Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Great Counterculture Logos - Part 5
The Gonzo Fist by Paul Pascarella .
Paul Pascarella writes:
I would just like to be clear on the logo that you are refering to, the Gonzo fist, or the actual Gonzo logo with fist, name and dagger blade. The two thumbed fist with peyote button was originally designed by Hunter and a local Aspen artist named Tom Benton. It was first used I believe as a Freak Power symbol when Hunter was running for Sheriff in Aspen in 69' when Benton designed the poster.
The actual Gonzo logo that you see around in Rolling Stone, Hunter's books etc. is what I designed for Hunter in the early 70's. Designing logos is what I did such as the Lorimar logo, United Artists and many more. Hunter wanted a logo for the Gonzo way, Gonzo Journalism and so on. So I took the two thumbed fist and redesigned it along with the logotype and knife blade. I remember the knife blade was roughly fashioned after one of Hunter's throwing knives and if you notice carefully the negative spaces in the type and knife blade all match up and relate well to each other, atleast if you are looking at the real one.
That was only one of many graphic and art projects I worked on with Hunter and working with Hunter is always much more complex than it need be, but also can be more fun than usual. The most recent was a kind of Hunter's World portrait I did right after his death. It is mixed media almost all in black and white 5'x4'. I also made a six minute film on the making of the painting and soon will be putting the painting up for sale.
Years later I didn't think the Gonzo logo was my best design, but it may turn out to be the biggest.
The Gonzo Fist by Paul Pascarella .
Paul Pascarella writes:
I would just like to be clear on the logo that you are refering to, the Gonzo fist, or the actual Gonzo logo with fist, name and dagger blade. The two thumbed fist with peyote button was originally designed by Hunter and a local Aspen artist named Tom Benton. It was first used I believe as a Freak Power symbol when Hunter was running for Sheriff in Aspen in 69' when Benton designed the poster.
The actual Gonzo logo that you see around in Rolling Stone, Hunter's books etc. is what I designed for Hunter in the early 70's. Designing logos is what I did such as the Lorimar logo, United Artists and many more. Hunter wanted a logo for the Gonzo way, Gonzo Journalism and so on. So I took the two thumbed fist and redesigned it along with the logotype and knife blade. I remember the knife blade was roughly fashioned after one of Hunter's throwing knives and if you notice carefully the negative spaces in the type and knife blade all match up and relate well to each other, atleast if you are looking at the real one.
That was only one of many graphic and art projects I worked on with Hunter and working with Hunter is always much more complex than it need be, but also can be more fun than usual. The most recent was a kind of Hunter's World portrait I did right after his death. It is mixed media almost all in black and white 5'x4'. I also made a six minute film on the making of the painting and soon will be putting the painting up for sale.
Years later I didn't think the Gonzo logo was my best design, but it may turn out to be the biggest.
Labels: Great Counterculture Logos, Literature, When the Going Gets Weird
Monday, February 26, 2007
What Barry Says
Expressing similar sentiments and political slant to Eugene Jarecki's Why We Fight, check out the beautifully realized, infographic-inspired piece on America's involvement in Iraq, What Barry Says by Knife Party.
Expressing similar sentiments and political slant to Eugene Jarecki's Why We Fight, check out the beautifully realized, infographic-inspired piece on America's involvement in Iraq, What Barry Says by Knife Party.
Labels: Animation, Design Can Change the World, World at Large
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Communication as Art
At the end of the fifties, at time when the bohemians still ruled the East Village, a New York artist named Ray Johnson began corresponding w/ the others of the Avant Garde scene through a prolific series of collages that he sent through the post. These collages, which Johnson labelled "moticos", created a network with thousands of fellow artists around the world, laid the foundations for Pop Art and came to be known as The New York Correspondence School. And yet despite this influential position Johnson, once considered to be"the most famous unknown artist in America", remained an enigmatic figure residing determinedly in the underground; far beyond the gallery circuit; known of by many but never known very well by anyone.
Johnson's life and work is the subject of the documentary "How to Draw a Bunny" (2002) which frames its retrospective between the mysterious events of January 13th, 1995 when Johnson's body was found floating in Sag Harbour. To this day, no one has determined what happened. Some say it was suicide, his "final performance" that, as with his life, Ray Johnson tackled death under his own conditions.
At the end of the fifties, at time when the bohemians still ruled the East Village, a New York artist named Ray Johnson began corresponding w/ the others of the Avant Garde scene through a prolific series of collages that he sent through the post. These collages, which Johnson labelled "moticos", created a network with thousands of fellow artists around the world, laid the foundations for Pop Art and came to be known as The New York Correspondence School. And yet despite this influential position Johnson, once considered to be"the most famous unknown artist in America", remained an enigmatic figure residing determinedly in the underground; far beyond the gallery circuit; known of by many but never known very well by anyone.
Johnson's life and work is the subject of the documentary "How to Draw a Bunny" (2002) which frames its retrospective between the mysterious events of January 13th, 1995 when Johnson's body was found floating in Sag Harbour. To this day, no one has determined what happened. Some say it was suicide, his "final performance" that, as with his life, Ray Johnson tackled death under his own conditions.
Labels: Art, Ray Johnson
Monday, February 05, 2007
Edge of Chaos
As a followup to yesterday's entry:
"Functional visualizations are more than innovative statistical analyses and computational algorithms. They must make sense to the user and require a visual language system that uses colour, shape, line, hierarchy and composition to communicate clearly and appropriately, much like the alphabetic and character-based languages used worldwide between humans."
Matt Woolman
Digital Information Graphics
As a followup to yesterday's entry:
"Functional visualizations are more than innovative statistical analyses and computational algorithms. They must make sense to the user and require a visual language system that uses colour, shape, line, hierarchy and composition to communicate clearly and appropriately, much like the alphabetic and character-based languages used worldwide between humans."
Matt Woolman
Digital Information Graphics
Labels: Design, Design Can Change the World, Edge of Chaos, World at Large
Sunday, February 04, 2007
31 Days in Iraq
From this morning's New York Times, graphic designer Alicia Cheng's gut-churning visual depiction of the reported 1900+ deaths in Iraq during the first month of 2007, a toll that has markedly increased from 800 in January 2006.
From this morning's New York Times, graphic designer Alicia Cheng's gut-churning visual depiction of the reported 1900+ deaths in Iraq during the first month of 2007, a toll that has markedly increased from 800 in January 2006.
Labels: Design Can Change the World, NY Times, World at Large
