NYC Day 4: DUMBO Flea market (+Paul Rand+ Bob Gill)

Whoo! This ship is upside down!! I thought a good metaphor for the economy right now.

Went to DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) today for the weekend Flea Market.
Amongst the "wares" I saw noticed a strong 'circus aesthetic' going on: lots of very ornate letters, and Victorian images with lots of swirlys. Here are 2 examples: the Brooklyn Flea bag and turned over ship tshirt both from Loyalty and Blood.

Also loved the very witty tshirts made by Brooklyn based Miss Wit.

Attached is my fave design:
(The expression is more LA than NYC but still quite great!)



Afterwards went wandering through a wonderful book shop on York St.
where the huge selection of kid's books were clearly chosen with their hipster designer parents in mind. Here are pics of two of my faves: I know alot of things by Paul Rand and
A balloon for Blunderbuss by Bob Gill. I love both these books. The illustrations are exceptional: simple yet very sophisticated.




Love this ship!

NYC Day 3: Lotta Jansdotter Workshop

Took part in a surface printing workshop today in Brooklyn with well known textile designer Lotta Jansdotter. Lotta is originally from Aland a small island near Sweden but now lives in Boreum Hill in Brooklyn. I have long admired her economical designs and wonderful colour combinations. She was a fantastic teacher and very fun.


Lotta talking about her inspiration.



Lotta's "Tang' design.



The pear apron I made using a stencil technique.
One of the biggest lessons I took from the workshop was that simple shapes can look very sophisticated when repeated.

NYC Day 2 Muji, Great packaging, Din din

Went to Muji. I want one of everything.

Then saw some great packaging in Jublilee market.
Love these Republic of Tea labels with their directives- especially the Get it going one. Very bold idea!
Must check to see who designed them.




Then dinner with lovely Scott.

Paula Scher: Make it Bigger

Am currently reading Make it Bigger by Paula Scher. Is fantastic.
I particularly enjoy her diagrams, charts and whimsical genealogy trees. As she explains at a certain point in her career ( around 1985) the act of concocting complicated systems of useless information became an important and personal part of her design vocabulary.
For me she is the Queen of Data Visualization.

ps. glass o wine, apartment in nyc and paula scher.
doesnt get much better than that.

Day 1 New york

i arrived in new york this evening.
staying in a great space in the financial district.
i heart new york.

ps. this cover is by one of my all time fave illustrators Miroslav Sasek.