Tag: graphic design

Designer Desire: Niklaus Stoecklin

Mosaic of Niklaus Stoecklin artworks | H is for Home

I can’t remember if it was when I was researching fellow Swiss designer, Donald Brun, or something I saw on the 365PosterBlog, but I came across the work of Niklaus Stoecklin (1896–1982).

His graphic design and advertising posters are bright and eye-catching. He brought interest to the everyday mundane – toothpaste, soap, eggs, household cleaners…

I love his studies of butterflies, moths, birds and other natural subjects. However, some of his other, more ‘artistic’, work is uncomfortable, uneasy, disturbing and bordering on the macabre. Perhaps it’s because he was affected by the 1st World War – when he was forced to flee Berlin where he was at art school, and return to Switzerland.

He was an exponent of the German, post-Expressionist Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) movement along with the likes of Otto Dix, Max Beckmann and others.

His work is in the permanent collections of MOMA, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Cooper Hewitt. His painting, Helmgasse, Basel, 1923 sold at Sotheby’s Zurich ‘Swiss Art’ sale in 2006, fetching $110,820 US. Examples of his vintage original posters are for sale anywhere from 500€ to 20,000€. A copy of his E Guete! frying eggs poster (bottom left) sold for $9,375 US at auction in 2014. Prints are more readily affordable from less than a tenner! Try art.co.uk and Etsy.

Portrait of Niklaus Stoecklincredit

Additional image credits:

Art.com | Artnet | International Poster | SIKART | Weimar Art

Designer Desire: Stanley Stubenberg

Mosaic of Stanley Stubeanberg graphic designs | H is for Home

Stanley Stubenberg (1925-2001) was a graphic designer born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He designed scores of restaurant, bar and room service menus and table cards. Venues such as the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel’s Ale Ale Kai Restaurant, the Luau Hut and the Pupu Bar; the Tahitian Lanai and the Papeete Bar at the Waikikian Hotel and Beneath the Reef and the Torch Room at the Reef Hotel.

As well as menu design, he produced the odd woodblock print artwork (see above) and a mural at the the Lounge at the Buccaneer.

Menus, by their very nature, are ephemeral items; therefore, not a huge number have survived the past 50-plus years. The few that have can command prices up to £150. There are currently a couple for sale on eBay. There are however, modern prints available from Love Menu Art and Monterey Bay Photo Lab.

He illustrated Young Folk’s Hawaiian Time: A Collection of True Hawaiian Children’s Stories, and Hawaiian Time both written by Genie Pitchford. Some of his designs are included in Sven Kirsten’s book, Tiki Modern, (including pride of place on the cover!) and Menu Design In America which we reviewed here.

Stubenberg died at the age of 74 in St Croix, Virgin Islands where he’d spent his latter years.

Portrait of Stanley Stubenbergcredit

Additional image credits:

Pinterest | Worthpoint

Designer Desire: Donald Brun

Collage of Donald Brun graphic designs | H is for Home

Donald Brun (1909-1999) was one of the most influential Swiss graphic designers and poster artists of his time. His work is humorous, fun and eye-catching. He used a palette of bright colours, often depicting stylised animals and inanimate objects taking on human traits.

His images were condensed down to their elemental message; simple, yet thoughtfully and intelligently designed. Take, for example, the smoking cockerel in his Gauloises poster (pictured above, 2nd row, on the right); not only is the bird’s body an angled packet of the cigarettes, his comb is a lick of fire and his legs are composed of matchsticks.

He was commissioned by many big companies such as Swissair, Perrier, Persil and Bata. He created the Pavilion for Chemistry at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958; the event famous for bringing us the Atomium. Unfortunately, I can’t find any images of the building.

He has a huge back catalogue and many of his designs, especially his advertising posters, are readily available. Original vintage examples and new prints can be found on Amazon, art.co.uk, Artnet and eBay.

Portrait of Donald Bruncredit

Image credits:
Invaluable

Designer Desire: Eric Fraser

Mosaic of Eric Fraser illustrations | H is for Home

Eric Fraser (1902-1983) was one of the leading lights of 20th century book & magazine illustration and poster design.

He was commissioned to produce illustrations by a range of magazines including Punch, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Pall Mall and the Radio Times. He designed book covers and page illustrations for, amongst others, Collins, Cassell, Everyman, The Scientific Book Club and the Folio Society. He also designed posters (and stamps) for the Post Office; publicity material for the London Underground and in 1931, he created ‘Mr Therm’ for the Gas Light & Coke Company (the pre-cursor to British Gas).

There are a a couple of interesting-looking books about the man and his work; The Graphic Works of Eric Fraser by Alex Davies (1974) and Eric Fraser: Designer and Illustrator by Sylvia Backemeyer (1998). There’s also an exhibition catalogue – covering the entirety of his career – that you can view online here.

For the life of me I couldn’t find a single photo of the man – just this (small) self-portrait he did in 1949.

Self-portrait by Eric Frasercredit

Additional image credits:

Chris Beetles Gallery