Eye Magazine

various designers

Recent articles about various designers

States of independenceIssue 98, Spring 2019
Feature
The fragmentation of the type market has lead to new ways of examining, 
acquiring and enjoying…
Originality and inspirationIssue 98, Spring 2019
Feature
It may be unrealistic to expect that every new typeface will be unique and original, but giving up…
Editorial Eye 98Issue 98, Spring 2019
Opinion

	When you visit St Bride Printing Library in London, or the living archive…
      
A century of no, No, NOIssue 98, Spring 2019
Review

	An air of discontent has been fomenting in the US since the turmoil of the…
      
Two cheers for publishingIssue 98, Spring 2019
Feature

	A two-volume book packed with graphic design history is a visual blockbuster, but does little for…
Small is beautifulIssue 96, Spring 2018
Feature

	Estonian design education enjoys a culture of innovation and experimentation thanks to the…
Systematic playIssue 95, Winter 2018
Feature

	Using intuition, research and process, the work of Armin Lindauer and Betina Müller revitalises…
Editorial Eye 94Issue 94, Summer 2017
Opinion

	The notion that graphic design is fundamentally a creative business, a form…
      
Design culture with constraintsIssue 92, Summer 2016
Review

	Until recently, everyday commercial graphic design from East Germany was…
      
Unpicking the design processIssue 92, Summer 2016
Review

	How do things in the design world actually get done? All too often the…
      
Tints and tones at the dawn of filmIssue 92, Summer 2016
Review

	Legend has it that audiences for the Lumière brothers’ film The Arrival of a…
      
A Roman legacyIssue 90, Summer 2015
Review

	The Eternal Letter is the first in a series of books dedicated to letterforms…
      
Mondo magazinesIssue 4, Summer 1991
Feature

	Some of the sharpest and most influential graphic design ideas come from the new magazines. Eye…
Space for storiesIssue 87, Spring 2014
Opinion

	Visual Editions’ box of literary maps challenges authors to think differently about the structures…
Raw and radicalIssue 86, Autumn 2013
Review

	The ‘underground press’ died out more than 40 years ago. Yet it lives on…
      
The accessible eliteIssue 86, Autumn 2013
Feature
Linda Kwon reports on a design conference that aims to fight the ‘velvet rope syndrome’
Paper tigersIssue 83, Summer 2012
Feature

	Deborah Burnstone describes Fedrigoni’s inspirational workshops for secondary school art and…
Glorious transitIssue 85, Spring 2013
Review

	Let’s face it, graphic design is short of real drama. There are no good…
      
Source code for a design revolutionIssue 85, Spring 2013
Review

	Processing, an open-source programming language and environment for creating…
      
First things lastIssue 14, Autumn 1994
Opinion

	Letter from Ken Garland in Eye 14
A Monotype timelineIssue 84, Autumn 2012
Feature

	A selected, chronological list of notable events in the long, complex history of Monotype
Russian revolutionIssue 84, Autumn 2012
Feature

	Polly Corrigan meets the founder of a new graphic design school in Moscow.
Pictures on a pageIssue 84, Autumn 2012
Review

	This Eye special issue about Monotype focuses on the technology of putting…
      
Turn of the ScrewIssue 84, Autumn 2012
Review

	‘Sex sells!’ was a 1960s motto. Though not as popular as ‘Peace now’, ‘Make…
      
Every word in its placeIssue 84, Autumn 2012
Review

	Reading Richard Hollis’s writings, one can’t help wondering how the esteemed…
      
Deep in the Monotype archiveIssue 84, Autumn 2012
Feature
A wide selection of Monotype’s drawings, artworks, publications and vintage photographs spread…
On being well readIssue 84, Autumn 2012
Review

	In this shifting digital world, countless websites, blogs and social networks…
      
Pages from the library of librariesIssue 84, Autumn 2012
Review

	Graphic design, devoted as it is to re-framing text and image, thrives as an…
      
Relentless informationIssue 83, Summer 2012
Review

	Riding the persistent wave of popular interest in data visualisation…
      
Crash coversIssue 52, Summer 2004
Feature

	J. G. Ballard’s novel resists attempts to summarise it with a single image
Classical crossroadsIssue 76, Summer 2010
Feature

	Design meets serious music: long programme notes, small budgets and ‘de-averaging’
Design + music = magicIssue 76, Summer 2010
Feature
The scene creates the style, and sleeves tell us what their contents sound like, but what next? 
Charts change mindsIssue 82, Winter 2012
Feature
Description of the slave ship Brookes 1788 
Letters from BolognaIssue 64, Summer 2007
Review

	You could read the promotional material for this conference several times without…
      
