stimulation

Since its last redesign more than a decade ago, the government-issued "Choking Victim" poster has adorned the walls of New York City restaurants with scenes of a faceless duo safely performing the Heimlich maneuver in a Constructivist swirl of step-by-step instructions on "how to dislodge food from a choking person." Brooklyn artist Alex Holden took it upon himself to freshen up the ubiquitous poster, softening the didactic graphics and primary colors with a comic strip-style take in a soothing blue and white palette. His reimagined "Choking Victim" poster contains all the same life-saving information but sets the choking scene at a beachside resort, where members of the upscale crowd (one collapsed, one standing and wearing a fedora) escape death among the palm trees and festive party lanterns. Holden's poster has already been adopted by a few more aesthetically astute restaurateurs, who find his version much easier to swallow. Here's a look at the full poster:

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(Photo: Kevin Van Aelst)

Sure, you enjoyed Erwin Olaf's images of abandoned kitchens and Rob Walker's eye-opening look at Latisse (hearing Brooke Shields say "inadequate or not enough lashes" makes us cringe so), but we think the real star of the most recent issue of The New York Times Magazine is Kevin Van Aelst's graphic accompaniment to The Medium, the mixed media column penned by Virginia Heffernan. In this week's installment, New Haven-based Van Aelst whipped up this photo to illustrate Heffernan's look at how fathers are adapting to the online world. It's Father Knows Best meets Magritte 2.0. Smokin'.

Inject some old-school grit (vinyl records) and glamour (letterpress packaging) into your iTunes greatest hits library with the Journal of Popular Noise, an "audio magazine inspired by the traditions of pop music, printed periodicals, and the delight of a finely crafted artifact." Founded by graphic designer Byron Kalet, the twice-yearly publication takes the form of a limited-edition trio of 7" vinyl records tucked inside a letterpress-printed holder that folds out to reveal a poster of information about the journal, the musicians, and the compositional process. "By standardizing the presentation, and even going so far as to homogenize the song structures, the Journal of Popular Noise provides an alternative context through which one can enjoy a record," notes the just-released spring/summer 2009 edition (issues 13-15), which features works by Andrew W.K., Ian Svenonius, and Walker & Cantrell. "Here the content presented to the listener is not defined as much by an artist's self-wrought context as it is their approval of an association with previous contributors, the aesthetic presentation, and of the physical and compositional restraints."

How do you pass the time when laid up with an injury? If you're British researcher Rachel Young, you scour Google Maps for letterforms in the satellite imagery. Inspired by the Google Maps typography of Australian graphic designer Rhett Dashwood, Young searched for days to assemble map alphabets of Britain and then, New York. She created the latter set, entitled "Alphabet State," at the suggestion of her employer. "It was more challenging since I've never been there," Young told The New York Post. So next time you're home sick, skip the daytime television in favor of the healing powers of found typography.

Signs, signs, everywhere signs, including in the new issue of Pentagram Papers, the thirty-ninth in the firm's series of privately published "examples of curious, entertaining, stimulating, provocative, and occasionally controversial points of view." SIGNS, presciently proposed by Pentagram partner DJ Stout back in the good 'ol days (i.e., spring 2008), focuses on the plight of the homeless. Photographer Michael O'Brien used a large format camera to capture searing portraits of homeless people in Austin, Texas, and these are interspersed with Randal Ford's exquisite shots of signs—most of them hand-lettered on corrugated cardboard—collected by genre-hopping singer and rocker Joe Ely. "I bought my first homeless sign in San Francisco in the mid-'70's," notes Ely, who was himself homeless, in the issue's foreword. "An impulse urged me to offer five dollars for the sign. The guy looked at me with surprise. He wondered if I was on drugs. He was asking for spare change but was offered a buy-out. He jumped at the offer and scurried off to find materials to make a new sign." It read "GOD IS GOOD, SO IS PEOPLE." Check out the online version of SIGNS here, with links to charities around the world that are dedicated to helping the homeless.

