WHAT DA FUNK? FAMOUSLY UN-FAMOUS FRENCH DUO DAFT PUNK SPLIT UP!
. . . . . Daft Punk has split up. Has ended things. Called it quits. Called it a day. Broken up. Turned off the lights. Disbanded. Bid adieu. Said farewell. Are now officially defunct. (Or should that “de-funked”?) “Say it isn’t so!” we hear you exclaim in a despondent,Continue Reading
“PRETEND IT’S A CITY”: WHY MARTIN SCORSESE’S NETFLIX SERIES WITH FRAN LIEBOWITZ IS MUST-SEE TV!
Netflix’s “Pretend It’s a City” takes its title from a remark by Fran Liebowitz. It’s a command to the tourists who slowly walk down the crowded sidewalks of Manhattan, jamming up pedestrian traffic and frustrating New York locals who are otherwise in a hurry. It’s one of innumerable anecdotes fromContinue Reading
THE UNLIKELIEST ART STAR: HOW KAWS WENT FROM GRAFFITI-TAGGER TO GLOBAL ART WORLD MEGASTAR!
The New York Times has published an excellent profile of artist Brian Donnelly. Who is Brian Donnelly you ask? He’s the artist better known as KAWS. If you don’t know who he is, you may know his artwork. It seems to be everywhere these days. The rise of KAWS asContinue Reading
ADVENTURES IN AUDIO: BRILLIANT A CAPPELLA VERSIONS OF WINDOWS & iPHONE SOUND FX + SUPER MARIO BROS., TETRIS SOUNDTRACKS!
. . . . . This South Korean vocal group’s a cappella versions of Windows and iPhone sound effects and audio logos are absolutely brilliant, funny and beautiful. The group is called Maytree. Their repertoire includes performances of the start-up and shutdown sounds used on a Windows computer, as wellContinue Reading
FUZZY LOGIC: CULTURE OF MISAKI KAWAI!
Artist Misaki Kawai‘s current exhibition of new work at the Hole Gallery in New York City could at a brief glance easily be called “kawaii,” the Japanese word that means “cute” and connotes an entire culture (and myriad sub-cultures) that express the cute aesthetic. Its roots are from Japan, andContinue Reading
WORLDS COLLIDE: FILMMAKER WERNER HERZOG INTERVIEWED BY SKATEBOARDING MAGAZINE!
Skateboarding magazine Jenkem interviewed Werner Herzog. Yes, THAT Werner Herzog, the auteur German film director and actor whose directorial credits include Grizzly Man, Fitzcarraldo, and Rescue Dawn, among dozens of other fiction and documentary titles, and whose acting credits include roles in Jack Reacher and the Mandalorian, to name butContinue Reading
IN PASSING, IN MAKE OUT CITY: THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF IAN HOLWORTH
British photographer Ian Holworth‘s images remind us of the work of another photographer, William Eggleston, and the painter Edward Hopper. Holworth’s photos capture life and people in British coastal towns like Brighton, his home, and the mundane artifacts, romantic encounters and drab settings that establish the tone of the urbanContinue Reading
IN MOTION: OREGON TOURISM CAMPAIGN LOOKS LIKE A JAPANESE ANIME FILM!
. . . . . Travel Oregon‘s newest campaign promoting tourism to the state includes an animated commercial that’s a dead ringer for a magical and epic anime film from Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli production company. The ad is part of a campaign called “Only SlightlyContinue Reading
FLAKEY: WEB-BASED SNOWFLAKE GENERATOR IS SUBLIME (AMONG OTHER THINGS)!
Here’s a fun way to wile away a couple of hours. The Snowflake Generator is the awesome work of California-based artist and game designer Vivian Wu. It’s sublime. And fun! Happy Friday!
BEACH GRIT: THE CINEMATIC ART, MUSIC, SURFING AND LAUGHS OF “FREE SCRUBBER”!
