Graphic Designer of the NYC Subway Signs Dies at Age 82

Bob Noorda, the hand behind the graphic design of the entire New York City subway system, died on Jan. 11, 2010 in Milan at the age of 82. In 1966, the Metropolitan Transit Authority commissioned his firm, Unimark International, to modernize and unify the look of the subway system’s signs.

“I remember when Bob came to New York and spent every day underground in the subway to record the traffic flow in order to determine the points of decision where the signs should be placed,” Mr. Vignelli said in an interview.

The existing signs they encountered were cluttered with various typefaces of different sizes.

“Their system was a mess,” Mr. Noorda was quoted as saying. “Sometimes pieces of paper taped to the wall were the only indication for the station.”

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Iz the Wiz Dies

Graffiti writing pioneer IZ THE WIZ (Michael Martin) reportedly died last night from heart failure. Iz was one of the most legendary writers of his time and president of The Master Blasters crew. For his dedication to getting up on multiple subway lines from the 70's through the 80's he has been described as the “longest reigning all-city king in NYC history”. You may recognize Iz as one of the main characters profiled in the graffiti cult classic, Style Wars (clip here), most notably with his witty and memorable hooting "this IZ it, this IZ it!!!"

Iz will be remembered as a truly influential figure in the graffiti movement.

My Piece is Still Running // Documentation

‘My Piece is Still Running’ is a graffiti colloquialism to describe seeing one’s piece pass on a train, an in running, or still being in operation. Even today many graffiti writers will use the phrase to signify that their work still exists. Since I am one to get caught up in words they tend to inform my work. I recall hearing the phrase and entertaining the literal translation of the saying. From here the concept of running the graffiti through the station as a layer on the train began a spark for me. The literal translation offered many solutions to that of alignment, transparency, Debordianism, and reenactment.

The performance "My Piece is Still Running" took place on two separate occasions on two separate train platforms (once at w. 4th in Manhattan and once at Nostrand Ave. in Bed Stuy). I recreated two pieces from real pieces by Dondi and Crash but only performed the Crash piece for some reason. Each piece was painted across the back of 5 shirts to be run by 5 people on the platform. Check the video and don't sweat the technique.

Subway Art @ Revolution Books

25th Anniversary of Subway Art release party tonight at Revolution Books 7pm.

Writers Bench plaque on NY Subway Official Site

The Writers' Bench plaque has managed to slip into the official history books. While looking through the New York Subway site (nycsubway.org) I came across the most recent plaque. It's crazy to see how much it has aged already.

Kings of the City Graffiti Film Festival

Kings of the City Graffiti Festival taking place all this month at the Mayles Institute in Harlem. Films start at 7pm every Wednesday Night.

Installation

Images from the Parsons MFA Design + Technology Symposium. Good Arkansas friends Emmy Butler and buZ blurr pose with Taylor Reid and myself on the 'Writers Bench' replica. I also showed an assemblage of video documentation of the process and projects. And lastly my posse partied their asses off while sticking within a common color theme.

My Piece Is Still Running, (Brooklyn edition)

Still Runing Nostrand Test 1 from Miss Tint .
thanks to Cathy, Cameron, Nate, Nick, and Taetae for running so fine.

Kazaaam!!!

The governmental view of graffiti is surgical. A slight nip here, a tuck there, and presto change-o, the place is back to law and order. Instead of trying to understand why graffiti happens in the first place it is painted out of view leading to no questions, no answers, and no deeper understanding of what drives people to make graffiti.

I'm about half way through my paper and finally seeing the link to a sense of place. Some people find it through ownership, others through escapism, and graffiti writers find it through making a city comprehensible, connected, and most of all legible.

Thesis Exhibition 2009

It's just about here. The Thesis exhibition begins Friday, May 1st (a week from tomorrow) and goes through the weekend. The exhibition is being held on the second floor of 65 5th ave. at 13th St. Symposium with talks, tutorials, and other stressful crap throughout the weekend. Can we just have bags under our eyes and pretend like it is over already.

Sigh.

Atleast the postcard has pink in it and look at that. My project is right over there in the bottom right corner. And, yes and, for some bizarre reason they put a pic of me taking apart a computer. It's true, I despise computers. Lap-topless for life!