FROM DESIGNER TO COMPANY MANAGER

Most executives have business, management, or accounting degrees. What they don't have are design degrees. It isn't often that a designer, even a top executive in design, is chosen to run a company. After going bankrupt, General Motors felt some drastic changes needed to be made.

Bob Lutz said that General Motors will be design-driven going forward. I guess he wasn't kidding. With the cars number one selling point being the look, this past summer, the vice president of G.M. North America Design, Bryan Nesbitt was named the General Manager of GM's best brand, Cadillac. Not only is Nesbitt a designer without a business degree but now one of the youngest managers of any car company.

Nesbitt is an award-winning automobile designer known mostly for his 1999 Chrysler PT Cruiser and his most recent European Opel Insignia (seen above).

Most designers, even those with degrees, are still often times considered to be button(pencil) pushers and not much more. Business is often run by the business, sales, or marketing team with little focus or appreciation for the innovation that goes into design. Design and consumer experience, however, has never been more important to both the consumer and the companies that make the products. For most companies a designer to executive scenario is still very unlikely but what does the 22% increase in sales from a year ago and new models mean for Cadillac? Is it just a recovery of the economy or is Cadillac on to something?

Today, a designer means more than just knowing how to draw on a computer, it means business knowledge, user research, marketing approach mixed with a little creativity. As a designer, I think quality products with great design increases sales but what does a designer to manager mean? What does this mean for other companies that desire to be more "design-driven" and what does it mean for future designers?

Bryan Nesbitt, showing off the new Cadillac CTS Coupe:

NEW WORK

Some of the latest work to hit the desk, be designed and approved.


Book Cover
Client: Oxford University Press


Poster
Client: The House Studio


Book Cover
Client: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City


Catalog
Client: Nazarene Publishing House


Catalog
Client: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City


Book Cover
Client: Oxford University Press


Media Planner
Client: ASNT

THE COMPLEX OF ALL OF THESE

These handmade books are created by Abigail Uhteg.

QUOTE

BOOK DESIGN OF FRED MARCELLINO

I often carry a book with me to read on the metro. Last week I finished up a book so as I was running out the door on Monday morning I picked up another book that was sitting in the collection on my desk of "started but not finished reads." It is a good collection. The book I picked up was 79 Short Essays on Design by Michael Bierut. This is a great book for short trips. Each chapter is only 3-4 pages.

Yesterday, on my way to the office, I opened up to read chapter 53. The chapter was The Unbearable Lightness of Fred Marcellino. This chapter was a short essay about the book cover design of Fred Marcellino. Before reading this chapter, like many in this book, I knew nothing or very little about the subject matter because most of it happened before I knew what graphic design was.

In today's internet world with websites, blogs and twitter it is very easy to see what other book designers are doing right now. The Book Cover Archive and other sites collect, categorize and explore newer covers. But what about the designers of the past? After reading the essay I realized I knew very little, other than a little about Alvin Lustig, when it came to book cover design history. Other than By Its Cover, a small collection of modern book covers, the history of book designers and their work is quite limited.

When I got to the office, the first thing I wanted to do was look up Fred Marcellino's covers to see what he created for nearly two decades. Of course most of his designs and illustrations were done just as the computer was being invented and so even today its hard to find many of his original 40 covers a year that he created on the web.

There are many I couldn't find, like my favorite Alive and Dead in Indiana, but below are a few I added to my inspiration collection. I thought I would share what I found.



















Some of Fred Marcellino's book cover designs have been redesigned. Henry Sene Yee redesigned The Bonfire of the Vanities in 2008 and Roberto De Vicq De Cumptich redesigned The Unbearable Lightness of Being in 2004.









Fred Marcellino moved from book cover design to writing and illustrating children's book and won many awards for his work before he died in 2001.

If you have additional information or corrections, please let me know.

KINDLE COMMERCIAL

As a book designer, I am not a fan of the Kindle but the new colorful commercial featuring Annie Little in stop motion video is great. Take a look!

The song, Fly Me Away, featured in the commercial is also by Annie Little and can be downloaded for free on Amazon.

