Hands On: MacGuffin Magazine. No.6
Posted: October 16, 2018 Filed under: Art and Design, Graphic Design Reviews, Hands On | Tags: Book & Magazine Cover Design, Book & Magazine Design, Dutch Design, Magazine Design, Magazine Spreads Comments Off on Hands On: MacGuffin Magazine. No.6Opinion by Richard Baird
MacGuffin is a biannual design, art and crafts magazine that commissions stories on, around or jumping off from ordinary things, uncovering personal and curious relationships with the objects that surround us. Issues 1 to 5 explored The Bed, The Window, The Robe, The Sink and The Cabinet. The Ball, MacGuffin Magazine No.6 Autumn/Winter 2018, the one BP&O has its hands-on, takes a look those related to the spherical; from the ballpoint pen to the disco ball, Harvey Ball (the designer of the smiley face), to the Biosphere and the sphere as the building block in which to shape a Japanese future.
The magazine mixes writing styles and lengths with documentary and cinematic stills, still life and artworks, the diagrammatic, illustrative and iconographic. Featured writers include Danish artist Nicolai Howalt, graphic designer Paul Gangloff and Real Review’s Jack Self who reflects on Bisosphere 2, an eco-futurist experiment.
MacGuffin, in its content, manages to draw beauty from the banal, the hidden and the utilitarian, elevating the every using a plethora of interesting and revealing philosophical, historical and socio-cultural insights. These moves from the micro, macro and abstract, viewed through an architectural or art and design lens. There is, occasionally, a form of meta-criticism at play which is a nice observation on the spherical type element of the Selectric Typewriter, nicked named the golf ball, doing the hitting, rather than being hit. However, the publication largely leans towards the simple joy of revealing the idiosyncrasies and legacies of the commonplace or the overlooked. The spirit of this is expressed graphically, typographically and materially by editors Kirsten Algera and Ernst van der Hoeven working with Dutch Designer Sandra Kassenaar. MacGuffin Magazine No.6 is 210 x 218mm, 232 pages and features five Pantone inks. It is supported by adverts, these come in the form of a fold-out cover, back page and the first five pages. It costs 14GBP / 16EUR / 20USD, and is also available as a yearly subscription.
BP&O Collections — Banners
Posted: October 15, 2018 Filed under: BP&O Collections, Uncategorized Comments Off on BP&O Collections — BannersSelected by Richard Baird.
A continually updated collection of banners, designed as part of a larger brand identity progrmme, published on BP&O. These typically deliver an immediate graphic expression through type and form language, colour and image. This selection features the simple and singular, and those that pair those with a strong stylistic impact with those of informational detail, and includes work by studios Hey, Studio fnt and Mucho.
In the spirit of trying to challenge the chronological value-hierarchies of the traditional blog format, this post was published as a quick way to jump through BP&O’s content and gain access to older but equally interesting projects through different themes. Further, this is less about the aesthetic of a singular asset, although that is a consideration, but how each of these may fulfil a role within a broader system, click each image to read more. This expands upon previous posts under the category BP&O Collections.
Korea International Art Fair 2018 by Studio fnt
Posted: October 10, 2018 Filed under: Art and Design, Graphic Design Reviews | Tags: Banner Design, Brochure Design, Colour in Use: Fluorescent, Designed by Studio fnt, Fluorescent Ink, Korean Design, Perforated Detail, Spot Colours, Supergraphics, Ticket Design Comments Off on Korea International Art Fair 2018 by Studio fntOpinion by Richard Baird
Each year KIAF plays host to and brings to the Korea domestic market the artworks of international artists and galleries. This year, the 17th Korea International Art Fair took place between the 4–7 October in the city of Seoul.
With a desire to become the pre-eminent art platform of South Korea, serve as a conduit between the Asian and international art scene, and function as a tool in which to introduce vibrant new Korean art to a global audience of curators and collectors KIAF seeks out, collates and presents the groundbreaking and thought-provoking.
Studio fnt worked with KIAF to develop a new visual identity for the fair. With such a wide variety of works on display; those of different origins, techniques, physicalities and modes of expression, the confluence of colour, proportionality and abundance serve as a unifying visual language that links posters, catalogues, tickets, banners and tote bags.
