Oct 1, 2013 | Calligraphic Illustration, Hand Lettered Quotations & Calligraphy
This Sunday the New York Times had a wonderful interview with artist Amy Sillman. When you are trying to do a creative project that has you on the edge there is no way to really conquer doubt. Her advice is beautifully practical: just manage it. And eat it.
Yes, for those wondering, I did try this in the shape of a sandwich, with lettuce and tomato. It seemed very silly. I settled on a solution that shows the sandwich inside one’s mind. I chose a style bordering on ugly, in keeping with the opening line of the interview:
“I don’t care about beauty at all,” said Ms. Sillman, who is forthright and friendly, offering some cool watermelon chunks to a visitor. “Not one tiny bit. In fact, I don’t like it. I’m interested more in ugliness.”
Go here to see more calligrams.
Sep 1, 2013 | Book Covers
Here are two new book covers in very different styles. The first title for Jackie Collins is done with a bold brush for a casual contemporary look. The second is a children’s book title done in a style of formal calligraphy designed to have many of the qualities of a font.
Casual brush lettering for a contemporary book title
Formal calligraphic lettering for a children’s book
I start these formal styles with a calligraphic pen, and then modify using a combination of hand techniques and computer. See more examples of lettering for book covers in the titling section of my website here.
Aug 16, 2013 | Uncategorized
© Iskra Design
One must be careful to dodge hummingbirds when using cadmium red…. I’m rolling up my brushes, packing my paints, and heading into the field.
Happy last days of summer!
Jul 21, 2013 | Signs I Like
It’s summertime, and the bloggers get lazy. I haven’t posted anything in the Signs I Like department for a long time. I’ve been too busy in the studio to go on scouting missions. But I got out into the country last weekend, and the barn up the hill that I always loved as a child is unchanged and as photogenic as ever. Well, perhaps slightly more rustic, but thankfully “unimproved.” I had never noticed this sign before. It has grown very beautiful with the passage of time, and seems to express the essence of summer to me:
Check out that crazy S and the g confidently heading out to dive into the swimming hole. As a civilian walking along a country road I would have no idea what this sign was about. In fact I thought it was an advertisement for a fizzy drink in a glass bottle that you might hold up to the sun while rafting down the Green River. But what it actually says is “Cleaner Milk, Faster Milking” and it advertises Surge milking equipment. You can see the sign and a terrific array of vintage signage and products by this company at the Surgemilker website. This page shows the evolution of the brand from 1916 to 2013. Quite an education in design without focus groups. I can just imagine the ad guys sitting around and talking about the masculine and feminine attributes and just how they should be reflected in the serifs. “Well, they are female cows. And the main buyers of milk are women.” “But who is actually buying the milker? Is it Mrs. Farmer or Mr.?” And so forth.
Because I can see from online research that this sign might be quite valuable and I wouldn’t want to encourage a tresspasser I will only say it is on a barn on a hill and it is bathed in the golden light of memory with a large snowy mountain behind it. It looks a little bit like this:
Signs I Like is a collection of sign photographs by myself and friends who treasure the quirky and the time-worn and the history typography tells us if we stop to look. All photographs © Iskra Design or the otherwise credited photographer.
Jun 24, 2013 | Calligraphy, Hand Lettered Quotations & Calligraphy
poem by ee cummings, calligraphy by iskra
Every calligrapher needs a poem they can live with, and this is my all time favorite, useful in pretty much any circumstance. I write it as a warm-up or use it as an element in image exploration frequently. This time around I have chosen the background texture of a dumpster, which as far as I can tell may become our most enduring form of manuscript in an era when everything is intangible and subject to the whim of a corrupted storage device. The best dumpster texts are written by the fenders of trucks, in alleys, when no one is watching. It’s a form of industrial graffiti with no discernable message. But should I be roaming the alleys looking for a night’s lodging, I think I would be very happy to find this message.
I am experimenting with some other typographic solutions that are more embedded, as if actually glued and ripped. This one is a purely mark-based idea, to see if a style of formal pen calligraphy can mix with other marks that aren’t intentional or based in a known alphabet.
Designer, calligrapher, lettering artist. 