Design: Jaguar Magazine

There’s not a lot to be told about Jaguar – The Magazine for the Male Animal. Created after the success of Playboy, Jaguar was one of hundreds of magazines taking advantage of the new sexual freedom of the 60′s. What makes Jaguar interesting is that it had some pretty good authors writing for it, Truman Capote, Edward Albee, John Barth, et al. I doubt they were writing exclusively for Jaguar, probably they sent their stories to a number of publishers and they found their way into Jaguar but they’re there none the less. The other interesting thing is that it had possibly the dopeiest mascot, logo, spokes-animal in the history of men’s mags (or any mag for that matter) - Jaguar Bond Secret Agent 0069 from O.R.G.I.E. Nicely drawn at first, he got progressively weirder as the years went on – the 70′s in particular. It looks like Jaguar lasted into the mid-seventies but I don’t really know. I can’t see it going much further, as things started getting a bit more hard-core and though racy, I don’t see Jaguar Bond making it into the new era of Penthouse and Hustler – and we’re all better for that.

1964 First Issue – The Magazine for the Male Animal

1966 – Secret Agent 0069 – The Man From O.R.G.I.E.

1967 – Smooth Skin & Soft Fur

1967 – Tight, Twitching and Tender

1967 – The Girl With the Big Pink Pussycat

1967 – How to Organize a Pussycat Posse

1968 – Girls Who Swing in All Directions

1969 – Love-In, Greek Style

1970 – The Girl with the Big Pink Persuaders

1970 – A Little Hot Sherry

1971 – Stuck Deep in a Hot Wet Hole

Design: Frank Kozik

From Franks web-site:    Frank Kozik was born in Madrid, Spain in 1962 . At the age of 14 he moved to the United States and settled in Austin, Texas. Credited with single handedly reviving the “lost” art of the concert poster, his creative career rose largely out of his enthusiasm for Austin’s growing underground punk rock scene in the mid-eighties. Starting with black and white flyers for friends’ bands posted on telephone poles, his reputation grew as an artist whose work was graphically compelling as well as culturally gripping.

Kozik is based in San Francisco, California, where he produces artwork, toys and graphic design. He formerly managed his own record label, Man’s Ruin Records (1995-2001). Under which, he released over 220 singles and full length albums including the first Queens of the Stone Age single.

He has produced artwork for a diverse range of musicians such as Pearl Jam, the Butthole Surfers, Green Day, Neil Young, Sonic Youth,  the Melvins and many more.  In 1996, he  directed Soundgarden’s “Pretty Noose” music video.

Kozik’s commercial clients include Nike, Gatorade, Absolute Vodka, Oakley, Harley Davidson, and Spike TV. In 2001 Kozik left the music business and devoted himself full time to fine art and the newly emerging Vinyl Art Toy movement. Since 2001 he has designed over 300 separate toys and art multiples.

Teaming up with such entities as Kid Robot, Toy2R and others, he has created many collectible characters such as the Smorkin’ Labbit series, the Hate Dunny and Dr. Bomb. He is also known for producing hand painted, one of a kind custom toys and Kaiju figures.

In 2007, he started his own brand, Ultraviolence™, under which he produces limited edition art toys and bronze sculptures.

Concert Posters

Beastie Boys in Houston TX

Nirvana in TX

Surgery in Zurich

Butthole Surfers in Houston

Sonic Youth, Hole & Beck – Lollapalooza ’95

Gallery Posters

Trust – CBGB’s Gallery  New York City

In Mournful Remembrance – Tin Man Alley Gallery, New Hope PA.

The Rabbit Works – London

Sculpture – Toys

Smorkin Labbit – Bondage version

Ludwig Van – Clockwork Orange version

Dead Che

Ho Chi Minh – Neon

Kozik Sells Out – In a good way

Puma

Nike Dunks

ipod – iphone cover

Absolut Vodka

Design: Japanese Manhole Covers

Manhole covers? I know what you’re thinking – what could possibly be special about a manhole covers? Well, have a look. These are beautifully designed pieces of art, each unique to the specific city or town. 95% of Japan’s 1,780 municipalities have specially designed  covers totally well over 6000 different designs. All the covers are forged in one foundry, (the Nagashima Foundry in Osaka) from carved master plates that have all been preserved in a central library. As there are so many, it has become a bit of a hobby for some to photograph as many as possible. The photos here are from the collection of S. Morita.

Yakage Okayama

Onomichi City

Kinosaki Town

Hikigawa Wakayama

Kanaya Town

Osaka City

Kawabe Town

Yamatokoriyama Nara

Yasuura

Kuwana Mie

Izumisno City

Fujiyoshida,Yamanashi

Izumi Osaka

Takamatsu Kagawa

The Art of Packaging: Vespa Around the World

Vespa – Italian for wasp. Developed in Italy in 1946, the Vespa took a few years to take off, but by 1950 it took off like a rocket selling over 60,000 scooters in Italy alone. With the 1952 movie Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck touring Rome on Vespas, sale went through the roof. By the mid-1950s, Vespas were being manufactured  in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Spain; in the 1960s, production was started in India, Brazil and Indonesia. The scooter design is iconic, and the advertising is equally unique. Beautifully designed ads and posters highlighted Vespas sleek styling and humorous outlook (an elephant on a scooter). It was the vehicle for the everyman – affordable, stylish, easy to drive and just plain cool-as-hell.

1949 – Italy

1949 – France

1950 – Italy

1953 – Italy

1954 – Denmark

1954 – France

1955 – Italy

1960 – Kenya

1961 – Italy

1962 – Italy

1965 – Thailand

1969-71 – Italy

1970 – Italy

1972 – Italy

1982 – Italy

 

Design: Hitchcock Movie Posters

By the look of some of these posters Alfred Hitchcock importance in advertising his films was sometimes greater then the stars and often the film itself. As his fame grew so did his name on the poster. The poster for the 1948 film Rope finds his name at the top of the poster in bright red and yellow type, The Birds sees his name at least 4 times bigger then all the stars put together. Not only did he appear in a brief cameos in most of his films, he also appears on his posters promoting the film in one way or another, (even the trailer for Psycho is  Hitchcock giving a tour of the murder scenes). These posters are mostly foreign versions which are much more colorful then their US counterparts. I didn’t include the famous Saul Bass design of 1958′s Vertigo, as the Belgiun version, though a terrible design, is a hilarious and cool poster.

North By Northwest - 1959 Spanish

Notorious - 1946 Argentina

Nototious - 1946 Spanish

The Birds - 1963 Italy

The Birds - 1963 USA

Shadow of a Doubt - 1943 Belgium

Vertigo - 1958 Belgium

The Trouble With Harry - 1955 Italy (this is not a zombie movie)

To Catch a Thief - 1955 USA

Spellbound - 1945 USA

Rear Window - 1954 Italy

Rope - 1948 USA

Psycho - 1960 USA

Graphic Design: Soviet Space Posters

I don’t know the exact years for these posters – I would imagine early 1950′s all the way to late 1960′s. As you may know, there was a huge race between the US and Russia to see who would get into outer space first. Russia won with the first rocket to hold a living animal (a dog) in 1951 and also the first unmanned orbit of Earth in 1955. The competion was hot, and a lot of time and money was spent to make the citizens of each country aware of the importance of the space program. The Soviets printed these posters, some pure propaganda, some simply informative – all extremely heroic, to boost their program. They are all extremely cool, beautifully designed and printed with great illustrations, vivid colors and interesting type usage.