Eric’s presentation will focus on how the acclaimed British designer Peter Saville, and his groundbreaking work at Factory Records, influenced postmodern design, along with an examination of the music and ideas that made this design phenomenon possible. The talk will lurch from Situationism in France in the late 1960s, to protopunk and punk rock in the ’70s, to the post-punk and new wave era of Joy Division, The Durutti Column, Cabaret Voltaire, and New Order.

There’ll be plenty of music, of course. And images: scroll down this page to sample a few.

Eric, an alumnus of Art Center’s Graphic Design department, now runs the design firm National People’s Gang. His clients include AT&T, PBS, Disney, and Jaguar Motors. He’s also a news writer, editor, and creative consultant.

April 26th, 2013, 11 AM
“Postmodern Suicide”
Eric Mathias, guest speaker
Loyola Marymount University
Burns Art Center, Room 211
1 LMU Drive, L.A. 90045

Click here for campus maps and driving directions.

The good news for everyone is that he’ll also be a guest speaker at my design history class on Thursday evening, February 28th. His topic: “Helvetica and the New York City Subway System.” Come discover how and why the city’s famed subway graphics evolved over the past 40 years. More than a tale of a typeface, it’s a look at the forces that molded a complex and complete signage system.

And the good news for those of you on the west side of town is that Paul will reprise his Helvetica/Subway presentation at my LMU design history class the next morning, Friday, March 1st.

Finally, the best news is that both presentations are free and open to all. So plan to attend either one, invite your friends, and bring along a copy of Paul’s book on the subject for him to sign. Here are the dates, times, and locations…

“Helvetica and the NYC Subway System”
Paul Shaw, guest speaker

Thursday, February 28th at 7 p.m.
my Graphic Design History 2 class at
Art Center College of Design
LAT Media Center, Hillside campus
1700 Lida Street, Pasadena

Click here for a map and directions to the Hillside Campus.

and…

Friday, March 1st at 11 a.m.
my History of Design class at
Loyola Marymount University
room 211, Burns Art Center
1 LMU Drive, L.A. 90045

Click here for campus maps and driving directions.

Paul’s talk is titled “Eric Gill: The Evolution of a Typeface.” He notes that of Gill Sans, Joanna, and many other faces, “Perpetua was Eric’s most used inscriptional style” and “probably was the most obvious of his early serifs that translated well into a complete family to be manufactured by Monotype.”

The above quotes are from my recent imPrint interview with Paul, in which he also discusses Mad Men, Australian style. You can read in its entirety here.

See more Gill images below. Friday’s event is free and everyone’s invited to attend, and to visit the exhibit afterward. Here are the details…

Friday, February 15th at 11:15 a.m.
“Eric Gill: The Evolution of a Typeface”
Paul Soady, guest speaker
Michael Dooley’s History of Design class
Loyola Marymount University
room 211, Burns Art Center
1 LMU Drive, L.A. 90045
Click here for campus maps and driving directions.

Paula Scher called Mike “an earth-shattering, powerful designer of important imagery.” With fifty years of experience in art direction and branding, and with clients like Steven Spielberg and LucasFilms, A+M and MGM, Levi’s and Gotcha, Disney and Playboy, Honda and Volkswagen, his enormous influence on the editorial, advertising, music, and motion picture fields is inestimable. He’s also earned a “bad boy” reputation for having created one of the world’s most recognized brand images, the notorious Joe Camel.

Mike’s presentation, titled “… the Wild West Years,” will cover his groundbreaking formative work, which includes his iconic, concept-driven publication designs for West, Surfer, Rolling Stone, and Francis Ford Coppola’s City. He’ll also share anecdotes about Michael Jackson, Apocalypse Now, and other celebrity stories.

to recap:

Mike Salisbury
“… the Wild West Years”
Thursday, November 15, 7:30 p.m.
Art Center College of Design
L.A. Times Media Center
1700 Lida Street
Pasadena, CA  91103
> open to the public
> free admission
> no reservations required
> free parking in student lot
Looking forward!

Andrew’s work explores the conventions of typographic design in three dimensions, using unfamiliar applications, materials, and processes to define new forms. The work acknowledges typographic conventions and principles while it addresses more architectural considerations, including physical strength and structural integrity. This development has led to a natural foray into the field of environmental graphic design, where he’s begun collaborating on projects for the built environment.

Andrew’s clients have included AIGA Los Angeles, Du Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Penguin Books, Sagmeister Inc., and UCLA Extension. His work’s been exhibited in design venues across the United States, Europe, and Asia, and honored by The Type Directors Club and the AIGA.

The video of Andrew at TEDx UCLA I’ve posted at imPrint will give you a little taste of his talk.

And here’s the event poster, designed by LMU student Kelly Chronis…

above design by Kelly Chronis

Mark your calendars – Thursday, June 28th, 7:30pm – for ACCD’s 3×3, hosted by Petrula Vrontikis. As most of you know, each term the Graphic Design department hosts three local professionals to speak on a particular topic. And this semester’s theme is “Eccentric Types.” So here’s the line-up:

> Andrew Byrom, Graphic Designer, Typeface Designer and Professor

> Gloria Kondrup, Archetype Press Director and Professor

> Heather van Haaften, Creative Director

Here’s the location:

> Los Angeles Times Media Center (LAT)

> Art Center College of Design, Hillside Campus

And here are the bios:

> Andrew Byrom is a UK born graphic designer and typeface designer, based in L.A. His clients include The New York Times, Penguin Books, The Architecture and Design Museum, and Sagmeister Inc. His experimental typography has been featured in numerous design publications including Print magazine, +81, and Creative Review. He’s also been honored by the AIGA and the TDC.

