Text Appeal

Readers, writers, typographers, and printers take note. The 6th annual Text Ball—the lettered stepchild of Portland, Oregon's annual literary Wordstock Festival—will take place on October 1st at p:ear Gallery. The theme this year is In Poetic Fashion and it is a benefit for the non-profit Independent Publishing Resource Center in Portland which promotes literacy through DIY publishing. There will be live music by indie-folk heroine Laura Gibson and poetry readings, word games, giant crossword puzzles, dirty limerick challenges, a silent auction and more, including a parade of well-lettered fashions and prizes for the text-dressed. Come dressed as your favorite poem, book, letter, story, or word, enjoy the letterati and support a great cause. Advance tickets for $12 can be purchased here or $15 at the door.
      The photo above is last year's grand prize winner for Best Text, Erica Hijazi. She constructed a fashionable bow from a 1939 Williamette College newpaper she unearthed while picking up a VCR purchased on Craigslist. Soooo Portlandia! Her date wore a tie constructed from the same newspaper.

Mark Anen came dressed as a Government G-Man.

Aimee Pedretti's vision of Hell was Dante's Inferno.

Runner-up for Most Literary is writer and author Myrlin Hermes, featuring the entire text of Shakespeare's Sonnet 129: "The expense of spirit in a waste of shame is lust in action..."
::All photos from the last year's text-dressed are taken by Georgia Perry.

Lunch With Mrs. O

Addressed to Hoefler & Frere-Jones who received this invitation in the mail yesterday for their recognition as National Design Award finalists. (I wonder if the lunch menus will be using Gotham). H&FJ were not the only distinguished type design award recipients this year. Matthew Carter received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his profound and long-term contribution to the contemporary practice of design. Prolific design author and editor Steven Heller was also recognized for the Design Mind Award given to a visionary who has effected a paradigm shift in design thinking or practice through writing, research and scholarship. R∙E∙S∙P∙E∙C∙T

Director's Cut of the 10th Annual Wayzgoose

This is just a backstage glance of the 10th annual Wayzgoose and Steamroller Smackdown at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle this past weekend. It was a very festive atmosphere with music by the twin Canote Brothers, colorful costumes, bagpipers, a bicycle-powered juice bar, swap meet, printing and a marketplace of books and ephemera for sale. Far more photos, people and posters can be seen on the Letterpress at SVC Flickrstream, including the winning entry from Modern Dog which you can see here. They got points for technical difficulty with the stencil registration. See the actual awards here.

This year's keepsake was designed by master wood engraver, Carl Montford. Carl and his printers' devils assisted guests with printing their own personal copy on the school's iron hand press.  

Poster entry from my former students at the Seattle Central Creative Academy who have no problem ridiculing freaky fonts. 

SVC poster design by Jenny Wilkson and her printer devils.

Hanging in the print studio was this Characters from the Wood Engraver's Network poster, courtesy of Carl Montford.

Justin LaRosa of Physical Fiction and his very fun LegoPrints.

In the SVC print studio.

Ten-color press sheet for cover of literary magazine Filter Vol. No. 3 designed by Kate Fernendez. Attached is this note: This is the best thing ever. Yes, Yes it is.

Team Turnstyle prepares to make a good first impression.

This Week On N and C F.

TCM, is continuing "Summer Under The Stars" this week with:

Joan Crawford- August 22nd. After an absence of nearly two years from the screen, Crawford staged a comeback by starring in Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1955, she became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company through her marriage to company Chairman Alfred Steele. After his death in 1959, Crawford was elected to fill his vacancy on the board of directors but was forcibly retired in 1973. She continued acting in film and television regularly through the 1960s.

Conrad Veidt- August 23rd. Was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), The Man Who Laughs (1928), The Thief of Bagdad (1940) and Casablanca (1942). After a successful career in German silent film, where he was one of the best paid stars of Ufa, he left Germany in 1933 with his new Jewish wife and settled in the United Kingdom, where he participated in a number of films before continuing to the United States around 1941.

Joan Blondell- August 24th. Establishing herself as a sexy wisecracking blond, she was a Pre-code staple of Warner Brothers and appeared in more than 100 movies and television productions. She was most active in films during the 1930s, and during this time she co-starred with Glenda Farrell in nine films, in which the duo portrayed gold-diggers. Blondell continued acting for the rest of her life, often in small character roles or supporting television roles. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Blue Veil (1951).