Lost in flatlandsIssue 80, Summer 2011
Feature
Will the next generation of page layout programs give us back our sense of space?
Physical displayIssue 67, Spring 2008
Feature

	How lettering is made for public display: hand-cutting in wood and stone, & routing in metal and…
Back with a flourishIssue 62, Winter 2006
Feature

	A taste for ornamentation and 1970s kitsch has led to a revival in the swash, the ‘tea cosy’ of…
Culture compassIssue 78, Winter 2010
Feature
Andrew Losowsky on the ‘nonsensical authority’ of the Approval Matrix
Modernism and me: a survivor’s taleIssue 59, Spring 2006
Review

	On reading the first few pages of Natalia Ilyin’s Chasing the Perfect: Thoughts…
      
Interview with Dan FernIssue 76, Summer 2010
Feature
 
Professor Dan Fern explains his pioneering ‘MAP / making’ course at the Royal College of Art…
Surface to spaceIssue 67, Spring 2008
Feature
Maths, computers and the internet are bringing new life, form and purpose to a traditional paper art…
      
The decriminalisation of ornamentIssue 58, Winter 2005
Feature
Spurned and marginalised for more than a century, decoration is enjoying a guilt-free renaissance
Nameless thingIssue 57, Autumn 2005
Feature
Tokyo’s TDC rewards work that transcends means, intention, content, context – and just ‘is’…
      
Pin pointIssue 78, Winter 2010
Feature
Jack Schulze praises the ‘US space programme’ of mapping
Recent Photobooks: a connoisseur’s guideIssue 62, Winter 2006
Review

	Martin Munkacsi

	By F. C. Gundlach

	Steidl, €48. Thames & Hudson, £39.95

	In…
      
The steamroller of brandingIssue 53, Autumn 2004
Feature
Art and culture are open to interpretation. Why must we give them fixed identities?
Propaganda for the pocketIssue 10, Autumn 1993
Feature

	Czech matchbox labels form a miniature gallery of Czechoslovakian society under communism
The designer as authorIssue 20, Spring 1996
Feature
Graphic authorship is taken for granted by many design theorists and it is gaining ground within…
ReductionIssue 38, Winter 2000
Feature
Is graphic design, with its allusions and clutter, fundamentally antithetical to minimalism?
Temple of typeIssue 2, Winter 1990
Feature
St Bride Library is one of the world’s best sources of information about type design and…
Sticks in the mindIssue 69, Autumn 2008
Feature

	Does anyone care about posters, or are they just an ego-trip for the designers who still make…
The Press ReleaseIssue 38, Winter 2000
Feature

	The press release is one of the principal methods through which design companies, art directors…
The chair man dancesIssue 28, Summer 1998
Feature
This little red book is a capitalist keepsake – a testament to the corporate culture of a chair…
The far sideIssue 81, Autumn 2011
Feature
Clients can seem stubborn, ignorant, wilful and slow, yet some build a relationship of strong mutual…
Scribble and strumIssue 76, Summer 2010
Feature
The layout and art direction of music magazines reflect and champion a wide spectrum of tastes and…
Conference madnessIssue 49, Autumn 2003
Feature
It’s a messy hybrid of live chat show, summer camp, theatre and rock’n’roll
First Things First Manifesto 2000Issue 33, Autumn 1999
Feature
Thirty-three visual communicators renew the 1964 call for a change of priorities
Punk uncovered: an unofficial history of provincial oppositionIssue 33, Autumn 1999
Feature

	British punk gave a sound, a voice and a visual currency to the disenfranchised and remote.…
Naked wordsIssue 82, Winter 2012
Feature

	Type-only book covers – whether deliberately austere, functional … or shouting loud from the…
Just Add StockIssue 73, Autumn 2009
Feature

	The first Eye awards for the creative use of library images.
Phil Baines and Typography NowIssue 71, Spring 2009
Opinion

	A letter from Rick Poynor
Messy mediumIssue 64, Summer 2007
Opinion
Social media is shifting message-making away from mass media and into the hands of multiple users.
Beer: the real thingOpinion

	Beer labels promise authenticity and reliability. But what about taste? Critique by Rick Poynor
Chewing it over: issues of style and contentIssue 49, Autumn 2003
Opinion

	Agenda

	In the spring issue of Eye (no. 47 vol. 12) I wrote a particularly…
      
Editorial Eye 34Issue 34, Winter 1999
Opinion

	Though we have designated this edition a ‘Public realm special issue’, it could…
      
Your system sucks!Issue 8, Autumn 1993
Feature

	The flight from Modernism left a yearning for graphics that were rough, real, unaffected and…
White space, silent thoughtsIssue 33, Autumn 1999
Opinion

	Visual data is often all we need: sound can divert the mind from interpretation, from completing…

Recent blog posts by various designers

(Typographic) Noted #92

11 June 2019

WNBA rebrand; Caseroom’s Gun Dog; Swiss / Bolivian foundry Altiplano; Bantjes reloaded; Klim’s Sincerity / Irony

Here is a selection of type-related things – a rebrand, a new foundry and a some typographic books – that have caught our attention in recent weeks.

