This Is Display

Alvin Lustig | Design, Vol. 47, No. 8, Apr 1946

Franco Grignani | Pubblicità in Italia 1965-1966, 1966

Lora Lamm | Pirelli Per Lo Scooter, 1959

R. Castiglioni | Borsalino, c.1956

Giulio Confalonieri | Stile Industria, No. 14, Oct 1957

Ryuichi Yamashiro | Graphic Design 4, 1961

Franco Grignani | Vi-lactis, 1951

Bob Noorda | Pirelli Confezioni e Impermeabili, 1959

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Some brilliant and essential graphic design documents over at Display. Save yourself the burden of paying back the prehensile cunt that is Sallie Mae and enjoy what is essentially a free History of Graphic Design course.

And even if you bought every single one of their available books for sale, you would still be saving thousands—several thousands—of dollars plus probably receiving a way better education than what you would get out of most “art” or design schools. 

Hindsight, right?

_{via thisisdisplay.org}

Postmadern Men

by Teddy Wayne

A meeting at the offices of SterlingCooperMizuho.

DON DRAPER: As you all know, we’ve been commissioned by D1SKOUNT Rx Meds!!! to come up with their new spam mail. This is major; if you’re low on Adderall, now’s the time to refill.

ADMAN: Can we get a price break from the client?

OTHER ADMAN: LOL.

DON: Let’s see what everyone has… . Too many deliberate misspellings of brand names to avoid the in-box filters—no one will know what you’re selling… . Not enough purple italics… . This is less convincing than your last campaign, for the widow of the Nigerian military commander. (Pops a stick of nicotine gum.) It’s spam mail, people, not social-networking-based viral video. Just think about it deeply, meditate on what the customer wants, then crowd-source ideas on Facebook. An answer will jump out in your news feed, probably from your aunt in Boise you never otherwise speak to.

A fusion restaurant after work.

DON: Who’s up for another round of kombucha?

(All the employees are on their iPhones.)

ADMAN: Sorry, we’re just checking into Foursquare. I’m trying to become mayor of this place—best crunchy tempeh salad with daikon in town. Who is that?

DON: Clara, the new girl from Human Resources.

ADMAN: Wouldn’t mind retweeting her with my @ symbol, if you catch my drift. Not that I’m rewarding her or discriminating against her on the basis of her physical appearance. I’m just stating a subjective personal opinion that does not represent the views of SterlingCooperMizuho or its subsidiaries.

(Don approaches Clara at the bar.)

CLARA: I’ve been meaning to see you.

DON: (nods at her wineglass) Is that you or the resveratrol talking?

CLARA: You haven’t handed in your new I-9 form yet.

DON: I’d be happy to fill it—or anything else—out for you.

CLARA: Great. I’ll also need two forms of I.D. and a utility bill with your home address. You can scan and e-mail them to me or to Lisa, on seven.

DON: Why don’t we go back to the office and take care of it now?

CLARA: Sure! I could use the overtime, since our health benefits got cut.

ADMAN: Hey, everyone, listen up. Something huge has happened. (A hush falls over the restaurant.) Justin Bieber’s “Baby” has surpassed Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” as the most-watched video in YouTube history. Let’s take a minute to soak up the cultural import of this event.

Don’s office.

DON: Here you go. And there’s something you can sign for me.

CLARA: Yes?

DON: It’s a disclaimer that indemnifies me against any charges of workplace impropriety, harassment, or acts of God should we ever enter into a “consensual romantic arrangement.”

CLARA: Let me check Appendix F for this year’s updated protocol for sexting.

DON: Now we just have to get my lawyer’s approval to begin our torrid affair. Shouldn’t take more than a week.

The Draper home.

DON: Bets, where are the kids?

BETTY: They’re at a middle-school retreat. A college adviser is giving a weekend tutorial on how to craft a well-rounded extracurricular portfolio.

DON: So we’re alone? No lacrosse games, no S.A.T. II tutors, no speech therapists specializing in soft “t” sounds?

BETTY: All alone. And guess what I got for tonight.

DON: Surprise me.

BETTY: “Sex and the City 2,” from Netflix. I can’t wait for the deleted scenes.

(Don stares impassively and takes a slow sip of pomegranate juice. Fade to credits over Justin Bieber’s “Baby.” )

- - -

“If you’re low on Adderall, now’s the time to refill” <— hahah SIGH. This kind of accurately describes the last two years of my life only with more networking mixers, webinars, and the word “pecha kucha”. Miss u Golden Age of Advertising.

via The New Yorker 

It’s actually depressing how many times this has happened to me…

clientsfromhell:

Me: “Do you have a vector version of your logo? We will need something that we can scale up enough to use on the signage.”

Client: “Yes, we have the logo in Microsoft Word. It’s not very big, but I’m sure you can blow it up.”