Here are highlights from my other projects besides design and photography. Since I moved to Berlin in 2006, many of these projects have involved writing. Because I spend so much time looking at art, I've been writing, both informally and for publications, to respond in more depth to the work I see and share my thoughts with friends and colleagues far away. For the same reason, I sometimes do translations of German texts on culture and design into English.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
July 2008
In June, I made a research trip to Holland to visit a design festival, some art schools and several designer- and artist-friends. My report on the design festival appeared July 30 in PingMag.jp.
As a sketchbook for a project-in-progress by my friend Sara Bouchard and me, I have set up the blog Urban Plant Research.
I have also started posting my photographic notes on Flickr.
Like many other artists, I'm finding that Flickr is a useful place for sharing pictures I take for other reasons than to make art - as documentation of interesting projects I see, as notes about visual ideas I'd like to investigate further, and simply as a record of experiences I want to share with friends and family - just like "non-photographers" do with their photos.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
June 2008
It's that time again: a new issue of kindred designer Anke Wulffen's artistic-botanical-Wunderkammer-magazine Balkon & Garten is born. I'm really into this issue's minty-leafy green color and the letterforms forming rainclouds in celebration of the issue theme "Sommerregen" (Summer rain). Page through to see a photo from me and other pretty things.
(Once you're on the magazine's site, click and drag the bottom right-hand corner of the little virtual magazine to browse the contents.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
April 2008
English supplement to Bei Durchreise Ankunft exhibition catalog
In Febuary, I was in a group photo show about Berlin and since the catalog was only available German, I've written and designed an English supplement for English-speakers who'd like to read more about the exhibition.
The seven-page supplement is available as a free PDF (37kb). If you want a hard copy to tuck in your copy of the catalog, you can print it out and trim to the crop marks, and bind with a staple or as you wish. The dimensions and the design will fit with the catalog.
I also have a couple catalogs left (12 Eur + shipping); if you'd like to order one, just email me.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
April 2008
Anke Wulffen published a photo from me in her wonderful art/design magazine celebrating all things plant/garden/balcony-ish, Balkon & Garten. Click to browse the current issue.
(Once you're on the magazine's site, click and drag the bottom right-hand corner of the little virtual magazine to browse the contents.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
March 2008
Type translations: Superla, Minimala, Publicala
I was honored to be asked by type design great Karl-Heinz Lange to translate the type specimens for his upcoming typeface releases into English. Superla, Minimala and Publicala will be long-awaited revivals of some of his best designs for VEB Typoart (see item below). They are being reworked by Herr Lange and Ole Schäfer and will be released soon by Schäfer's Primetype.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
October 5, 2007
Article for Pingmag
VEB Typoart: The East German Type Betriebsstätte
East German packaging design (photo by Typoart Freunde) and children's books.
What happens to the visual language of a country when it suddenly ceases to officially exist? The products and furniture designed in East Germany were discarded in heaps just after the Wall fell, but rebounded in the retro-wave dubbed Ostalgie (Ost: east; Nostalgie: nostalgia). East German typography has yet to enjoy such a comeback, particularly because of copyright disputes. I talked to several designers who are working to change this: Typoart Friends who published a new book on the East German type foundry VEB Typoart, and veteran type designer Karl-Heinz Lange who is preparing to relaunch three of his Typoart designs.
Installations by Leo Fitzmaurice, photos courtesy the artist. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
April 4, 2007
Article for Pingmag
Leo Fitzmaurice: temporary art interventions
Leo Fitzmaurice is a British artist who remixes discarded advertising materials - the work of unidentified graphic designers - in sculptural works in the gallery and in the street. The work he presented at Berlin's General Public articulated clearly questions about public space, graphic overload, street art that are often on my mind. Surprisingly, he told me his work had never been covered by the design press, though it is relatively well-known in the art world. So I decided to pitch a story to Tokyo's Pingmag, known for its coverage of design and process.
