former galaxie 500 bassist talks design - digital tablet

The founder of Galaxie 500/Damon & Naomi, who celebrated 25 years as a music performer, discussed art, publishing and design in small press, not bass and harmony.
Last quarter
At the turn of the century, Yang Na Omi's graphic design palette has also developed unexpectedly.
She said that is largely because she can choose and choose her projects based on creative value.
It was never her job to support her family.
Naomi Young and Damon KrukowskiStill and Yang are mainly known music ---
First of all, as a founding member of Galaxie 500;
Recently, born as a current member of two people Damon & Naomi, G-500's split --
Not just a visual artist or graphic designer.
But you can also add record label owner, art director/co-op
Publisher, photographer and watercolor artist in her skill list.
Yang studied Visual Arts at Harvard University undergraduate and registered at the Graduate School of Architecture for a period of time (Also at Harvard)
Before the rock star came.
Enter: space-
Age sound of Galaxie 500
The "alternative rock band" was inspired when this thing was still there ". G-
500 will continue to help define the emerging East Coast Music of the post-80 s;
The three quickly stood out from the university radio team and entered the front
Mainstream--
Especially overseas. -
Together with other mass bands, they played pixels and Muse.
From day one, Yang carefully designed the band's materials for himself, which she said were originally inspired by the cover of the 60-year-old Elektra record album. After G-
500 quit in 1991 and Yang and her longtime partner and co-author Damon Krukowski formed D & N and started performing as a duo (
When they perform live, they get the support of the support band, just like the ghosts of Japan).
In 1989, D & N introduced precise changes, small presses-
They're still running today. -
Committed to "experimental literature that emphasizes surrealism, Dada, physicalism and other 19 th and 20 th century pioneers"
Avant-garde art movement
"In 2005, after years of recording for other record companies, they decided to start their own 20/20 record company.
"The name comes from the game 'career 'that I played with Damon as a child," she told me '. ".
"In that game, you chose a career and selected any combination of points in three categories ---
Fame and fortune--
A total of 60.
The winner will be the first to reach their chosen goal.
"In the discussion about whether to start our own label ---
What should we do in our real career? -
Damon and I found out that we always chose 20 when we were young-20-
This formula often wins.
We are thinking about how to control the financial aspects of our career is something we have never done before, maybe it's time to do it, it's time to give more attention.
This spring, D & N released their seventh studio album, fake beats and true hearts.
"To celebrate the visual splendor of Naomi Yang, I think it is appropriate to interview her design aesthetics, work habits, keen influence and trials and tribulations of small businesses, instead of the usual music material.
Here is a part of the dialogue.
Working in multiple disciplines (
Music, graphic design, publishing, painting)help you fine-
Also, adjust each media: Do you like to do all these things, that's why I don't think I 've ever looked specifically at any of them;
I found that every media has its own way of expression. every media interest me. they are very interesting.
But I think my work in all these areas-
Music and Visual Arts-
It has always been an interrelated aesthetic journey, creating something beautiful, something with some ease: a sense of inevitability and proportional elegance.
I studied architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design until I realized that I would never be happy as an architect, so I dropped out of school to travel with Galaxie 500 and I always remember a comment in particular.
The project included the design of a small building on a piece of land, and under my criticism a teacher complained that my building and landscape looked like "It's been there all the time "---
I have no fancy design moves.
I think it is a kind of praise;
I want this nature to be desired in my music, photography and graphic design.
You said you designed it as a hobby.
Do you think this gives you more creativity because you have never designed a product or advertisement for a project other than yourself ---
Or at the very least, according to your own guess, "hobby" is an interesting way because I have been focusing on graphic design since I was a child ---
Graphic design is a strange hobby for a child.
But since I was 10, I went to an art camp in the summer, where they did a lot of theater work;
They will design silk for every show. screen posters.
I learned there how to make and print screen printing, and by the time I was in the seventh grade I was making all the posters for my middle school show.
I used to sit there and carry "Letraset "(rub-on type)
Directory of all sample fonts--
There were a lot less fonts at that time!
As an adult, I was really lucky because I never did graphic design just for life, so I was able to choose the design work I was working on.
I love the collaboration in music and design, but I know that when all parties respect each other's ideas and work to produce productive giving and acceptance, they are the most successful, it's not just "the customer is always right, so even if it looks stupid that way, I'll make this title 60 pt.
"Over the past few years, I have done a great design job for John Cage Trust, working with Laura Cohn, head of trust, on the John Cage calendar I designed from scratch
It was a wonderful experience.
Tell me about doing post work in Milton Glazer's officeHigh school/preschool educationCollege students.
One of the remarkable things you get from his office work is that it's a wonderful, very formative experience, it's called apprenticeship, it's really very old --
Old-fashioned training
All layouts are done by hand with rubber cement and X-Acto knives.
If you want to change some type of size, you have to make a brand new typography photo that you ordered from the typing room.
I think the best thing I 've learned is how to look at the letter spacing of the title.
The man I worked under Milton Glazer had an eagle eye and all the distance was done by hand.
You take a picture of the title, cut the parallel lines above and below, and then cut the lines between each letter.
You then take great pains to pull each letter to the right or to the left to improve the letter spacing.
I will do my best and show it to my boss who will squinted and let me go back and redo it.
