Tabla de contenidos para Spring 2016 en Smith Journal

Just near my hotel’s tram stop was a piece of graffiti: a half-torn poster someone had scribbled on, saying, “Dear Santa, For Christmas I want the Nikola Tesla machine.” There was a little love heart drawn underneath. Each time I walked past, this poster brought me a weird sense of joy. I took photos of it. I mulled over its meaning. I speculated about its author – what palinka-soaked fever dream had inspired them to write that sentiment on that poster near that tram stop? With all else about me in Magyar script, this was the only bit of English on public display, and it was completely, ridiculously absurd. This issue of Smith has brought my unknown Hungarian friend back to me, in a story about an online attempt to…

THE DARKINJUNG PEOPLE OF NSW’S CENTRAL COAST TELL A STORY ABOUT THE UNIVERSE WHERE GOLDEN WEBS RADIATE FROM THE STARS, STRETCH ACROSS SPACE AND TOUCH ALL OF CREATION, FROM THE MOON IN THE SKY TO THE PEOPLE ON THE GROUND. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED, IS THE MESSAGE: NO MATTER HOW BIG OR SMALL, OR HOW FAR AWAY. For Karlie Noon, a Kamilaroi woman from Tamworth who heard the story as a kid, the golden webs have always been a fact of life; she didn’t need science to prove they existed. But when she began studying physics at the University of Newcastle in 2011, that’s more or less what she got. “String theory is this concept – quite modern for physics – that says that there are these little strings that come…

THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHEN I WAS LIKE, “WELL, SCREW YOU GUYS, I’M GOING TO WRITE A NOVEL,” OR “SCREW YOU GUYS, I’M GOING TO MAKE A FILM.” IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO WORK IT OUT My first TV role came at the age of seven when I was cast on The Jack Benny Program, and it pretty much all flowed from there. I originally thought that show business was something I’d do during my childhood and then I’d do something proper and serious as a grown-up. And I sort of did – I was a teacher for a couple of years, then I worked in the state legislature in California and I even did journalism, too. Each of them was partially satisfying, but sooner or later I’d find myself…

EVERY FEW MINUTES, WHEN THE TRAFFIC ALONG ELM STREET SLOWS TO A STOP, PEOPLE RACE FROM THE EDGES OF THE ROAD INTO THE CENTRE OF IT. Parents encourage their children to stand still for a photo, and university-age kids huddle together for group selfies – until the light turns green and the cars head down the hill towards them. Every few minutes, on every day of the year, tourists and conspiracy theorists alike are competing in a race to get to the X on the road that marks the spot in Dallas, Texas where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963. I visited the site earlier this year, after a tour of the Sixth Floor Museum – housed in the former Texas School Book Depository building, the place…

AS DEMONSTRATED ENDLESSLY BY EVERY LORD OF THE RINGS FILM, NEW ZEALAND IS AN OTHERWORLDLY PLACE – A WORTHY BACKDROP TO ELVES AND MAGIC AND MYTHS COME TO LIFE. But Peter Jackson wasn’t the first to recognise its peculiar qualities. A century earlier, a British couple named Robert and Harriot Felkin described the North Island’s Taupo region as being “full of the queerest elementals” they had ever seen. Back in the old country, they were used to talking to nymphs, they declared, and had often watched fairies playing, but this place, with its boiling mud pools and geysers, was something else. They reckoned dragons might have originated from such a spot, and couldn’t get over the animals, which seemed to their eyes to be crazy, jumbled creations. As far as…

Kris Sowersby: Motörhead’s eponymous 1977 album has the seminal elements of their visual identity: the ‘War Pig’ by Joe Petagno and the blackletter by Phil Smee. Emerging from the punk-scene crucible, Motörhead’s imagery draws its power from British cultural taboos, specifically WWII and Nazi references like blackletter, the accented ö, the militarised demonic skull, and the black/red/white colour scheme. It was designed to shock and provoke, just like the music. When Lemmy smashes his bike through your living room wall, and your daughter jumps on while he pulls the finger and crashes out again, this is the logotype you think of. Ben Couzens: The Motörhead logo is part military, part biker gang. Which is really what the band looks and sounds like. Their full logo is made up of two…