Three design days in June

30 May 2019

The second Birmingham Design Festival is packed with workshops, speakers, and most events are free. Luke Tonge explains who, what and why

Dan Alcorn and I initiated Birmingham Design Festival out of both frustration and amazement, writes Luke Tonge.

Type now: Eye 98 live

28 May 2019

Join us at St Bride Library for Eye’s quarterly Type Tuesday on 4 June, with Hansje van Halem, Mark Thomson, Ferdinand Ulrich and more …

The next Type Tuesday on 4 June 2019 is a live version of our latest type special issue.

More mags in Manhattan

22 May 2019

The second Modern Magazine conference in New York City, boasting a glittering line-up of indie and mainstream talent, is just days away

The second annual one-day ModMagNYC will take place on Wednesday 29 May 2019 at Parsons School of Design in New York. (Eye is a media partner for both this and the next ModMag conference in London, on 7 November 2019.)

Letters from Tokyo

20 May 2019

Sam Roberts reports from Tokyo Letterheads, an international ‘meet’ for letterers and sign painters

Last month’s Tokyo Letterheads event ended with an auction. One of the items (won by London’s Ged Palmer) was a hanging paper sign, a collaboration between Dude Signs (Japan) and Kingson (Taiwan), that translates roughly as ‘Brush Mafia Invades Tokyo’, writes Sam Roberts.

Not at your service

13 May 2019

Anne-Marie Willis has assembled a compelling collection of essays that address the ways design and philosophy can change our lives. Review by John O’Reilly

Bloomsbury’s new reader on the crossovers of design and philosophy asks us to question the traditional service role of professional design, writes John O’Reilly

Eye 98 out now

26 April 2019

The latest issue of Eye is a type special

The latest issue of Eye has been printed and it’s on its way to subscribers and shops right now.

Noted #91

20 March 2019

Situated Between (Treacy & Ozkal), Crayonograph, Le Gun no. 6, a journal from The Pre-Vinylite Society … and a typeset rectangular doily

Here are a few miscellaneous graphic artefacts that caught our attention in recent weeks.

(Typographic) Noted #90

15 February 2019

The 65th annual Type Directors Club competition, Patrick Thomas’s revised Protest Stencil Toolkit, the Whitney’s ‘programmed’ typeface and Studio Dumbar’s variable type City in Motion posters

Here is a selection of type-related things – recently announced type winners, a revised edition of a type, a selection of variable type posters, and an exhibition that looks at works of art based on instructions.

Books received #36

5 February 2019

James Victore’s Feck Perfuction; Observe, Collect, Draw!; Brand By Hand; How To Do Great Work Without Being an Asshole

Here is a collection of self-help and ‘memoir-adjacent’ titles – all written by designers – that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Books received #34

23 November 2018

Thinking in Pictures, Typewriters, Pittori Di Cinema, The Golden Thread Project UK-USA and AGI Members 2007-2017

Here is a selection of books that caught our attention in recent months.

Search for a star (librarian)

20 November 2018

St Bride Library is looking for someone to take charge of its extraordinary archive

The ad looks almost mundane at first glance, tucked away on a site called lisjobnet.com, which is for ‘Library & Information’ jobs. Yet what it is advertising is one of the most crucial roles in type and design history: the job of Librarian at St Bride Printing Library in London, writes John L. Walters.

If you know where to look …

9 November 2018

Graphic design academics assemble in Sheffield to prepare for the next REF, the Research Excellence Framework. Report by Steve Rigley

The Research Excellence Framework (REF), which takes place every seven years, is the means by which UK funding councils assess the quality and impact of academic research in higher education, writes Steve Rigley.

Collecting and connecting

9 October 2018

100 Archive presents graphic design from Ireland, together with work made by Irish designers worldwide. By Aideen McCole

Several years ago a group of Dublin graphic designers decided to create the online platform 100 Archive, writes curator Aideen McCole.

Noted #88

14 September 2018

Karlssonwilker, Ultramarine’s new 7", Forme 01, Good Trouble, Good Chemistry Brewing’s branding and Design For Today

Here are a few things that caught our attention in recent weeks.

New York state of mag

24 May 2018

ModMag takes Manhattan next Wednesday for a one-day celebration of magazine-making with Gail Bichler, Richard Turley, Emily Oberman and more

Anyone who has attended or taken part in London’s annual Modern Magazine conference will know the depth of Jeremy Leslie’s love for magazines, writes John L. Walters.

