Offenbach (from above)

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When I was in Offenbach during the Christmas holidays, I tried 

to catch some moments of the city with my distant view. It is nice 

to see the pictures now as a  preparation of being back soon.

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1  Welcome to Offenbach Marktplatz station.
2  The city hall.
3  The other tower, the logo and a couch.
4  Graphics in Offenbach Marktplatz station.
5  A nice shop window decoration.
6  A summer offer in December with a very narrow beer.
7  Sausages!
8  Christmas decoration.

"ein Frühlingsgefühl" / Herne Hill

Its nice to live with the seasons. While its winter, I always kind of forget that 
there is something else and how it feels when its not cold, wet and grey. In German, 
we have this beautiful word Frühlingsgefühl which means "spring feeling". Since 
last thursday, the weather is incredibly nice here. Although its a bit early for 
that in german dimensions, there are some "spring feelings" around. 

Yesterday, I started to say good bye to my "key-places". One of them is Herne Hill. 
I took the picture above in Lido Café. It describes perfectly the Frühlingsgefühl: 
the sun is shining, the sky is blue but the pool is empty and so are the trees and there is also one of these heating lamps helping the sun to warm up the people. 
But you start to get the feeling how life will be when it gets warmer, how everything will be green and full of life. 

Herne Hill was one of my recreation areas. In the beginning, when I lived in 
Streatham Hill, I walked there by foot on sundays, later I took the bus from Peckham. 
The area feels a bit like Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin. Young academic families, 
nice cafés, a farmers market on sundays, everything looks like a "good life". 
Sometimes I find it very relaxing to be at places like this. Part of my visit were: 
the wide view from Brockwell Park on the city, Antonias yoga classes on sundays, 
fruit scones from Ye Olde Bakery,  the nice atmosphere in Herne Hill Books, a walk 
over the farmers market, a look at the offers of Herne Hills Oxfam store. 
(After all that, it is always good to leave the bubble again and return to Peckham reality. More later.)

nice books #1

Last weekend, Sophia and I travelled to Glasgow and Edinburgh. We planned nothing
but we always seemed to find the right places at the right time. One of them
was a vintage bookshop in Edinburgh called Southside Books. I discovered this amazing cover series called Penguin Plays from the 1960s–70s (and had to buy the
apricot-green one). There also was a nice book about birds and this beautiful simple cover of a Cézanne catalogue. We talked with the owner about the limitations of language (e.g. why don't we have more definitions for the different kinds of prose or how different cities are although we call all of them cities. I like the way he labelled the different sections in his shop. The whole atmosphere felt like you are entering a specific magic space.

abendbrot.

Some days ago, Larissa, Sebastian and me prepared a proper german Abendbrot (dinner) for our class. I recognized that this meal is quite graphical and visually interesting. Read more about this event and get another view about the time we spent here at Larissas blog.

posters + dress

Now that the poster project is over, I think about how to archive it. Yesterday, 

I had this idea of presenting them with matching dresses of mine. I am still

not sure if it is a good idea, but these two test-shots are quite funny (sorry for

the blurry one). By the way, the avocado-forest will be a folded, double sided, 

offset printed poster later.

Miranda July once did it the other way around: Her book "No one belongs here more 

than you" comes in different colours. If you ask me, I would buy all of them, 

but unfortunately I always only see the yellow one which I already own. Still love 

her book promotion: http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/00031

a frozen book (work in progress)

When Larissa and I worked on the "Poetic Censorship Project" we suddenly had the image of a frozen book in our minds. How would that look like, what would it mean? In which way can a frozen book stand for censorship? One of these advices, that we internalized during studying here is: If you have an idea, then go for it (which means not only do it, but do it 100%). Although our final result of the project is something very different, I am happy, that we put the book in the freezer. It is beautiful, isn't it?

design collective GRAPUS (1970–91)

For 20 years they provided inspiration to graphic design 

students all over the world, with their idealistic principles 

(of bringing culture to politics, and politics to culture), 

and their highly distinctive form of image-making: an 

accessible and unpredictable mixture of childlike scrawl, 

bright colors, sensual forms and high-spirited visual pranks. 

(McQuiston, Liz (1993) Graphic agitation : 

social and political graphics since the Sixties 

London: Phaidon. p.56)

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The design collective Grapus was founded during

the student revolts in France in 1968. Members

were Pierre Bernard, Gerard Paris-Clavel, Francois

Miehe, Jean-Paul Bachollet and Alex Jordan.