Kris Sowersby: Surprisingly, this was designed by Storm Thorgerson in 1973 as part of the cover art for Houses of the Holy, though it didn’t appear on the final version. It has echoes of Art Deco filtered through ’60s optical-psychedelia – a perfect typographic time capsule. However, Thorgerson’s strength was his legendary art direction and photographic execution – typography was never his strong suit. The Led Zep logotype is therefore mediocre. It has none of the transcendental qualities and continuing appeal of the music itself. Louise McWhinnie: It is of course difficult to even sight the word ‘zeppelin’ and not feel a sense of the Germanic, yet the hint of German bohemia in these decadent letterforms is subtle. Most of the Zeppelin letters are essentially hard horizontal/vertical strokes in uppercase…

THE DAY AFTER A SWORDFIGHT AIRS ON GAME OF THRONES, FULVIO DEL TIN’S TELEPHONE WILL RING. A LOT. “I RECEIVE MANY REQUESTS,” HE LAUGHS. “BUT I DON’T MAKE THOSE KINDS OF SWORDS. FANTASY CONFUSES ME. I WANT TO STICK TO REALITY.” For almost half a century now, Del Tin has been crafting swords, daggers and armour in his workshop in the blacksmithing town of Maniago, Italy, in the foothills of the Alps. At the beginning, he says, work was steady, if a little quiet – as you might expect of a profession that has been obsolete for hundreds of years. But after Mel Gibson wielded one of his creations in the 1995 film Braveheart, Del Tin quickly became Hollywood’s go-to historical swordsman. “News of my work soon spread,” the 60-year-old…

IMAGINE A LIBRARY THAT CONTAINED EVERY POSSIBLE BOOK. EVERY POSSIBLE COMBINATION OF LETTERS AND PUNCTUATION THAT COULD FILL 410 PAGES. In this library there would be everything that has ever been written or said and everything that could possibly be written or said. The complete and total potential of human communication – every fragment of meaning, every snippet of information, every useless jumble of nonsensical gibberish. A book composed of nothing but spaces and a book composed of nothing except for the letter Z. The complete works of Shakespeare, set out page after improbable page. An exactly identical copy of the complete works of Shakespeare, except that Romeo is called Barry. The cure for cancer, the formula for time travel, the history of the Trump presidency. This entire paragraph, letter…

BORN: March 8, 1922, Pirmasens, Germany DIED: December 6, 2014, Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S.A. NINETEEN TWENTY-TWO WAS NOT AN IDEAL YEAR TO BE BORN A GERMAN JEW. FOR RALPH BAER – THE MAN WHO WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS THE FATHER OF VIDEO GAMES – HIS RHINELAND CHILDHOOD WAS A “HORRENDOUS SITUATION”. Growing up in the same years that the Nazi Party took root, Baer was expelled from school at 11 because of his faith and forced into segregated all-Jewish classes, before being put to work at 14. Among a string of menial jobs, he found work in a shoe factory where his boss reportedly told him he’d never amount to anything. In an early show of engineering know-how, he responded by inventing a machine that automated one of the factory’s…

 SEINFELD WAS ONE OF FAHAD ALBUTAIRI’S FAVOURITE TV SHOWS WHEN HE WAS GROWING UP IN SAUDI ARABIA. BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS ONE THING ABOUT THE PROGRAM THAT CONFUSED HIM: WHENEVER JERRY STOOD UP ON STAGE WITH A MICROPHONE AND TOLD JOKES. “IT WAS WEIRD,” ALBUTAIRI LAUGHS. “I THOUGHT HE WAS EXPLAINING TO THE AUDIENCE WHAT THE EPISODE WAS GOING TO BE ABOUT.” “FORGET JAIL. IF THE AUDIENCE GETS ANGRY THEN THEY COULD STORM THE STAGE. AND NO ONE WANTS THAT.” It was only in 2003, after winning a scholarship to study geology at the University of Texas at Austin, that the penny dropped. Shortly after Albutairi arrived, he was flicking channels in his dorm room and came across Comedy Central. It was a gateway into a new world: stand-up comedy.…

