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Monthly Archives: February 2013
LADIES IN ADVERTISING
So often you’ll hear that advertising demeans women, that it tends to imply that they are mere physical entities with no more-elevated features. This seems a dynamite argument, until you stop to consider, “What’s wrong with physical riches?” Sure, calculative … Continue reading
NEW THEATRICALITY—IT’S SO BIG!
Throughout its fairly long history, Toronto has been a beacon to those counting on safe bets. Though not altogether a bad thing, it has, until very recently, played out as altogether a boring thing. Capping off a recent plunge to … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events, Fine Art, Industrial Design
Tagged abstract expressionism, Bilbao, David Mirvish, Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Museum, Toronto, urbanity
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PERE CASTOR DESERVES AN ENCORE!
In the 1935 edition of Plouf the Wild Duck, we’re ushered into the birth of the little protagonist by way of his mother’s reverie on the changes of the moon during her stay on the nest with her eggs. That … Continue reading
Posted in Illustration Art, Illustrators
Tagged children's illustrated books 1930's, Lida, pere castor
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MILANO, THE SUPERB CITY
Milano is an ancient centre with an ultra-modern heart. Just as its cathedral is the most stunningly designed instance to be found, its artisans continue to generate all manner of products at a level of instantly recognizable excellence.
WILD AND WONDERFUL: PERE CASTOR ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
We have embarked, in our acquisitions of the past year or so, upon the easily underestimated powers of Americana graphics. Here we want to dip into inventory we’ve held and loved for years, graphics that likewise trade in discovery that … Continue reading
Posted in Illustration Art, Illustrators
Tagged children's illustrated books 1930's, Lida, pere castor
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OKI SATO—DESIGNS THAT FLY
Toronto-born, now Tokyo-based, designer, Oki Sato describes his life and the priorities of his inventions as “boring;” but don’t believe that for a second. He does indeed love routine, repeated patterns of activity and bare-bones, infrastructural-salient products. But the intensification … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events, Industrial Design
Tagged Interior Design, Japanese sensibility, Oki Sato
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VALENTINES IN VINTAGE GRAPHICS
An old pop song runs, “Love is a many-splendored thing;” and we have the testimony of a vast array of graphic art to establish how varied loving relations can be. One of the more challenging but also. I think, more … Continue reading
THE LADY VANISHES, BUT THE POSTERS DON’T
In 1938, Alfred Hitchcock (later, settling in Hollywood, to become widely known for classics like Vertigo, North by Northwest, Rear Window and Psycho) put together a “comic thriller,” called, The Lady Vanishes. Very much in the throes of anxiety about … Continue reading