Actor, Lover, Idealist ... Assassin. Oh, And Also A Very Tiny Image on this Huge Ugly Poster: A Study In Victorian Design

Colleen AF Venable
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:54:22 -0500

Sometimes when I'm in the mood to make my brain explode I'll get caught up wondering how trends happen in design. Was there someone who started it who will never get credit? Did one trend flow and morph into the next, though stepping back they seem so different? Like who was the first person to put a portion of a face on a cover—a major trend so apparent in teen books. (Though it started as the side of the face, then the top half of the face, then jumped down to feet, and is now settling somewhere along the midsection with a lot of headless torso books. If we keep this up one day photographs of elbows on teen covers will be all the rage. Who doesn't love elbows?! They are very relatable. Most people have them and use the almost every day.)

It's easier to understand how trends happen now. Information gets passed along on the internet so fast that if you stop paying attention for five minutes the world spins twice. While it's still really hard to find the genesis, at least the progression of ideas are visible. People liking and linking and stumbling and digging and retweeting and meme'ing and a whole lot of other words that were nonsense sounds until recently. I am happy to say this blog post on origins of trends made me finally learn the name and origin of a very influential modern figure: Keyboard Cat. His real name is FATSO and the footage is from 1984 taken by a man who prides himself in his ability to "nose dance." Sometimes the internet tells me things I don't really want to know.

But that's today with our modern technology, so how did trends flow before there were mass communication systems? How did a movement of art and design work its way from one side of the world to the next overwhelming paintings, architecture, furniture design, advertising... In particular I've been thinking a lot about Victorian design, surely one of the oddest movements in all of design history.

Victorian design is generally looked down upon by many modern creators. It was a product of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of a middle class that had never before existed, plus the means to produce products quicker and easier for general consumption. People were proud of their new riches and were quite quick to flaunt, both in purchases and presentation. Consumerism and advertising were truly born in the Victorian age.

Steven Heller and Seymour Chwast say it best in GRAPHIC STYLE: "Victorian taste was confused by the belief that ornamentation and design were identical functions." Typographers cringe as Victorian letters in a variety of hastily hand created styles are thrown together in ads. "Didn't have a g? Well an upside b works quite as well!...um right?" During this time there was also little regard for the power of pictures. They believed that words were the true way to express an idea and promote a product or message. Instead it was all about ornamentation. How can you make the type stand out? "Why with borders, banners, generic pointing fingers can make sure you notice those words," sayth the Victorian ad creators. "I'm pretty sure there's no way people could find it distracting or confusing or overdone. More leaves! We need MORE LEAVES!"

Sure it's gaudy, and sure it's over-the-top and completely defeating its purpose of getting a message across quickly, but I have to say there is such a place in my heart for Victorian design. It was made out of such innocence in many ways, people really excited the world was changing and really wanting to show off how great they were doing. Just like ads, architecture and furniture design valued ornateness over function, but even though most victorian chairs are about as comfy to sit on as a velvet covered slab of concrete, I've always found them so beautiful to look at.

Thanks to a great retelling of a historical moment, I was given the chance to really dive into the world of the Victorian age for BOOTH, a book by C.C. Colbert and illustrated by Tanitoc. It tells the story before and after the Lincoln assassination, but this time following John Wilkes Booth, his motives, his passions, and his faults. The book is difficult to read because through most of it you find yourself thinking of Booth as a charming character, a ladies man, a hearthrob, trapped in his older brother's shadow, someone who had a belief (a misguided one) and who stood by it. The charm is a trick and the moments when his true character come forth hit you in the stomach where you go "OHMIGOD! I can't believe I wanted him to get the girl! He's a horrible racist, womanizer, and jerk!" It's an odd thing to read a book where the protagonist is so very flawed and horrible, but yet you can see why so many people were swayed by his charisma.

I wanted to integrate some of what I find beautiful in Victorian design, but try to keep the book from going over the top. Along with Calista, our fearless editor, we decided to create interstitials for each chapter. Not only did it offer an opportunity to create suspense within the story, but it gave me a fun design challenge. How do you create a Victorian page that doesn't distract when, by nature, Victorian design wants to be over-the-top? What I wound up with was a hand-drawn frame, painstakingly mimicked from a traditional Victorian one but with slight variations in line, unevenness in stroke, and variations in size—all in an effort to call back the little imperfections that gave Victorian design its charm. I combined each frame with a small piece of spot art from the chapter ahead. Tiny image with ornate surroundings, just this time missing that silly pointing finger.

