Looking back on 2010, here's 10 of my favourite posts over the year - Have a Happy New Year Everyone! xx

1. Graphic Design of Fred Troller 1930-2002 http://kathykavan.com/fred-troller-graphic-design-swiss-typography

2. Mexico 1968 Olympic Identity by Lance Wyman http://kathykavan.com/mexico-1968-olympic-identity-by-lance-wyman

3. Graphic Heroes: Otl Aicher, Designer 1972 Munich Olympics Identity http://kathykavan.com/graphic-resource-otl-aicher-designer-1972-mun

4. Soviet Arcade Games & Posters http://kathykavan.com/soviet-arcade-games-posters

5. Tadanori Yokoo Psychedelic Posters http://kathykavan.com/tadanori-yokoo-psychedelic-posters-japan-grap

6. A lil' Waldo Pancake for you... http://kathykavan.com/a-lil-waldo-pancake-for-you

7. Modernist Textiles | 1950's & Henry Moore http://kathykavan.com/modernist-textiles-1950s-henry-moore

9. A World of Miffy & Dick Bruna http://kathykavan.com/a-world-of-miffy-and-dick-bruna-miffy-dickbru

10. Graphical Godzilla Godzilla Godzilla!!! http://kathykavan.com/graphical-godzilla-godzilla-godzilla

The visualisation of music is a perfect vehicle for designers to graphically play - here's a classically themed collection which, whether you like classical music or not, are visually stunning.

http://www.projectthirtythree.com
http://symfantastique.blogspot.com
http://retrographica.blogspot.com
World Record Club (Australian) Covers - http://www.flickr.com/photos/23023719@N04/sets/72157603916589884/

This is a collection of artwork & photos from one of my all time favourite bands, Kraftwerk. There are finds from gigs and Japanese versions of their albums and I've also tracked down some real treats on YouTube, including Kraftwerk on Italian RAI TV in 1981 where Ralf sings in Italian - a rare colour version of Roger Mainwood's 1979 trippy animation for Autobahn in 2 parts - a fantastic Tomorrow's World clip of Kraftwerk's Robots in action dated from 1991 (so people think in the video comments) - Kraftwerk Pocket Calculator played on a Bee Gees Rhythm Machine which is what Ralf Hutter used live, and I urge you to watch the excellent Kraftwerk documentary, made by Malik Bendjelloul for Swedish TV's Pop i fokus in 2001 which has interviews with Karl Bartos, Wolfgang Flur, Bjork, Moby, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Peter Saville - divided into 3 parts. Enjoy...

Kraftwerk Mini Calculatore RAI TV 1981

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Nice! Big gallery of Wissing's work

Source: http://www.aisleone.net/2010/design/benno-wissing

I hope this is a useful collection of reference for the Mexico 68 graphic identity system - it still looks fresh, the logo epitomises 'Sports' with it's go-faster, motion aesthetic and it's just all round cool!

Lance Wyman http://www.lancewyman.com/ and http://olympic-museum.de/design/lancewyman/wyman.htm

"Graphic design became an important visual ambassador for the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, It was the first time the games were hosted by a Latin American nation. In planning for the games, Mexico, an emerging third world nation, could not afford to make the extensive architectural statement made in Tokyo four years earlier. Graphic design contributed to the ambiance of the Mexican games and helped to make a meaningful visual impact for fewer pesos."

Linking Huichol imagery to Op Art gave the Mexico Olympics a memorable graphic identity http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=123&fid=539

If we define communication as ‘a connection allowing access between persons or places’, then MEXICO 68 communicated supremely. It connected people with people, places with places, and each with the other as logically, elegantly and joyfully as may be possible. Above all, the value of the design was in the concept and construction of a graphic system within which every design element was integrated into a general proposal. The proposal delivered a jolt through the ingenuity of its imagery. 

