Video Time Trip #01: Ghostbusters (UK VHS Rental Tape, 1985)

Video Time Trip #01: Ghostbusters

Do you remember the days of rushing home from the local video store clutching that tape you're been waiting weeks for? The simple pleasure of Friday nights circled around the TV as you settle into this weeks rental choice? Welcome to the first episode of Video Time Trip, a series that explores the vintage movie…
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The Art Deco Poster

The Art Deco Poster

Posters by their very nature are ephemeral: crookedly plastered on a roadside billboard, tacked to the back of a tabac, they lasted a few weeks until advertisers issued another imaginative argument for soap or an ocean voyage. While few contemporary observers understood the richness of their design or appreciated the ingenuity of their unsung creators,…
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Art Nouveau Poster

The Art Nouveau Poster

The Art Nouveau Poster is the most comprehensive survey to date of this vivid and much loved subject featuring over 400 illustrations. In July 1881, bill-posting became legal in Paris. The result was an explosion of creativity over three glorious decades recognised as the golden age of poster advertising, stirring together elements of new printing…
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Innocence & Seduction: Art of Dan DeCarlo Book Review

Innocence & Seduction: Art of Dan DeCarlo

This book presents a fitting tribute to the life and art of one of the world's all-time best cartoonists in a wide-ranging career retrospective. Lavishly designed with over 300 illustrations, the volume includes rare World War II-era cartoons, original Humorama pinups, seldom-seen newspaper strips, examples of his justly famous commercial comics work, and of course,…
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James Jean: Rebus Book Review

James Jean: Rebus

This 256pp monograph is the definitive look at accalimed artist James Jean's career thus far. Lovingly designed by Jean himself, this monumental book showcases new work as well as important creative milestones- from the eerie dreamscapes of his oil paintings to the elaborate installations and animations he created for Prada in 2008, to his gorgeous…
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The Art of Sean Phillips book review

The Art of Sean Phillips

The Art of Sean Phillips is a lavish, career-spanning retrospective of the acclaimed artist behind Criminal, Sleeper, Incognito, and Fatale. Sean has personally selected the very best, most interesting examples of his art for inclusion, from comic strips assembled with childhood friends in his bedroom, through his work for British girls' comics and 2000AD, to…
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The Art of Alice and Martin Provensen book review

The Art of Alice and Martin Provensen

The Art of Alice and Martin Provensen is the first-ever monograph on this beloved midcentury husband-and-wife illustration team. This award-winning pair created more than 40 beloved children's books over the span of seven decades, many of which appeared on the New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year lists. From early favorites for Golden…
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Tech Noir: The Art of James Cameron Review

Tech Noir: The Art of James Cameron

Explore the creative evolution of James Cameron through this exclusive journey into his personal art archives, showcasing a range of rare and never-before-seen works from the acclaimed director's private collection. James Cameron has blazed a trail through the cinematic landscape with a series of groundbreaking films that have each become deeply embedded in the popular…
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René Gruau: Master of Fashion Illustration Hardcover

René Gruau: Master of Fashion Illustration

The quintessential fashion illustrator and creative inspiration for generations to come. Press Release: Before photography became the primary medium for marketing fashion, there was Rene Gruau with his pens, brushes, watercolors, and inks. Beginning in 1940 when he helped create the Miss Dior campaign, and for more than two decades, Gruau was at the forefront…
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Look of the Book: Jackets, Covers, and Art at the Edges of Literature

The Look of the Book

Jackets, Covers and Art at the Edges of Literature. Press Release: Why do some book covers instantly grab your attention, while others never get a second glance? Fusing word and image, as well as design thinking and literary criticism, this captivating investigation goes behind the scenes of the cover design process to answer this question…
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The Art of Malika Favre - Book

The Art of Malika Favre

The art of Malika Favre combines masterfully simple vector shapes with bold colours and geometry to create stunning commercial illustration. Press Release: Malika Favre is one of the world's most celebrated illustrators, known for her stunningly simple work, often utilising a handful of perfectly refined vector shapes to convey her subject matter. Whether working as…
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Mid-Century Ads – Advertising from the Mad Men Era Taschen

