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This isn't our first time taking a look at interesting subway posters, or even English railway posters, but a new book of posters and printed matter from the history of London's Tube offers a slightly different perspective than we're used to. The book, A Logo For London, collects Tube imagery from the last 150 years and examines how the circular strike-through logo evolved. Compiled by David Lawrence, the book isn't limited to formally produced posters, but instead includes photographs, pamphlets, and anything else that informed the bar and circle logo. Check out a few images below. [images via DesignTaxi]







Photo by: BJ Enright | NY Art Book Fair

Ask anyone how they're enjoying the New York Art Book Fair and you'll likely get a response along the lines of, "It's great, but I'm overwhelmed." That's not a knock at the fair's organization, which was excellent, but instead a reaction to the sheer size of the event, both in the number of exhibitors and attendees.

Despite the evidence that the fair is primarily a "buyer's market," as confirmed by curator Shannon Michael Cane in our preview interview last week and the collectors leaving with bags full of books, the event manages to feel not entirely driven by pure commerce. No publisher makes a hard sell to those flipping through books, and while you'd surely be missing out on some great titles, it's entirely possible to get a lot out of the fair without making a purchase.

Those who braved the crowds and impressive roster of exhibitors saw plenty of Nothing Major favorites including Edie Fake, the Packet Biweekly Team, Gottlund Verlag, Nieves, Rollo Press, Bad Day, and Kayrock Screenprinting.

Check out our photos from photographer BJ Enright.

 

 

 

Dinosaur Jr. by Dinosaur Jr., Rocket 88 Books

No one would have predicted that a scruffy post-hardcore band from Northampton, MA would be together and touring after three decades, reconvene with its original line-up, or issue a deluxe coffee table book. Dinosaur Jr. by Dinosaur Jr., due in November from Rocket 88 Books, features an oral history of the band as told by the musicians themselves J, Lou, Murph, and ex-members such as Mike Johnson, friends, family, and others. It will be backed with unseen photos, rare flyers, and Dino Jr. swag—reaching back to the Deep Wound days. The book will be available in two editions: the full-color, hardback “Classic Edition” on heavyweight paper with art by Marq Spusta and a limited signed “Signature Edition” which includes a detailed tour diary from 1987-1988 with photos and a clamshell box with three art prints.

 

The book is available for preorder on dinosaurjrbook.com.

Dinosaur Jr. official book trailer from Rocket 88 on Vimeo.

A little known fact about the early days of Star Trek is that the series probably wouldn't have existed without Lucille Ball. After the pilot her Desilu company produced was rejected by NBC, Ball insisted the executives reconsider, and after funding a second pilot, they eventually ordered a full season.

Just about 45 years later, graphic designer Juan Ortiz started a month-long project during which he produced a new poster for a classic Star Trek episode every day, casting each episode in the style of a movie poster or book cover. Like the original series, his posters were eventually picked up by a publisher for a full run of 80.

Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz is out now from Titan Books. Check out a feature with Ortiz over at The Verge, and see a few posters below. 





About two years ago Geoff Manaugh, the editor of BLDGBLOG and the impressive Venue project, curated an exhibit called Landscape Futures: Instruments, Devices and Architectural Inventions at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno. 

The exhibit collected projects from architects and designers whose work in one way or another affected the way we perceive landscapes, ranging from studies about the atmospheric preservation of artifacts in NYC museums, to more aggressive topics like climate manipulation as a form of weather warfare.

The exhibit has long since closed but this month Manaugh released a new book of work (borrowing the exhibit's original title) that continues to examine the perception of landscapes, with a new collection of essays on the subject, and supplementary material like a walking tour of dams and debris basins in Los Angeles. 

Landscape Futures is available now from Amazon.






There’s a reason the ad heavyweights at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce get glassy eyed at the thought of landing an airline account. Few industries represented the glamour, optimism, and excess of the mid-century America better than the one that ferried us across the country in stylish, stainless steel jets. As sleek as some of the stewardess outfits showcased for the airborne set, the forthcoming book Airline: Style at 30,000 Feet by British designer and author Keith Lovegrove chronicles the design history of airlines. The excerpts below offer a glance backward to a time when luxury, not baggage fees, were the norm.

 

 

 

 

 

Airline: Style at 30,000 Feet comes out September 10 via Chronicle Books. All photos courtesy of Laurence King Publishing. 

Photo by: Bill Batten | The new-old living room in a London townhouse, designed by Faye Toogood for a young couple

Let's face it, most of us won't have our pad or second home photographed for Architectural Digest or even Dwell, but there's always good inspiration to be had from designed interiors. Taschen's third installment of Interiors Now drops next month and it looks packed with beautifully designed spaces for living. Some of which, Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan's Shelter Island pad for instance, provide for that kick in the pants to get your own joint up to snuff, if not ready for a photoshoot. The spots are written up by Ian Phillips, editor-at-large for the German Architectural Digest.

Interiors Now 3 is $60 from Taschen.com

Photo: Bill Batten Caption:Dinner for many: Faye Toogood designed this cool eat-in kitchen for a London townhouse 


Photo: Richard Powers; produced by Dominic Bradbury The Shelter Island, NY, bungalow of style gurus Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan

Perhaps you're a big fan of Dennis the Fox? No. Maybe more of a Frederick Michael St. Jude enthusiast, hmm?

You might not know these music acts from days gone by but that doesn't mean their records don't exist. They were the ambitious dreamers and wannabes who, record label be damned, pressed up their own albums in the '60s and '70s. Their records are what collectors call private press, they were released by the musicians themselves in very limited quantites rather than by a functioning long-term record label. Recently, we told you about Enjoy the Experience, Homemade Records 1958-1992, a new coffee table book about private press records covering the amazing homespun and often hilarious artwork for such oddball albums.

This month, if you're swinging through NYC, you can see them for yourself. Co-editor of the book and collector Johan Kugelberg is showing years selections from his collection, many of them featured in the book Enjoy the Experience, at Milk Gallery through July 24. You'd be a fool not to stop in to see an original Kaplan Brothers, wouldn't you? 

Curious to hear the tunes from this rare vinyl collection? You can listen to some samples online.

 

Pitchfork has a longer form interview with Kugelberg in Paper Trail.

 

 

 

Photographer Giasco Bertoli says the image of an empty, but well-worn, tennis court possesses a "kind of eroticism, like the memory of a former lover one still feels for." While he's fascinated by the idea of the courts' histories and what he calls "the ceremonial combat" of an organized competition, his work also highlights the context and placement of the courts whether they be in cities, on rural landscapes, or within small villages. The courts are all in various states of disrepair, and the dilapidated ones in idyllic settings offer the most severe contrast.

Tennis Courts II is available from Nieves. 




A book club worth its salt should turn one onto something one otherwise wouldn't have found. While the volumes posted to the Visual Book Club are limited to a cover and a few images, and the discussions consist simply of likes and reblogs, the Tumblr has the same curatorial spirit. The posts lean heavily toward zines and comics, but every once in a while something like a vintage Kafka paperback makes an appearance. 

Follow Visual Book Club on Tumblr for some new zines in your dashboard.