Friday, October 2, 2009

The In Box


I've spent many vacations in markets and shops perusing local package design, often picking up everyday condiments and soaps as souvenirs simply for their wrapper. In fact, graphic designer Maureen Mooney and I spent a great deal of our youth in Northport, Long Island, scouring the supermarket shelves assessing different package designs. Although it was not a love shared by our peers, it evolved into a passion of Mooney's. Designing funky book jackets and artistic promotion packages with her company spaghetti and egg, Mooney's work is the perfect vibe of the moment-- clean lines, vibrant colors, and a mid-century iconic aesthetic. Currently teaching a college course in text and design, I could hear the excitement in her voice as she talked about her love of a good font.
Equally obsessed with text and design is RISD student Alessandra Bautista. She sent me pics of her recent projects, including this textual self-portrait on price tags, where her use of words becomes a pattern on the page. A lover of pen and ink, Bautista could very well invent her own font.

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