Advertising from the Mad Men Era

"Advertising has gone from something that reflects popular culture to becoming a part of popular culture, from something that's influenced by popular entertainment to being popular entertainment." - Jimmy Siegel. If, like the rest of the television viewing public you've been seduced by the sexy and sophisticated world presented in the excellent HBO series Mad…
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andrew-loomis-famous artists book

Successful Drawing by Andrew Loomis

Born in New York in 1892, Andrew Loomis was a prolific illustrator working at his peak during the period of 1920 to the late 1940's. His popular work consisted of elegant illustrations - typically of fashionable young women in serene settings - for commercial advertising, books and mass-market magazines. He was also a highly respected…
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Mirages: the Art of Laurent Durieux

Mirages – The Art of Laurent Durieux

Mirages - The Art of Laurent Durieux Press Release: Laurent Durieux is a famous Belgian illustrator who is well known by pop culture fans and collectors for his cult movie poster reinterpretations. Every one of his American exhibitions was sold out on opening night and attended by thousands of enthusiastic fans. This book will be…
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House Industries Lettering Manual by Ken Barber

House Industries Lettering Manual by Ken Barber

House Industries Lettering Manual by Ken Barber Press Release: Learn the history and techniques of hand lettering from a renowned design studio. This practical and visual guide features exercises, case studies and typographic models for letter styles such as serif, sans serif, brush and script. Known throughout the world for its eclectic typeface collections and…
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Austin Briggs - The Consummate Illustrator_01

Austin Briggs: The Consummate Illustrator

Austin Briggs: The Consummate Illustrator by David Apatoff and Manuel Auad Press Release: Auad publishing is proud to announce the latest in our long line of Famous American Magazine Illustrator books: Austin Briggs: The Consummate Illustrator. Matching the others in the series, this handsome book is a 9"x12" hardcover with dust jacket and features 160…
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The Art of Tiki by Sven Kirsten and Otto von Stroheim

The Art of Tiki by Sven Kirsten

The Art of Tiki by Sven Kirsten and Otto von Stroheim Press Release: The Art of Tiki is a passionate study of the Tiki idol as an art form. For the first time, contemporary Tiki art is united and presented equally with what inspired it, original mid-century Polynesian pop. Author Sven Kirsten combines his first-hand…
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Vintage Graphic Design by Louise Filli and Steven Heller

Vintage Graphic Design

Vintage Graphic Design: Type, Typography, Monograms & Decorative Design from the Late 19th & Early 20th Centuries Press Release: Any type user and enthusiast will doubtless derive joy from the letters and ornaments in Vintage Graphic Design, gathered from the rare and forgotten sources that authors Steven Heller and Louise Fili have collected over the…
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Wrappers Delight by Jonny Trunk

Wrappers Delight by Jonny Trunk

Cigarettes for Kids! Jarvis Cocker introduces this nostalgic trip to sweetshops of old where you can find The A-Team Bubble Gum, The Beatles Sweet Cigarettes (cigarettes for kids!) and Space Raiders competing for your 10p pocket money. An obsessive collection discovered by Jonny Trunk and lovingly presented here with over 500 examples, this is a…
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The Pop Culture Art of Jason Edmiston

Jason Edmiston is an artist who understands the fun of Friday night horror films and the pop culture art that surrounds it. Whether he's painting a portrait of the Bride of Frankenstein, posters for the films of John Carpenter, packaging for He-Man figures or prints of Khaleesi's Dragon Babies, his work wears the badge of fandom…
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Custom Lettering of the 1920s and 30s

Press Release: Custom Lettering of the 20s and 30s is a celebration of the stunning and stylistically varied headline lettering that existed before the advent of phototypesetting or the computer. This unique publication collects over 4500 examples of custom lettering from the heyday of Art Deco and the experimental modernity of the Futurists - from…
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The ABC of Custom Lettering by Ivan Castro

