More Garland Goodness

Design magazine covers from Ken Garland's tenure as art director. Cover scrawl possibly my granddad's. You're welcome!

Tantalising Title Sequences....

Designer: George Wallder

Designers: top - Kenneth Brown, bottom - Geoffrey Martin

Designer: Bernard Lodge

Designers; Alastair McMurdo/Ivor Weir

Designer: Bernard Lodge

Animator Profile: Peter Foldes

Hungarian Peter Foldes remains an unsung hero of animation. Starting his career working with John Halas, he went on to produce his own films, including one of the most influential animated films ever made 'A Short Vision', a depiction of the horrors of nuclear war. It was originally screened on US television in 1956 as part of the Ed Sullivan Show and caused outrage due to it's graphic content. The film still retains it's power today:



 His subsequent films pioneered the use of computer animation, which he used to great effect to convey his long-running theme of metamorphosis and transformation. His first experiment with this technology was Metadata (1971) and can be considered the first computer animated film:

The most well-known of his films from this period is Hunger (1974), winner of the short film Jury Prize at Cannes and Academy Award nominee. It used a technique known as tweening to merge one image into the next:

Below are some tantalising glimpses of films as yet unavailable, Je, Tu, Elles (1969) and Visages de Femmes (1969). Both show the distinct style of line-work that Foldes developed.

Scans taken from:

Art in Movement by John Halas & Roger Manvell, Studio Vista, 1970

Computer Animation by John Halas, Focal Press, 1974

The wonderful graphic resource 50watts.com has featured Peter's work several times, see here.

Animation: Ryszard Czekala - The Roll Call

Things seem to have turned nightmarish at the--dream--machine of late: Brexit Britain, Trump in the White House and the spectre of fascism rearing it's ugly head once more....I find myself turning to the artists whose work stands as a warning to not let history repeat itself. Ryszard Czekela's 1970 animation 'The Roll Call' offers up such a warning, a stark, disturbing glimpse inside a concentration camp and a powerful reminder of why this should never be allowed to happen again.

The simple power of Ben Shahn

Artist-activist Ben Shahn's work still retains it's power today. Economic line-work, strong and deliberate, but imbued with a fragility that fills his subjects with humanity. He constantly displayed a willingness to look upon many facets of the world with love, compassion, dignity, equality, playfulness and wonder, coupled with a determination to not shy away from depicting life on the other side of the coin. He spent the majority of his working life dedicated to this end, shedding light on the much-maligned, forgotten members of society: post-war veterans struggling to find work; people with mental illnesses locked up in institutions; victims of government oppression; all were dealt equal care and compassion by Shahn's inked-up pen and blotter. His strong socialist principles led him to only take on work with a personal or social significance, yet he remained commercially successful and managed to make art that resonated far beyond the galleries and art-director clubs.

The events of the past week and the realisation that a Trump presidency is the result of forgotten, marginalised Americans making their voices heard has led me to think we need artists like Ben Shahn more than ever.

Scans are from:

1 - 15 Image: A Quarterly of the Visual Arts, Autumn, 1949

16 - 19 Voices anthologies, Penguin Education, 1968

20 - 25 Prints & Posters of Ben Shahn, Dover, 1982