is my most prized – a bumper collection of Jazz record covers, from the iconic cool of the 50′sBlue Note era to the explosion of colour and psychedelia inspired by the jazz-fusion records of the 70′s. The book also contains interviews with design giants like Rudy Van Gelder.

I bought this one while in New York last year, and I pick it up and flick through at least once a week. Superb.

I’d love to know some of your favourite art and design books, particularly some of the more obscure and vintage in your collection. Feel free to leave a note below.