Ivan Castro offers the perfect guide for teaching yourself how to create those cool hand-drawn scripts. In The ABC of Custom Lettering, Ivan Castro has provided students with the definitive textbook on drawing their own letters. Doing for graphic writing what Andrew Loomis did for illustration with his renowned series, this is the perfect for…
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Death and the Eternal Forever by Ron English

The twisted tale of Ron English and the futile attempt to cheat death. Mix Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald with classical surrealists such as Dali, Magritte and Picasso and you’re close the candy-coloured vision of hell as depicted in Death and the Eternal Forever by Ron English. A study of the belief that all art is the futile…
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The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Stunning concept drawings, character designs and unused ideas reveal the epic production design of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Now that The Force Awakens has been out for a few weeks I feel safe in my judgement, away from all the hype and hyperbole, to declare that it’s actually pretty good. It's by no means…
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Graphic de la Rue: The Signs of Paris

Inspirational Lettering from the World’s Most Romantic City. From the Art Nouveau entrance of the Paris Metro to the evocative neon lettering of the Moulin Rouge, Louise Fili’s new book Graphic de la Rue: The Signs of Paris does for the city of romance what her previous book Grafica della Strada did for Italian style. Captured…
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The Hidden Art of Disney’s Golden Age: The 1930s

Concept Sketches from Four Pioneers of Disney's Golden Age In researching the Disney Animation Studio Library, author Dider Ghez uncovers previously unseen concept drawings and sketches from four pioneering artists of the 1930s; Albert Hunter, Ferdinand Horvarth, Gustav Tenggren, and Bianca Majolica. Including concept artwork from The Old Mill and many other early Disney shorts, They Drew as…
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Maly Siri’s Pin-Up Art

Maly Siri take's you on a tour of the good and bad girls of classic Hollywood.  Maly Sari is a French pin-up artist who’s work i’ve been following for while, ever since I was introduced to to her stunning portraits of the vintage screen icons Hedy Lamarr, Bette Davis and Greta Garbo. We both clearly…
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The Art of Disney’s Inside Out

A picture-book behind-the-scenes look at Disney's latest feature, Inside Out. In a commercially brave move away from the fairy tale world of Frozen, Disney and Pixar have explored the unusually abstract concept of the human mind for their latest film Inside Out - the story of a 12-year-old girl named Riley and the emotions that live inside…
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Out of Line: The Art of Jules Feiffer

Playboy cartoonist, political satirist, screenwriter and children's book author - this is the amazing art of Jules Feiffer. While his art style might not have been immediately attractive to me, i’m glad to have read Out of Line: The Art of Jules Feiffer, because it's introduced me to an artist and writer that I found extremely…
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The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

With a brilliant cast of characters boasting furry pants and spring-action waists, The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe reveals fond memories with every page. With a finger running over a double-page spread which displays packaging illustrations for those great, now vintage He-Man action figures, I could have been heard counting to myself, “Had that one, had that one…oh yeah, my brother had…
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Masterworks from the Golden Age of Illustration

A stunning collection of work that celebrates America's golden age of illustration. Daniel Zimmer, editor and publisher of Illustration Magazine, takes advantage of a vast image archive for The Golden Age: Masterworks from the Golden Age of Illustration. A celebration of the period between 1880 and 1920 where illustration dominated American entertainment, and it's artists enjoyed fame, wealth and demand. Featuring full-page…
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Tiki Pop

How Tiki Became An American Dream Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Quai Branly museum in Paris, Sven A. Kirsten's Tiki Pop traces the history of America's most colorful cultural trend - a manufactured Polynesian paradise of hula girls, rum cocktails and the leisurely sounds of steel guitar. So seductive was its influence on the American…
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Herman Schultheis and the The lost Notebook

Herman Schultheis and the The lost Notebook Reading through The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis and the Secrets of Walt Disney's Movie Magic, John Canemaker paints a picture of a rather curious man. A self-aggrandizing and maybe even delusional character, Schultheis was undoubtably enthusiastic and keen to get involved with the burgeoning film industry of the 1930s. Through countless…
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All-American Ads of the 40s

With All-American Ads of the 40s, TASCHEN Books continues their tradition of packaging together essential examples of vintage advertising ephemera, this time focusing on a period both gripped by World War II and the subsequent wave of consumerism.

