Recent work

Summer’s over as far as I am concerned. The semester has begun and I’m busy with two book projects (more on that later). Recently I completed two design projects.

THE NATION

The first is the current issue of The Nation, which is out now. It is the September 21, 2009 edition and a “special issue” on the global politics of food. I hired illustrator (and singer songwriter) Tim Robinson to not only create the title out of food, but to do initials caps comprised of food to be scattered throughout. He also did five illustrations, which gives the issue a nice cohesiveness.

http://www.thenation.com/

http://www.timrobinson.cc/

http://www.myspace.com/timrobinsonsongs

TWO-HANDERS

I also designed the publicity materials for my friend Martin Fox’s play Two-Handers which was part of The Midtown International Theatre Festival in NYC. My daughter Janna did the illustration. Marty was my editor at Print, and the Editor-in-Chief there for about 40 years. He is responsible, along with art director Andrew Kner, for turning Print from a small printing and design magazine in the early 1960s into a major voice in the design world. The play is excellent as well.

http://www.comicspace.com/janna_brower_flapper_comics/

This just in…

Another glowing review by Rami Shamir for the Evergreen Review:

” The Revolution initiated by Gore Vidal with his Empire series is continued and modernized by Steven Brower in SATCHMO: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong. It is a Revolution that challenges the way in which history is told, read, and accepted…Most importantly, however, SATCHMO: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong reminds us that the book as an object is indispensable in a time when the fate of the printed book is very much debated.”

http://www.evergreenreview.com/119/22.html

Satchmo revisted

I can’t believe it has been over three months since I updated info about Satchmo. A lot has happened since that time. I have a YouTube video up where I briefly discuss the book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L91LOMNrfRM

There have been several more wonderful reviews:

Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong goes above and beyond any mere biography by showing more private portions of the legend’s life….Author Steven Brower offers a thorough explanation into the personal side of Armstrong, providing crisp color scans of his never-before-seen collages, scrapbook pages, personal writings, and artwork. These color reproductions capture the wit and brilliance of the legend.—Sarah Moore, Pop Matters

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/107015-satchmo-the-wonderful-world-and-art-of-louis-armstrong-steven-brower

Steven Brower’s Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong is a wild book filled with incredible visuals that will make your eyes wiggle regardless whether you’re a fan of his music….It took Brower—best known as a designer—to realize what a visual feast this was…Satchmo has a solid overview of Armstrong’s career…”—Byron Coley, The Wire

http://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/304

It’s not so much an art book as much as it’s one of the coolest scrapbooks ever.—Peter Saltsman, Sharp

http://www.sharpformen.com/content/article.php?section=3&subsection=1&articlenumber=421

Much recent fume time has been spent amidst the pages of Steven Brower’s Satchmo (Harry N. Abrams), a book largely dedicated to the visual art of the last century’s premier pothead—Mr. Louis Armstrong. Brower was also responsible for that cool book of Woody Guthrie’s visuals a few years back, but this one is even bonnier on the peeps.—Byron Coley & Thurston Moore, Arthur

http://www.arthurmag.com/?s=satchmo&submit=Search

…a beautifully illustrated new book. It combines an eloquently-written narrative about the trumpeter’s life and achievements with page after page of richly-detailed colour photographs depicting Armstrong’s tape box collages. (4 Stars)
—Charles Waring, The Record Collector

http://www.recordcollectormag.com/reviews/review-detail/3895

… perfectly complements and enhances the visual art of Louis Armstrong…a fascinating and handsome perspective on a particular aspect of the various talents with which Armstrong was blessed, one that had previously remained unexposed to the general public. … a heartfelt tribute to the creative genius of Louis Armstrong..—Joe Lang, New Jersey Jazz Society

A beautiful book puts together hundreds of notebooks of collages never seen before by Louis Armstrong—Paola Genone , L’Express

