Monday, September 3, 2007
Day 351 - Icon, September issue
Bought latest issue - September - of one of my favorite mags: ICON. Wonderful cover. Inside, many "delicatessen". Also, they printed a large feature on kitsch, of course. Among many things to keep in mind, these words of Peter Saville - Icon's guest editor for this issue.
"Art, fashion, sex. These are what I would look for on the shelves of the newsagent, and they are inseparable to me. There's a reciprocal relationship between art and fashion and the aesthetics of sex. I grew up on 1970s Playboy and Penthouse, which led me to Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton. The disciplined aspect of eroticism parallels the discipline needed in design. We talk about convergence a lot now but unless things inform one another then I personally don't see the point. I don't see the point in art that doesn't in some way inform and influence the way we live. And that, I guess, is the designer element in me. Pop art was particularly important to me - it was the only art I knew".
So, who is this Peter Saville? For me, a guy that knows what he's talking about. I take his word... He is a designer.
"Ever since his first work for the fledgeling Factory Records in the late 1970s, PETER SAVILLE has been a pivotal figure in graphic design and style culture. In fashion and art projects as well as in music, his work combines an unerring elegance with a remarkable ability to identify images that epitomise the moment". This is the first phrase from Peter Saville's portrait written by Design Museum.
Link: http://www.designmuseum.org/design/peter-saville
And don't miss the next issue of ICON. They will have Giorgio Armani as guest editor.
"Ever since his first work for the fledgeling Factory Records in the late 1970s, PETER SAVILLE has been a pivotal figure in graphic design and style culture. In fashion and art projects as well as in music, his work combines an unerring elegance with a remarkable ability to identify images that epitomise the moment". This is the first phrase from Peter Saville's portrait written by Design Museum.
Link: http://www.designmuseum.org/design/peter-saville
And don't miss the next issue of ICON. They will have Giorgio Armani as guest editor.
Mr. Peter Saville - portrait by William SeldenSunday, September 2, 2007
Day 351 - New Magazines
Well, last week, the first issues of Romanian editions of Esquire and Harper's BAZAAR went on the market - published by Sanoma-Hearst Romania. First, Esquire cover is not "glossy", they opted for a matte finishing. Apart from this, the content of both two titles is 50% (Esquire) 90% (Bazaar) taken and translated from the English/American editions. In my opinion, Esquire arrived too late on the Romanian market and it will be very tough for them to catch-up. And Esquire means, above all, strong editorial content and this is another very tough task on the Romanian market, because they should start producing very quickly more original content. Anyway, the graphic concepts for both magazines are taken from original editions.BAZAAR is, in my opinion, completely futile on Romanian market, for the moment. We do not have that wealthy smart upper middle-class readership able to sustain this kind of high lifestyle.
The problem is that: all the Romanian editions of foreign glossy magazines - Elle, Cosmopolitan, FHM, Maxim, Playboy, Beau Monde - are not made for readership, but for winning as much advertising possible. Bazaar seems to make no exception from this wrong rule. If you don't win your readership, you don't have content so you can't gain that needful authority. But this is normal on a market where advertising companies are looking not for strong editorial content and authority, but only for circulation and the quality of print - they want to see their client's ads impeccably printed in a large number of copies. Nobody is thinking about the clever reader.
Esquire, on the other hand, have more Romanian original editorial content - well written - which is a good start.
The best magazine in Romania so far - in my opinion - is National Geographic, but this is an exception, because this is an unique formula working everywhere, being only about strong journalistic content.
So. Back to these two new editions: good graphic concepts, good quality of print. Something else is to be... expected. Both magazines have the same quality of product, but Esquire is far more better than BAZAAR in terms of editorial content.
Day 351 - Friends
Catrinel
Mr. Adrian Oianu, fashion designer, and his new friend - a 3 months female dog called Greta.Saturday, September 1, 2007
Day 349 - Autumn
1th of September 2007.
This year we had no winter.
Spring was like the Summer and the Summer was like hell.
At least, I enjoyed today a true, classic, traditional Autumn day
as I remember from my childhood.
Clouds, cold, rain, wind
and that unique smell blending together
all the fragrances of nature.
This year we had no winter.
Spring was like the Summer and the Summer was like hell.
At least, I enjoyed today a true, classic, traditional Autumn day
as I remember from my childhood.
Clouds, cold, rain, wind
and that unique smell blending together
all the fragrances of nature.