“DESIGN IS WHAT DREW ME TOWARDS STAMPS,” SAYS IAIN FOLLETT, A DIRECTOR AT U.K. DESIGN AGENCY SIX. HE’S FROM LEICESTERSHIRE IN THE ENGLISH MIDLANDS, AND HE OWNS AN AWFUL LOT OF STAMPS. “I’m interested in design and visual culture whatever the format. In the stamp world people accept it, but think Blair and I are a little crazy as we are collecting in a specific way that goes against the norm in some respects. Most stamp collectors collect by country, by theme, or for value and investment. Most collectors cherish the older stamps, the rarities, the misprints. We like the mid-century stuff, the modernist stamps, the graphic stamps.” Blair is Blair Thomson, Follett’s friend and also a designer – of packaging and brand identities – based near Toronto, Canada. Together,…

ON THE PANEL: Ben Couzens , executive creative director at Cummins&Partners (and “rock head since birth”) Louise McWhinnie, associate professor at UTS Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, and expert in vernacular typography Karina Utomo, vocalist with Melbourne punk/metal band High Tension Kris Sowersby, independent typeface designer at Klim Type Foundry Adam Ferrier, consumer psychologist and author of The Advertising Effect: How to Change Behaviour…

Ben Couzens: Like AC/DC, these British metal legends didn’t land on their iconic logo until a few albums into their career. Judas Priest are a straight-up, classic heavy metal band. They sing about breaking the law and fantasy. They dress in leather and studs. This logo represents them perfectly: aggressive, strong and electric. Kris Sowersby: Polish-born Roslaw Szaybo designed the logotype and cover for Judas Priest’s 1978 release Stained Class. Poland has a magnificent, rich design history and culture. Posters from this era are masterclasses in harmonising type and image, and Szaybo’s work continues this tradition. His cover is a sympathetic symbiosis of form and content; its futuristic aggressiveness expresses the music perfectly. Louise McWhinnie: Originally sporting a Germanic blackletter logo similar to that of Motörhead, Judas Priest came to…

Adam Ferrier: Growing up, Megadeth had an almost satanic feel to them – the hardest and scariest of them all. Their name conveys this, but their logo is lacking. It should be dripping in blood, chainsaws and glass. Instead they’ve gone for a pared-back, block gothic feel – it’s on the right track, but doesn’t go nearly far enough. Ben Couzens: In the early days of Metallica their original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine got loose one too many times, resulting in him getting fired. Fuelled by revenge, he formed his own band, Megadeth, so it’s no coincidence this logo has several similarities to the Metallica one. Both have letters at the start and end of the word that have symmetrical points, and both band names start with the letter M,…

 ONE NIGHT IN 2003, MARK TODD NOTICED SOMETHING STRANGE WHILE BROWSING EBAY. AN ELECTRICIAN BY TRADE, TODD SPENT A LOT OF HIS SPARE TIME ADMIRING THE CARNIVOROUS PLANTS THAT GROW AROUND THE SWAMPS OF HIS NATIVE NORTH CAROLINA. INVESTIGATORS ARE LEFT DEBATING WHETHER THE PLANTS ARE BEING SOLD TO LEGITIMATE NURSERIES OR WHETHER THEY’RE BEING SNATCHED UP BY THE ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE INDUSTRY. He was particularly fond of the Venus flytrap and, as luck would have it, some had just been listed for sale online. But there was something about the auction that seemed off: “Hobbyists usually only sell one or two plants. And this guy was selling 20.” Furthermore, the plants didn’t seem store-bought; they looked like they’d been plucked right out of the ground. “Something wasn’t right,” he explains.…

