Ducks, Barks and Books

For the majority of his career, Carl Barks toiled anonymously creating comic books under the Walt Disney logo. His fresh take on the medium had many comic book readers noticing his inventive storytelling and highly skilled drawing ability. By combining quirky, children’s characters with stories from National Geographic, Barks created a globe-hopping masterpiece without ever leaving the United States.  His readership called him the “Good Duck Artist” and clamored to the comic stands to get each new issue from this unnamed hero.  Not only did he excel at making comics, but his creations in Donald Duck’s extended family (Scrooge McDuck, Huey Dewey, Louie, Gladstone Gander, Gyro Gearloose, etc) have sparked the imaginations of pop cultural titans like Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas in Indiana Jones and an entire generation with the animated series, Duck Tales.  Struggling with his own money problems, Barks made these stories (which focus primarily on Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck) as a means to fulfill his own wishes and dreams.

In the 1980’s the public became aware of Carl Barks, then in his 80s, and finally gave him the accolades he so rightly deserved.  Another Rainbow Publishing, a publisher dedicated to printing Bark’s work, printed a large format, black and white omnibus collection of his Duck stories, so the fans that collected the comics as children could get them in a more substantial book form.  There are ten slipcovers with three hardcover books inside each (with content for the collection exceeding 7,000 pages).  The gold foil lettering on the spine, a clear numbering system, color covers and crisp page scans made this reprint hugely desirable for collectors.  After the 1980s and 1990s, these editions went out of print and, themselves, became collector’s items (fetching prices up to $4,000 on Ebay for the entire set).  Fans in Europe have enjoyed many reprints due to the much larger Barks fan base over the years.  These collections were also lovingly made for the middle-aged people trying to recapture some childhood magic.

Responding to a need in the United States, Fantagraphics gained the rights from Disney to re-print the entire collection under the moniker The Complete Carl Barks Library in 2011.  This Seattle-based comic book publisher saw this new collection as a chance to re-introduce a comic masterpiece to a fresh audience, update the colors and line art to their original state, showcase some rarely seen “special features,” discuss Bark’s personal history and conclude each volume with an academic-level analysis of each story featured in that particular volume.  “Meticulous” is the word that comes to mind when looking at the level of detail and care given the subject matter within.  These dissections of these comics feel like knowledgeable film historians discussing movies on Criterion Collection Blu-ray sets.   These are not just lovers of comics giving their opinion, but Professors from around the world, looking at the meaning behind each and every panel.  Historians discuss the subconscious critique on daily life while English Professors discuss Barks’ story arcs.  In many cases these substantial commentaries take up one fifth of each volume, prompting the viewer to go back to the comic panels and review what was missed.  The design of the books themselves reflects the highly saturated joy of comics with a tight uniformity when it is placed on the shelf (a must for any collection selling to the aesthetically savvy audience it desires).  The highlighted art gives the viewer an indication of what the main story is about without giving too much away or watering down Bark’s style.  It all just feels genuine...the typography, the colors, subtle textures and layout.  In its entirety, the collection will be 30 volumes long and take over a decade to release.

*From the Collection of Chase Quarterman*

Fantagraphics is making a bold statement about comics.  They should be taken seriously, revered as high art, and dispersed as important pieces of literature.  If the beautiful crafting and content of their books is any indication, Fantagraphics is absolutely right.

The Nelson Clock: Function vs Form

In 2011, the McNay Art Museum presented a unique retrospective entitled George Nelson: Architect, Writer, Designer, Teacher.  This exhibition showcased the work of one of the most creative minds of the 20^th century, but art (in the traditional sense) was not the central theme.  Instead of paintings, there were chairs and normal household items lauded for their modern design.  These modernized objects functioned in the exact same way as their traditionally designed counter-parts, but the form evolved to suite the changing tastes of modern society.  The minimalist concept, shapes, colors and textures were at the forefront for Nelson and are evident in his work. 

