Laser cannons but not spaceships

How Will Capitalism End?

I designed the new edition of Wolfgang Streeck’s How Will Capitalism End?, published by the wonderful folks at Verso.

The Art of Nimona

Having discovered there’s a deluxe limited edition tenth anniversary version of ND Stevenson’s Nimona coming out in May, I watched the wonderful film yet again. I was always disappointed they never got around to publishing a making-of book – but upon further googlage, it turns out they kind of did! Put together by the film’s production designer Aidan Sugano, The Art of Nimona is a 360-page, entirely free PDF. It’s a thorough exploration of how they developed the film’s distinctive look, described by Sugano as a blend of Syd Mead, Eyvind Earle and Charley Harper. And Stevenson’s introduction highlights the chaos that is essential to creation:

Nimona was pink because I could only find a pink pen the day I started sketching her. She lived in a medieval future because I liked drawing knights but not horses, laser cannons but not spaceships. Her first transformation was going to be into a T. rex, but sharks were easier to draw; and the shark had boobs because it was 5 a.m. and my life was falling apart and that meant it was objectively the funniest joke in the world. Even her name just kind of … happened, a result of writing down the first syllables that came to mind and telling myself I'd come up with a real name later. 

Moral: hide your pens.

K-Type

Always pleasing when a job comes along and you realise you have absolutely the perfect research material on your bookshelf that has just been waiting for its moment in the sun. This week I’ve been absolutely tearing through Alistair Hall’s excellent London Street Signs for a thing; and subsequently drawing upon the sign-inspired type from Keith Bate’s foundry K-Type.

Also

• Buying up South African art since 2004, apparently Nando’s has one of the largest private art collections in the world and potentially the largest on public display. Huh. 
• To mark the launch of Field Notes’ spring edition “The Chicago Look”, a film looking at the work of Beverly Sign Co. Oh and there’s a book, The Golden Era of Sign Design: The Rediscovered Sketches of Beverly Sign Co..
• Had a jolly nice time doing this Classic Paperbacks puzzle from Princeton Architectural Press. That’s right, the way I relax when not putting book covers together is … putting book covers together. Ooh and there’s a cookbook one too …