Yo, three fun partay pix for you to enjoy… Happy birthday, dear Michael!

Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven without repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.

The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;
She shines on thieves on the garden wall,
On streets and fields and harbor quays,
And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.

From Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses.

Persnickety Peetah P. Penderquist, PhD,  poured proficient philosophical pronouncements of paramount (put provocatively perfunctory) principles in a perfectly prepossessing performance.

Here’s a little guy climbing up the stairs – only to find that there’s nothing on top, except for an invitation to go downstairs. Bummer!

Here’s a boxing image which I created for the cover of a legal magazine on the topic of competition law. I liked the idea of using a sort of Romero-Britto-style patchwork for the background, the striped lines, of course, representing the umpire in the ring.

The latest event guide for the German Trade Union (DGB) in Munich has just been published. I created both the jacket design and the inside illustrations. The postcard-sized brochure lists the many seminars and workshops and lectures and events and whatnot that the DGB provides for Munich (click for a larger view).

The cover art is a collage of assembled portrait photos, around which I spilled acrylic color. My goal was to create a vintage look (hence the predominantly dated photos from the 1930’s through 1970’s) which looks fresh and modern at the same time. Here’s a closeup view of the spread (click for a larger image).

I actually got to include some relatives of mine in the collage, such as my mom on the cover (the pretty girl below the number 20), my grandfather (covered by the headline), and my sister when she was Very Small (below the DGB logo on the back).

I have been doing covers for the Trade Union for many years now (illustrations and jacket designs), which is especially nice since Munich is my hometown, and a city that I love dearly. With every season, I create completely new designs in styles that I haven’t used before with the client. As of the 2005 booklet, all editions were headed by the terrific Alexander Klier who is always immensely open towards new ideas.

Along with the booklet, I usually also create stuff like postcards and bookmarks. I once even did an animated movie which was shown on info screens in the Munich subway.

Here is the bookmark for 2010 (click for larger files), showing, among others, my grandmother (back side yellow area, my grandfather (back side on the left of the blue balloon), and my brother (back side far left).

Covers from Past Years

Check out my covers from past years! Mind that all jacket covers are continued on the back side (which I can’t show in this 3d rendering, unfortunately).

TOP: 2008 Spring Issue – This was a real gem where I displayed some pitch-black silhouettes of well-known bridges of Munich against a golden background. We used a Pantone gold color here, which added a really cool touch.

BELOW: 2008 Fall Issue – That year’s topic, bridges, was used for the a setting in the wonderful English Garden which is located right in the heart of Munich.

2007 Goes Pop Art

TOP: 2007 Spring Issue – Munich goes pop art. Dirndls, pretzels, Frauenkirche, and happy buildings all over the place. Actually, this sort of captures the spirit of the Oktoberfest, I find in retrospect. Little did I know that I would actually win the Oktoberfest poster design award only a year later.

BELOW: 2007 Fall Issue – Pop-art-style rendering of happy people in a happy city. You can spot the Friendsengel (”Angel of Peace”) and the Maximiliansbrücke, one of the city’s largest bridges.

Goings-on in 2006

TOP: 2006 Spring Issue – For the year 2006, I went for a collage of a great many square-shaped visuals which are all linking to the city of Munich and its people, and the many activities offered.

BELOW: 2006 Fall Issue – This is the design for the second half of that year, once again using square-shaped plates for the visuals.

2005 Flies up High

TOP: 2005 Issue – In 2005 I received a call from Nöck Burmeister who I had worked with many years before, and he offered me to work on new cover design for the upcoming event calendar. I was thrilled to be given this opportunity after all this time, and readily jumped on it. This marked the beginning of a beautiful continued collaboration for the years to come. The edition for 2005, which was subsequently headed by Alexander, saw only one brochure covering the whole year. It shows a girl working on a laptop while sitting on a flying carpet hovering above the city of Munich.

BELOW: 1999 Issue – This issue was the first cover for the DGB that I assembled on the computer. The elements are all hand-painted, using gouache on thick watercolor paper. I went for a fun motif here, showing a jungle setting, with animals peeking in from the sides, and a monkey doing the Tarzan as he is carrying around a building of Munich’s landmark, the famous Frauenkirche.

It all Started Back in 1994

TOP: 1994 Spring Issue – This marks the very first cover I ever did for the Trade Union, and also one of my very first major assigments ever. The artwork uses the cartoon figure that I used to work with at the time. The tree was actually modelled after the beautiful plum tree in my parents’ garden (Reine Claude plums – very succulent and sweet). This was all handmade back then, including the lettering which I cut out by hand.

BELOW: 1994 Fall Issue – Another hand-designed painting, showing the silhouette of a clown watching the sun rise. The background for the lettering consists of assembled snippets in different languages. I had only come up with this graphic illustration style a year earlier, during a two-month stay in Rome. Now you may wonder – this was actually thought of as a sunrise, but I remember people wondering why I would have wanted to create a sunset for the cover? True enough, Im am still uncertain as to what it really is!

