PLINC Exhibition Chapman University

The folks at House Industries and PLINC have an upcoming exhibition at Chapman University, which opens February 6, 2012. Details over at the PLINC site.

Fanatical Mechanical: Photo-Lettering and the Paste-Up Era
Opening: Feb. 6, 2012, 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Opening Lecture: Rich Roat of House Industries, Feb. 6, 2012, 7:00 p.m.
Place: Chapman University Guggenheim Gallery, Orange, Calif.
Exhibition Runs from Feb. 6 through March 9, 2012
Open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

House Industries celebrates the craft of Photo-Lettering’s past while presenting it in the context of contemporary relevance. David Dodde’s prodigious hand-printed panels and substantial scrims mingle with custom lithographic layers and fascinating alphabetic fixtures by fanatical fabricators Marc Wiegers and Roger VanTill of Greenwood Studios. Sprinkled throughout the exhibit are carefully excavated and curated historical Photo-Lettering components including original films, rare specimen books and ceramic artifacts.

NINKYO at Mister Freedom

A beautiful, hand-crafted tee from the folks at Mister Freedom to benefit Japan and the Red Cross. Fortunately (but unfortunately), the shirts are sold out (as have the first ones).

JRF for Surf Chic/Heal The Bay

The folks at Angeleno Magazine recently invited me to participate in their upcoming fundraiser, Surf Chic, to benefit Heal The Bay. My assignment was to create a graphic and apply it to a donated surfboard. My contribution for the exhibit?

ENVIRONMENTAL UBER ALLES

Taking inspiration from California Über Alles, the 1979 debut single by the Dead Kennedys, Environmental Über Alles is an intentionally ambiguous and rhetorical commentary on the pitfalls of environmental activism. As a global community, it's important for each of us to be aware of how our actions and choices impact the world around us. It's equally important to be certain that those actions and choices are also informed and responsible, and not conducted from the perspective of blind fanaticism. -JRF

The Surf Chic event happens this Wednesday, March 30th, and if you're interested in attending, you must RSVP to RSVPLA@ModernLuxury.com.

GLOBE POSTER UPDATE

Thanks to a comment and link posted by a reader, it is now known that MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) has acquired a large portion of the Globe Poster archive, including typographical specimens and assorted cuts. MICA has posted a detailed article on their site, which includes the announcement that Bob Cicero of Globe Poster will be teaching a class on letterpress design in Fall 2011.

And for the record, I have always loved the split fountain backgrounds typical of showcards like the Globe/Zappa shown above, courtesy of Globe Poster.

Highlights of the MICA acquisition include:

• A significant portion of Globe's substantial wood type collection, which includes more than 350 drawers of full sets of type-including condensed, bold, regular, italic and circus fonts-enough to keep four compositors setting posters at a time in Globe's heyday.
• Approximately 5,000 letterpress "cuts"-the illustrations, lettering and photo images used to create the posters, including many hand-carved blocks. The cuts show the range of Globe's poster clients, from R&B and hip-hop acts, both famous and long-forgotten to carnivals, circuses, drag races and burlesque. Original posters showing Globe's craftsmanship and long history, from the magician Blackstone to the early days of hip hop to Frank Zappa's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• The materials will be utilized by several graduate and undergraduate departments within the College, including the printmaking, graphic design and illustration fields. Students will be able to study the historical significance of this collection through active artmaking and utilization of the type and cuts, and the posters, original photographs and ephemera will be housed as a research facility.

GLOBE POSTER VISIT

More proof that the art of woodcuts and typesetting and letterpress is dying. The amazing Globe Poster in Baltimore, Maryland has closed it's doors....from Zio at The Worlds Best Ever.

Founded in 1929, Globe produced bills for almost every soul, funk, rhythm & blues or hip-hop act imaginable. Their designs, chunks of florescent colors and typefaces are now iconic, and it was a privilege to visit Globe before it is gone. Due to financial issues, Globe closed its doors last year, but co-owner Bob Cicero granted us a special tour of the shop and its piles of original posters, hand-carved wood type and vintage print blocks. These are probably some of the last photos you will see of this amazing place. Bob estimated that Globe will be gone for good within the next two months.

2011 Blue Rooster Print Campaign

I'm in the process of art directing, designing and executing a 2011 print ad campaign for the folks over at Blue Rooster Art Supplies, a local, independently-owned and operated store in Los Feliz.

The copy for each ad will remain constant, Wake Up and Make Something, but the focus on materials and techniques, and therefore, the aesthetic, will be vary. All sorts of available supplies from the shop will be featured; from screenprints, spray paint and hand-lettering goods, to more traditional media like vine charcoal and gouache, I'm looking forward to showcasing all of them.

Above is an in-progress, detail shot of a linocut.

Subliminal Projects/ The Big Picture

Opening this weekend at Subliminal Projects here in LA, The Big Picture is an Art of Elysium event featuring work of the legendary Mark Mothersbaugh (DEVO) and Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant).

