Double take

Speaking of stars and circles (as you were below, about the Parcheesi gameboard), I was disappointed to realize that the cover design I liked so much for the Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart—

was, in fact, a retread of the Criterion release cover for Jean-Luc Godard's film A Woman is a Woman. But I did LOVE the book!

Royal at Home

I don’t remember ever  playing Parcheesi when I was a kid, but I do remember loving the  gorgeous board design. While  helping to tidy up my mother’s house recently, I happened upon a 1950s edition of the game.

Parcheesi, “A Royal Game of India,” is a brand name American adaptation of the Indian Cross and Circle game Pachisi, created in India perhaps as early as 500 AD.”

The board is a masterpiece of color, shapes, rhythm and ornamentation. There truly was no place like "Home," with its design references to Royal, Colonial, or decorative and decorated India.*

I love how the lettering follows the scalloped inner shapes of home (pre-dating Illustrator by decades).

American game manufacturer Selchow and Righter purchased the rights to Parcheesi in 1870 and trademarked it starting in 1874. In 1986 Selchow and Righter was bought by Coleco Industries, which declared bankruptcy a few years later. The current version of Parcheesi, by Milton Bradley is available in a Royal Edition as well as a  "classic" edition with friendly cartoon animals.

Fun trivia: Milton Bradley the man owned the first color lithography shop in Massachusetts. When business slowed, he devised and printed something he called "The Checkered Game of Life." According to NNDB, Bradley's invention is considered the first family board game. What a cool variation of a printer/commercial artist/designer as entrepreneur.

*Not that I  "got" any of the design references when I was a kid growing up in West Philadelphia.

Aggregating Aggravation

Possibly, you've the Phaidon article about Massimo Vignelli's reaction to the new AA i.d..

The British site uses some very picturesque phrases to describe Futurebrand. Vignelli fires some very sharp and witty volleys himself—particularly about the 11 (as in chapter 11) stripes and the paint job.

What's strikes me is that a new look touted as "American," the overall brand feels bland—especially the flight icon. Does that the airlines has lost characteristic American grit?

The Good Book (doubled)

When I read Kate Brumback's article in Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013's The Philadelphia Inquirer, I was impressed by the significance of not one but two Bibles in today's Inauguration ceremony:

The president also plans to take the oath of office for his second term with his hand on two Bibles, one owned by [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] and one by Abraham Lincoln. As he takes the oath, he will be facing the Lincoln Memorial, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech 50 years ago this August.

Images are screenshots from CNN's live coverage.

He had a Dream

Known for his non-violent leadership and his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech, Rev. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel while in Memphis, TN.*

In an important and smart meld of repurposing/ meaningfully saving a site, the former lodging is now the National Civil Rights Museum at The Lorraine Motel. 1960s-era cars are parked in the lot; a wreath and plaque** call attention to the second floor where a sniper's bullet fatally hit King in the neck; and the classic motel sign declares "I HAVE A DREAM." Vintage neon motel signage coexists with the museum's contemporary banners.

The museum's site gives a history of the hotel/motel and of the assassination as well as   tools demonstrating life during segregation. (Even in 2012, the museum's location gave a hint of the un-fancy areas receptive to black sojourners.

A gate at the museum contains some of the speech Dr. King gave the night before his death:

 "I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

According to info on the History channel, King's assassination spurred President Lyndon Johnson to urge Americans to "reject the blind violence" that had killed King. Johnson prevailed upon Congress to pass the civil rights legislation then entering the House of Representatives for debate. On April 11, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, also known as the Fair Housing Act.

The museum logo isn't an absolute success, but history and the overall complex are so powerful that to nitpit about the logo is an embarrassing quibble.


Thanks to Kay Casstevens, who suggested that we pay tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. after seeing Graceland, home of the other King.

 *to support a sanitation workers' strike.

**I didn't know there was a passage in about slaying the dreamer.

But it's all over now

In the 2007 film Helvetica, Massimo Vignelli talks about his 1967 logotype design for American Airlines (done in the typeface Helvetica), and says that it's the only airline that hasn't changed it's logotype.

   

That's all over now. FutureBrand has now redesigned the logo, now called the "Flight Symbol".

Is it me, or is the treatment of the A/eagle looking a little Anheuser-Busch?

Or US Postal Service-ish?

Are there only so many ways to "brand an eagle"?

Images courtesy of company websites.

The beauty of print

Sometimes print can say what digital editions simply cannot. Simply brilliant.

Special thanks to our favorite sports-lovin' designer George Garrestegui for the find and the image. 

Against stereotypes

Design involves a certain amount of type-casting (sometimes literally as well as figuratively) to present a business. Changing with the times, healthcare has some perky, less daunting, and sometimes incongruously unstereotypical looks.

My new Blood Donor card is more arresting, not to mention easier to find, while still being business-like (incorrect name excepted).

A sign for an Ob/Gyn practice in Soho, NYC, is fresh, reminiscent of cosmetics packaging, and possibly a bit too derivatively pretty.

Finally, a recently-received brochure for one medical group taps into the look of lifestyle magazines to assure members (who pay a fee to support the practice, which in turn takes most health insurance) that they'll be treated well in a stress-free setting.

Possibly to come: info about the firm/firms that worked on the above campaigns.

Rushing to Ruscha

I knew about Ed Ruscha's photographs and paintings, and his love affair with words, but never realized that the relationship extended to books until I caught his gallery show at Gagosian Gallery this January (through January 12).

Giant paintings of books, complete with marbled endpapers, gilded edges, worm holes...

Photo by Paul Ruscha

Photo by Paul Ruscha

Photo by Paul Ruscha

Also, constructions where paintings are combined with actual books (as object), as well as books that have been painted over, bleached out, and otherwise altered.

It's always interesting to see how artists expand their vocabulary (in this case, literally and figuratively), and it's terrific to see the depth and breadth of Ruscha's exploration and manipulation of the book (and the term "bookworks"!).

Happy New Year, and all the rest: Friendly's poetry.