Published by Cicada Books Limited Available through: ARTBOOK | DIGITALThis e-book is not intended to be a facsimile of the original print edition but rather a rendering of the original print edition in a digital manner that respects the textual and visual qualities of the original within the limitations of the e-book file formats and readers at the time of its production: September 2011.eISBN: 978-0-9562053-3-9Original Print edition:Edited by Ziggy HanaorDesigned by April, www.studio-april.comCover illustration by Gwenda KaczorText and images by the contributors as specifiedSet in LL Gravur Condensed, www.lineto.com A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.ISBN: 978-0-9562053-2-2 © 2011 Cicada Books LimitedAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity. All opinions expressed within this publicationare those of the authors and not necessarilyof the publisher. Cicada Books Limited76 Lissenden MansionsLissenden GardensLondon, NW5 1PRT: +44 207 267 5208E: [email protected]W: www.cicadabooks.co.uk
EDITOR’S NOTEANCHORAGE, ALASKA Laura FeracoATLANTA, GEORGIA Laurie ForehandAUSTIN, TEXAS Bryan KepleskyBALTIMORE, MARYLAND Elizabeth GraeberBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS Esther UhlCHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA Jay FletcherCHICAGO, ILLINOIS Daniel BlackmanDENVER, COLORADO Gwenda KaczorDETROIT, MICHIGAN Angela DuncanKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI Ramzy Masri & Morgan Ashley AllenLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Tal RosnerMEMPHIS, TENNESSEE Alex HarrisonMIAMI, FLORIDA Michelle Weinberg MILWAUKEE, WINCONSIN Mike KrolMINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA Adam TurmanNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA Tom VariscoNEW YORK, NEW YORK Camillia BenBassatPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA Katie HatzPHOENIX, ARIZONA Jon AshcroftPORTLAND, OREGON Briar LevitPROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND Adam LucasSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Cameron Ewing SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Björn SonesonST LOUIS, MISSOURI Rachel NewbornWASHINGTON, DC Joshua Graham GuentherBIOGRAPHIESACKNOWLEDGEMENTS4616243644526270809098110118128138146160176184192204214226236248258272CONTENTS
EDITOR’S NOTEHi! I’m Ziggy, the editor of Graphic USA. On behalf of myself and Studio April, who designed the overall layout, thanks for buying this book.Graphic USA follows on from our previous collaboration, Graphic Europe. The concept behind it is that people who work in the graphic arts, and who have an offbeat aesthetic to their work will often seek out the unexpected and inspirational elements in their environments that one wouldn’t find in most travel guides. The recommendations in this book arethe personal favorites of the individual contributors. They were not compiled by a team of trained researchers, and for the most part they do not include the bucket list recommendations that most tourists feel they have to tick off. They tend to reflect the alternative, independent culture that is bubbling underneath the city, feeding into its public persona, but not immediately apparent to the visiting outsider. Not all the suggestions may be your cup of tea, but hopefully for those who are part of an alternative scene themselves, they will tap into a common urban approach and will open up a different view of the city that you can dip in and out of as you desire. It’s kind of like a friend writing down their hot tips for each place.The working process for this book was similar to that of Graphic Europe: We drew up a list of cities spread across the country, including some smaller places as well as the usual suspects, and then started to look for people whose work really turned us on. The results were surprising. Some cities (and not necessarily the ones you’d expect) had a surfeit of amazing designers producing beautiful, quirky and independent material, whilst for others we had to look long and hard to find the free spirit who was producing something unique and relevant. Google Image Search became our best friend very quickly.
I am so pleased with our final lineup of contributors. I think their work is without exception fantastic. Their response to the brief was varied and insightful, with an often-humorous honesty in their writing and a wealth of styles and approaches to the illustrations. In Europe, every other person you meet seems to be a freelance graphic designer, in the States, however, most illustrators and designers are employed by a company and working on their own projects in their spare time. I’m therefore even more grateful to them for the enormous effort they put in, and their willingness to communicate and discuss their work.I hope you enjoy this book and use it however you see fit – as a gallery of beautiful images, a directory of talented illustrators and designers, or as a travel guide for a weird and wonderful alternative road trip across the USA.Ziggy HanaorIllustration by Elizabeth Graeber
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA BY LAURA FERACOAlaska was a very late addition to the United States, and still maintains a degree of isolation from the lower 48. It is a wild and extreme place, and its main city, Anchorage, is no exception. Built on a strip of coastal lowland and surrounded by six mountain ranges, Anchorage is the largest city north of Helsinki, St Petersburg, Oslo, and Stockholm. Although the proximity to the sea helps moderate the climate, temperatures in winter can often hit 5°F, and occasionally are as low as -30˚F.Just like the subarctic weather, the design world in Anchorage can be harsh and