Not to mention Graphic Design Asia 2019, an event for discourse around the future of graphic design on the continent, and the Dutch illustration magazine Wobby (themed Wicked Women). For more along these lines (and so many others) you can follow along all day, every day on Instagram @AIGAeyeondesign, Facebook, and Twitter @AIGAeyeondesign.
- Graphic Design Asia 2019
Tomorrow, May 4, in Seoul, South Korea, a “friendly gathering for the future of Asian design” will take place, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Seoul Design Foundation and the 5th anniversary of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (ddp) foundation. In the ddp building, designed by Zaha Hadid, 32 AGI Asia members will meet to discuss the future of Asian graphic design and in the afternoon will open up the conference to a series of talks. Participating designers include Tnop Wangsillapakun, Irobe Yoshiaki, Yu Yah-Leng, and Hei YiYang, among many others, and a lovely poster for the event (above) was designed by Rhee Pooroni and Lee Jaemin.
2. Twin Mirrors by Viktor Hachmang
The last time we checked in with illustrator Viktor Hachmang, he was experimenting with unexpected inks and varied paper stocks for the four short, dream-like pieces that make up his book 4 Fragments. The result was a print-lovers’ paradise: 4 Fragments featured spot colors, a “gritty, speckled paper” that looks the way sand feels, and opulent glossy stocks. Now he’s back with publisher Landfill Editions for a new publication, and singing a much more minimalist tune. Twin Mirrors is a lovely handmade comic containing two short parables, and created using only traditional tools: nib pens, manga screentone foil, Letraset, and Mecanorma lettering.
The publisher explains the premise this way: “The first story is set in the titular Hermetic Library, in which we stumble upon a seemingly ever-expanding room, the walls of which are completely covered with untitled books. The second story, Synopsis, deals with the elemental fear of the white page.” The colors in this one are brilliant—deep, royal purple, fluro yellow, rich burgundy—the stories dreamy and fragmented as ever. And there’s only 500 copies, so get on it.
Here’s some weekend reading, if you haven’t gotten to it already: Hassan Rahim interviewed by Durga Chew-Bose for Ssense. The designer, art director, and founder of 12:01 is an longtime Eye on Design fav, and the interview, which takes place in his Brooklyn studio, hits its high note when he’s talking about how much of his designing is actually just thinking.
I’m super hard on myself. Actually, that was one of the crazy things about one project I worked on last year. I held myself to such a high standard that I froze. I couldn’t even get out of bed to work on it. You know, with trauma survivors, there’s fight, flight, or freeze. And [my therapist] was like, “You’re a freeze person. Like a deer in headlights.” I think about things so much. Like 20% of my work is actually me physically doing it and making it. And 80% is just me thinking about it for weeks, days, months, nights and weekends.
But the best line in the piece is one about the work schedule he keeps: “I’m like a Jewish deli. I’m just like, ‘We’re closed Mondays.’”
We just published a long biographical piece on Sister Corita Kent, the nun, activist, and graphic designer who was once called “the joyous revolutionary” by artist Ben Shahn. Kent would have turned 100 last year, and in honor of her legacy, the Corita Art Center has launched comprehensive campaign for the opening of a museum, gallery, and education center dedicated to Kent and the work of emerging artists. It’s called Corita Next 100, and the goal is to have a new center opened in 2020, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Heart Community, the nunnery-turned-lay advocacy group that Kent was an instrumental part of. It’s a worthy cause, to which you can donate here.
And last but not least, we’ll send you off into the weekend with this new issue of Wobby, the Dutch riso-printed magazine for illustrations, comics, and literature. This one is themed “Wicked Women,” which we love, and features a brightly illustrated color by Eva Stalinski. Contributors include Adriana Lozano, Jeroen de Leijer, Joëlle Dubois, Sanne Boekel, Tieten Met Haar, and many more.