Great display in Harlem

21 March 2018

Inspiring exhibitions at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture illustrate the dynamic power of graphic design. By Robert Newman

If, like me, you’ve been both inspired and entertained by the cultural moment that the Black Panther movie has engendered, writes Robert Newman, you’ll want to see two equally inspiring and entertaining visual exhibitions at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City: ‘Power in Print’ and ‘Black Power!’.

Vertical hold

6 December 2017

The redesign of Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica is a bold statement in a time of change. By Giulia Tugnoli

How can printed newspapers compete or coexist with the abundance of free information in the digital realm? Italian newspaper La Repubblica has some answers, writes Giulia Tugnoli.

ModMag17: Part one

10 November 2017

Sarah Snaith reports from the fifth annual Modern Magazine conference

The fifth annual Modern Magazine conference, initiated and curated by magCulture founder Jeremy Leslie, took place this year at London’s Conway Hall. The speaker line-up reflected a wide array of approaches to publishing presented by art directors and editors who head up magazines young and old – from Migrant Journal (about to release issue three) to Japanese magazine Popeye, founded in 1976, writes Sarah Snaith.

Noted #84

18 October 2017

Tom Gauld’s literary bake-off, typography with balls, hot-metal Double Dagger 2, the smell of London and The Simoncini Method

Here are a few things that caught our attention in recent weeks.

And then there were six …

14 October 2017

The winner of the Man Booker Prize 2017 will be announced on 17 October. Robert Hanks talks to the designers whose covers wrap round the six shortlisted contenders

In ‘The look of literature’ I wrote about the thirteen covers on this year’s Man Booker Prize* longlist – widely praised as one of the most adventurous and wide-ranging ever, writes Robert Hanks.

Books received #29

9 October 2017

Black Medicine Book, Raymond Pettibon: A Pen of All Work, Fear, Colour and Hackney Studios

Here is a selection of books that caught our attention in recent weeks and months.

Noted #83

20 September 2017

Sea Prayer, Poster House, Pit, Straight No Chaser and National 2

Here are a few things – VR journalism, Poster House, new issues of Pit and Straight No Chaser and a new typeface – that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Sea levellers

18 September 2017

The 2017 Folkestone Triennial turns this seaside town into an open-air gallery for a kind of applied conceptual art … with a graphic edge

Folkestone is hosting its fourth Triennial, a two-month-long festival of contemporary art that can be appreciated in the open air of this British seaside town in Kent, writes John L. Walters.

Zines with superpowers

22 August 2017

In the shadow of Grenfell, local children make pages for a magazine workshop. By Oswin Tickler

The devastating fire at Grenfell Tower in West London in June 2017 is still having a profound effect on the local community, writes Oswin Tickler.

Books received #27 (type books)

26 June 2017

Custom Lettering of the 20s and 30s, Word Disco, Type is Beautiful, Type Tells Tales and Johnston & Gill: Very British Types

Here are a few typographically oriented books that caught our attention in recent months.

(Typographic) Noted #82

7 June 2017

Emigre specimens, Sunday Clarendon, Sinem Erkas, drawing type, from sketch to screen and Fontsmith’s TypeNotes

Here are a few type and lettering things – books, magazines, alphabets – that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Porto’s studio culture

1 June 2017

This year’s European Design Awards ceremony was held in the city of Porto, which is about to launch an international design biennale

Last weekend, designers from all over Europe converged on Porto for the European Design Awards (EDA) ceremony. The EDA has been running for the past decade, and now attracts entries from 34 countries, writes John L. Walters.

Noted #80

3 March 2017

Le Petit Néant, Pencil & Help, Tom Gauld’s Mooncop, The Fred and Knife

Here are a few things that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Information is everywhere

23 January 2017

Awards tell only a fraction of the story, but there was plenty to learn from at the Information is Beautiful Awards, writes Max Gadney

The 2016 Information is Beautiful Awards were a generous and cerebral jamboree hosted by David McCandless, writes Max Gadney.

Noted #79

6 January 2017

Graffiti removal, Circular #19, The Phonografik Collectivo, Optimology° and Fermata

Here are a few things – graffiti removal, a Phoenician alphabet project, a media wall installation, Optimology° and a typography magazine – that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Ghosts of designbots yet to come

21 December 2016

Automated graphic design and the rise of robot creatives – Francisco Laranjo files a critical report from the perspective of Christmas 2025

From our perspective here in 2025, it all seems inevitable, writes Francisco Laranjo. But maybe it wasn’t.

