Happy in the Sun

A very sweet 2004 video by Spike Jonze for Weezer,just because I'm in a very good mood!

Progressive Posters

The Great Depression was a very difficult period for many, and affected a large number of American artists

 and graphic designers due to the lack of commercial work. In 1935 the US federal government

 created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) with the aim to provide job opportunities

for the unemployed as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. 

The fall of the same year saw the launch of the WPA Federal Arts Project, which enabled visual artists, 

musicians, actors and writers to support themselves and pursue their professional careers. 

A poster project was included, and around 2,000 silkscreen, lithograph and woodcut posters were commissioned 

to promote health and safety, cultural events, travel and tourism, educational programs and community activities. 

The posters were produced across the nation, with the greatest output in California, New York, 

Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Two posters by Louise Welsh

Two posters by Carken

In many cases, the flat color of silkscreen combined with influences from the European avant-gardes

to produce strikingly graphic, bold Modernist designs that contrasted with the realistic illustrative style

 prevalent in most American graphic communication of the time.

Mildred Waltrip

Sidney Jacobson

Frank W. Long

Two posters by Hugh Stevenson

Robert Munchley

Arlington Gregg 

Frank S. Nicholson

Sidney Jacobson

J. Hirt

All of these posters were created between 1935 and 1939, when the Federal Arts Project was discontinued.

Fortunately, this great art series has recently been rediscovered and appreciated by many artists and designers. 

And wouldn't it be great if governments could also be inspired to provide a similar opportunity

 to survive and thrive in a time of crisis to the young talents of today? 

Flower Power

Belinda Lyon, linen tea towel For Oxfam, via Yuko Trading

Last week I gave a lecture about one of my favorite design periods,
the colorful era of the late '60s-early '70s, when hippie and psychedelic 

inspiration blossomed everywhere, from children's books and ads to fashion 
and decor. This is a period that I can really relate to, quite obviously since 

I was a child at the time, and that continues to inspire me to this day...

Arnold Varga, 1965 ad, thanks to Burning Settlers Cabin

Villeroy & Boch, Acapulco coffee pot, 1960s 

John Alcorn, The Fireside Book of Children's Songs, 1966

Heinz Edelmann, 1968 ca. thanks to Escape Into Life

Carlos Marchiori, Sally Go Round the Sun, 1969, thanks to deforgeo

Donald Brun, 1970 ca. 

Donna Sloan, 1971, and Jean-Paul Barthe, Kourako, 1972, 

both thanks to Angela Wyman and her Jump into my Trippy Hippy Eye Candy Pool

 Wilson wallpapers, 1973, thanks to letslookupandsmile

 Etienne Delessert, Being green, 1973, thanks to Ariel S. Winter

Brian Wildsmith, The lazy bear, 1973, thanks to Mallory McInnis'

my vintage book collection (in blog form), a wonderful resource of illustrated children's books

 Franca Capalbi, Pantera nera, 1975 

You can find more groovy pictures from the 1960s here

Simona & Simone

I've been wanting to take some photos of these beautiful volumes since I bought them 

at the Bologna Book Fair, but only now I've found the time to actually do it.

Last year I had already posted about Topipittori, one of my favorite Italian publishers

of illustrated children's books, and this time at the fair I had a chat with its founders,

Giovanna Zoboli and Paolo Canton. Turns out that Paolo and I knew each other

when we were teenagers! Anyway, I really love what they do, and was very happy

to get a copy of the wonderful Vorrei avere signed by the artist SImona Mulazzani...

GIovanna Zoboli's Vorrei avere (I wish I had) is an ode to the beauty and wonder of animals

sung through the poetic words of a child enamored with nature. Mulazzani's enchanting

 illustrations interpret every verse with great sensitivity and a richness of visual inventions.

Love the endpapers with the illustration sketches!

I have also previously featured the works of SImone Rea, one of Italy's brightest young illustrators. 

His elegant paintings illustrate this new translation of Aesop's Fables with warmth 

and a wonderful sense of color and composition. 

Coincidentally, I have already posted the equally sophisticated Aesop interpretation 

by Jean-François Martin which won the Bologna Ragazzi Award this year.

To each his own, I love them both!

Mad Men & Crazy Critters, 11th episode – Hohlweinstil

Before winter ends, some seasonal visual candy from a master 

of German poster art, the wonderfully stylish Ludwig Hohlwein.

(sadly, he also created handsome propaganda art for the Nazis)

For many of the images in this post I thank Susanlenox 

and her great Ludwig Hohlwein flickr set.