Burt Lancaster- August 25th. Lancaster was nominated four times for Academy Awards and won once — for his work in Elmer Gantry in 1960. He also won a Golden Globe for that performance and BAFTA Awards for The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) and Atlantic City (1980). His production company, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, was the most successful and innovative star-driven independent production company in Hollywood of the 1950s, making movies such as Marty (1955), Trapeze (1956), and Sweet Smell of Success (1957).

Peter Lawford- August 26th. He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting. In his earlier professional years (late 1930s through the 1950s) he had a strong presence in popular culture and starred in many films.

Linda Darnell- August 27th. Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s. She rose to fame with co-starring roles opposite Tyrone Power in adventure films and established a main character career after her role in Forever Amber (1947). Furthermore, she won critical acclaim for her work in Unfaithfully Yours (1948) and A Letter to Three Wives (1949).

Carole Lombard- August 28th. "Queen of the 1930s screwball comedies, she personified the anxiety of a nervous age. Graham Greene praised the "heartbreaking and nostalgic melodies" of her faster-than-thought delivery. Platinum blond, with a heart-shaped face, delicate , impish features and a figure made to be swathed in silver lame, she wriggled expressively through such classics of hysteria as Twentieth Century and My Man Godfrey."

"Article of the Week" From Backlots Movie Review: The Women. Lara, posts about all your favorite films, and some you might be less familiar with.

Cary Grant and Betsy Drake

The Cary Grant: Cherry Delight Smoothie.
1 apple, quartered and cored
1 pear, quartered and cored
20oz. cherries, stoned

JUICE the APPLE, PEAR and CHERRIES
together. POUR into a glass over ICE. Enjoy. :)



Graphic created by Craig.
Blame Mame Blog.

Noir and Chick Flicks, was honored with 2 "Irresistibly Sweet Blog Awards". One from Patty and the other from Caftan Woman, for Saddles and Spurs: The Great Western Page. Thank you very much.

I do have a honorable mention http://classic-film-tv.blogspot.com/. This blog will always be special to me. This is the blog that helped me get started with having my own, Classic Movie Blog. Rick, is always there to help me with any blogging problems that pop up, including misspellings. :) I dunno... if Rick is into receiving awards, so.. I will just offer him a piece of Strawberry Short Cake, as thank you for always being there for all of us bloggers..

N and CF sources are listed below:

Pictures from:
doctom666@cfu/tcm
Bing Images.com

Fun Facts from:
IMDb
TCM

Book!s and More

Silkscreened title on cover of Book!s, designed by John Alcorn. Below are 4 interior pages.

I have no idea of the name of this funny words font from Books!, but I'll just call it Sixties Hallmark Card. Much of the Hallmark greeting card style of that era was heavily influenced by the Push Pin Studio culture which John Alcorn helped to create.

John Alcorn (1935-1992) is a member of an exclusive league of gifted illustrators who happen to also excel at design and typography, and his career crossed many varied paths. He worked briefly at Esquire magazine before joining the celebrated Push Pin Studios team of Milton Glaser, Seymour Chwast, Edward Sorel and Reynold Ruffins in 1956 and left his indelible mark on much of the Push Pin published works. In 1958 he joined Lou Dorfsman at CBS where he helped to define the brand of the iconic CBS eye logo. His accomplishments in the publishing world were many, including dozens of book cover designs for Rizzoli in Milan, and his playful, invented letterforms and illustrations adorned many children's books. In 1962 he illustrated and designed Murray McCain's book, Books!, which was selected as one of the AIGAs best fifty books of the year (50 Books | 50 Covers) in 1963. This book was followed up in 1964 with the children's book, Writing! In addition to book design, he went on to design posters and opening credits for several of Federico Fellini's legendary films. 
      Clearly, Alcorn helped to define much of the graphic look of the 1960s and 70s, influencing everyone from Mad Men advertisers, album cover designers, Hallmark card artists and numerous magazine art directors. Even Peter Max seemingly found inspiration in his work. He's not alone—as a young artist in the 60s, I myself, can recall being heavily influenced by Alcorn's flamboyant style as well—yet I never knew who to credit until now. Not until I picked up the book, Books! and did a little google-sleuthing, and I'm glad I did. Below are more images of his work, but you really must visit the John Alcorn Gallery archive to see far more. However, don't leave there without taking a look at this 1956 photo.