Vitra Design Museum Archive

My first impression of the exhibit was negative, however.  I went hoping to see something closer to the “art” mediums I’m comfortable with: painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing and the like.  After a while, I started to imagine how I would live differently if these objects surrounded me on a daily basis.  They are “fine” without being ornate and fabricated not handcrafted.  This hypothetical scenario made me crave a lifestyle surrounded by normal objects that were unique enough to be gallery-worthy and the exhibition was doing something more than just being stagnant and pretty…it was changing my mind about my stuff.  Do the objects in my house have artistic merit?  The MOMA in New York City has a floor dedicated to the design of everyday objects from the past.  Many of these objects were not expensive or unique during their heyday, but now are seen as bits of history and art.  I wondered which objects I currently own would be worthy of a display case.

In our conversation on the way home from the McNay, my wife and I agreed to disagree about the “object as art” scenario, but she humored me.  A few weeks after the exhibition, she decided to buy me a knock-off George Nelson Spindle Clock for my studio (a legit edition runs upwards to $600).  I put a battery in it, set the time, hung it on the wall and view it as a piece of sculpture.  Very rarely do I actually use it to tell time, but the gears are ticking away above me at this moment.  The lack of numbers hinders a quick translation of the time and the hands can get lost in the shapes of the clocks tendrils.  So, is this a clock or sculpture?  Both?

This isn’t a scientific assessment, but many people are currently unable to tell the time by a traditional big hand/little hand layout.  They forgo the internal math for the quick digital reading of time on their cellphones.  This is like owning chairs that are not meant to hold a human posterior or a kitchen plate that is never meant to hold food.  In many of these modern objects (not just by George Nelson) seem to be 80% form and 20% function.  Surprisingly, in my imagined, idealized home set-up, I’m okay with this.

The Phaidon Archive of Graphic Design

On my birthday this year, I was strolling through a bookstore looking for something to buy since I was flush with “fun money” from relatives.  I happened upon a display shelf item that completely confused me. 

A box. 

It wasn’t a corrugated, moving box full of books or a slipcover box with a book inside as one usually sees in small books shops.  It was just a box situated and designed with confidence.  Standing over a foot tall and 10 inches wide, this behemoth dwarfed all the hardback art books surrounding it and commanded my attention.  The marbled exterior with a top flap suggested a smoky newspaper office in the 1960s or a hunt for crucial evidence in a Philip Marlowe detective story.  A simple label repeated on four sides declared that this was “The Phaidon Archive of Graphic Design” in a simple sans serif typeface (“graphic design” in olive green to match the box accents).  To create even further contrast with the other merchandise was the complex network of seat belt straps wrapping around the box creating a handle at the top. 

This was serious business and I HAD to have it. 

Upon further inspection, a small description sheet was contained in the shrink-wrap on the back showing small examples of what was inside.   Quickly scanning the short description on the back lead me to believe that the inside housed some massive design books.  I took the 25+ pound item to the register and even had people in line question what I had and where they could find more.  Mistakenly I still called this a “book” when people inquired. 

When I got home, I gently removed the plastic wrapping and opened the box.  Inside I found two large, shrink-wrapped reams of paper, unbound.  I was a little disappointed at first, but the more I opened the more I realized that this box was a treasure chest.  A modest set of directions located on the inside flap of the flap was the thesis for this project.  Inside more than 500 pages and 3000 images of design from the past 700 years were nesting.  SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS.

Since this initial revelation, I continue to wonder why more art books are not organized in a similar fashion.  Each page lovingly shows the design ID number in the collection, title of the piece, name of designer, date of creation, client it was created for and category it belongs to.  The exhibit high resolution imagery without words on one side and other visual examples an a succinct description of the work on the back.  Phaidon even gives the collector the opportunity to archive/curate the work in several different ways…random, alphabetical or by category.  This is done with simple, two-sided barrier sheets.  On one side, there is a letter or range of letters to help with organizing by the name of the designer or object designed.  The other side has a category from the 15 provided (examples being Money, Advertising, Typefaces, Book Covers, Magazines, Symbols, etc).

Western civilization isn't in a hurry to admit that commercial design holds the historical gravitas of its more mature older brother, fine art, but opinions seems to be shifting.  I have a box in my studio to prove it.

Buy a box here:
http://www.phaidon.com/store/design/the-phaidon-archive-of-graphic-design-9780714865591/

...or cheaper on Amazon.