The thing that makes BOOTH so striking in my eyes is the contrast between these deep brown pages and the gorgeous colors for the book. The colorist Hilary Sycamore did such a phenomenal job. She created a variety of palettes each based on the mood and location of each scene. The result reflects back upon this era of people determined to put on a face of eloquence through ornamentation. Bright pink scenes of posh Victorian life, often taking place the drawing rooms and ballrooms of the rich, contrasting the yellows and oranges of the seedier settings, the brothels and bars where the conspirators laid their plans. And then the scenes in the theater...dark, moody blues with thick blacks...and only the slightest bits of red. Haunting red.





The full cover is above, since I love to see it that way, and wonder how many people really look at books the way I actually create them onscreen. Below is an even more fasinating study...Booth's actual WANTED Poster. Note the ridiculous changes in text, the pointing finger that makes $100,000 have to be a smaller type than $50,000, and the fact they forget to mention Booth's name specifically as the Murderer. Or should I say THE........MURDERER.

Get to know Victorian Design!
Here are some of my favorite entries and collections of images:
HEADACHE PILLS! (also proof that some type in this era was actually quite stunning and well-done by any modern standards) 
BABIES SHAVING! (for some reason, this does seem safe to me) AND CUCUMBER THEFT!
JELL-O IN VEGETABLE COLOR!
A GREAT STUDY ON PUNCH MAGAZINE...okay so that one wasn't that funny, but this is a great article on a magazine which many modern illustrators thank for the rise of this form of art being taken more seriously...and we like that very much.

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NCTE

gina gagliano
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:36:06 -0500

NCTE is this weekend!

First Second is at booth #511 (with our august parent company, Roaring Brook Press).  If you're in town (the relevant town in this case would be Philadelphia, PA), stop by, say hi. 

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Alan's War

gina gagliano
Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:34:35 -0500

It's Veteran's Day today. 

In honor of the day, here is a link to our favorite review of Alan's War. 

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Comics at the Miami Book Fair

gina gagliano
Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:47:18 -0500

Comics?  At the Miami Book Fair?

If that's what you're saying, clearly you have not read this week's Publisher's Weekly article about the festival's growing comics program. 

Of particular interest to First Second readers: James Sturm will be there, doing a multiplicity of events on Friday and Saturday. 

There are two comics art exhibits up at the festival: one, The Color of Comics, includes art by Gene Yang, from American Born Chinese.  The other exhibit is based on our Spring 09 book The Photographer, showcasing the art and photography that the book combines so well. 

If you're in Miami, you should definitely go and check it out!  You can find a schedule of their events online here.

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Quote of the Day

gina gagliano
Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:52:05 -0400

"Gird your word-swords, writers."

Today's quote of the day comes from Margaret Atwood.  It is technically the quote of yesterday, since this was part of Margaret's speech at the Whiting Awards last night.  Most excellent imagery, is it not?

Congratulations to all the Whiting Award winners, especially Adam Johnson, who (as well as running the Stanford Graphic Novel Project) writes wonderful strange and peculiar stories. 

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Rob Steen has monsters in his head...

Mark Siegel
Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:24:39 -0400

... and on his drawing table!

Fun stuff: http://robsteen.blogspot.com/

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Hiding Under the Covers (well, really "Jackets," but that doesn't make as good a blog title)

Colleen AF Venable
Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:59:00 -0400

Fun Game for all you Design Dorks out there (a title I proudly wear like a Girl Scout badge I stapled on since I was way too Grrrl and lazy to sew)!

Pull out all of the jacketed books on your bookcase and one by one peek underneath. To make it even more interesting try to guess whether there will be anything hiding—be it art, a subtle emboss, some foil, or a water stain from that time you fell asleep reading it in the bathtub (NOTE: that last one doesn't count...and seriously if the book was that boring why do you still own it?) Guessing is like calling the eight ball for people who's coordination lies more in kerning than in cues. You'll be surprised which ones have little hidden gems. Surely that $50 collector's edition you scrapped up enough money for at the very end of a convention will, right? NOPE! But winds up that cheesy Phyllis Diller book someone bought you as a joke is hiding a gorgeous embossed green foil design. Who woulda guessed it? They say you can't judge a book by its cover but this seems to prove you can't judge a case by its jacket either.

:01 doesn't often do jacketed hardcover books, preferring fancy french flaps and keeping the price of full color books a bit less "ak! I must now move to a cardboard box!," so when I see a beautiful case treatment I can't help but drool.

Here are some of my favorites hiding in my bookcases (click on the images for larger views):

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame and Dick Cuffari. The cover image is um...weird to say the least. Weird in a way I utterly love. As we all know Mr. Toad gets carried away. Quite literally. Beautiful line-art of Toad slightly more sane underneath as he brushes his...hair?