From Jan Wahl's book, Pocahontas in London, 1967, Delacorte Press.
::Via Oange's Flickrstream

John Alcorn's ironic instructions on how to create a Dadaist poem. Published in the Push Pin Graphic, No. 11, December 1957. Coincidentally, I came across a similar concept in a video on Beat poet and writer William Borroughs this past week.
::Via the Container List: Milton Glaser Archives.

The Push Pin Monthly Graphic cover, About Fishing issue, 1957.
::Via Animalarium

Poster design for Fellini's 1973 film, Amarcord.
::Via VinMag

A New blogger Friend has awarded N and CF with the "Liebster Award."

My new blogger friend Craig from http://blamemameblog.blogspot.com/ has honored Noir and Chick Flicks with the "Liebster Award!". Graig created his beautiful blog, May 31, 2011. All the amazing graphics on his blog are created by Craig himself. He loves Rita Hayworth's performance in the film Gilda, and named his blog after her character.

In German and Spanish Liebster means "beloved". This blog award started in Germany and has made its way all the way over here. It was meant to highlight blogs with less than 30 followers.

The only rules for this award are to link back to my blog and pay it forward by nominating five of your favorite blogs! Craig, has given me the rare opportunity to share more of my favorite blogs.

Twentyfour Frames. Very well written blog, you will also enjoy all the beautiful pictures.
http://via-51.blogspot.com/ Clara, always writes entertaining articles, it will soon be one of your favorite blogs.
Film Noir Photos. This blogger, has extensive personal collection of beautiful classic movie pictures. This blog is beautifully presented.
Hollywood Revue. I have just recently started to read this very entertaining blog. Angela's, favorite types of classic films include: silents, pre-codes, musicals, film noir, comedy, and 1960s European films. She is also writes about super campy B-movies.
Flying DownTo Hollywood. Sally, loves classic movies, musicals, mysteries, family films, and romantic comedies with happy endings.

"The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award".

Thank you to Monty over at "All Good Things Blogspot" for passing the "The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award", to N and CF. Here is the link to Monty's awesome blog... All Good Things Blogspot.  Monty, did an amazing job on this years "best actress and best actor tournaments. He deserves many awards for all his hard work.

Here are the rules:

1) Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
2) Share 7 random facts about yourself.
3) Pass the award to 12 of your blogging buddies.
4) Notify the recipients

7 Random facts about me:

1. The economy has changed our families way of life forever, but... we have reinvented ourselves and are hoping for a bright future.
2. You may or may not know that we have a 7 month old Tri color pocket Beagle, named Winslow. We get our exercise at a beautiful park every morning. Winslow, has not met a stranger...
3. I grew up in Calif. but, now live in AZ. and Sedona is my favorite vacation spot.
4. I'm an avid Gardner and I grew the largest (for me) okras this year, ever.
5. I started watching classic movies for the first time in my late 40's. I believe that my first classic movie was, "Meet Me in St Louis".
6. My favorite food is smoothies and I'm always trying to put together new flavor combos. Broccoli and pineapple tastes great together..
7. I love to travel and have been to 25 different states..

For my compete list of favorite blogs, please check Noir and Chick Flicks side bar. If you find a "new to me" blog. Please click and check it out..you may find a new blog friend.  :)

1. A Person in the Dark
http://flickchick1953.blogspot.com/ who has a beautiful blog and a passion for silents, early talkies, all stars and all films. She is about to celebrate her first year anniversary with some wonderful new ideas for posts.

2. All Good Things. 
http://poohtiger-allgoodthings.blogspot.com/ Monty, loves to talk about movies and believes movies are one of the best pleasures in life. Monty, covers all genres: comedy, action, horror, sci-fi, drama, musicals, etc.

3. And Then They Start To Sparkle.
http://andthentheystartsprkling.blogspot.com/  You can tell Irene loves classic Hollywood and does a wonderful job sharing her love for classic movies.

4. Caftan Woman.
 http://caftanwoman.blogspot.com/  Is a Canadian woman of a certain age, who is loving life and has a wonderul blog about classic movies.

