print

Print Art and Revolution in Mexico. “Although Mexico’s contribution to social-movement murals is well documented, much less is known about Mexico’s activist graphic arts history.... Deborah Caplow’s excellent book goes a long way toward informing us about the explosive combination of art, artists, politics, and printmaking in Mexico during the mid-1900s.” Radical librarian Lincoln Cushing reviews Leopoldo Méndez: Revolutionary Art and the Mexican Print.

Méndez was a founder and leader of the Taller de Gráfica Popular.
Mendez Snake

28 June 2008 | LINK | Filed in mexico, posters, print

Editorial infographics. A Flickr set of information graphics created by Karl Gude, “sometimes in collaboration with staff, while Graphics Director at Newsweek, the Associated Press and The New York Daily News.”

Seeing them all together really calls out the collage of visualization techniques: photo montage, 3D computer rendering, painted and vector illustration, maps, all mixed in with charts, graphs and typography.

28 May 2008 | LINK | Filed in information design, mapping, print

Making Policy Public: Call for Designers

Social Security Risk Machine The Center for Urban Pedagogy sends along this open call for designers for its series of borchure-and-poster visual briefs on vital issues in US policy. Their text:

“Making Policy Public, CUP’s new collaborative series of publications, uses innovative graphic design to explore and explain public policy. Our distinguished jury has selected advocates’ proposals for the next issues of Making Policy Public. We are now seeking designers to collaborate with these advocates to illuminate the issues. Designers chosen through the juried submission process will receive full attribution for their work, an honorarium of $1000, and publicity through CUP.”

See the four policy briefs for 2008, as well as previous briefs on The Cargo Chain and The Social Security Risk Machine.

Expressions of interest and a limited portfolio are due Monday, June 16.

For submission guidelines and more about the project, visit the Making Policy Public website: http://www.makingpolicypublic.net

27 May 2008 | LINK | Filed in information design, posters, print, publishing

An Introduction to Information Design

Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design is a booklet I wrote and designed to introduce advocacy organizations to basic principles and techniques of information design. It’s full of examples of interesting design from groups around the world in a variety of media and forms. It has tips, excercises, and even recommended Free Software packages to help polish up your graphics.

I worked with the Tacitcal Tech collective who provided editorial feedback and helped track down reproduction rights for the images. They’re also coordinating printing and distribution to NGOs. The project was funded by the OSI Information Program. The booklet is Creative Commons licensed.

Download the full booklet at http://backspace.com/infodesign.pdf

15 February 2008 | LINK | Filed in information design, mapping, print, self

Shoots & Leaves

While one may be tempted to use all manner of exclamatory marks to further amplify the message of one's posters, proper punctuation almost always enhances clarity. Consider the difference in the following:

No War on Iran!

Versus

No! War on Iran!

Or even

No! War! On Iran!

13 October 2007 | LINK | Filed in print, war

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