Above is one of many, retired Obey Giant stencils that will be on display and available for purchase.

An Object of Beauty/Darren Booth

...Found some great creative process photos by typographer/illustrator, Darren Booth. He is responsible for the jacket design on Steve Martin's An Object Of Beauty.

I always find it (somewhat) reassuring to see that there are still a few creatives that:

A.) Use pencil and paper to concept/execute

2.) Bother to develop more than one solid, graphic solution to any given assignment

Nice work, Mr. Booth.

As for Mr. Martin's book, I haven't read it yet, so I can't vouch for him....

Care The Most

I was recently commissioned by Eric Hirshberg to help him realize his vision in executing a unique, large format serigraph. His copy, "Care The Most", embodies his working philosophy as a Creative Director. His willingness to wield the 60" squeegee during the creation of these oversized, hand-pulled prints attests to that...Thanks Eric.

"Care The Most" signed and numbered by Eric Hirshberg, 2010, edition of 1 (2 AP's, 1 PP), 44" x 60" on hand-deckled 582# Somerset, 100% cotton rag

By The Sword x JRF for Let The Good Times Roll

Available now! Click on over to the By The Sword website to learn more...

REFERENCE LIBRARY / INSPIRATION

Whenever I am at a loss for that hint of creative inspiration, I can always rely on the work of Rauschenberg to stimulate my imagination. I never tire of reviewing his massive and varied collection of prints, paintings, sculptures, etc...one relatively obscure publication that really highlights his raw and playful sense of graphic design is Rauschenberg Posters.

Above is a cliche verre, which literally translates to 'glass picture'. (It's essentially a spin on the technique of photograms, which was pioneered by Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray in the early 1900's). Beautiful and complex results from an ancient (in terms of photo history) and analog technique...combined with some primitive typography and the result is a completely refreshing print design to announce an exhibit.

CLASSIFIED / TESTERS

A small selection of cast off, silkscreened test prints from the past few weeks of work...these serve as organic (chaotic) compositional and color studies during the creative process. Some gems on newsprint have 10-12 pulls/colors each and are completely unique, 1/1. If you dig these types of test prints, there are some similar ones still available for purchase here.

CLASSIFIED / SAMPLES

Classified prototype/one off that is a continuing evolution of the Daditionary Series, this time with a bit more craft, a bit more focus, and much more fluorescent ink.

NFS, JRF/Create & Destroy Publications©2010.

Friends of Type

The folks at Friends of Type just posted this great typographical homage to McLaren...what a fantastic tribute.

House Industries x Eames II

The crew at House Industries continue to prove why they are (respectable) maniacs...fresh off of their Eames House and Eames Office exhibits, which included the release of an officially-licensed Eames typeface, these guys (and gals) have just completed their usual printed mischief. Can't wait to get my copy in the mail...in the meantime, I promise to post photos from the Eames exhibit soon.

Mike Vallely/By The Sword

Mike Vallely / By The Sword live at 2HH from 2HeadedHorse on Vimeo.

The boys at 2 Headed Horse just posted their footage from the Mike Vallely/By The Sword show that went down in Echo Park a few weeks ago...it looks great. Mike and his band did a really fun Black Flag Tribute set that included Duane Peters on a few tunes.

Thanks for the shout out, guys! Now everyone go buy a print!

Daditionary Prints/Testers

Several supplementary test prints (or testers, as I call them) from the Daditionary Series have been posted at the JRF online store. These unique and sometimes haphazard 24" x 36" works on newsprint served as in-progress sketches, experiments and blotters during the creation of the 'standard' prints...

And thanks to those of you out there that have purchased prints!

Daditionary Series

The new Daditionary Series screenprints have been posted and are available for purchase. Act quickly, as each multi-colored, 18" x 24" archival print is completely unique, 1/1, and only $25 (plus shipping).

Preview

Above is a small preview of some of the new art and design I have created for tonight's event at 2Headed Horse. There is a lot of Dada and Seditionary influence in all of the work in addition to a healthy dose of a simple and direct, DIY attitude. Each silkscreened piece (every skateboard, every print, every poster, every shirt) is completely unique, 1/1. Prices range from $20 for testers on newsprint, to $30 for 18" x 24" posters, $50 for skateboards, and up to $100 for 24" x 36" art prints. Most tee shirts will be $10 and are printed on 100% reclaimed blanks from the local Goodwill store.

Doors open at 9 pm tonight (1770 Glendale Blvd), with DJ sets by Shepard Fairey; Mike Vallely/By The Sword doing their Black Flag tribute set at 10; and my work will be available all night long. Remaining prints will be posted at my online store later next week.

A big thank you to Obey Giant Art (including Shepard, Nic , Zee, Baby and the rest of the crew) for sharing their amazing facility and tolerating my antics. Also, thanks to Ted and Laban at 2Headed Horse, Mable Lee at LaLa Press, Larry Ransom at Mike V, Inc, Element Skateboards, Jonathan and crew at Fresh Pressed, and my wife, Camille.