Category: 142

Jim Rimmer

This man was a true legend. Canadian legend mind you. Jim Rimmer created Pie Tree Press and Typefoundry in New Westminster, BC. He was one of the last practitioners creating custom-type faces in metal for handset and composition casting. He worked in his basement where you drew, cut, engraved and cast original designs used in the printing of his fine press editions such as”The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. Jim also did the linocuts for this piece. Another cool thing about him is that he didn’t take up creating type until he was in his 50’s and became a super important Canadian leader in type design.

SFU actually has a full collection of his works as a tribute to him and his great legacy that he left behind. He passed in 2010, but will never be forgotten from the design world.

He wasn’t just into typesetting though, his career was diverse. He created the logo of Canadian Pacific Airlines, the provincial mark for BC, a handbag sold on Grandville street and so on.

I think it’s very cool to learn about someone who left behind quite a legacy who was Canadian. I feel like America really stole the scene when it came to pumping out really successful designers, so learning about a Canadian designer is super amazing and something very obtainable.

Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007)

Ettore was an Italian designer and architect who pushed new-age design and post-modern design.

His portfolio was huge and included furniture, jewelry, glass and lighting and office machines. So he was well versed in many different designs. He founded a group called the Memphis and they dominated the early 1980s and Sottsass found his place in history as a founder of post-modern, but he left the group in 1985 to focus on his own Milan practice called Sottsass Associates.

I’m such a fan of his work because of how experimental feeling it is. I also love colour, but if I was going to decorate my house I don’t think that you would find many pieces that he designed in my home. Well, maybe the practical things but not the crazy shelving units. I like the retro colourful feel and how it brings a sort of new-age funk compared to the over practical modern look.

Reference:

https://www.vntg.com/120390/carlton-room-divider-by-ettore-sottsass-for-memphis-milano-1981/

https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/people/18044261/bio#:~:text=Sottsass%20was%20born%20in%20Innsbruck,and%20design%20studio%20in%20Milan.

RICK GRIFFIN 1994 – 1991

When you look back at photos of this era, the whole 1960s, and what was coming out of it, it’s pretty cool. Physcadelics and free love drove this era which of course influenced design and illustration. Some people saw this as a time to revolutionize or direct design and make a profit from it. What blazed out hippy doesn’t want some psychedelic art showcased in their bedroom for when their night of swinging commences.

Rick Griffin is one of those guys that made a profit and drove design far into the psychedelic realm. This guy was at the forefront of psychedelic poster design in the 1960s. Based off of the photo below, he really played that part.

Do you know what griffin has in common with my mum? Other than super long hair …they both were deadheads. Unlike my mum, who was a groupie and deadhead, Griffin also designed some of their best-known posters and record jackets.

He also was so involved in surf culture and brought the whole psychedelic design poster meets the surf. I think it helped make his art stand out among the many other artists that were taking advantage of the whole experiment with drugs until you see something in your painting kind phase. Most other designs stuck with florals and really trippy writing where he involved other sports culture into his work. Which is pretty groovy man.

References:

https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/music-memorabilia/posters/grateful-dead-1969-hawaiian-aoxomoxoa-concert-poster-by-rick-griffin-aor-3116-/a/7217-89168.s

https://www.julienslive.com/m/lot-details/index/catalog/56/lot/18449/

George Lois

George Lois created quite the legacy for himself. He was one of the most successful creative advertisers in the 20th century. He was known for his 92 covers of Esquire magazine. In 1959 he worked at Doyle Dane Bernbach which was an advertising agency that gave birth to big idea thinking and the revolution of the industry. He believed that advertising was an art, not a science and that mediocre ideas need testing.

He created eccentric eye-catching designs, things that really made you stop and stare at the designs. From the grotesque designs of Mohammad Ali to Nixon getting a make-over, he was witty with his designs creating very effective magazine covers and artworks.

I really enjoy the way that Lois creates these magazine covers and makes them obscured and yet very refreshing. It’s clever and creative. his ads were culture-shaking campaigns and he made some of the best ad campaigns of the modern era because it was art. It wasn’t like today where it’s more of a science to see who will buy, obviously, that was the point back then too, but there was still style and there was more of an artistic approach to it. Lots of artists including Lois thought outside the box which made them some of the most extraordinary designers to this day.

reference:

https://search-credoreference-com.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/content/entry/thgraph/lois_george_b_1931/0

https://search-credoreference-com.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/content/entry/lkingitcgd/acknowledgments/0

Photo reference: http://www.designishistory.com/1960/george-lois/