I am not sure if many of you have noticed or not but our world centers around perfection and how everything in our lives from the clothes we wear, the furniture we buy, and even the families we live in must have some form of perfection in order to acceptable.
In the design world it is very similar. As a graphic designer I find myself adjusting things one pixel this way and another pixel that way. I place things in such a way that they are as aesthetically pleasing as possible. But lately I have fallen in love with the art of hand lettering and the imperfections of design. The kind of imperfections that give character and originality. I have begun hand lettering and teaching myself to bring in more of who I am as an artist instead of always using the fonts that everyone else has access to. Why not create my own if I am capable? There are a lot of designers that have become known for this such as Anna Bond from Rifle Design Company and Jessica Hische who has done things I am sure you have seen in O Magazine, GQ, and Tiffany and Co. You cannot recreate their work simply because it will only look like theirs if it flows from their fingers…isn’t that beautiful?
In a world of perfection imperfections feels comforting to me and originality is almost blissful.
So todays inspiration comes from the past when things had to be hand done and computers were unheard of when it came to the design and printing process. It blows my mind to think of designers creating what they did from the very beginning of print. The work and time it took to produce only one book is extensive and that is why an original copy of the favorite children’s book, The Velveteen Rabbit, could cost you $4,000. Books just are not designed or made like this anymore. From the process of letterpress to screen print and off set these babies are beauties. Not to mention the hand done lettering and painting. The children’s books our parents and grandparents had were something to be treasured.
I have gathered a collection of some beautifully designed and created books to show this and to bring on that inspiration of the imperfect and original feel of design done by hand instead of by the computer.
Don’t get me wrong I love the clean design that has been created and if you know me well enough you know I love to have everything have a place but these books are true pieces of art that are should be admired.
Note: some of these may be unrecognizable since they are from Russia but they are just SOO cool!