Of course, once you have to redo a part of a word, it affects the rest of the word. . .
But I still look at the letter spacing!
In addition, I was very impressed by being with Milton Glazer.
I was a fan of him in high school.
His work is an inspiration for my poster design.
I like his illustrations very much.
The beautiful lines in his paintings, as well as the humor and drama in his works.
In that office, it's like a dream to see how things come true.
I love being behind the scenes--
Like in the background, see how everything is done.
In the summer, Milton Glazer will meet with every intern, where you show him your own portfolio and he will criticize it.
I remember him telling me that my job reminded him of himself at my age (
I was 17 years old)
He is so encouraging and kind.
I still cherish the whole experience of that office;
This does give me the basis for graphic design.
In an interview with the early issue of The Snowman, you mentioned that once you worked at the Harvard rare book library in the manuscript department, you had a real love for medieval manuscripts and early printed books.
You and Damon run a publishing company, almost as long as you played as a duo.
If books are to survive in the electronic age
Books and digital tablets, how important a good design is to the future of booksA books has always been a goal!
This is where they are so wonderful, so different from digital books ---
Even print. on-demand book.
A book is a whole world: you see the cover, you pick it up, you feel the material of the cover, you turn it over, you read the back-
Then you open it!
You got half the progress.
Title, title page, directory, then the first page text, the first line.
There are a lot of small things, page numbers, row heads, margins ---
The same elements in each book-
But what will you do this time? It was fun for me to see LP's revival in the music world.
With the take-over of mp3 and digital downloads, the never-satisfying CD format is now extinct and the more sensual LP format is really making a comeback.
While people can enjoy the convenience of digital downloads, they are turning to lp for a lovely object.
I think it's the same for books. -
I was traveling in an airport bookstore and I noticed the "classics" of all these hardcover editions ".
"It's interesting to me that publishers are now making fine hardcover for the same books that people can download for free, and the airport bookstore will bother carrying them ---
Who needs to add extra weight to the luggage, but it must be because people buy the luggage for "items" and not just for reading the text.
The Galaxie 500 and D & N covers have always had an eternal jazz record
Beautiful sleeves.
In the same snowman interview, you mentioned that you like to find an image to start the creative process and build around it.
Has this process almost remained the same for the past 25 years? Do you have a favorite album G500/D & N cover? Why my father is a photographer, so I appreciate the power of photographic images from an early age.
I think I still rely heavily on the power of the photos I chose to use.
This goes back to my Milton glazagan. -
Those iconic pictures.
On the cover of Galaxie 500, if I had to choose a favorite that I thought would be "on fire ---
I took that picture myself. -
I made a crazy device with my camera so I can press the shutter and in the photo I really want it to look like a 60 year old Elektra record cover (
Love by Tim Buckley.
Bruce maozheng is doing all those beautiful area book covers ---
The colors of these covers are amazing, unlike anything I 've seen before, so I actually called him (
I don't know him)
Ask him how he did it.
He explained very kindly how he replaced or added the PMS color in the CMYK print, so this is the technique I used.
I think even in my album design, I'm using what I found through book design.
Cover typography is from Solotype in San Francisco, which specializes in the production of unusual wooden and hot metal display types in their 60 s, and you can order custom typography from them ---pre-
All of your computer types have to be ordered and expensive, which is why only the display type is doing this.
I think they're in charge.
Why did you decide to start recording record labels after so many years of recording for other labels, like Subpop our manager suggested that we start our own brand instead of looking for new ones.
We work through dealers, but we can record and publish as per our own schedule, and occasionally other people's records, although the labels are mainly for our work ---old and new.
What was the original inspiration for the book publishing house, the exact change? You 've published a book, and you're most proud of the exact change, which was originally a small magazine that Damon and I made to go to college together.
We were inspired by the pioneers.
Avant-garde magazines of the 1920 s, such as 391, and my interest in the American architecture environmentS. (
Highway, road signs, street view).
We decided to make a small magazine with our friends, including prose and photography;
It loosely gathers under the idea of "American landscape Magazine.
"We completely typeset on a very good old-fashioned IBM executive typewriter: it has proportional spacing (really! )
The font is rich.
I love it because it's a bit unpredictable for future renders-
The tape of the typewriter is also film, not ink ribbon, so this type is superblack.
I worked hard on every page of the magazine.
We just gave this little magazine to friends, but we gave a copy to Charles Simic, the poet Damon is working on.
He liked it and asked if we wanted to make a small book with him.
Therefore, the first exact Book of Change was born.
Later, when we decided to continue publishing books, we noticed many classic works of surrealism and avant-garde
Pioneer literature has been eliminated. of-print.
We were able to authorise few rights for these books and re-authorise
Edit and re-typeset for our series.
Sometimes I make some small watercolors. can you still spare time to draw pictures? -
I like the intimacy and improvisation of this medium.
But most of the time I was taking photos and researching my digital darkroom skills.
Even though my father is a professional photographer-
Or because he's a very skilled traditional darkroom photographer. -
It took me a while as a photographer to really take my work seriously.
But photography is natural to me. -
Perfect medium to capture moments, specific light, composition!
I opened a photography website last year.
* All images are provided by W Media Inc. copyright 20/202011.
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