The Unborn Child (1973) Seals & Crofts

Perhaps I am the only one surprised by the fact that Seals & Crofts was concerned about the life of the unborn. I would have taken the now unfair guess they would be like so many on the side of abortion rights. The album Unborn Child (Art Direction – Ed Thrasher; Design – Lockart; Illustration – Margo Zafer Nahas) was no doubt a timely response to the January 1973 passing of Roe-vs-Wade.

I often stop at Goodwill on the way home from work for a chance to clear my head, and for an opportunity to experience that therapeutic "no one is expecting something creative of me this very moment" that is so infrequent of late. In so doing, I go through the LPs looking for covers designed by master designers like Colin Forbes, Milton Glaser, George Tscherny, George Salter, Paul Rand, Seymour Schwast, S. Neil Fujita, George Giusti, Paul Davis, Lawrence Ratzkin, Andrew P. Zutis, Charles Beck and others. Due to the frequency of my visits, I have struck up some casual friendships. As I was pouring through the LPs the other day, one such employee stopped with a welcomed smile and greeting, and we spoke briefly about his family, how his second job was fairing, etc. As the conversation grew to a close, I looked down and I believe with providence, the album "The Unborn Child" by Seals & Crofts was in both my hands. It took me by surprise, so I immediately turned it over and read the words to the song which I have posted below.

Sometimes I notice these providences and brushes with grace, but most of the time I find myself in despair and yearning as I and my wife are still without children after so many years. It strikes me as ironic how I am impassioned for children, and they with me at times, and yet we have none of our own. It amazes me even more than women would see an unborn child as an inconvenience and "choose" to kill this promise inside them, especially considering all my wife and I have been through emotionally, physically and financially in our 8 year desire to be parents.

All that said, I thank God today for giving me a glimpse into his greatness, as he sparks my desire to save the unborn, with what little I have in me to do so.

Unborn Child (1973) Seals & Crofts

Oh, little baby, you’ll never cry,
Nor will you hear a sweet lullaby.

Oh, unborn child, if you only knew
Just what your momma is plannin’ to do.
You’re still a clingin’ to the tree of life
But soon you’ll be cut off before you get ripe.

Oh, unborn child, beginning to grow,
Inside your momma, but you’ll never know
Oh, tiny bud that grows in the womb
Only to crushed before you can bloom.

Momma, stop! Turn around, go back, think it over,
Stop! Turn around, go back, think it over.
Stop! Turn around, go back, think it over.

Oh, no, momma, just let it be
You’ll never regret it, just wait and see
Think of all the great ones who gave everything
That we may have life here
So please bear the pain.

Momma, stop! Turn around, go back, think it over,
Stop! Turn around, go back, think it over.
Stop! Turn around, go back, think it over.

To truly appreciate the The Unborn Child album, buy it from iTunes. I did and will say it is full of courage, power and emotion.

Modernism101. All the books you've never seen.

Everyone's heard of Rare Air. Well in my estimation, Randall Ross is the Michael Jordan of the Rare Book world. Simply put, his Modernism101 store has the most, and the best jaw dropping rare publications on the business and art of design. Word has it the boys at Grain Edit have some gems too but I can't find where. Randall's breadth and depth of products are amazing. Take for instance the Alexey Brodovitch Portfolio Magazine complete set he has available at the time of this post (or not if this post is old). Don't be shocked at the price. I have seen them for more. But the point is you don't see this stuff come up to auction much.

Since I was about 20, I have been a fan of Brodovitch, Paul Rand, Lester Beal, George Nelson, John Massey, Wim Crouwel and others. Randall either has or has had books by and about these designers as well as nearly everyone and everything else imaginable.

Frankly, he has every rare book you've never seen.

He also does a remarkable job describing the books. You can get a design education reading through his descriptions. This is a big plus to his store in my estimation. He describes his store as:

... an excellent and ever-changing selection of rare and out-of-print design books and periodicals covering all aspects of 20th-century visual culture. I specialize in the areas of Graphic Design, Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design, and Photography

Go to Modernism101 now. You never know what you'll find.

Steve Jobs on Paul Rand

Paul Rand and Steve Jobs worked together in 1993 on the NEXT logo for Jobs new company. This is an interview with Steve Jobs about the process and about working with Paul Rand.

( via swissmiss )

[Crispin] Alex Bogusky: Brands Are People

Thanks to the CoBrandit blog, I stumbled across a bunch of great interviews from people who interest me. One is Alex Bogusky, principal and Executive Creative Director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky that they filmed at the Future Marketing Summit. I love these guys, especially their employee handbook. Alex speaks about brands as being people. Not a terribly new perspective, but Alex does a great job of being interesting as I would expect of a principal in one of the world's hottest agencies. I saw an interview of Paul Rand on this site too. It's not the famed designer Paul Rand, but the Paul Rand of Ketchum Communications. Ironically I am long time family friends with the Rodriquez family in Lansing MI, and one of their three daughters married a Paul Rand from Chicago. That would be cool if this is the one (I digress). Anyway, check out the CoBrandit site.

SVA Podcasts: MFA Designer as Author

Podcasting design issues of all types by way of the School of Visual Arts NYC. The likes of which include noteables David Rees, Rick Poynor, Keith Godard, Neil Powell, Christoph Niemann, Milton Glaser, George Lois, Matthew Carter, Stuart Bailey, Joyce Rutter Kaye, Paola Antonelli, John Holmstrom, Steven Heller, plus SVA grad students. Great resource. You can grab the direct RSS feed or subscribe via iTunes.

( via GraphicDesignBar )