IN AN ENGLISH CAR PARK IN 2012, A BACKHOE BROKE THROUGH BITUMEN. SIX FEET DOWN, THE BLADE HIT BONE. YEARS OF RESEARCH HAD LED A TEAM OF HISTORIANS TO THIS UNASSUMING SPOT, IN SEARCH OF THE SKELETON OF ONE OF ENGLISH HISTORY’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL FIGURES: RICHARD III. News coverage surrounding the excavation had one common theme: a play, written a century after the man had died. Every narrative connected the discovery to one fictional portrayal of a villainous, deformed monarch who plotted against his family to seize the throne; whose twisted spine was a badge of his hatred of virtue; who killed his brother’s children; whose death erased a stain on the English monarchy. This character – Richard III – was written by William Shakespeare, in what is (depending on…

ON THE SURFACE, THE FISH AND CHIP SHOP KAZEM HAKIMI RUNS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF OXFORD LOOKS LIKE ANY OTHER IN ENGLAND: THERE’S A BRIGHT ORANGE SIGN OUT THE FRONT, A DEEP FRYER NEAR THE BACK AND, ALONG ONE WALL, A SHELF PILED HIGH WITH JARS OF PICKLED ONIONS AND TOMATO SAUCE SACHETS. But those who visit Hakimi’s regularly know there’s something special about the place – and it has nothing to do with battered Mars bars or mushy peas. Over the past couple of years, Hakimi has used the shop as a venue to practise his favourite hobby: photography. Specifically, he’s developed a habit of taking customers aside while they wait for their food and shooting portraits of them. He says the motivation behind the images is simple: they’re…

THE HUMAN IMPULSE TO CONSUME FOOD AND BEVERAGES WHILE SPINNING 360 DEGREES DATES BACK TO THE 1960S, AND IT SPEAKS TO THE ERA’S EXHILARATING SENSE OF POTENTIAL. AstroTurf was invented. Civil rights became a thing. A man was about to walk on the moon. Anybody who expected fine dining to happen at ground level, frankly, didn’t get it. There was a peculiar satisfaction to be had downing prawn cocktails inside something resembling a UFO. Of course, many of the first revolving restaurants were inspired by alien spacecraft. Not only did this design suit the airborne state of such establishments, but diners also found the latent reference to little green men a thrilling accompaniment to their meals. The Blob was in cinemas and Cold War paranoia was in the air. Punters…

IT’S PROBABLY UNEXPECTED, BUT I LOVE ‘JESSIE’S GIRL’ BY RICK SPRINGFIELD: A CANDIED POP-JOCK SONG WITH A HEAVY AMERICAN VIBE, CREATED BY AN AUSTRALIAN IN 1981. I remember hearing it when I was 10, but it didn’t quite register then. It’s odd, because I loved a lot of teenage heart-throbby music back in the day. I was very much an ’80s child: Michael Jackson was my main dude back then. I do remember seeing Rick Springfield and thinking, “Oh he’s cute,” but I didn’t really respond in a hysterical way. He kind of slipped under my radar. It’s only now, by way of DJing, that it’s become a guilty pleasure. The first time I put it on and played it in public I felt a bit embarrassed. Like, I’m supposed…

THERE PROBABLY AREN’T MANY PAGES IN THE ANNALS OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT DEDICATED TO DONKEY TRADERS. BUT PERHAPS THERE SHOULD BE: WITHOUT THEM (AND THEIR SHEEP- AND CHICKEN-TRADING COLLEAGUES), WE WOULD NOT HAVE CALCULUS. Or physics. Or computers. Or a great deal of other important things, all of which require something that, for most of human history, simply didn’t exist: the number zero. Unlike positive numbers, which have been around for aeons, zero only reared its head 5000 years ago, in Mesopotamia, when the Sumerians started trading donkeys and sheep and chickens in such massive numbers that their primitive counting system began to buckle. They needed a new way of doing maths to help them keep track of things: one that would let them count higher than anyone had before. What…

