Projections Toronto
Design: Jenny Holzer
Client:
Date: 2007
Visit here to see all the Toronto pieces in motion.
Add comment January 26th, 2012
Not Canadian
Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout
Design:
Client: Founders Brewing Company
Date:
Though it is made across the border in Grand Rapids, MI, this brew is clearly a nod to the connoisseur Canucks to the north and our ingredient that makes everything taste better (maple syrup). It is currently ranked #5 on the Top Popular Beer in the world list by Beer Advocate.
Add comment September 16th, 2011
Burton Kramer / E. Halpern Agency
Design: Burton Kramer (E. Halpern Agency)
Clients: Various
Date: 1961-1965
Erie ZF, Retailer Information Packs, 1962
Witzig Office Furniture, Newspaer Ad, 1962
Modissa, Newspaper Ad, 1963
Modissa, Newspaper Ad, 1963
I see so-called Swiss Design as an amalgam of Dutch de Stijl, German Bauhaus, Russian Constructivism and Middle European design. The Swiss took in all of these important influences and with ‘stubborn’ single mindedness made it all ‘tick-over’ like a fine Swiss watch. This took time: the Swiss were not burdened by the kind of ‘here today, history tomorrow’ faddishness so prevalent in the United States.
My own direction evolved into a mix of American Bravado, Swiss mathematical precision, what is often referred to as ‘minimalism’ (a misnomer when ‘less is often more’) and an ongoing interest in the optical graphic art of Albers, Grignani, Vaserely, and others. I made use of grids, but never followed one slavishly, discovering that things ‘came to life’ when a consistent system was suddenly broken. As a result, I came to an interest in multiple or variable grids, which allowed for heightened drama, where required.
Simple rules like “There is no small without large; there is no large without small” emerged. Along with all of the foregoing, I maintained an ongoing, intense interest in the use of colour to communicate mood, or what Paul Rand referred to as ‘local colour.’
- Burton Kramer
Add comment May 9th, 2011
Burton Kramer / Geigy
Design: Burton Kramer
Client: Geigy Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals
Date: 1960
Geigy Trade Magazine Ad
Geigy Trade Magazine Ad
Geigy Price List Cover
Burton Kramer working at Geigy, 1960
In 1960, I had the opportunity to work for Geigy Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals (now part of Novartis), designing a wide range of advertisements, brochures and exhibits for the Dyestuffs and Industrial Chemical Divisions as well as “Catalyst,” the company magazine.
Working at Geigy in Ardsley, New York, reunited me with two other designers I’d worked with earlier at the Will Burtin office and gave me an opportunity to pursue the design direction that interested me, now often referred to as the “Swiss Style.” Gottfried Honegger, the Swiss designer who is best known as a Constructivist artist throughout Europe and as a recipient of the French Legion of Honor, was the design consultant.
- Burton Kramer
Add comment May 9th, 2011
Counterpoint Dresser
Design: John van Koert
Client:
Date:
Photo: www.modernlove20.com
Perhaps this might fall in the Not Canadian category…. but there is a Canadian connection. Raised in rural Manitoba, John van Koert rose to fame as a prominent New York designer, first creating jewelry for Harry Winston, flatware for Towle, and then a premium furniture series for Drexel. He is widely credited as having introduced Scandinavian modernism to the American market, when in 1954 he became exhibition director of ‘Design in Scandinavia,’ a 3 year exhibit that travelled to venues across the United States.
This dresser is from Drexel’s Counterpoint series. Fine details such as solid brass teardrop drawerpulls recessed within saucer shaped cups, denote the refined vernacular typical of Koert’s work.
-Roan J. Barrion
Add comment March 8th, 2011
White Stripes Poster – Hershey Centre
Design:
Client: The White Stripes
Date: 2003
Add comment March 8th, 2011
Trout Fishing in Quebec (Take the money and run)
Design:
Client: Rollins and Joffe Productions
Date: 1969
Add comment February 22nd, 2011
