The original Mad Man
Aug 30, 2010 - by Dave
I have to admit that I was a bit late discovering the tv series Mad Men but after receiving the box set for my birthday I am firmly hooked. The intriguingly flawed, charismatic and amoral characters set it well apart from most of the rubbish that can be found on the 100+ TV channels we get these days.
While browsing in a bookstore recently I was very interested to discover the book that inspired the whole series. The book is "From those wonderful folks who brought you Pearl Harbour" and is written by the great Jerry Della Femina, one of the few surviving Mad Men from the 50s and 60s. Jerry mentions that there aren't many of his contemporaries around and if you've seen the way they drink, smoke, work and live in Mad Men then you won't be too surprised.
Jerry writes about the advertising world he moved in during this golden era, a time when the industry was much more accomodating of the various eccentric and sometimes, deranged characters that were attracted to it. This was still the case in Dublin up until the mid 90s in my opinion but sadly things have tamed down a lot since then.
Some of the anecdotes are unbelievable - the book's bizarre title relates to a headline that Della Femina came up with as an icebreaker during a fraught meeting to discuss Panasonic televisions. Some of the other stories he discusses involve nearly breaking a client's kneecap with a projector during a presentation and practically getting chased from a pitch meeting with potential clients in the hotel industry.
I'm not going to give anymore away but if you have any interest at all in the Advertising industry you really need to check this book out.
Posted in Television, Madmen, Jerry della Femina, creativity, advertising
Surprise Finds
Jul 22, 2010 - by Dawn
Here at Scapegoat Design we frequently have an intern in the studio gaining some insight into the secret world of a Design Studio.
Thanks to one such visiting designer Margarita I added www.ffffound.com to my list of sites of interest to peruse over lunch or to get a bit of design inspiration from. This kind of site is great for little adventures in discovery as I found (excuse the pun). Only on the site a few minutes I spot some interesting Illustrations produced by Charley Harper for Betty Crocker's Dinner for Two from the 1950's .
Wanting to find more work by the Illustrator Charley Harper I find a link to some more recent beautiful screenprints and gauge on art board paintings. Take a look to check out the photo of him in his home studio, "out of chaos come order and beauty".
Blue Jay Breakfast, 1954
Snowy Egret, 1958
From Charley Harper's own site I also came across another Illustrator's work which features here, Eleanor Grosch. I particularly like the below silk screen "Wolf in Sheeps Clothing".
It just shows over a 10 minute web trail you never quite know what you might find.
Posted in Untagged
Irish Innovation Centre
Jul 14, 2010 - by Dave
Scapegoat Design is sponsoring a new initiative - The Irish Innovation Centre and we aim to provide out of the box design solutions initially with many more ideas in the pipeline once The Centre has launched. So what is the IIC all about?
We don't want to give too much away at this stage but we will soon be inviting people to 'come and play'. If you have an idea and you think it can be built in three months, let's give it a go. Collective expertise and networks will get this economy moving again. Who's behind the IIC? An eclectic mix of personalities from many different industries, all of whom are giving their time for free to this project.
IIC will be launching soon and
You will be invited to get involved. In the meantime here's the first draft of the logo posted above. Certain elements may be subject to change but we'd like your feedback. Love it? Hate it? Let us know. The design rationale is creativity, thinking with heart as well as the head, all directions are possible and it's inspired by the wonderful Joan Miro and Cesar Manrique.
Posted in Scapegoat Design, Logo, Irish Innovation Centre, Graphic Design agencies, Graphic Design, design, creativity, branding
If you like illustration...
Jul 13, 2010 - by Dave
...then you really should check out
Scamp, an Irish illustration blog. It seems to feature plenty of guys from the
Illustrators Ireland website and they always showcase loads of interesting work as well as plenty of links to interesting and thought provoking art from around the world.
Definitely a great way to spend a lunch break!
(Image copyright of Illustrators Guild of Ireland).
Posted in Illustrator, Illustration, Graphic Design, creativity, artist, Art
It's all in the Tone
Jun 23, 2010 - by Dawn
For all you type lovers out there I'd recommend a look through the site Village. You'll find an eclectic mix of type design along with traditional design. The style of the site is a little more casual than the norm. Visiting this site I feel like a child in a candy shop, there's an option to grab and move panels around the screen on the homepage.
And if you're a real nerd (nerds are cool these days, it's ok) you could even buy yourself a bag screen printed with metallic silver and fluorescent orange.
Who wouldn't be inspired!
If I had to pick a favourite, today it would be Stag Stencil.
Stag Stencil Bold was commissioned for Esquire Magazine, and Light was commissioned by Formula One. Both clients required a masculine font with obvious constructed elements.
But with this selection available my favourite is liable to change.
Posted in Village, Typography, New Font Collections, Graphic Design, Contemporary Type