The video was created by Angela Kohler, who was the winner of the Your Amazon Ad Contest.

Oh yeah, it features a bike.

BIKES = SEXY?

Bikes are appearing everywhere. I have noticed more on the streets of KC this year and cycling in NYC has gone up a reported 26% in 2009. Bikes are appearing in fashion magazines, movies and commercials as trendy fashion accessories like never before in the U.S. Bikes are sexy. Take a look.











Photos 1 & 5 by Anna Wolf
Photos 2 - 4 by The Sartorialist

QUOTE

ANDY WARHOL IN KC

A little over a month from opening night I finally made it to see the Andy Warhol exhibit at Union Station.

It was a Friday night, a few minutes after 7. I walked in and followed the signs that led downstairs and down more stairs. This was new to me because I have never been in this part of Union Station. It felt like I was going into a basement, an area not often visited. At the bottom of the stairs was a gentleman that took my ticket and led me into what felt like a club. The atmosphere was very urban underground with bright colored lights shining on the brick walls. The walls, as I walked around the corner, featured quotes from Andy himself. I had stepped into a private party in New York City.

Since it was a Friday night after 5pm each ticket could be redeemed for a beverage before entering the exibit. The choices were selections of beer, wine or Coke products. I made my selection and enjoyed it at a table under a disco ball while the music was playing.

As I finished my drink I was welcomed by the volunteer that handed me the self guided tour. The self guided tour consisted of a laminated piece of paper that explained in detail what each piece or series was about.

The gallery was similar to the "club" entry but without the music or colored lights. It felt like I was in a personal studio or gallery. An underground vault had been opened and I for a few minutes had time to hang out with Andy. The gallery featured illustrations and prints of Andy's famous Campbell's Soup cans, fruit, portraits of pop stars, flowers and endangered species. I viewed all the works with a great deal of amazement and awe with the help of the volunteer and my self guided tour. It was amazing to see the work of an american icon in person. As I turned the corner, there was no more.

Maybe I was having too much fun but it come to an end quickly. Almost too quickly. I wanted to turn around and go back through again. As I walked out of the gallery into the "club" to exit I was surrounded by the feeling of 1970s NYC artist nightlife and I truly experienced what the Prince of Pop really meant by "15 minutes of fame." The whole radical experience came to life and it was beautiful.

The Andy Warhol Portfolios: Life & Legends is in Kansas City now until January 10th. If you go after 5pm on a Friday you also receive a FREE beverage. Tickets are just $12. Van Gogh/Warhol combo tickets are a steal at just $15.

Experience the life and art of Andy Warhol for yourself and let me know what you think.

PICK ONE

I noticed today that a client posted these two comps on their website of a book design I am working on. While this is often a designers worst nightmare I thought I would post them here and see what your opinion was too.

Based on cover design alone, pick one.
Click on the image to view larger.

1

2

UPDATE: The chosen cover

WHISKERINO

The beard growing phenomenon called Whiskerino starts NOVEMBER 1st, 2009. This year I will be growing and showing for the first time after watching from the sidelines in 2007. This year designers JR, Brandon and myself will be challenging our creativity and teaming up to create a photograph documentary of our 4 months of beard growing. In order to participate in Whiskerino one must sign up on the first day of November and upload a photo several times a week as proof of the progress. Below are some photos I took of JAR from Whiskerino 2007.







Look for my photos on Whiskerino and check back often as I will be posting some of the photos here.

MIKEY B AND HIS LETTERPRESS

The work of Mikey Burton is fantastic and beautiful. A friend of mine sent me this article about his thesis and it has a similar look of a project I am currently working on. I hope that is a good thing and I will share the project shortly. Below is a short video of Mikey B. making posters for the 08 election.

Letterpress Poster Printing from Joshua Gerken on Vimeo.

You can follow him on Twitter.

FALLINGWATER

I went on vacation last week to visit my parents in Ohio and other relatives near Pittsburgh. While there we drove down to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. The house built for the Kauffman's in 1934 has been on my list of places to visit for a long time and it was exciting to finally see. Below are a few photos I took of the outside.

Click on the images to view larger.














More photos on Flickr