SHROUDED IN MIST OF A MORNING, LAKE PIEMAN, ON TASMANIA’S RUGGED WEST COAST, SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A VICTORIAN HORROR NOVEL. SILENCE IS ABSOLUTE AND THE NEAREST TOWN IS MILES AWAY. THE FORMLESS BLUE-GREY OF THE SKY IS GIVEN DEFINITION ONLY BY THE INKY BLACKNESS OF THE WATER AND THE GNARLED, DEAD BRANCHES THAT PUNCTURE THE SURFACE AT REGULAR INTERVALS. Yet rooted just beneath the surface of the lake is a forest hundreds of years old, preserved by the water like a fly in amber. There are trees down there almost completely lost to the modern world. But now a Tasmanian company named Hydrowood is bringing them to the surface and these undead timbers are getting a new lease of life. To be clear, what we’re talking about here…

Ben Couzens: They say a picture says a thousand words, and really a logo should do the same. The Sex Pistols logo is a perfect example: what better way to encapsulate anarchy and chaos than a logo that is a ransom note? Scrappy and nasty. Louise McWhinnie: The fact that this ‘anti-logo’ logo has become one of the most recognisable logotypes of its time speaks to the clever (graphic) marketing of the Pistols. The assortment of upper and lowercase italic and non-italic sans serif letterforms, with imperfect scissor crops and torn background, all combine to suggest an anti-establishment disdain for the existing music scene. The raw scissor and photocopy ransom note aesthetic was of course carefully designed, reflecting the torn T-shirts and safety pins of the hardcore punk uniform. As…

Louise McWhinnie: The Misfits are considered iconic, which usually means a band has a graphic image complementing that status. Their punk-laden ‘Crimson Ghost’ skull logo achieves that. This logotype, however, lacks that angst, and is more B-movie in design. This is one of the few logos here that looks as if it actually originated on the cover of school book, rather than ended up there. Any angst-ridden, misunderstood suburban teenager waiting to get out, to go anywhere but where they were, could reproduce these letterforms. Perhaps that was the point? Karina Utomo: Spooky and so apt. This is a perfect font if your band has founded the horror-punk genre. Growing up in Indonesia and Australia, this was one of the most-seen patches on battle jackets and school bags. There was…

Kris Sowersby: Bret Michaels is the frontman for successful hair-metal legends Poison. As a child, I always confused him with the ’90s WWF superstar Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart. Coincidentally, there are many similarities between professional wrestling and hair metal. They are both seen as bastardisations of ‘the real thing’, full of over-the-top showmanship, costumes and drama: entertainment that trumps authenticity. Thus the Poison logotype, a typographic trainwreck, is perfect. It’s living proof that style can upstage substance, and the fans absolutely love it. Louise McWhinnie: The logo suggests the blond flowing (male) locks of hair metal. Typographically, it could now be mistaken for a 1980s perfume logo or the identity for a speedy (but not cool) mid-life crisis car. The extended flourishes, particularly on the S and N, form a…

WHEN YOU’VE BEEN OUT OF THE ROMANCE GAME A BIT TOO LONG It’s been years since I was on a date and it’s something I never think about without almost laughing out loud trying to picture myself sitting across the table from a woman, trying to invent things that real people say in those situations. I used to go on dates many years ago. It feels like centuries. When I think back on those times, I realise I had no idea what I was doing. It is a rear-view mirror splattered with brain matter where Humiliation put a gun in its mouth and pulled the trigger because even Humiliation was filled with so much humiliation – it was too much to bear. I think if you are ready to factor…

 I’M HIRED TO WRITE THE BOOKS PEOPLE WOULD WRITE ABOUT THEMSELVES IF THEY COULD. Most fiction writers and playwrights can do it, because it’s not dissimilar to writing a character: you get to know the person, what motivates them, the sort of language they use and how they would say something. You sort of become them while you’re writing the book. If someone wants to hire me, I usually suggest we meet first to check there’s chemistry on both sides. You don’t have to like the person you’re writing about, but you have to be interested in them. You’ve got to want to find out more. The first thing I ask myself is, “Is this person interesting enough for me to spend two to three months thinking about them?” It…