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Kiddie Cocktails and the Art of Derek Yaniger

A fun collection of soda pop recipes featuring the cool retro art of Derek Yaniger. If you're the type of person that likes nothing more of an evening than to fix yourself a drink at your novelty cruise ship-shaped bar, kick back and drift away to the tropical sounds of Arthur Lyman (in hi-fi stereo no less) then…
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Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy

From the surprisingly violent opening sequence of A New Hope, to the early concept designs of now familiar characters, there's an uncanny feeling attached to viewing these storyboards. It's the original Star Wars trilogy that we all know and love, but with countless subtle differences that effectively describe an ongoing filmmaking process. What appears to be…
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TASCHEN 365: A Year In Pictures

To peruse my bookshelf is to witness the dominance of one particular publisher, TASCHEN. Their continued brilliance in presenting both high and low culture ephemera via beautiful coffee table books makes them my go-to source for that ever-essential creative inspiration.

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Magic 1400s – 1950s

Of the many pleasures in running a design studio and writing these book reviews are the wonderful treats that often come through our doors. The best of these offer visual delights and fuel for our imaginations. A highlight of 2014 so far comes in the shape of Magic 1400s - 1950s from TASCHEN - an eye-popping…
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True Crime Detective Magazines

Artists Who Made Crime Pay The general public's appetite for low-brow sleaze has long been a safe bet for publishers, and while tales of crime and grizzly murders might now feel more at home in a sophisticated prime-time TV series, it was once the mass market crime magazines that ruled the darker recesses of our…
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History of Pin-Up Magazines

Although essentially a re-formatting of previously released books, those unfamiliar with Dian Hanson's History of Pin-Up Magazines are well served by this new edition that collects all three volumes and presents them with a flair we now come to expect from publishers TASCHEN. My initial interest in this series were the countless examples of classic…
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The Art of Disney – Frozen

As a life-long animation fan, I fear that the Disney studio is currently stuck in some kind of creative lull. With each new feature I find myself less and less engaged, and have come to the conclusion that it's all the fault of the homogenizing effect of CGI. While films like Brave and Wreck It…
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The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

Countless editions of Hans Christian Andersen's popular fairy tales can be found in various forms, but few provide the lavish presentation offered by TASCHEN's latest collection, that continues the format set by last year's The Fairy Tales of Brothers Grimm. With 23 timeless stories contained within it's hardback cover including, The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New…
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Star Wars Art: Concept

The award-winning director Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Captain America) introduces Star Wars Art: Concept with an affectionate look back at his early career working as a storyboard artist on the original trilogy. An experimental time where Star Wars wasn't yet the cultural phenomenon we all now know and a fitting introduction to this new book…
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Sirens: The Pin-Up Art of David Wright

The work of David Wright was unknown to me before it's introduction in the article by Peter Richardson in issue 2 of Illustrators Magazine. His pin-up paintings and comic book illustrations were immediately impressive, equalling that of more prominent artists such as Gil Elvgren and Harry Ekman, and left me firstly surprised that I hadn't seen…
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The Frazetta Sketchbook – Volume One

Towering above all others in the land of the comic book gods stands Frank Frazetta, a powerhouse of science-fiction and fantasy art, sadly no longer with us, but whose work remains as popular and sought-after as ever. The Frazetta Sketchbook is a welcome addition to the collections of available work, offering a previously unseen look at the…
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Mitch O’Connell – The World’s Best Artist

Sure, it's not the most modest move naming the book about yourself The World's Best Artist, but those looking for the class on subtlety in Mitch O'Connell's school of self-promotion won't find it. It's this tounge-in-cheek and unpretentious approach, backed up by stellar illustration work that makes me a fan, and the promise of that title and the book's…
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Jazz New York in the Roaring Twenties

Re-released this month from TASCHEN is Robert Nippoldt and Hans-Jürgen Schaal's hardback collection of biographies, facts and anecdotes from the earlest days of the Jazz revolution, Jazz: New York in the Roaring Twenties. Told through a series of portraits by Nippoldt (drawn in a similar style to R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country and William Stout's…
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100 Years of Fashion Illustration

