Books

Received an order from Counter-Print Books this week. The newly published monograph on Polish graphic designer Jan Hollender (1907-1989), by Patryk Hardziej. A reproduction of the 1973 Japanese Trademark and Logo Type. And Superstorm: Design and Politics in the Age of Information (March 2024) by Noemi Biasetton.

And then from the LA-based Bibliomancers, Occult Eye, which is the latest in a series of books they’ve published collecting mass market paperback covers from various themes and genres of esoteric and spooky nature. As described by the publisher, “Our fifth book takes a closer look at the world of the occult sciences, ESP, parapsychology, spiritualism, iconography of new religious movement, pagan fashion trends with a special examination of the graphics and design elements from 1970s gnostic newspapers, this book has it all!” Find them all here if any of that grabs you.

Music

Picked up “This House Is Haunted” by The Night Monitor, after seeing they re-released it on a 12” blue marbled vinyl LP. I stumbled across The Night Monitor on Instagram not too long ago, and was an instant fan of their “soundtracking of unexplained phenomena.” You can find this and their other albums on Bandcamp.

And I recently saw Tim Maughan (author of Infinite Detail) announce his involvement in a collaborative work from himself, musician Hyetal, and visual artist R3N. “Inspired by contemporary sci-fi-like chaos, wellness tech, and megalomaniac CEOs, ‘Red Gates’ is an abstract, multi-format, first-person narrative experience. It details the visions experienced when a near-future VR meditation device is alpha-tested by its creator in an immersive journey told through three intertwining mediums—sound, visuals, and writing.” I was sold, and pre-ordered it here.

Art

Got a fantastic original watercolor piece in the mail from Australia, by illustrator and artist Tim Molloy, that I snatched up when it was posted on Instagram. Molloy describes their work as “ridiculous apocalyptic psychedelic art” and this particular piece is titled “Oneironaut Falling.” If that leaves you scratching your head, oneironautics refers to the ability to travel within a dream on a conscious basis — and following from that, an oneironaut is someone that consciously explores dreams.

I actually discovered Molloy’s work when I picked up a neuroqueer lit anthology, Spoon Knife 5: Liminal, that featured one of these oneironauts on the cover. Hit with that, I had to track down the artist to see more. And it’s pretty cool that from there I was eventually able to end up with an original from the series.

Tim Molloy’s work lives here and on Instagram, if you’re interested in checking it out. And there’s a book on the way, called The Painted Wastelands, that is set to feature much of what you will see.

Design

I’ll end this week’s transmission with a glimpse at something I just acquired yesterday evening, that I’m pretty excited about. Based on the cover alone, I purchased this 1961 Annual Report for the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) that I came across on ebay, which was a gamble that paid off big. The interior proved to be full of great design and illustration. Not only that, when the seller contacted me about delivery I learned that they lived right down the street from me. At first I thought they were crazy, wanting to drop it off at my house, but had missed that they were located in Wichita, KS. And based on my chat with them, they are open to making some deals on other design-related offerings that caught my eye. So hopefully there will be more to come on all this! And of course, I need to share this report more thoroughly when I have a chance.