I just happened to stumble upon a book that is so close to my heart that I’m in it.
YES YES YES Alternative Press / 1966-1977 From Provo to Punk is a massive volume based on a 2015 exhibition of posters designed by artists, international designers who were influenced by the alternative and underground press scene between 1966 and 1977. The collection includes magazines, important contributions and texts given and written by people who have been directly involved in that process, including James Herod (Liberated Guardian), David Goines (San Francisco Express Time), me (Screw, The New York Free Press) and John Wilcock (Village Voice, Underground Press Syndicate). We provide commentary about how far to drill before finding the real underground.
The collection goes from Dutch Provo publications and their influence in Europe, to the British scene, and the wide American scenario of East and West Coast—”the research especially focuses on aspects of graphic design of a wide hidden publishing scene which has been mainly analyzed, until now, from the political and countercultural point of view.”
Dallas, Dexter Sinister, Experimental Jetset, Will Holder, Pauline Kerleroux & Adéla Svobodová, Prill Vieceli Cremers, Studio Hato and Batia Suter will design specific limited-edition posters produced with local printmaking labs.
The 500-page catalog was published by VIAINDUSTRIAE publishing and a+m bookstore edizioni. COLLI Independent Art Gallery, where the original exhibition took place, is a space for contemporary art in Rome, dedicated to printed matter, book works, editions and multiples. The structure is divided into three main areas: the art space that hosts the exhibition programs, the publishing platform (practical library), a collaborative tool for publishing and co-editing research projects, and the bookstore.
The Spring 2016 issue takes a dive into the largest design capital of the world: New York City. Get an exclusive look into the lives of design celebrities–from James Victore to Timothy Goodman, Jessica Walsh to Stefan Sagmeister. And then ask yourself: what makes a designer a celebrity? And is there a difference between “celebrity” and “fame?”
All of this PLUS the winners of the Typography & Lettering Awards, the history of Helvetica and a sneak peek at Seymour Chwast’s next exhibit.