Books received #24

7 December 2016

Eggers in the sky, Callahan’s streets, Tim Burton, rubber-stamped Chilean horror and a Brit in Japan

Here are a few photobooks that have recently caught our attention … each reviewed in no more than 140 characters.

Loud, proud and animated

2 December 2016

Tate Britain’s ‘BP Loud Tate’ brought together hip-hop, digital animation and a talk about women of colour in the arts hosted by Gal-dem magazine

On Saturday 12 November, an array of UK-based artists and musicians took over Tate Britain for a day of workshopping, discussion and performances, writes Mariam Dembele.

Type on the campaign trail

30 October 2016

US designers contribute type, posters, badges and branding to the Hillary Clinton cause

From the outset, the Hillary Clinton campaign has enlisted the help of some of the United States’ best designers to portray and propagate her messages.

Human rights by any other name

24 October 2016

This poster exhibition is a powerful statement about women as global agents of social change. Marika Preziuso reviews ‘Women’s Rights are Human Rights’ in Boston

The exhibition ‘Women’s Rights are Human Rights’ aims to inform international public opinion on all the important intersections between women’s rights and human rights, writes Marika Preziuso.

Noted #78

18 October 2016

TypoCircle exhibition, Arjowiggins paper sample, Double Dagger, D&AD Manual 2016 and SEA 20

Here are a few things – an exhibition, paper sample, letterpress journal, manual and book – that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Books received #23

10 October 2016

When War is Over, Drawn in Stereo, George McGovern & The Democratic Insurgents, The Big Adventure of a Little Line and Money

Here are a few books that caught our attention in recent weeks … each reviewed in no more than 140 characters.

Books received #22 (EDA special)

15 September 2016

Oldřich Hlavsa, Fairy Tales, FBA: O design gráfico como prática de clarificação, Carved Names and El Protectorado español en Marruecos

The 2016 European Design Awards drew submissions from all across Europe – Poland, Greece, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal and beyond (including the United Kingdom).

Noted #77

7 September 2016

Beer cans, Dutch Alphabets, the Global Synthesizer Project, An Anthology of Decorated Papers and Chanced Arm no. 2

Here are a few things – beer cans, books, a sound installation and a magazine – that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Optimistic tales and theories

2 September 2016

The ICON illustration conference in Texas had both practical pizzazz and academic depth. Roderick Mills, one of the speakers, reports

‘Tall Tales’, the ninth edition of the biennial ICON illustration conference was held in Austin, Texas last month, writes Roderick Mills.

The ultimate Ultrabold

27 August 2016

After ten eventful years, St Bride’s house magazine is on pause

The news that St Bride Foundation intends to cease publication of Ultrabold in its present form for the forseeable future is an opportunity to look back on a fruitful ten years, writes Ben Weiner.*

Image-making beyond style

17 August 2016

In Copenhagen this week: POST Design Festival – ‘a rallying cry for those who want design to serve society’

In October last year I met with illustrator Jody Barton over the coffee and pastries obligatory at any meeting here in Denmark, writes POST co-director Aideen McCole.

Encore for Curtain Call

11 August 2016

Ron Arad’s Roundhouse installation is an immersive 360-degree cinema for artists’ films

Ron Arad’s Curtain Call is part art installation, part immersive cinema, writes Janet South.

Noted #76

27 July 2016

Pureprint Works #4, Francesco Griffo, Beatrice Warde Scholarship winner Ania Wieluńska, London bus destination boards and Ghostbusters!

Here are a few things that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Fileteado Porteño – past and present

7 July 2016

A vernacular folk art has become synonymous with the visual identity of Buenos Aires. Gustavo Ferrari explains this extraordinary craft

Fileteado porteño is a traditional Argentinean artform, which began as simple decoration on the trade carts of bread, milk and vegetable sellers in the early twentieth century, writes Gustavo Ferrari.

What design didn’t do

30 June 2016

As a designer I feel guilty, says Marina Willer. Could we have done more to stop Brexit?

Twenty years ago, I chose to move from Brazil to London because it is the most diverse and cosmopolitan city in the world, writes Marina Willer.

Typeset in concrete

21 June 2016

Visual poetry crashes into the 21st century in all its brutal beauty. Jeremy Noel-Tod reviews The New Concrete (Hayward Publishing)

The original postwar ‘concrete poetry’ movement, with its aspiration to a utopian ‘supranational’ poetry of untranslatable symbolism, was characterised by an emphasis on type in white space: the flat material surface of ‘rigid, non-sensuous’ printed language, writes Jeremy Noel-Tod.