5. Pfeiffer Pfilms And Meg Movies.
 http://pfeifferpfilmsandmegmovies.blogspot.com/ Paul, lives in Italy and is a huge fan of Michelle Pfeiffer and Meg Ryan. So... if you are a Ryan or Pfeiffer fan, you may want to check out his wonderful blog.

6. The Girl with the White Parasol.
http://thegirlwiththewhiteparasol.blogspot.com/ If you like the Classic Cinema of the, 1930-1965, and enjoy reviews, costumes, movie trailers, movie lists and "more stars than there are in the heavens." of the Golden era, this blog is for you.

7. Fedoras and High Heels.
http://fedorasandhighheels.blogspot.com/  If you love old movies, classic television shows, vintage fashion, and almost anything from the '30s, '40s, '50s, and '60s. You will want to see what Fedoras has to share with all of us classic movie fans. .

8. ClassicBecky's Brain Food.
http://classicbeckybrainfood.blogspot.com/ Becky says, that movies and books have shaped who she is and her well written blog helps her celebrate the best of both worlds. Sometimes, she will spotlight the worst of both, just for fun. You will love Becky's sense of humor..

9. Distant Voices and Flickering Shadows.
http://distant-voicesandflickering-shadows.blogspot.com/ from jazz age music to new wave films. This blog will take your  imaginations to that 1920s Hollywood nightclub or that side street bistro in 1950s Paris. Sit back, and enjoy your stay at this very well written blog site.

10. Olivia and Joan: Sisters of the Silver Screen.
http://oliviajoan.blogspot.com/ This blog is intended to be a celebration of the films and careers of living legends Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. This blog is beautifully put together.

11.The Amazing Deanna Durbin Blogspot.
 http://amazingdeanna.blogspot.com/ Tom, has put together this amazing tribute to Deanna Durbin. I have learned so much about this talented actress from the 30s and 40s.

12.And...scene!
http://2009and-scene.blogspot.com/ This blog is a very entertaining journal of Sarah's classic film adventures. You can tell she really loves classic movies.

BIOgraphy of a Book

Sarah Bryant, of the Big Jump Press in Aurora, NY has been receiving all sorts of honors for her new book, Biography. Already she has received the award for Artistic Excellence at the Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair this past November and most recently, the top MCBA Prize from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts last month.

      In her book Biography, Bryant has performed a sort of a visual information graphic in a narrative form that tells the story of our chemical make-up by way of the Table of Periodic Elements. She describes it as "an examination of the chemical elements in the human body and the roles they play elsewhere in the world. This book grew out of my desire to use the periodic table, our visual method of categorizing every particle of matter in the universe, as a tool for creating a portrait of a human being." Each element in Biography is identified as a specific colored rectangle and these rectangles gradually reoccur in diagrams which describe what we are made of, what we are similar to and where we originate. As her book progresses, it becomes apparent that these same elements are also in everything we make including weaponry, medicines, and tools. The diagrams are somewhat difficult to decode as the book continues, until the many colors fade and are interrupted by blind embossed organic shapes near the end. 

      Biography was letterpress printed in 2010 with polymer plates on Zerkall paper. It is bound as a hard cover drumleaf binding and enclosed in a clamshell box in an edition of 75. Numbers 1 through 10 are available as a deluxe edition which you can see below. I had an opportunity to view this book last Fall and it blew me away. Not only did Bryant do a masterful job of printing and binding, but her concept, typography and design are very thoughtfully produced. I suspect there will be many more honors in her future. Look for more information about Sarah Bryant and Biography at Big Jump Press or at Vamp & Tramp Booksellers. You might also enjoy visiting the MCBA site which has posted an online gallery featuring many of the other entries and the other finalists in their recent juried competition. 

A Special Liebster Blog Award From A Special Blogger.

Movie blogger Becky, http://classicbeckybrainfood.blogspot.com/ has chosen N and CF as one of her five for a special award. "Liebster" in German and Spanish means "beloved". She says that this award began in Germany. What beautiful name for an award which I am very honored to receive from Becky.

