Music That Matters

Well, the Grammys went down as expected. Sarah fell asleep halfway through, and I can't say I blame her-- there was something even more bland about the show than usual this year, although I thought some of the performances were alright (Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, a reunited Beach Boys, and Civil Wars). It was interesting... you could almost feel the audience, made up of members of the music business, wanted something different too. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters gave a speech, after winning the first of several awards for the band, about the value of showing the human element in making music-- of not trying to sound "perfect." I would agree with him, although I don't think Foo Fighters comes anywhere near the unique excitement of his previous band, Nirvana. 


Singer Adele shined through all the silly pop and hip-hop fluff last night, proving that a powerful voice, stripped down production, and smart songwriting can still make for a winning combination. I'm not saying her album 21 is perfect, but it certainly raises the bar compared to what passes for pop music these days.


It really is funny that what sounds the most fresh these days is a "retro sound." I guess it is like the late 1980s, when everyone tired of overproduced, synth-driven pop, and went back to acoustic... then, of course, Nirvana and the whole grunge scene came around and changed everything (for a while). I guess these things go in cycles... I just hope for the sake of popular music that we get more Adeles than Lady Gagas... and soon.


On the note of timeless music, here's a video clip I produced a few years back with another Grammy Award-winner, bassist Ron Carter. There is no questioning the musicality here. I'm not an expert on jazz, but it does seem to breathe (a welcome contrast to the "canned" style of much of today's music).  I think it has a lot to do with the improvisational style... and I can speak improv!

Voice Lessons

This weekend it's time for the Super Bowl of the music world!...

Yeah, right. But I'll probably still check out the Grammy Awards tonight. The ceremony has had a reputation of being a little out of touch, but last year they gave the album of the year to Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, so maybe they are learning a thing or two.

No doubt there will be some kind of tribute to singer Whitney Houston, who was found dead yesterday at the age of 48. Always sad to hear that someone so young has passed, but her battles with drug abuse over the years make it somewhat less surprising. Back in 1985 it was a different story-- indeed, I would have been wishing I was the guy you see filming her in this music video:



There is no denying she had a great voice, but I think my interest back then had more to do with hormones (young Whitney was beautiful). Her music was far too slick and polished for my taste, and I think she may be responsible for an unfortunate trend in pop music-- "the diva." Singers like Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin probably earned that title before her, but I think they had better producers and material (at least back in the 1960s-70s).

I just prefer a little more emotional honesty in my music. On that note, there is no doubt that this woman should win big at tonight's ceremony:



It's funny, this song kept coming on the radio every time I stopped at the jewelers last fall to make final arrangements on buying the engagement ring-- sort of like a reminder of all the reject girlfriends from the past (there had been a few).

Adele has a beautiful way of phrasing-- sort of unique amidst a sea of auto-tuned pop princesses. If her "Rolling in the Deep" doesn't win "Record of the Year," something is seriously wrong.

For the reasons stated before, I have never really been interested in watching shows like American Idol-- I think they generally send the wrong message about making it in music, and it is all becoming a bit homogenized. I did start watching The Voice recently, and thought it was an interesting concept: the judges begin by not seeing the artist-- so it is based solely on how they feel about their singing. Cee Lo is one of the judges/musicians who will be mentoring the talents, so that is a good sign-- he is definitely one of more soulful and unique voices out there today. Christina Aguilera is also on board-- I would lump her into the "diva" category, but like Whitney she can sing... and does have her moments (some of those "retro" tracks off her Back to Basics album are good fun).

TV2 in Norway is also airing their own version of The Voice, and that is even more interesting to me because of their judges: Magne F from A-ha, and Sondre Lerche, among others. The tastes of these two artists would fall more into the indie-rock category, for sure... so it will be interesting to see how the talents are nurtured in each version of the show. I'll try and watch both-- see if there is any hope left for the future of the pop music business.

Here is one of the more promising acts I have started hearing this year: Gotye. Sounds a little like somebody that I used to know... Sting prior to his own "diva" days?



Another song to dedicate to those reject girlfriends. Faith restored. God, I love music...

Matter of Taste

This morning was a piece of cake... make that MANY pieces, as Sarah and I sampled options for our wedding cake- just another interesting element of this whole planning process. I'm not a big dessert eater, so it got to be a bit much after the third or forth slice... chocolate with raspberry filling? Rum-soaked sponge cake? Hmm. If I had my way, we'd all be sitting down for a hearty piece of good old carrot cake (although I swear that Sarah still makes the best version... every year for my birthday!).

We kept the wedding theme going by looking at our invitations. Taking another look at our design, I wasn't quite as satisfied with the type. I am glad we took some time out today to try some different options. We ultimately downloaded some new script fonts (Citadel seemed doable), and changed the color to reflect a more "summery" tone. The waterfall image will remain though-- that seems like the one "given."

