Art Chantry Speaks: A Heretic's History of 20th Century Graphic Design

by Art Chantry, Monica René Rochester (Editor)

Overview

There used to be a time when designers were trained in the history of composition. Now you just buy a f#$kin' piece of software and now you've become a designer.

"Art Chantry . . . Is he a Luddite?" asks a Rhode Island School of Design poster promoting a Chantry lecture. "Or is he a graphic design hero?"

For decades this avatar of low-tech design has fought against the cheap and easy use of digital software. Chantry's homage to expired technology, and his inspired use of Xerox machines and X-Acto blade cuts of printed material, created a much-copied style during the grunge period and beyond.

Chantry's designs were published in Some People Can't Surf: The Graphic Design of Art Chantry (Chronicle Books), exhibited at the Seattle Art Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian, and the Louvre.

Chantry has drawn upon his extraordinary collection of twentieth-century graphic art to create compelling histories of the forgotten and unknown on essays he originally posted on his Facebook page. These essays might lionize the unrecognized illustrators of screws, wrenches, and pipes in equipment catalogs. Other posts might reveal how some famous artists were undeservedly recognized.

Art Chantry Speaks is the kind of opinionated art history you've always wanted to read but were never assigned.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781627310093
Publisher:	Feral House
Publication date:	07/14/2015
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Art Chantry: Art is a graphic designer (and 2017 AIGA Medalist) most often associated with the logos, posters and album art he created for countless punk, grunge and rock bands and their labels. . His work has been exhibited at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Museum of Modern Art, Seattle Art Museum, the Smithsonian and the Louvre.

Monica René Rochester: Born and raised in South Carolina before becoming a West Coast Convert in the 90's, Monica has worked and played in the music and book industries for the past 20+ years, while keeping a hand (and scissors!) in the fine arts field as a collagist.

Table of Contents

Author's Foreword: Context Is Everything 6

About the Title of the Book 9

Section 1 The Language of Design 11

The Secret Brotherhood of Graphic Design 13

"Design Diversity" and the Con 17

20th-century American Industrial Graphic Design 21

Typography as Image 29

Manufactured Style: From Prissy Victoriana to Art Deco 33

Modernism is Just Another Retro Style 39

Graphique Moderne 45

God Told Me To 49

Cheesecake Clip 57

Hallmark Psychedelia 61

The Acrimonious History of the Happy Face 75

The Anonymity of Manufactured Art 81

Alfred E. Neuman is MAD 89

Help! A Genius Cluster 92

Grade School Indoctrination 97

The Fine Art of Marketing Lowbrow 101

A High "Huh?" Factor: Japanese Graphic Design 105

Chaos as Design Theory 108

Section 2 Designers and Artists 123

Ross F. George: Typographic Man of Mystery 125

Saint Paul 131

Norman Rockwell and Corporate Sentimentality 135

Alvin Lustig: A Nod is as Good as a Wink to a Blind Horse 139

Albert Hurter: Disney's Crazy Uncle in the Attic 143

William Golden: Grand Master of Corporate Design 147

A.M. Cassandre's Bazaar Surrealism 151

Richard M. Powers Showed Us What Science Fiction Looks Like 155

Harry Chester, King of Monster Type 163

Herb Lubalin: If You Can't Design in B&W, You Can't Design 169

Ivan Chermayeff and BJ 175

Robert Massin: Thinking Outside the Condom Box 179

Peter Max and the Cult of Fake Psych Celebrity 183

Cal Schenkel Cleans You! Thrills You! Cleans & Thrills You! 189

John van Hamersveld and Los Angeles Psych 193

Sister Corita Kent 197

Mo Lebowitz's Antique Press 201

Jim Phillips: Skate or Design 204

Mouse 207

Moscoso 213

Drella, Commercial Artist 217

Genesis P-Orridge: No Future at the Death Factory 221

Section 3 Tools of the Trade, Forgotten Processes, and Obsolete Objects 225

Linotype 227

The Lost Art of the Print Process 230

Printer's Drill 233

The Haberule 236

Printing Cuts 238

LabelMaker: Punk Typography 101 239

Stencil Lettering as Art 242

The French Curve 244

Pocket Pal 247

Punch Tape 249

Thermography 252

Niche Market Packaging 255

Matchbooks, A Tiny Design Canvas 257

Afterword: The Moist Towelette 261

Index 262

Acknowledgments / Colophon 264