Rules of the award:

You can copy this introduction, or make up your own. Link back here to my blog. Then pick five other blogs to be given the award. You should not include my blog as a favorite. Now..  I'm to choose only five, so here are my picks:

http://thrillingdaysofyesteryear.blogspot.com/ Ivan, writes so many great articles about classic films and TV and knows a lot about of the Golden Age of radio. He also shares very cute stories about his family's movie-watching experiences.

http://classicmoviesnippets.blogspot.com/ Patti, writes many wonderful posts about her favorite classic movies that she hopes will never fade away with time. Patti, truly feels that, "Hollywood just doesn't make 'em like they used to!!!" I know, that you will enjoy your visit on Patti's blog.


http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/ I know... I have given Eve a "beautiful blog" award last year, but.. she always amazes me with all the wonderful knowledge she has on "Classic Movies of the Golden Age".  Also.. I do not want to forget to mention the fun contests that she sponsors on her blog.

http://mythicalmonkey.blogspot.com/  A Mythical Monkey, has a wonderful sense of humor and writes many interesting articles about classic movies from the silent era and the Golden Age. But most importantly, he believes that "There's a little monkey in all of us!"


http://www.shebloggedbynight.com/  You will find humor, in her wonderful journey through her favorite classic movies from the silent era and the Golden Age. She also loves to focus on lesser-known and hard to find films. You will enjoy the ride back in time.


I have over 50 favorite blogs.. so, it was a very hard choice for me to pick only five. For my compete list of favorite blogs, please check Noir and Chick Flicks side bar. If you find a "new to me" blog. Please click and check it out..you may find a new blog friend. Thanks :)

Student Scholarship Winners!

Bookbuilders West, a non-profit organization for publishing professionals based in San Francisco just announced this year's scholarship awards for student book designs which are submitted from eligible students across 13 Western states. My students Joe Uccello and Kevin Cox took top prizes. Joe takes home the grand prize of $1000 for his H.P. Lovecraft book Pilgrimage to Azothoth, to cap the winning streak of 5 years in a row for my book design course (aka Typography III) at the Seattle Central Creative Academy. It is indeed a well-deserved honor for both of these guys. Kevin took the honorary Steve Rennick memorial award of $500 for his book The Call of Cthulhu. Interestingly, this is sort of a "Lovecraft Fest" as both of these books are make-overs of two H.P. Lovecraft texts, but their interpretations are very diverse. I couldn't be more proud of each of them for their impressive efforts. An evening reception will be held in San Francisco in honor of all 5 of the award recipients later next month.
       Both recent graduates are very diligent workers and comprehend the rewards of fine typographic etiquette as it applies to books. Joe is probably the most passionate book design and typography student I have had in my 6 years of teaching this course and the only student who came to me with intentions of self-publishing his book project. His intentions are to continue self-publishing books under his own press name of The Viatorium Press and to pursue other print and ePub work in the book design industry. I originally wrote a feature on Joe's book earlier this month, just after he showed me a completed edition of it. He began concepting this book long before my class last Fall, and it proved to be a pilgrimage to the end. Originally he wanted it to be a landscape format as it felt more like a travel journal or guide one would take on a long journey. Many variations of it were made before deciding upon the small, portrait format that fits nicely in the hand. In the end, he had the first 2 copies in his edition of 46 books (Lovecraft lived only to age 46) bound in black goat skin with red inlay on the spine and gold foil stamped on 3 sides. Sewn into the front matter, is an 11x19" letterpressed folding plate he printed on Rives paper explaining the eight kufic designs he illustrated for each station of the pilgrimage. As Lovecraft's writings are in the public domain, Joe intends to eventually sell copies of this edition on his website here.

Kevin is a very self-motivated and assured young designer with excellent typography and technical skills and needs little guidance. His design and illustrations for Cthulhu took shape very quickly. His only regret was being unable to stain the head, foot, and fore edge pages of his book black, but he was pressed for time. Even without, his book is a remarkable study in black and white and it's a deserving choice for the Steve Rennick memorial award, named after the highly regarded book designer formerly at the University of California Press.
       My apologies for some redundancy of photos in recent posts, but I'm dang proud of these guys—and all of my students who struggled so hard to get this far. Once again, my sincere gratitude goes out to InDesign teacher Chris Sullivan for his tireless instruction, to illustration instructor Claire Cowie for her thoughtful guidance and to Bonnie Thompson Norman for her bookbinding direction. And thank you to all of the volunteers and supporters at Bookbuilders West for organizing such a meaningful event. Books can and do change lives.