Andrew is a Professor at CSULB and has taught at UCLA Extension, Northern Illinois University, and Luton University and Central Saint Matrins in the UK. He has given presentations about his approach to design throughout Europe, Asia and the U.S ., including the AIGA Y-Conference, ATypI, TypeCon, The Type Directors Club, Kuala Lumpur Design Week, and TEDx UCLA.

> Gloria Kondrup has a BA in Fine Art and Art History, and an MFA in Design. Her design interests straddle both 15th and 21th century technologies and includes an expertise in branding, packaging, and letterpress printing. Since 2003, Professor Kondrup has been the Director of Archetype Press at Art Center, where students enhance their ability to understand the relationship of language and typography, and to explore the creative benefits of an analog technology in the digital landscape.

She maintains a consultancy in branding and pursues an interest in language and limited edition fine art books. Her work is in private and institutional collections including AIGA, The Sackner Archives of Concrete and Visual Poetry, The Getty, and The Smithsonian.

> Heather van Haaften traveled continents in search of unusual typefaces, discontinued letterforms, and illegible ligatures. Her Midwest family printing business served reason to escape the realm of computerized typesetting and discovered the world’s first printed book, the Gutenberg Bible, set in Blackletter metal type.

She has worked for Capitol Records, Paramount Television, resided six years in Germany redesigning three European TV networks before returning to America to redesign HSN, an American cable network. Most recently as Interactive Creative Director, she led award winning creative teams who delivered 1,500 custom online retail strategies to Fortune 100 companies and connected the brands with the world’s biggest online retailers, Walmart.com, Dell.com, and CVS.com, to name a few. Her areas of expertise include creative and interactive development, digital content, broadcast design, video production and entertainment graphics.

Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Design from Otis Parsons School of Design. Not a widow, nor an orphan, she eloped in 1995 to Sedona Arizona with Nikolaus Kraemer, a German movie producer. A mother of two bilingual cats, she loves licorice, yoga and Breaking Bad.

And for those of you who’d like a double dose of Andrew, he’ll be speaking on “Typography and Experimentation” at the A+D Museum the following evening.

Here are the details:

> Friday, June 29th, 6 to 8pm

> Architecture and Design Museum

> 6032 Wilshire Blvd.

> admission: $10 individual, $5 student w/ valid ID, A+D members free

Further details here.

Michael Bierut

Well, in case you are available, you should order your tickets for his presentation next Thursday at the Downtown Independent Theater – AIGA student members: $15 and non-student members: $30 – ASAP, because as of this writing, they’re almost all sold out.

But whether or not you see him on the 19th, you have another chance the next morning, at my Loyola Marymount University class. The format is laid back and conversational. It starts at 11, so crosstown traffic should be a breeze. No reservations are necessary, and admission and parking are free!

You’ll find details on the above flyer or here on the AIGA events page.

Petrula Vrontikis is a strong contributing member of the Art Center community who not only teaches Advanced Graphic Studio and Portfolio classes, but also strives to represent us out in the real world. I first met her about four years ago at an Art Center event at the Landor offices in San Francisco. She came and spoke on what it meant to be an Art Center student, and the lecture had a huge impact on my coming to this school. I have yet to take her classes (usually taken in 7th and 8th terms), but I hear students are faced with real commercial design problems with transmedia applications, such as addressing the creation of new product lines within a brand. The work that comes out of her AGS class is always exciting to see in the gallery and at Grad Show.

Petrula’s book (left), inspiration=ideas: A Creativity Sourcebook for Graphic Designers, features eighteen of the world’s leading designers, including Wolfgang Weingart, Stefan Sagmeister and Margo Chase, revealing the unique ways in which they find inspiration and show how they have incorporated these sources into their work

Petrula is great resource for learning what it really means to be a designer, and is great help if you have any dreams or ideas for events within the Graphic Design department. She has been honored as an AIGA Fellow along with other ACCD instructors Doyald Young, Clive Piercy and Sean Adams. She is heavily involved within AIGA, and speaks across the country about graphic design. There are also very useful essays on her website such as “Ten Common Mistakes in Resume and Cover Letters” that can really come in handy when you are searching for an internship. Also, search for “Design Heroes” on aiga.org. You will see essays from teachers/designers you’ll recognize. She is also our AIGA Art Center Student Group adviser. Without further adieu, here is Petrula:

—

How long have you been teaching at Art Center?
20 years.

What classes do you teach?
I’ve been teaching AGS all along then started teaching Portfolio Class in 2003.

Why should students take your AGS class?
Because it’s boot camp to prepare you for what will be expected of you creatively and professionally in our field. Each transmedia assignment provides an opportunity combine the skills that you’ve leaned separately in previous classes. Timelines are realistic to the industry. This aspect challenges you to improve your time management skills. Final projects from my AGS class often are the best at representing a student’s overall capabilities.

What’s your favorite part about teaching at Art Center?
Teaching continues to be one of my strongest inspirations. My favorite part is seeing the level of transformation that can take place in 14 weeks. I hope that my class can be a catalyst for students to be the best they can be.  I feel more authentic about my role as a graphic design teacher when I’m practicing graphic design every day. Other instructors are better at teaching design theory—my focus is on practice. Students that are getting ready to graduate really appreciate the time I take to convey this professional perspective.