Tag: books and magazines

I was at Tower Records in 1997 when I found Pizzicato Five’s “Happy End of the World” on the listening display console. Remember those? You could slide the headphones on and check out track after track from new and upcoming music artist.

I was in my Mod Squad phase at that time, and Pizzicato Five’s retro pop appeal sat nicely alongside the sounds of Beck, Oasis, and Mike Flower Pops. Their music very catchy but they really hooked me in from their design aesthetic, photographic boldness and stand-out typography.

Also at that time, despite having lot’s of Japanese friends, getting my hands on Japanese music was still rare and expensive. So when Pizzicato Five produced an American release, I was over the moon happy to be able to afford it.

I still have their CD. And to this day I still listen to them.

Front and back cover by Ivan Chermayeff. I found this at the Long Beach Antique Faire in really good condition. 

Out of print but thanks to my local library I get to check out his spectacular work as often as I like. The Expo’70 graphics are my favorite. Can you imagine what Tokyo must have been like leading up to the world’s expo?  That period in time is immortalized through logo marks and wayfarer signage that is referenced today as the standard to design by.

Another addition to the library. Admittedly I know very little about the graphic design landscape there but this book is going to help fix that. There’s a wonderful, nostalgic mid-1990s flair to a lot of the work that will have me studying the pages in detail. Compiled and published by Counter-Print books. It’s bold and colorful. Get this.

Japan is the land of great packaging. This is by far the greatest reference and inspirational book that I own. Don’t let the age of this compilation lead you to believe that it’s outdated. I guarantee that if you step into any 7-Eleven, Lawson’s or Sunkas convenient store, you will see the legacy of this work. Old is gold!