Design: Whirled

Or, when newspaper and book cover design ruled.

Graphic designer Raymond Hawkey, who revolutionized graphic design through his innovative, and imitated, design of newspapers and book covers, has died at age 80. Let’s resist the urge to describe him in Mad Men terms. Seems we now want to do that with anyone who worked in the field of design in the second half of the 20th century. Instead, see how he changed the look of design via his approach to book cover design for Len Deighton and Ian Fleming, for starters.

Raymond Hawkey with Eero Saarinen furniture from 1956. Photograph: ©TopFoto

Thanks to The Paper Mill Store for featuring my work on their Graphic Design Showcase. They chose to spotlight the Design Planner I designed for Trilogy Pools.

Love the enduring individuality of Betsey! As a college student and budding artwear designer, she was among my favorite, and most inspiring, designers. I still have some of the Alley Cat pieces I scored at the time. Her work was always fun, brave and energetic, and even though I’ve all but retired my sewing machine and migrated to graphic design, I’m still inspired.

Girl just wants to have fun, and I hope I’m having this much fun at 68, and beyond. Brava!

Betsey Johnson

http://www.colourlovers.com/fashion/blog/2010/08/16/betsey-johnsons-colorful-career

Wish I were walking in the door of the American Folk Art museum today. The current exhibit, Women Only: Folk Art by Female Hands, looks wonderful. When looking back at the naive, outsider art of untrained creative women I’m always pleased to see that needlework is considered Art. It seems to be marginalized now, set aside in the stepchild category of “craft” and looked down upon as a lesser means of expression. Beauty of color, design, and execution come in many forms.

Woman in Veil