(click on image above for link to larger JPG — thanks Adrian)

(source : Jee Eun Lee) 

Montreal, Canada

27 April 2013 is Icograda’s 50th birthday, World Communication Design Day. To mark this auspicious occasion and global celebration, I’ve composed a few graphic iterations and collages. Icograda invites contributions on a Facebook page set up for international “graphic sharing” here.

The Icograda 50th Anniversary logo was designed by Omar Vulpinari and a creative team at Fabrica.

Charlotte, NC, USA

A typographic study, combining some of Matt Stevens’ favorite typefaces with his love of old automotive manuals and exploded diagrams… more here.

New York, USA

swissted is an ongoing project by graphic designer Mike Joyce… combining his love of punk rock and Swiss modernism, two movements that have (almost) nothing to do with one another. Mike has redesigned vintage punk, hardcore, new wave, and indie rock show flyers into international typographic style posters — each design is set in lowercase Berthold Akzidenz-Grotesk Medium (not Helvetica).

Thanks to friend Keith Leinweber for the link…

Mumbai, India

Kapil Bhagat used to work in advertising. He’s currently “in search of something new to do with life.” In the meantime, he experiments with graphics (such as the clever posters shown above which give homage to famous scientists).

See more of Kapil’s work here. Thanks to my Belgian philosopher friend Filip Spagnoli for the link to Kapil.

London, UK

Complex philosophical concepts are explained by means of basic shapes and concise definitions in these clever, minimalist, and colourful Philographics by Catalonian-born designer Genís Carreras.

See more here.

Barbara Kruger‘s Op-Art piece in today’s New York Times is very apropos.

Beijing, China

In mid-October, the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University hosted a 50-year retrospective exhibition featuring the work and distinguished career of my good friend (and former Icograda board colleague) Professor Yu Bingan. Widely known as “the godfather of Chinese type” and “a pioneer of visual communication design in China,” Bingnan has had an interesting and prolific career as both a designer and a design educator.

Originally from Shanghai, Bingnan moved to Wuxi at a young age to escape political turbulence. After initially attending Lu Xun Art Academy in Yan’an, he moved to Europe for six years and continued his studies at the Leipzig College of Graphic Design and Book Art, in what was then East Germany (it’s by dent of this that Bingnan and I can communicate in German, as I am practically illiterate in Mandarin).

Since 1962 he has been a lecturer at the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University (the former Central Academy of Arts & Design) and from 1985 to 1990 he served director of the Book Art Department. Bingnan has served for decades as an international design juror for arts & design competitions, his works have won distinctive international and national prizes, and he has published numerous articles and books on design theory. Bingnan became the first Chinese member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI), he served as a vice president of Icograda (2001-2003), and he continues to represent Icograda in China as a special liaison and through active promotion of Chinese graphic design associations.

Read an interview with Professor Yu Bingnan here; view more images from the retrospective exhibition here.

Among the artifacts on display at the retrospective was this newspaper article from 2009, when the Icograda World Design Congress was held in Beijing.

(Thanks to Sophia Shih for sending me the images for this post).

London, UK

Sony Music has unveiled a graphic installation documenting the company’s 125 year musical history. Designed by Alex Fowkes, the Sony Music Timeline runs throughout the central atrium of Sony’s open plan Derry Street offices. The installation features nearly 1000 names of artists signed to Sony Music and its affiliated labels from the foundation of Columbia Records in 1887 to the present day, including musical icons Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, The Clash, Michael Jackson and many many more.

Interspersed among the artist names are certain key developments in technology, musical formats and corporate history — from the invention of early recording cylinders to vinyl, cassette, CD, radio, MTV, the Sony Walkman, the iPod and the introduction of digital streaming services. The work is organised by decade into 54 columns measuring over 2 meters tall and covering almost 150 square meters of wall space. It uses CNC cut vinyl as the sole medium for the whole installation.

Sony’s partnership with Fowkes is set to continue as the Sony Music Timeline will grow each year with the addition of new artist names signed by the major.

(Thanks to my colleague Adrian Shum for the link).