Reference:
http://olympic-museum.de/pictograms/Picto1968.htm
http://aqua-velvet.com/2009/11/mexico-1968/
http://www.mestudio.info/2007/10/30/sign-of-the-times-2/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Summer_Olympics
http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer...
http://musselsoppansvanner.blogspot.com/2008_08_12_archive.html
http://www.europeanposters.com/
http://velorunner.blogspot.com/2009/08/olympic-cycling-posters.html
http://www.geradesoeben.de/2008/08/olympia-design-mexico-1968.htm
http://www.pedrofriedeberg.com/Press.html

See also my previous Olympic post 'Graphic Heroes: Otl Aicher, Designer 1972 Munich Olympics Identity' http://kathykavan.com/graphic-resource-otl-aicher-designer-1972-mun

Fred Troller 1930 – 2002 was a distinguished American graphic designer and educator who emigrated from Switzerland. He was born in Zurich in 1930 and graduated from the Zurich School of Design in 1950. He worked for Geigy Chemical Corporation and later established his own design studio in New York working for clients such as Exxon, General Electric, IBM and American Airlines among others. He also designed book jackets for Doubleday. As Steven Heller writes, "Troller helped popularized Swiss New Typography... the Swiss approach, influenced by the Bauhaus school of the 20's, relied on stark photographic imagery, bold sans-serif typefaces and primary colors in unfettered compositions. The object was to communicate logically, vividly and without ambiguity... Mr. Troller's personal variant of the style was characterized by the manipulation of geometric forms, jarring juxtapositions of large and small types and visual puns formed from the fonts themselves." Fred Troller was also a design educator and taught or lectured at Cooper Union, the School of the Visual Arts, and Rhode Island School of Design. He also served as chair of the division of design at Alfred University. The Troller Archive was donated by Beatrice Troller in 2005 and includes a vast amount of material ranging from sketches, mock-ups and proofs along with final printed projects including book jackets, promotional materials, packaging and posters. Heller, Steven." 

http://library.rit.edu/gda/designer/fred-troller

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/24/arts/fred-troller-71-champion-of-bold-graph...
http://montagueprojectsblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/daily-book-graphics-46-fred-...
http://grainedit.com/2009/04/06/corporate-diversity-swiss-graphic-design-by-g...

I've been meaning to collate a post on Pirelli ads from the 50's & 60's for a while, I find this era the most graphically inspiring from the brand.
"In the 1950s and 1960s, as the Pirelli group became international, Pirelli chose great European designers, such as Max Huber, Pavel M. Engelmann, Bob Noorda, Albe Steiner e Raymond Savignac. While Italian designers included Bruno Munari, Armando Testa, Riccardo Manzi, Giulio Confalonieri and Pino Tovaglia."

Here's some favourites, with reference to the source below...
http://www.pirelli.com/web/group/brand/advertising/default.page
http://www.thisisdisplay.org/tag/Pirelli
http://www.thisisdisplay.org/features/Bob_Noorda_1927-2010/
http://80magazine.wordpress.com/category/pirelli/

In April I posted an article on the Dollar ReDe$ign Project ( see here: http://kathykavan.posterous.com/dollar-redeign-project-3 )

A really interesting open project to rebrand the US Dollar, organised by Richard Smith (http://www.thinkcreatebelieve.com/about-approach.htm ) -"The Dollar ReDe$ign Project hopes to bring about change for everyone. We want to rebrand the US Dollar, rebuild financial confidence and revive our failing economy." 

'Dowling | Duncan' Graphic Design Studio based in Newark, UK and San Francisco, US have just submitted a beautiful design concept to the project, for me, one of the best versions. The design is very contemporary - I love the vertical layout which get taller as the value the notes gets bigger, fresh palettes that still manage to convey authority, clean grid layout and I especially love the $10 note with the bill of vertically rights listed. It would also be good to see the other side of the notes too, that's the part of the design I can immediately see that's missing, but still brilliant work from Dowling Duncan. Read all the design logic here - http://dowlingduncan.com/dowling-duncan-redesign-us-bank-notes/