Noted #75

13 May 2016

I Like Birds in Trittau; Mucho’s Tenderloin; Cercle on Costumes and P98a Paper’s Zombies of Berlin

Here is a small selection of graphic design for galleries and museums and magazines that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Offset 2016: day three

29 April 2016

Studio Dumbar, Niall McInnery, Andy Ristaino, Úna Burke, McBess, Stephen Averill and Shaughn McGrath … and Seb Lester. Pam Bowman and Matt Edgar conclude their coverage of the Dublin Offset conference

By the Sunday morning at Offset 2016, more coffee is required, with several extra shots, but there is still a lot to look forward to, write Pam Bowman and Matt Edgar.

Remediation in Warsaw

4 April 2016

Posters aren’t dead, they’re just off the wall. David Crowley explains the thinking behind the forthcoming Warsaw International Poster Biennale

The Warsaw International Poster Biennale is 50 years old in June, writes David Crowley.

Relocation to Albertopolis

19 March 2016

Save the date! On 24 November 2016 the new Design Museum opens at the former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington

Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic yesterday announced the date – Thursday 24 November 2016 – for the somewhat delayed opening of the museum’s new home in Kensington.

The calm collector

24 February 2016

A new collection of Steve Hare’s writing demonstrates an erudite passion for the design and content of Penguin Books

The late Steve Hare (1950-2015) was one of those writers that every editor appreciates, writes John L. Walters.

Classic Collections – Back to the 90s

11 February 2016

Surf back down the information superhighway to a time when the World Wide Web was thrillingly new – with Eye nos. 14, 16, 23 & 25

Most early editions of Eye magazine are out of print. However a handful from the mid-to-late 1990s are still available from the Eye shop at ESco in Essex, and this bundle is an especially good bargain for magazine addicts.

Picture an orphan

7 February 2016

What do Luke Skywalker and Oliver Twist have in common? Clare Walters reviews Drawing on Childhood at the Foundling Museum

Given the perennial struggle against war, famine, disease and poverty, it is not surprising that many myths and fairy tales feature orphans, foundlings and fostered or abandoned children – think of Romulus and Remus, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Hansel and Gretel, writes Clare Walters.

Gutter press

21 January 2016

Nigel Ball on packaging graphics, ‘gutter share’ – and whether design blogs should be more sceptical about big brand news stories

As a design educator I need to keep on top of the latest developments, writes Nigel Ball, and a large aspect of this involves reading design blogs.

Warning cries

14 January 2016

Paul Rennie casts new light on RoSPA’s safety posters. Review of Safety First by Clare Walters

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) employed many of the best designers of the twentieth century to make its safety posters.

More design for eating

7 January 2016

Menu Design in America looks back at more than a century of visual and culinary history

There is something very satisfying about a menu. Whether it be the cutout of a pig just before delving into a pulled pork sandwich or a space age diner preparing you for some interstellar fry-up.

Classic Collections – On and Off the Wall

31 December 2015

A bundle of poster-themed back issues – 38, 46, 51 & 69

Eye magazine has often covered the changing nature of poster design and its place in the graphic design world.

Illustration as anthropology

4 December 2015

In Assembly Point, a new gallery space in Peckham, eleven illustrators take a critical approach to their practice

This exhibition of contemporary illustrators is a serious affair, writes Colin Davies.

West End mags and East End zines

18 November 2015

The BSME’s upcoming event ‘Indie Mag Madness’ is a chance to hear from some of the best people making and distributing indie magazines today

Next Monday the BSME (The British Society of Magazine Editors) will hold its first ever event on the subject of indie magazines. Speakers include David Lane (The Gourmand), Cathy Olmedillas (Anorak), Rob Orchard (Delayed Gratification), David Jenkins (Little White Lies) and Steve Watson of Stack, the indie mag subscription company.

Noted #71

3 November 2015

TPTQ Arabic; Frank; FS Brabo by Fontsmith; Typomad 2015; New Perspectives in Typography; The Eric Gill Series

Typotheque’s Peter Biľak has announced the launch of TPTQ Arabic, a new type foundry dedicated to developing original high-quality Arabic typefaces and systems for bi-lingual typography.

Books received #16

26 October 2015

In Progress, Glyph*, Lago, Patternalia and Street Art Santiago

Here are a few books that have caught our attention in recent weeks.

Disappearing act

24 September 2015

The Graphic Workshop was a Boston artists’ collaborative, whose ‘Endangered Species’ poster series is celebrated in a current exhibition. By Paul Dobbs and Elizabeth Resnick

The Graphic Workshop was an artists’ collaborative in Boston that produced hundreds of remarkable silkscreen posters during a 22-year period, write Paul Dobbs and Elizabeth Resnick.

