Early animated abstractions by Robert Abel and Richard Taylor for 7-Up.
âIt is common practice today to place the word âCaliforniaâ in front of almost any vagrant word and thus achieve a magic combination hopefully intended to make the heart jump and the purse strings fly open,â the designer Alvin Lustig wrote in 1947.
But it wasnât the word alone. Mr. Lustig and other graphic artists gave âCaliforniaâ a look, for periodicals, posters, packaging and vacation destinations, that also made the heart jump and loosened the purse strings. It was colorful, it was experimental, it was rough, it was digital.
And the same can be said of the new book Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California Graphic Design, 1936-1986 (Metropolis Books, $55), written and designed by Louise Sandhaus, 59, a graphic designer. As she writes in her introduction, she chose not to honor text over graphics, and she wasnât interested in being definitive. Rather, looking through archives and talking to makers, she asked questions like, âIs this historically important work, versus is this fabulous and distinctive and sooooooo California?â The pieces in the book range in mood from the calm abstraction of John Follisâs âArts & Architectureâ magazine covers to the pixelated trips in David Theurerâs âI, Robotâ Atari game.
Oh, and that title? Ms. Sandhaus wrote in an email, âItâs a clichĂ© about California, but one that encapsulates a place where big dramatic changes happen.â
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