In graphic design, on the one hand they saw a

means of bringing the protests and social ideas

forward and on the other hand they wanted to

re-invent the function of graphic design itself from

being a selling tool to a tool that communicates

visions of living together and social change.

http://www.aubervilliers.fr/rubrique113.html
http://www.noustravaillonsensemble.org/1789.html.fr

to be printed 1) veggie poster

 Looking forward to be back to Wolfgang Rademachers 

 brilliant offset workplace at HfG Offenbach soon. 

be idealistic.

 A sunday evening (night) with upcoming goodbye-feelings is a good

time to be idealistic (although I think that it's always and in general

good to be idealistic and optimistic as well). So, designers and everybody

else: Lets take part in the wish to create a better world. 

 

(1) www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xYi2rd1QCg

(2) http://backspace.com/notes/2009/09/the-social-role-of-the-graphic-designer.php

(3) http://www.manifestoproject.it/milton-glaser/

3 things to keep in mind

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1 favourite picture of the punk graphic design exhibition 

(see blog post punk / graphic / design)

2 seen in Peckham 2 days ago

3 found it while researching screenplay-covers

poster for a word: awkward

Finally, I found a reason to stretch type. (A tribute to awkwardness.)

8 days, 8 posters

Last friday, we started the 'A Poster a Day' project. This means, that there is an email with a new poster task every day. The email arrives around 8–10 am. We have 24 hours to fulfill it. Its nice to receive these emails with the mission of the day. Today, for example, it said: 

Poster 3: For public information.
Create a poster from a piece of advice that someone once gave you

 
(start by summarising the advice into one sentence or phrase). 

With the brief, we got some texts about posters.
I realize that what I love about the poster, and what defines poster-ness for me, is the way it is conceptually attached to a motivating force — a product, or some event that will happen or has happened on a particular date and at a particular place. Temporal and physical fixity are integral parts of the visual language of the poster, anchors that help prevent it from floating into the ether of art. Ultimately it's the tension between those anchors and the tug of the designer's artistic ambition that produces the powerful, beautiful poster.  
Design Observer / Alice Twemlow: When Did Posters Become Such Wallflowers?

Design Observer / Alexandra Lange: Stop That: Minimalist Posters

Susan Sontag: Posters: Advertisement, Art, Political Artifact, Commodity
Looking Closer 3, Michael Bierut, ed. (Allworth Press, New York, 1999), pp. 196-218

saturdays, 6am

Every Saturday early morning, my Flatmate Jo visits to the car-boot sale. 

Once I had the pleasure to accompany her. We went to Wimbledon and visited 

the market which is next to a dog race stadium.You have to pay entrance 

as a visitor, depending when you arrive (the early morning is more expensive). 

It was a pleasure seeing Jo doing her job. She has a special view and 

discovered things there I did not recognize at all. Later, she gives them 

back to the public: on her blog, in a webshop, at Spitalfields Market 

and recently also at Brick Lane Market.

east street market

East Street Market is the closest market to where I live now in London. 

It rules life on East Street in Camberwell every day except monday. 

You will find everything you need for your everyday live. It feels 'authentic' 

cause it is mainly used by the (multicultural) surrounding neighborhood. 

 East Street Market is one of London's oldest, largest and busiest markets 

and is as fondly visited now by local people as it has been for decades. 

There are a wide a variety of goods on offer, from fresh fruit and vegetables

to African clothing and materials. 

(Southwark Council website, more informations e.g. opening hours there)

Also I found these 1990s beauties there. 

trees, embracing

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In Offenbach, there is a painting on a garage door that I pass from time to time. 

It shows two trees standing next to each other, overlapping a bit. Since I saw

this picture I always think that that's the way trees are embracing each other, they

just grow into each other. Once they decide to do it, there is no going back. 

I was thinking of this, when I saw these two trees in Hamstead Heath last autumn. 

For now, it's not more than a hand shake. But there is no going back.

ask questions!

Yesterday, we went to the Natural History Museum. (By the way, a lot of other people did this). I really liked some of the exhibition design styles and the way, you are trained to ask questions. Although you expect from a museum visit like this to get answers, I always go out with more questions in my head. I think, we should ask more questions in general. It is a valuable culture we have to keep and to train.

 For a toddler, a single toy may become a close companion.

the new

GOODBYE 2012

After saying goodbye to London in December, there where incredibly many 

Hellos back in Germany, unavoidable followed by the same high amount of Goodbyes.

Back to London, we had a proper New Years Eve Dinner in our flat and then a 

proper New Years Eve Party in our Flat, too. I think, dancing is the best 

way to welcome a new year. (Now some left over decoration still reminds to 

this ritual and to the very new year, that has just started.)

HELLO 2013