A while back, I re-created a graphic that featured in Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was a very minor graphic in the film's cornucopia of special effects but I've always liked it. My original version of the BBC 12 logo contained a couple of errors (including the typeface), so I thought it was time to update it...
While I'm recreating fictional (or, in this case, previously fictional) BBC channels, I thought I might as well quickly mock up a vector graphic of 'BBC 3', which appeared (over 30 years before the launch of the real BBC 3) in the 1971 #DoctorWho episode 'The Daemons'.
That Beatles #doctorwho episode: A flamboyant supervillain in boots steals the power of music from the world leaving it devastated, and silences the band that could save it. Fortunately, #TheBeatles eventually manage to play the right music that can defeat the villain and... hold on
I'm revisiting early-mid 1980s albums by prog rock (& related) artists, when they decided to try new, more stripped down, approaches, many of which provoked vilification & even decades-long grudges among older fans who accused their favourite bands of selling out (see also: Queen's Hot Space album).
But, arguably, they were still being musically progressive by incorporating other styles. Genesis (R&B/Motown/new wave), Yes (US stadium AOR), King Crimson (new wave/minimalism/US post punk), Peter Gabriel (world music).
Only Pink Floyd didn't really embrace the 80s that much. The Final Cut is more like a step back to the antiwar/political songs of the late 60s and the post-Waters follow up sounds like an attempt to return to (imitate?) mid-late '70s Floyd but with '80s production values.
For me, the strongest early-to mid 80s albums of this type are Discipline by King Crimson and Hounds of Love by Kate Bush. Not only were they not selling out, they defined styles that inspired future artists and genres.
And I don't care what anyone says: I like Abacab!
Sorting out #books. A Beat Gen. (and related) selection from back when cool young people wouldn't dream of going out without a copy of Kerouac's On the Road, a counterculture poetry chapbook, or a lit mag, such as Evergreen Review, stuffed into their back pockets...
#NowPlaying live art-rock/prog albums from the early (more interesting half of the) 1980s. That incarnation of King Crimson was so tight. They make some other bands sound like they're trying to run through a muddy field in wellies. Great live album, very energetic.
Those art-rock-proggers were so incestuous. Of the albums above, Tony Levin was in Peter Gabriel's band & King Crimson with Bill Bruford, who was in King Crimson, Anderson-Bruford-Wakeman-Howe (with Levin), and Genesis. Gabriel was in Genesis and his producer was Robert Fripp of King Crimson. Adrian Belew was in King Crimson and Talking Heads.
Just popped in to visit 'Auntie Pat', that twisted, cantankerous curmudgeon. Now that I know she was probably #autistic a few things about her personal life make a little bit more sense.
There are many sites offering free, print-ready CC0/public domain illustrations, photographs & vector graphics. Eg, Pixabay offers 4.4 million images, Unsplash 3 million.
Many fonts are also free for commercial use. And you can put the design together in free Open Source software.
With so many free images/fonts available, it's easy to create multiple design concepts for your book/product). And it's all done with the consent of the artists/photographers/typographers.
There's no excuse.
I mean, this is 20 mins work using free software, images, etc. Even a non-designer could manage this after they've learned the basics, which really wouldn't take long at all.
🧵 I'm browsing 'Zivilverteidigung,' the Swiss national defence book from 1969.
The Swiss took their nuclear defence very seriously. Many buildings (my own included) are still built today with nuclear bunkers in the cellars.
The UK's own 'Protect & Survive' booklet was 30 pages, whereas, the Swiss 'Zivilverteidigung' is 320 pages.
Great graphic design, too. Here's a thread of random images. #coldwar#switzerland#graphicdesign#illustration
The role of women is ludicrously traditional in the book (no surprise, given that Swiss women weren't able to vote until the 1970s and, in one canton, as late as 1990). They're caregivers who provide only emotional support.
However... "women who have to go out on the street [should] dress inconspicuously and avoid anything that might arouse the desire of
foreign soldiers . Whoever flirts with the enemy will meet with our contempt today and the harsh punishment tomorrow ".