Archive13

Graphic designer/video artist Pouya Ahmadi's poster for the Experimental Film Society, in-house design. All photographs: Chicago Design Archive.

The Society of Typographic Arts (STA) recently announced winners of its Archive13 competition, which recognizes achievements in Chicago graphic design. An exhibition of the entries is on display through October at the Harrington College of Design Gallery. "Once again this year, the overall quality of the entries was exceptional," said Bob Zeni, chair of Archive13. "The selections represent the very best of Chicago design." The competition is co-sponsored by the STA and the American Institute of Graphic Arts Chicago (AIGA). Design students to established firms submitted entries. This year's judging panel included Jamie Koval of VSA Partners, Marian Bantjes, Jon Forss of Non-Format, Michael Freimuth of Franklyn, and Kim Knoll of Knoed. All selected works will become part of the Chicago Design Archive, a permanent collection of innovative design pieces from the last 80 years.  

Every quarter, members of Leo Burnett's Global Product Committee--known around the agency as GPC--gather for a review of creative work from offices around the world. In August, 2012, the committee met in Chicago. Burnett's Chicago office created this book to welcome GPC delegates to the city. Alisa Wolfson directed the design for Burnett. 

Another design directed by Wolfson for Burnett, Apples +. The cookbook is decorated throughout with the Red Delicious apples that have come to symbolize the agency. On the day Burnett opened, August 5, 1935, a bowl of apples was put out for clients and to "brighten up the place."

Jeremiah Chiu (creative director/art director/designer), Renata Graw (art director) and Alexa Viscius (designer) from the Plural studio created the Archive 12 identity program for the STA. It showcases typography and design through a system of overlapping type, highlighting the numbers 1 and 2. Several typefaces are utilized, each having a significant relationship to Chicago design over the last century. The campaign included art direction, design, layout, and identity for all marketing/advertising collateral--posters, catalog and website.

On view at the Harrington College of Design Gallery, 200 W. Madison Street, Chicago.

Tracey Mallett

All photographs courtesy Tracey Mallett.

Fitness and wellness expert Tracey Mallett started dancing at age 4 and was later accepted at The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Britain's oldest theatre arts training school. After completing her studies, she began her dance career in ballet and jazz across Europe before moving to the U.S. in 1996. "A former professional dancer, I was introduced to dance conditioning which was basically Pilates," says Tracey. "I was hooked from that day onwards, so off I went to take my Exercise to Music certification to teach aerobics. This led into group exercise, I felt it was a natural progression of educating people to be healthy. I've been in the fitness and Pilates industries for over 20 years."

She teaches barre workouts from her Los Angeles-based studio (ATP Specific Training), combining disciplines--Pilates, calisthenics, yoga, ballet, and other dance forms. "There are a lot of high-impact workouts on the market. I wanted to create a low-impact program that was safe, effective and could be done for life. My workout, the Booty Barre, is based on two of my passions: Pilates and dance. While it's dance-based, you don't have to be a dancer to do it. It may be called the Booty Barre, but it really is a total body workout, everything you need in order to be fit: cardiovascular, flexibility and toning components. The program targets the abdominals--if your center is strong, the rest of your body will be strong." Based on high reps and light resistance counterbalanced with flexibility movements, her workouts appear regularly in publications including Prevention, Fitness and Shape and she runs instructor certification programs across the nation. Her classes are now in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and Ireland.

Her daily routine includes interval and weight training, Pilates, dance, Booty Barre, and a 25 minute run. "I always like to mix it up. You don't need any fancy equipment to get a fabulous body. All you need is your own body weight for resistance, some dumbbells and good workout tunes. You have to make exercise a priority and stick with it." For class locations, DVDs and instructor certification information visit Tracey's website.

Art & Place

Photograph courtesy Phaidon Press.

   "Art made for a specific place can be the most spectacular and uplifting art and artists of the Americas have                    provided us with some of the most outstanding examples," says Amanda Renshaw, lead editor of                Art & Place: Site-Specific Art of the Americas. "Art sites have become increasingly popular destinations. I've    had the chance to visit many sites, but quickly realized that it is impossible to visit them all. The format of         Art & Place aims to bring some of the most extraordinary examples to life and enable most of us to visit these amazing places from home."

An overview of site-specific art across North, Central and South America, Art & Place offers an in-depth look at over 500 artworks in 15 countries, from the Queen Charlotte Islands off the west coast of Canada to Santa Cruz in Argentina--cave paintings to art of the present day. The works are installed in interiors, urban environments, deserts, and mountainous settings. In addition to earthworks and land art, art forms include paintings, carvings, murals, frescoes, mosaics, altarpieces, sculpture, stained glass, and tapestries.