If you have yet to see a Laura Vaccaro Seeger book in person and care anything at all about book design you MUST get to a bookstore or library right now. Seriously don't even finish this sentence. She is, without a doubt, the modern master of the concept book and a true genius when it comes to playing with interaction between jackets and cases. FIRST THE EGG (which was a stunning cover before all those awards it had to go and win—geez Laura!) is probably my favorite reveal of hers as the chicken and the egg swap places, while still sharing the same beautiful paint through a clever die-cut.

One I did guess right was that Istvan Banyai's THE OTHER SIDE would have something amazing on the other side. So many little touches of brilliance here, but my fav would have to be the back flap with the author facing the wrong way. Take off the jacket and see the author's face...plus all of the text from the outside backwards as if it bled right through.

Okay this is one you MUST click on to get the full effect. Jason Lutes and Nick Bertozzi's HOUDINI THE HANDCUFF KING has some stunning hidden artwork under that cover continuing where the front image left off and escaping once again.

At the risk of making this entry give WAR AND PEACE a run for its money here's a gallery of my other favorites. I'd love to hear what books you find on your bookcases that have gorgeous hidden art. Feel free to comment below or just friend us on flickr and post them there silently if you are feeling shy.

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Why we should be teaching comics: wherein I preach to the choir

Calista Brill
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:43:18 -0400

First, thanks to John Hogan at Graphic Novel Reporter for getting the word out about Reading With Pictures, a new not-for-profit organization working to get comics into classrooms and to make resources on comics literacy available for educators and researchers. This is a huge and very necessary undertaking, and I can't think of anyone better suited to head it up than Josh Elder, Peter Gutiérrez, David Rapp, and John Shableski. (Katie Doland, Director of Operations, I don't know you, but I hope I will soon!)

You can help support this project in a number of ways, but for starters, how about you head on over to IdeaBlob.com, and vote for this project to win a $10,000 grant! Go, register, vote! I understand voting ends tonight at midnight, so don't delay.

This excellent project got me thinking, a little, about what it means to teach (with) comics. I don't claim to know much about the pedagogical or developmental advantages of getting kids comfortable with the language of comics. I'd be shocked to learn that there aren't a number of them, but I'm no expert.

But what I am an expert in, like many of you, is reading and loving comic books. And that's in large part possible because I've been reading comics since before I could read. I probably learned the language of comics - the visual idioms and rules of order and symbolism and meaning - before I learned to read my spoken language of English. I can't remember a time when I have not felt utterly comfortable diving into a well-written, well-ordered page of comics; I love that feeling of being in harmonious communication with the creator of a comic.

It's easy for me to take this for granted, because so many of the people I spend my time with - friends, co-workers, and family - are in the same boat: comics-literate and comics-loving. We speak a common language, and view the world through rosy, speech-balloon-shaped glasses in which comics naturally take their place in the pantheon of the arts along with poetry, music, painting, dance, etc. Obviously in the context of American society at large we aren't there yet, but in my little personal microcosm, we sure as heck are.  

Which is why it's always a bit of a shock - and a pang - to find myself in conversation with someone who doesn't know how to read comics. Not just "doesn't read comics" but doesn't know how. "Oh," the conversation usually goes, "they make my head hurt. I can't figure out what the order is, I don't know where to look next. It's just too confusing."

For a while this sort of thing just baffled me. It was like talking about food with someone and having them say, "Oh, I just can't figure this 'eating' thing out. Where does it go? In my ear? My nose? It's just too confusing."

It. Blew. My. Mind.

But I got to thinking about it, and, well, okay. Comics have a language, a symbol-system. It's easier to figure out than hieroglyphics, but that doesn't mean you can just dive in and enjoy yourself if you've never looked at a comic before, never taken the time to work out the rules of order and sequence and visual symbolism. It's like trying to do the New York Times crossword puzzle if you don't know that an answer is always the same part of speech as its clue. Either someone explains it to you, or you figure it out after a while. But you can't instantly intuit these rules any more than you can instantly intuit the rules of comics. 

Kids figure these things out faster, and internalize them better, than adults, with those crazy-flexible brains of theirs. But an adult who's never read any comics - never learned the language, never became literate in this idiom - she isn't going to be able to pick up Fun Home and effortlessly sink into it. It's going to be a labor, maybe enough of one that she's going to give up after a few pages and go back to reading novels, or poetry, or science journals, or sheet music.

Or maybe she won't, maybe she'll persevere, and make it through Fun Home, and go on to Persepolis, and Scott Pilgrim, and The Photographer, and French Milk, and maybe a comics reader will be born.

But that's sort of like taking someone who's never read a line of poetry or looked at a painting and handing them Musée des Beaux Arts and waiting for a poetry or art lover to be born. Maybe it will happen! It could! But it probably won't, not with someone who hasn't had at least some kind of early exposure to these art forms. Our brains get all crusty and stiff, when we grow up. (Yes, that's a scientific fact!) It's harder open yourself up to new languages of expression, as the years go on.