There are several books written on the subject of fashion illustration with many unfortunately proving to be little more than filler or catalogues of aspiring artists, but there are two in particular that stand out for me as recommended titles. The first being David Downton's Masters of Fashion Illustration and the second, Cally Blackman's 100 Years of…
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Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm

First released in hardback last year, Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm was so popular that it quickly became hard to find a copy without spending upwards of £100. Thankfully, publishers Flesk now offer a more accessible paperback edition subtitled, The Big Pocket Edition. Although not much smaller in physical size…
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Legends of the Blues by William Stout

In 2006 the ever popular comic book artist Robert Crumb introduced us via a book of portraits, profiles and accompanying music to his Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country. Following the same format, it's now William Stout's turn to present his Legends of the Blues. Again, another legendary comic book artist, Bill Stout is also…
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Fun with a Pencil – By Andrew Loomis

This week sees the release of the next in Titan Books series of Andrew Loomis reprints, Fun with a Pencil. Actually dating as the first of the Loomis instructional art books (going all the way back to 1939) it inevitably shares some of its content with his later releases, but where Figure Drawing for all…
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The Golden Age of DC Comics

With the anticipated release of the new Superman movie, DC's status as a leader in the comic book industry remains as strong as ever, with its success only really comparable to that of Marvel. It's testament to the power and longevity of their characters that the very same Man of Steel started it all with…
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Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition

With Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer Artist's Edition, IDW introduced it's range of high-end books for the comic collector, featuring reproductions of raw artwork from some of the worlds most renowned comic book artists. So acclaimed (and limited) was this first edition of Stevens' beloved creation that it sold-out within days, leaving die-hard fans (like myself)…
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Swissted

Swissted is the brain-child of Graphic Designer Mike Joyce, combining a love of punk rock, indie and grunge gig posters with his own Swiss inspired modernist aesthetic. Featuring great bands such as Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, Beastie Boys and The Cramps, the result is an unlikely pairing of seemingly un-related pop-cultures, collected in a new release…
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The Dynamite Art of Alex Ross

Alex Ross counts among the greatest and most prolific comic book artists working today and has consistently held my affections thanks to his Gouache and Watercolour style that harks back to the Golden Age of American Illustration. Clear influences coming from artists such as Norman Rockwell and Andrew Loomis, who have passed on a working…
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Presidential Campaign Posters

In the same poster-book format as Gig Posters Vol 1 and 2, Quirk Books delivers this July, 100 Presidential Campaign Posters, a large paperback with ready-to-frame, pull-out pages offering a history of American politics shown through the visual propaganda, showboating and one-upmanship that either won or lost its candidates a place in the White House.…
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Mail-Order Mysteries

I'm just about young enough to have missed the dubious mail-order opportunities presented in the back pages of comic books of old. Age, geography and plain old common sense has protected me from the ultimate disappointment resulting from the ads bold claims. "Have amazing X-ray vision instantly! Learn the world's deadliest fighting secrets! Own genuine…
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The Art of Daniel Clowes

Released this month by Abrams ComicArts in conjunction with The Oakland Museum exhibition of the same name is The Art of Daniel Clowes; Modern Cartoonist. A career retrospective on the artist, writer and creator of some of the worlds best-loved comic books including The Death Ray and Ghost World. The latter of which, under the…
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Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design

Few other designers permeate the creative world quite like Saul Bass (1920-1996). Ask any Designer/Illustrator to name their influences (especially those among the new wave of minimalist movie posters) and you'll almost certainly hear his name. So it comes as a surprise that this is the first biography and career retrospective of this most prolific…
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Garbage Pail Kids

1965 saw the release of Ugly Stickers. A series of grotesque creature creations from Topps, illustrated by the great American Artists Basil Wolverton, Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. Each popular for their work in venues such as Mad Magazine, Marvel Comics, Pulp Paperbacks and the Mars Attacks! series of trading cards. Later came Slob Stickers…
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