Previously on UnBeige:

Just in time for the release of Gloria Vanderbilt's steamy novel about the widow of a Frank Lloyd Wright-like architect (warning: it involves a discovered cache of letters wrapped with a magenta ribbon), the Guggenheim today launched an online forum that will address the subject of how design can enhance or detract from everyday life. "Between the Over- and Underdesigned," which runs through July 2 on the museum's website, is the first in a series of moderated online discussions on the arts, architecture, and design. Leading the inaugural forum is journalist and critic Aric Chen, who is virtually joined by panelists Sarah Herda, executive director of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts; Arjo Klamer, professor of the economics of art and culture at Erasmus University in Rotterdam; Ellen Lupton, curator of contemporary design at Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum; and David van der Leer, assistant curator of architecture and design at the Guggenheim. The forum encourages visitors from around the world to submit comments and questions for consideration by the panelists and to participate in two live chat sessions scheduled for this Thursday (with Chen) and next Tuesday (with van der Leer). Lupton has already gotten things off to a rousing start:

Imagine walking into a brand-new public building—let's say it's a museum, a campus student center, or a mental-health clinic. Every detail has been designed, from the drop ceiling to the polished floors. But taped to the security desk is a paper sign, printed out in all-caps Times Roman, that says Restrooms Are Downstairs in the Basement Behind the Boiler Room or Don't Even Think About Asking Me Where the Elevator Is. These homemade signs boil over with irritation, directed at a clueless public who don't know how the building works. What's happening here is not a failure of the public, however, but a failure of design.

Never underestimate the power of well-designed stickers to change the world. It's the chosen method of Areej Khan, an MFA student at the School of Visual Arts, whose "We the Women" project aims to get people talking about the issue of women driving in Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive. "The point behind it is very simple: we want to get all the opinions around this issue, why people support it, why they are against it or why they cannot be bothered," notes Khan on the project's website. "We want to get to the bottom of this social phenomenon." How? By asking Saudi women to share their thoughts about driving in downloadable speech bubble bumper stickers that feature the project logo. "It's basically the female icon but she's wearing the Hagad, which is the ring that men wear over their headdress traditionally," Khan told NY1 recently. "So it in itself is a symbol of rebellion."

Thanks to Steven Heller for letting us know about this project. Click here for a look at more products, campaigns, and services developed by students graduating from SVA's MFA Design Department.

Ever powerless in the face of mise en abyme, we recommend that those proximal to Manhattan attend this evening's panel discussion on the future of panel discussions at the EFA (Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts) Project Space. Held in conjunction with the gallery's proudly bizarro "Never Late Than Better" exhibition (curated by Trong Gia Nguyen and on view through May 16), the discussion promises to be "a participatory event in which the spectators are rotated into the seats of the panelists." We hear that a tarot card reader and a psychic will be involved, but the organizers advise only that you "come prepared for mystery and intrigue, and leave expectations at the door." And don't collect your expectations until after the post-panel screenings of bootlegged art films. In an event dubbed "The Glorified Docent," a group of art critics—including Art Fag City's Paddy Johnson—will critique the films in the celebrated style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, but (probably) with fewer robots.

Hey, job seekers! Looking for a gig in the fashion world? Put down the glue stick and ditch that novelty hole punch. Even high drama fashion designer Rick Owens can't abide an avant-garde resume. "Not to put young people down, but I get portfolios and I get applications and CVs that have images...and like collages and stuff," he told Hint in a recent video interview at his Paris showroom. "And what the fuck am I going to do with a collage? I can do a collage. I need old people who know how to make things." Other wisdom to be gleaned from the sit-down? Clear your head and die a little with a nap! Owens takes one daily. "Partly just to recharge but also there's a little escape in it," he explains. "I get oversaturated in having to communicate with a lot of people all day, so it's kind of an escape in the middle of the day to kind of have privacy again—complete privacy. It's kind of a mini-suicide."

One of the best conferences of the year occurs without much fanfare (but with plenty of sartorially astute attendees) at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, helmed by the extraordinary Valerie Steele. This year's two-day fashion symposium takes place on Friday and Saturday—a bit earlier in the year than usual but perfect timing for those in New York City for Fashion Week. In conjunction with the museum's current "Gothic: Dark Glamour" exhibition, the symposium will feature designers, musicians, photographers, authors, and curators who will discuss fashion and subcultural style.

Among the featured speakers are Steele, Goth historian Mick Mercer, artist and writer Jane Wildgoose (who designed the costumes for for Clive Barker's horror film, Hellraiser), and Tokyo street style authority Tiffany Godoy. We can't wait to begin our Valentine's Day with historian Peter McNeil, who will give a talk entitled, "The Prince of Wales: Last of the Dandies or the First Sub-Culturalist?" (Stop, you're both right!). Rounding out the agenda is a Saturday afternoon discussion between designer and rock/goth design pioneer Anna Sui and Andrew Bolton. Thanks to support from the Coby Foundation, the event is free to all students. Non-students can register at the door on Friday morning: get there about 15 minutes early, Goth getups optional.