. . . Regular readers of Global Graphica will know that among our many passions is surfing. (Or is it more of vice?) We surf every chance we get. And we try to watch as many surf films and edits as we can. But there’s so much content out there,Continue Reading
FORCE BE WITH YOU: U.S. POST OFFICE ISSUES STAMPS CELEBRATING “STARS WARS” ANDROIDS!
The United States Postal Service has announced that this spring they will be issuing a new series of stamps featuring the androids from the Star Wars films, including C3PO and R2D2. It’s a big nod to one of the greatest and longest-running cinematic franchises in motion picture history, one thatContinue Reading
EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES: ENOUGH WITH THE BUNDLED-UP BERNIE MEME ALREADY!
It was brilliant and funny for the first 24 -48 hours. The meme of U.S. Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders based on an image of him sitting alone in a folding chair in his casual puffy winter coat and knitted mittens, legs crossed, arms folded, pandemic mask on,Continue Reading
HOT TYPES: LIST OF SOME FAVORITE NEW TYPEFACES FROM 2020!
I Love Typography’s “My Favorite Typefaces of 2020” is a list of notable new fonts produced last year. The typefaces run the gamut of… uh… types: Serif and san-serif, serious and whimsical, handwritten-style and no-nonsense, ornamental and symbolic. It’s a nice aesthetic survey of where typography is headed, some newContinue Reading
MAKING WAVES: OLAFUR ELIASSON’S “ATMOSPHERIC WAVE WALL” BREAKS IN CHICAGO!
Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has built a career on ambitious, large-scale and innovative public installation art projects that lean into themes of nature, often play with the practical effects of light and rely on mechanical and architectural technologies. Many of these works are awe-inspiring and some have spawned unforgettable imagesContinue Reading
VISUAL CULTURE: THE TIMES’ BEST OF 2020 ILLUSTRATION!
The New York Times art directors have picked their favorite illustration of 2020. It’s an excellent survey of some of the best artwork, most of it graphical, some of it animated, all of it compelling and topical, reflecting the dramatic events of an incredibly memorable and crazy year that manyContinue Reading
SKATE BRAZIL: MESMERIZING VIDEO SHOWS OFF SKILLS OF BRAZILIAN SKATEBOARDING CREW!
A short skate film called “The Girls of Guanabara” is a mesmerizing clip that showcases the dance-like skateboarding moves of four women as they ride their longboards and do tricks on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. This style of longboard skateboarding previously garnered attention when videos of South KoreanContinue Reading
WHOPPER: GLOBAL FAST-FOOD CHAIN ROLLS OUT NEW LOGO AND BRANDING!
Worldwide fast-food restaurant chain Burger King has revamped its brand identity, including its iconic burger logotype, color palette, typography and icons. The change is a big deal for such a large and recognizable brand. It’s the first change to BK’s branding in over twenty years. The new branding was designedContinue Reading
NAILED IT!: GERMAN MAGAZINE DER SPIEGEL’S UNCANNILY PREDICTIVE COVERS OF TRUMP AND THE WASHINGTON CAPITOL RIOT!
Like many news magazines around the world, the highly-respected weekly German news magazine Der Spiegal has over the past five years devoted a number of its magazine covers to images, illustrations and cartoons depicting Donald Trump in the context of political news and the state of current events at theContinue Reading
AUDIO FILES: THIS IS POSSIBLY THE COOLEST MUSIC PODCAST IN THE UNIVERSE!
The podcast Lost Notes 1980 from the massively influential Los Angeles public radio station KCRW takes deep dives into significant pop-music milestones and the artists involved in the year 1980. These are sometimes well-known, sometimes obscure, bands and songs that shaped the trajectory of music, from punk to soul, fromContinue Reading
STREET ART: SPEAK NO MONEY, SEE NO MONEY, HEAR NO MONEY!
This wonderful mural in Downtown Los Angeles is a visual play on the age-old proverb “Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil” that often accompanies an image of three “wise” monkeys. Here the evil is money. Instead of monkeys, the painting depicts three simple, cartoony line-drawing-style characters withContinue Reading