… Satchmo…had a way with yet another instrument: a pair of scissors. Between sets, he snipped words and images from ads and greeting cards, letters, telegraphs, and photos of friends and fans, then pasted them into jazzy, colorful collages. Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong collects these elegant riffs by the most artful of improvisers’—O, The Oprah magazine

http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200904-omag-book-brower

As chronicled in Steven Brower’s Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong (Abrams 2009), he then “adorned the tape boxes with collages culled from newspaper clippings, movie stills, ads, greetings cards, [and] photographs.” The results, like Satchmo’s best jazz, are both instantly gratifying and worthy of deeper analysis.—The Utne Reader

http://www.utne.com/Arts/The-Wonderful-World-of-Louis-Armstrongs-Art.aspx

I was just interviewed by Pat Williams on WBDO-AM, it airs online this Saturday, August 8, at 5am (!)

http://wdbo.com/inside/shows.html

So things keep rolling along. More as it occurs.

WOODY GUTHRIE LEGACY

Just a really quick post to show a logo I designed for Rounder Records and the Woody Guthrie Foundation last month.

Satchmo Update

Things have been happening so quickly that I haven’t had time to post, let alone catch my breath. There was a panel discussion and book signing with Phoebe Jacobs, Stanley Crouch and myself on March 17th at the Lincoln Triangle Barnes and Noble in NYC.

The following Monday there was another panel and signing, at the Museum of Art and Design on Columbus Circle, this time with Wynton Marsalis.

I’ve had two radio interviews so far:

WNYC—Soundcheck (with John Schaefer):

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2009/03/12

KMOX (With John Carney):

http://www.kmox.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=3556174

And there have been terrific reviews. The book was featured in the April issue of O, and Entertainment Weekly, with more extensive reviews internationally:

The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/mar/15/satchmo-steven-brower-review

“Interspersed with vivid bursts of Armstrong’s own writings, what emerges is a portrait of such intimacy, it comes closest in the vast Armstrong bibliography to capturing the humble humanity and generosity of spirit of one of the great figures of the 20th century.”

The Australian:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25196260-5001986,00.html

The Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/4962684/Louis-Armstrong-the-secret-collage-maker.html

Upcoming events include an exhibit next month at Jazz At Lincoln Center, and a book signing on April 30th at Queens College as part of the Creative Writing program at the Godwin-Ternbach Gallery. And L’Express, one of France’s leading magazines interviewed me and is doing a feature.

I’ll post more events and happenings as they develop.

Satchmo C’est Si Bon

My book Satchmo: The Wonderful Art and World of Louis Armstrong has been translated into French by Éditions de La Martiniere. They did an excellent job of remaining true to my design and the book is beautifully printed, just like the Abrams edition.

I will be posting more news about Satchmo as we get closer to the pub date of March 1.

In the meantime you can pre-order it here:

http://tinyurl.com/b3kwfj

This just in: Satchmo is featured in Elissa Schappell’s Hot Typereview of the current March issue of Vanity Fair, the one with Obama on the cover.

 

Alternative Thinking Creatively Design

After finally seeing the film Helvetica (which I highly recommend) I went back and redesigned by poster for the conference. As much as I like it I think its time had come and gone.

Thinking Creatively 6!

Hard to believe it was 6 conferences ago when I was the keynote at the very first Thinking Creatively conference at Kean University. Co-sponsored by the Art Directors Club of New Jersey, this year’s, to be held on April 3 & 4, is going to be terrific.

Here’s my poster design:

You can check out details (and register) here.

http://www.thinkingcreatively.org

CircFocus

Last month I completed work on the logo for CircFocus. The company, headed by Steve Pippin, is dedicated to helping small publishers succeed with their magazines through better circulation efforts, and larger publishers with special projects. The creative brief was a design a logo that was “serious but not staid, imaginative but not flighty.” Incorporating that into a conceptual approach that said “magazine,” “circulation,” and “focus” was the challenge.

Here’s the final result:

Love You

I only took me 3 years but I finally got around to opening a Cafe Press store to sell my “Love You” designs. Why stare at a Brower when you can wear a Brower?

http://www.cafepress.com/SBDwear