Books received #15

9 August 2015

Data Design; Mucho’s Sonia Delaunay catalogue; Alvin Langdon Coburn; and Irma Boom explores the cosmos with Olafur Eliasson

Here are a few more books that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Beyond selfish

13 May 2015

Could Selfiecity’s systems of visual analysis one day become a force for the common good?

‘Selfies’ are a cultural phenomenon, and it seems you cannot move for people taking them, writes Noel Douglas.

Noted #67

11 May 2015

Chineasy, The Happy Reader, Yellow, Brick and Puss Puss

Here are a few projects that have caught our attention in recent weeks.

Noted #66

24 March 2015

Gourmand Grotesque 777 & 888, 10x10, Type Team, PLINC and A Typographic Bestiary

Here are a few #TypeTuesday books, catalogues and specimens that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Offset 2015: day two

20 March 2015

Aisha Zeijpveld, Declan Shalvey, Steve Doogan, Tomi Ungerer, Veronica Ditting, Anders Eklind and Björn Engström, Chrissie Macdonald and Snask. Anna Kealey continues her coverage of the Dublin conference

Saturday’s illustration-heavy line-up at Offset welcomed artist, author and designer Tomi Ungerer, illustrator Chrissie Macdonald and creative agency Snask, among many others, to the stage, writes Anna Kealey.

Kemistry’s greatest hits

13 March 2015

Kemistry Gallery’s brief pop-up exhibition at Protein Studios gives visitors a chance to sample its quirky approach to design and graphic art

Kemistry Gallery occupied a small space in Shoreditch for ten years, and in that time, they showed a series of stimulating exhibitions.

Mounted, not sprayed

5 February 2015

International street artists ‘map their spaces’ on the walls of London’s Somerset House

‘Mapping the City’, featuring 50 artists, occupies the New Wing of Somerset House, a space in transition that features bare concrete floors, fireplaces in disrepair and unfinished stonework doorways, writes Sarah Snaith.

Mirror on the wall

21 January 2015

The global financial crisis sparked the creation of O Espelho (The Mirror) – a wall newspaper for the streets of Lisbon. By Rose Epple

The first appearance of the Portuguese wall newspaper O Espelho – on 12 November 2012 – was timed to coincide with Angela Merkel’s visit to Lisbon, writes Rose Epple.

Stepping into stories

16 January 2015

The Story Museum in Oxford celebrates the power of fiction with an exhibition that combines spoken word with photography and installation design

The Story Museum, which opened in 2014, occupies an unrefurbished building in the heart of Oxford and ‘26 Characters’ is its inaugural exhibition, writes Clare Walters.

Noted #65

31 December 2014

Noble Rot and OOMK magazines, the Redstone Press diary and two calendars in glorious colour

Here are a few things that caught our attention as 2014 crossfades into 2015.

Books received #11

7 November 2014

Paul Graham, Rian Hughes, Modern Toss, The Art of Noir and Nude’s take on underground graphics

Here are a few books that have caught our attention in recent weeks.

Type Tuesday: No end of print?

1 September 2014

Eye’s panel of printers, designers, photographers and publishers will talk about the past, present and future of printing this Tuesday evening at St Bride

The Type Tuesday event at St Bride Library in London (2 September 2014) is entitled ‘No end of print?’ and will include speakers from Calverts, New North Press, Kin, Pureprint and Hoxton Mini-Press, among many others.

Shouting from the library

31 July 2014

A review of 21 Revolutions by Elizabeth F. Beidler

21 Revolutions tells the story of Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL) through the eyes of 42 women – 21 artists and 21 writers – who have created work that responds to the Library’s unique collection of donated materials, writes Elizabeth F. Beidler.

Learning from L’Automàtica

24 July 2014

East London students attend a letterpress workshop with the Barcelona printing collective

The University of East London discarded its letterpress equipment years ago, like many UK-based higher education institutions, in favour of digital technology, writes Stephen Barrett.

C for century

1 May 2014

The exhibition ‘Century: 100 Years of Type in Design’ opens in New York

The ‘Century: 100 Years of Type in Design’ exhibition opens today at the AIGA National Design Center in New York.

Noted #59

14 April 2014

Le Petit Néant, The Pitchfork Review, Please Come to the Show, Mould Map and Typolitic, a new site for undergraduate work

Here is a selection of things – magazines, exhibitions, books and posters – that caught our attention in recent weeks.

Typographic freak-out

25 March 2014

Content Aware typography makes Adobe’s software ‘fail’ in the most interesting way

Content Aware Fill first appeared in Adobe Photoshop CS5, released in 2010, writes Tom Harrad.

Books received #7

17 March 2014

Pop Art Design, The Magazine 19, Punk 45, D&AD 2013 and REsolutions

Here are brief reviews of some titles that recently arrived at Eye’s Shoreditch office.