All right, but so what? Who cares? I mean, comics professionals care, because it translates to fewer readers (and fewer creators). But why should novel/poetry/data/music-reading Jane Doe care that she never learned to read a comic? She's a teacher/poet/astronaut/farmer/conductor. She doesn't need comics to enrich her already rich life.

BUT SHE DOES!

There are things you can say, things you can do, with comics, that you can't say or do any other way, just as there are things you can say or do with music or literature or an elegant proof that you can't say or do any other way. There are comics that can change your life. And you'll never know about them if you can't even read them.

There's nothing fundamentally different about teaching comics literacy to kids than teaching them the basics of poetry, art, music, math, science, reading - even running. When we educate children, we are giving them the tools to educate themselves. To find the things they love. To experience the world more fully.

And as long as there are people making amazing comics in the world, anyone who lacks the basic tools to read them is missing out. Big time.

Photos taken without permission from:
http://www.nicholastrofimuk.com/photogenesis/photos_all.php?photographerid=
http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/269
http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/2009/09/storyboard-art-by-irv-spector.html

http://joshinthecity.wordpress.com/category/words/page/45/
http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/03/24/the-truth-about-comics/

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Ball Peen Hammer at Book Court

gina gagliano
Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:00:56 -0400

Join Adam Rapp and George O'Connor for an event at Book Court in Brooklyn tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7:00 pm. 

Haven't been to Book Court yet?  You should go!  They have books, wood floors, and large dogs. 

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Texture Field Trip: The Making of the RESISTANCE, BOOK 1 Cover

Colleen AF Venable
Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:33:35 -0400

I've always been a big fan of wrap-around covers. I have a habit that whenever I get a new book I always take off the cover and open it flat, look at the case, look at the spine...see it the way the designer did on screen, flaps out, all of the pieces together...a visual conversation of the whole package. 

When Leland Purvis sent along a thumbnail concept of this great art for RESISTANCE, BOOK 1 (a SPRING 10 book written by Carla Jablonski, with some pretty incredible art by Leland telling the story) our entire floor was buzzing over it. Playful, strong, and sets the tone of the series which chronicles the French Resistance during WWII and the children who got involved in the fight.

Realistic coloring wouldn't have made the cover as strong so I started to play around, inspired by the palette of the book which is a lot of beautiful blues and browns. I made over 20 until I had pushed myself too far. Got to the point of "world's ugliest color scheme" and then worked my way back. (You guys don't get to see THAT one, though I blame that fourth one down in the image on the left on me watching GHOST DAD earlier that week. NOTE TO OTHER DESIGNERS: Don't watch Bill Cosby movies and design at the same time. Listen to someone who learned the hard way.) After all the variations, I realized I had been on the right track in the beginning. Something quiet so a shock of red for the band would be impossible to ignore.

But it still felt too static and flat for a story with so much action, spying, running, disguises, and danger. It wasn't working, so I decided to add some texture. Sure I could have made fake bricks in photoshop or thrown a simple filter in, but what fun is that?! This was an excuse for a Texture Field Trip!

If you live in NYC and haven't yet become a wanderer, you're doing it wrong. I could argue it's the greatest place in the world for people watching...and texture hunting. A few hours of walking around NY and brooklyn and I had over 60 new textures on my camera. I'm a firm believer you should always have a camera on you, especially if you are a designer or tend to run into Hulk Hogan a lot. (I swear that guy is stalking me.) There's just something so beautiful about naturally aged architecture, broken concrete, bricks who have seen a lot of things...though if they could talk, I'm not sure I'd want to hear the stories. That first wall below was stunning close-up. The picture didn't do it any justice.



Can you spot the winner? Click on any for larger versions and feel free to use them, since it will give me an excuse to go on another Texture Field trip in the future. Though honestly...wouldn't you rather go hunting yourself? There's a lot of beauty if you look around you a bit and everything can be a texture if you use it right.



I didn't want the wall to look like a photograph in the end and I definitely didn't want it to overpower the art. I'm really happy with how it turned out and proud to have this as my second :01 design. Despite the fact I am constantly drooling over fonts, I've gotten really into hand-lettering lately. (Note if you are a fontophile and don't subscribe to these newsletters you are missing out.) But there's just something about hand-lettering that makes me connect more emotionally with a book. This is definitely not a light book. Sure there are funny and sweet moments, but it's dark, real, and inspirational. Creating the logo by hand made me feel connected with the kids in the story. My own attempt to say "take that" against the oppression France faced during the dark times of their Nazi occupation.

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