It looks like this graphic design course is going to come in handy earlier than I expected! We actually spent some time looking at  the subject of type this past week, and it is interesting how subtle changes can affect the overall mood of a piece. I think most people are so used to seeing text that they're not even aware (I know I wasn't), but designers will treat type as both shapes and elements. Even the spacing is a consideration-- we tried this online "kerning" game, and it's harder than it looks: type.method.ac

At least the computer makes this all a bit easier to experiment with. I remember my first year of college, when they had us hand lettering type... I don't know if that is done at all anymore. It's all still a far cry from the early days of the old mechanical letterpress machines. It's astounding to think about all that went into using that original method:

Upside Down, Left To Right: A Letterpress Film from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

Having said that, Illustrator's digital bezier curves are going to take some getting used to. So I guess it's all a process, and takes time to perfect good taste.

Friday Night Fever

Sarah is off for "girls night" with her bridesmaids. What's a groom to do?.... KARAOKE!

Living By Design

Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far,
Stefan Sagmeister, ©2008 Stefan Sagmeister. All rights reserved.

Graphic design class went well last night. I presented my research on Tibor Kalman (see previous post), and learned about several other important designers from my classmates.

One of those graphic designers, Stefan Sagmeister, looked incredibly interesting. Sagmeister also worked at Kalman's M&Co., and seems to share that designer's propensity towards making each piece an immersive experience. I'm not sure I would take it quite as far as he did for his 1999 AIGA lecture poster though, where he carved words into his skin with an X-Acto knife to visualize the pain involved in his creative process-- wow. I appreciate the sense of emotional response in his work though (like with Kalman). Definitely worth investigating further. 

The presentation of Sagmeister's website is pretty unique too- the homepage features a live webcam of his office space, with links activated by "buttons" that are actually painted on his studio floor! 

Reminds me that I still need to figure out a proper website to showcase my own work. Ah, to work so creatively... 

Design for a Change

“When you make something no one hates, no one loves it.”- Tibor Kalman, Wired Magazine

Dec. 1996

Tibor Kalman considered himself an “anti-designer designer” (or un-designer). He claimed to hate the goal of selling, and thought that graphic design could be better utilized to increase awareness on a variety of social issues.

Born in Budapest, Hungary on July 6, 1949, Kalman emigrated to the U.S. with his family at the age of seven, following the Soviet invasion of his home country; the family settled in Poughkeepsie, New York. He went on to attend New York University, studying journalism and history during the radical political era of the late 1960s. During this time, Kalman also began working at the Student Book Exchange, a college bookstore that went on to become Barnes & Noble. In 1970 he drops out of NYU to cut sugarcane in the “Ten Million Harvest” in Cuba. After a year, he returns to New York, and resumes working at the bookstore. 

Kalman starts creating window displays, signs, and ads, and goes on to create Barnes & Noble’s original bookplate trademark. He is named creative director of the company’s in-house design department, and helps establish their visual identity.

In 1979 Kalman founds M&Co. with several other avant garde design students in New York City. The company works for a diverse list of clients—from banks and real estate, to rock bands and museums. Shunning the idea of “pretty design,” the company challenges the rules of contemporary graphic design—preferring to create work that removes all decoration and style, appearing more handmade: a form of non-design. The company delves into graphics, film, titles, TV spots, magazines, architectural design, and the creation of their own products, stressing the idea of social responsibility.

Earning a reputation as the “bad boy of graphic design,” in the late 1980s Kalman goes on to serve as an art and creative director for such influential magazines as Art Forum and Interview.  In 1990 he is recruited by Italian photographer Olivero Toscani to become the founding editor-in-chief of Colors, a magazine sponsored by the clothing company Benetton, known for its controversial advertisements. The assignment is well-suited for the known provocateur, and Kalman creates content that stresses the idea of multiculturalism and global awareness, including such topics as race, AIDS, and the environment.

After leaving Colors in 1995, Kalman continues to work with his wife/illustrator Maira Kalman, and serves as a design consultant on a number of communications, exhibitions, and cultural projects, including the redesign of Times Square. He dies on May 2, 1999 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after complications from non-Hodgkins Lymphonia. According to writer Steven Heller, Kalman is remembered as a designer who critiqued the very nature of consumption and production, mixing “modernist social responsibility and post-modernist introspection.”

Sources:  Tibor Kalman: Design and Undesign, Liz Farrelly, 1998. Watson-Guptil • www.aiga.org/medalist-tiborkalman • www.adcglobal.org/archive/hof/2004/?id=196 • www.charlierose.com/view/interview/4543

Undesign? You Got It, You Got It.

I have been busy researching the work of graphic designer Tibor Kalman (1949–1999), to present to my class tomorrow. The irony is that he was known for rejecting many of the conventions of graphic design, preferring a "vernacular approach" (i.e. plain, everyday, ordinary). He was a bit of a provocateur, who used his designs to make some pretty bold statements on a number of social issues.

Obviously I like the idea of design for the greater good, but I'm not sure what I think of his work overall. As I finalize the research for my presentation, I'm posting a clip he worked on for The Talking Heads, a band whose music I enjoy and whom Kalman created album covers for in the early 80s. This video is so-so, maybe a little dated... but you get an idea of some of the designer's style in using type in unconventional ways ("the way things fall apart"), as well as some of his social messaging (goes by way too fast though). I think some of the optical uses of type are more successful here than the early digital: specifically, where the lyrics are projected on to David Byrne's face, and the section where the singer sways with the "fields and trees."



I'll have more thoughts on Kalman's work later. In the meantime, I had no idea The Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr played on this song-- talk about "type" casting!