With a gun

20 January 2014

The Cuban OSPAAAL posters in Kemistry’s show pack a macho sense of déjà vu, says Colin Davies.

Walk into Kemistry’s OSPAAAL exhibition in Shoreditch and you might be hit by the Cuban posters’ familiarity – there’s a sense of déjà vu, writes Colin Davies.

Books Received #5

2 December 2013

Alphabet postcards, type geeks as ‘birders’, post-digital letterpress, understanding type basics and calligraphy

Here is a brief look at some type-oriented titles that recently arrived at Eye’s Shoreditch office.

Design city in a hurry

18 November 2013

Singapore’s graphic design story matches the city-state’s dramatic narrative, but this breathless overview leaves little time for reflection

In the introduction to Independence: The History of Graphic Design in Singpore since the 1990s, author Justin Zhuang quotes Deyan Sudjic, ‘design is the language that a society uses to create objects that reflect its purposes and values’, writes Steve Rigley.

Books received #4

1 November 2013

Biografiktion, Graffiti School, Travellers’ children, Tretchikoff, Soho divas and Xerography

Biografiktion (Nobrow Press, £18.99, $29.00) is a book of fictional stories about celebrities, set in comic book format.

Beasts and alphabets

16 October 2013

The work of Enid Marx links two new exhibitions about animals at Compton Verney in Warwickshire

For designers and illustrators with an interest in print-making there is much to see in two inter-related exhibitions at the beautiful (if rather remote) Compton Verney gallery in Warwickshire, writes Clare Walters.

Collaboratively speaking

14 October 2013

A report from day two of the AGI Open conference at London’s Barbican.

Day two of AGI Open kicked off with insights and wisdom about ‘collaborative practice’, write Pam Bowman and Matt Edgar.

A graphic tree-hug

10 October 2013

Pulp!, a 1989 newspaper devoted to trees, drew attention to green issues through art, illustration, writing and photography

Pulp! was a one-off, large-format newspaper published in 1989 to raise awareness of pressing green issues.

Eye 86 in transit

30 September 2013

Fresh off the rollers and over to the mailing house

The new issue, Eye 86, has been printed and is ready to be sent out to subscribers and bookstores around the world.

Books received #3

5 September 2013

For the Love of Letterpress, Brighton Swimming Club, the history of CGI, Blackletter and Thomas Heatherwick

Here is a brief look at some titles that arrived at Eye’s Shoreditch office in recent weeks.

Of mice and moquette

27 August 2013

Image-makers go Underground to seek inspiration for the outer surfaces of Oyster card holders

Outline Editions, in collaboration with Designjunction, have commissioned ten designers and illustrators – including Noma Bar, Kate Moross and James Joyce – to decorate some limited-edition Oyster card* holders in celebration of the 150th anniversary year of London Underground (whose first journey was in January 1863).

Dance, light and architecture

14 August 2013

New Movement Collective inhabits a disused space with dance, architecture, light and sound

The prospect of combining contemporary dance with architecture, light installation and sound is an enticing one – it recognises the natural relationship between body, sound, image and space, writes Sarah Snaith.

A mag for Bob

6 August 2013

88 magazine lovers have made this one-off newsprint publication for a good cause – raising money to support mag maven Bob Newman

Last March (2013), art director Bob Newman suffered an appalling accident in a swimming pool.

Noted #54

5 August 2013

Works That Work #2, Printed Pages #2, Desktop publishing, Presstival and some words for the London Design Festival

Here are a few publications and announcements that have grabbed our attention over the past week or so.

Ink on paper

1 August 2013

Francis Atterbury’s Hurtwood Press takes a high-tech approach to publishing short-run books for photographers, designers and artists

Francis Atterbury’s Hurtwood Press is a new kind of publisher with a old name, writes Andrew Robertson.

Books received #2

31 July 2013

After Butler’s Wharf from the RCA’s CWAD graduates, Vapourware, Tractor Boys, Map of Days and Abram Games’s Penguin covers

Riddle of the cube

23 July 2013

Established graphic designers struggle with the ‘white cube’ of a gallery space. How can emerging designers explain their work in the crowded environs of a graduate show?

Each year, graduating students of the Visual Communication course at the Royal College of Art are faced with the problem of their final graduate show, writes Jessica Morgan.

Best in show

17 July 2013

Design through a typographic lens – a report from the TDC Awards in New York by Doug Clouse

The Type Directors Club annual competition captures a portrait of design in our time through the lens of typography, writes Doug Clouse.

Books received

14 July 2013

The Roundel, quotes and quips, Various Small Books, interaction design and Unearthing

In the first of a new series of ‘Books received’ blog posts, here is a brief look at some titles that recently arrived at Eye’s Shoreditch office.