     Some of the sites are instantly recognizable--Easter Island's moai--and others, such as Watts Towers in         Los Angeles, are tourist destinations. Several require prearranged tours (the Rothko Chapel in Houston and     Walter De Maria's Lightening Field in New Mexico) or are difficult to access (Peru's Andes and distant corners of British Columbia). Art & Place is arranged geographically, which creates unusual juxtapositions and comparisons because of the many different types of works, a variety of styles and movements are covered. 

Art & Place: Site-Specific Art of the Americas, book release is on November 1st, available in bookstores, on the Phaidon Press website. 

American Toile

Brooklyn Toile by Flavor Paper, design by Mike Diamond, Vincent Ficarra and Adela Qersaqi, nolar and canvas vinyl wallpaper, 2012. Photograph courtesy of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 

Toile patterned fabrics have been used since the mid-18th century in Britain and France for furnishings and clothing. Today's American designers are retooling this classic, reinventing the traditional pastoral scenery with contemporary interpretations. 

"One of the newest trends in American toile is commemorating a town or city with images of its prominent buildings and bridges, either on fabric or wallpaper ... or both," author Michele Palmer writes in American Toile: Four Centuries of Sensational Scenic Fabrics and Wallpaper. "Homage has been paid to many American cities, but none more so than New York, with over a dozen patterns currently available."

Mike Diamond of the Beastie Boys designed a Brooklyn-themed toile wallpaper (above) for his Cobble Hill brownstone, in collaboration with Vincent Ficarra and Adela Qersaqi of Revolver New York, a boutique design collective. Flavor Paper produced the design as a digitally printed wallpaper--Brooklyn Toile. The vision was to pay tribute to all things Brooklyn in a way that would appear to be a traditional French country toile when viewed from afar, but stepping to the pattern reveals elements and vignettes about Brooklyn: Coney Island, the Bridge, graffiti, and subway cars. 

Toile de Alison by Flat Vernacular, paper, designed by Payton Cosell Turner. Photograph courtesy of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 

For her restaurant, Alison Eighteen (a Flatiron spot), Alison Price Becker commissioned a custom biographical toile from designers Payton Cosell Turner and Brian Kaspr of Flat Vernacular, a Brooklyn-based company that specializes in original silk-screened wallpaper created from Turner's sketches. The result is a toile print of scenes of New York, Price Becker herself, people hanging out, and markets. 

The Battle of Buena Vista 1847 by F. Schumacher & Co., glazed cotton, 1952, reproduction of an 1848 print. Photograph courtesy of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 

American Toile is a textile story and an essential reference for those seeking an introduction to the subject. Palmer, an independent fabric and fabric art curator, revisits four centuries of toile in the United States, from the 18th- to the 21st-century, observing its evolution into a figurative storytelling medium that depicts the people, events, landmarks, and everyday objects of America. This book examines toile in its many themes and topics: Colonists, the Early Republic, Civil War, country and city life, maritime and leisure activities, and the West. 

"Of all American toile patterns, Western themes have been among the most enduring," writes Palmer. "We never seem to tire of cowboys and cactus and the spirit of rugged individualism they represent. While still producing images of cowboys and their horses, fabric manufacturers have also created a new series of 'happy trails,' where the steeds have turned into cars and the cowboys into tourists." A historical introduction, identification guide and a resource section include antique, vintage, reproduction, and contemporary toile patterns. Illustrated fabrics are drawn from company and museum collections. 

Shore Leave by Flavor Paper, designed by Emily Minnie. Photograph courtesy of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 

Owner Jon Sherman runs Flavor Paper, a producer of screen-printed wallpaper, from the company's Cobble Hill base (the Flavor Lab). His artisanal paper incorporates bold color into geometric, traditional, funky, and floral patterns. The Shore Leave toile, designed by Emily Minnie, blends sailors' pin-up girl tattoo art from the 1950s with nautical symbols to create an overall scallop pattern. "I've never been a 'white wall' kind of guy," says Sherman. 

Spring Fever Toile by Lilly Pulitzer, cotton, 2012. Photograph courtesy of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 

Lilly Pulitzer starts each season with a bright palette and theme, developing prints and patterns that draw inspiration from Palm Beach, museums and gardens. Designers sketch, block print and watercolor the entire line. Spring Fever Toile is from their Spring 2012 collection, a jade green pattern with pink accents used for skirts, dresses and shorts. The look is colorful and tends to be preppy. 

California Postcard Toile by Hoffman California Fabrics, cotton, 2008. Photograph courtesy of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 

This print features vignettes of California destinations in postcard-style images. California Postcard Toile is from the Tropicals and Conversationals collection by Hoffman California Fabrics in Mission Viejo. These are tropical-themed and novelty screen-printed fabrics, often made into resort wear, sundresses, sarongs, board shorts, and camp shirts. Fun prints, many by accomplished artists. 

Toile, the 18th-century classic, is having a contemporary revival. 

American Toile: Four Centuries of Sensational Scenic Fabrics and Wallpaper by Michele Palmer, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.