This tiny promo brochure has just gotten printed. It shows a selection of full-size whimsical-style images that I created for a book on politics for children a while ago. Entitled Tim asks Tom, the book sets out to explain terminology from politics and society to juveniles in easy-to-understand language.

Tom Buhrow, a bestselling author and a popular TV anchorman for Tagesthemen, Germany’s most watched daily news show, explains about 60 weird words and phrases that you typically hear on the news, ranging from “anti doping” to “renewable energy” and “board of inquiry.”

BILD, Germany’s largest daily paper, praised the book as “made for kids.” In a statement, Tom pointed out my “tremendous work ethic, paired with a huge amount of experience” (blush).

I have added a few sample spreads below; the complete booklet, which is really, really small (A7!), can be downloaded here as a PDF file.

As a special New Year treat, in my longest post ever, I have put together scans from my collection of books by Tove Jansson, the Finnish writer and illustrator of the famed Moomin series. These include original Swedish-language first editions, translated editions in a variety of languages, and even a signed copy. Click on the images for larger versions! And Happy New Year everybody!

1. Personal Recollections
2. Original Editions
3. Translated Editions
4. Comic Strips
5. Secondary Literature

My relationship with Tove Jansson’s work has always been quite intense. When we were Very Small, my mom gave us Tove’s moomin books to read, and we literally devoured them, re-reading them over and over. (As a matter of fact, I have been doing it up to this day.) I have always been an ardent admirer of Tove’s stories and illustrations which even today, for me, rank among the greatest artwork ever created. Tove will always be dear to my heart.

Here are two links to Tove Jansson articles on my website:

• Moominmamma Forever! (English)
• Die Muminmutter (German)

Personal Recollections

In 1993, while spending two months in Rome sketching and drawing away, I stumbled across the Italian translation of a book by Tove’s which I wasn’t familiar with at the time, Magia d’inverno (Trollvinter). While I don’t speak much Italian, I was surprised to discover while reading along, or trying to, that even though I didn’t really understand what was being said, in some strange way I felt what the story was all about, simply because the world of Tove Jansson seemed so very familiar.

I was so surprised at this discovery that I decided to write to Tove through her Italian publisher, and to tell her about this, and let her know my general appreciation for her; I am afraid I also sent along some drawings I had made during my stay in Rome (mind I was rather young at the time).

Moomin stamps on a letter to me from Tove in 1993

Images (c) Tove Jansson

Below: close-up view

To make a long story short, I found a reply from Helsinki in my mailbox upon my return – Tove had written back! Her hand-written letter smelled of heavy chain smoking. The stamps on the envelope showed some of her Moomin characters, and she added an note with an arrow, stating, “Moomin stamps!” She also sent me a signed book of hers, which I thought was indescribably lovely a thing to do.

We later exchanged another letter when I inquired about doing an interview for a magazine for which I had written an article about her shortly before. She declined, quite understandibly, because she felt she was now at a stage in her life where she really didn’t want to give interviews any more (she was almost 80 back then).

Die ehrliche Betrügerin

Rowohlt (Germany 1993)

Signed for me by Tove Jansson in 1993

Original Editions

Tove belonged to the minority of Swedish-speaking people in Finland. I have here put together scans of Swedish-language original editions in my collection of Tove Jansson’s work.

Mumintrollet på kometjakt

Sörlins Förlag (Sweden 1956, 1st. ed.)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Hur gick det sen?

Gebers  (Sweden 1981)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Vem ska trösta Knyttet?

Norstedts (Sweden 1991)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Farlig midsommar

Gebers (Sweden 1957)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Trollvinter

Gebers  (Sweden 1957, 1st ed.)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Det osynliga barnet

Gebers  (Sweden 1962, 1st ed.)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Translated Editions

Tove’s books have seen a widespread international readership. These are some of foreign-language editions of her books, including the little Ravensburger Verlag editions of which I think it is fair enough to say that they had a profound influence on my childhood, and on that of my brother and sister.

Moominland Midwinter

Ernest Benn (UK 1958, 1st ed.)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Moominland Midwinter

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (USA 1992)

Paperback, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Moominpappa at Sea

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (USA 1993)

Paperback, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Moominpappa at Sea

Puffin (UK 1984)

Paperback, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Comet in Moominland

Henry Z. Walck (USA 1961)

Hardcover, front image (c) Tove Jansson

Moominsummer Madness

Henry Z. Walck (USA 1961)

Hardcover, front image (c) Tove Jansson

Comet in Moominland

Henry Z. Walck (USA 1967, 4th ed.)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Comet in Moominland

Ernest Benn (UK 1965, 3rd ed.)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Muminvaters wildbewegte Jugend

Benzinger (Germany 1963, 1st ed.)

Hardcover, front page (c) Tove Jansson

Papa Moumine et la mer

Live de poche (France 1987, 1st ed.)

Softcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Sturm im Mumintal

Benzinger (Germany 1955, 1st ed.)

Hardcover, cover (c) Li Rommel

Sturm im Mumintal

Otto Maier Verlag (Germany 1969)

Softcover, cover  (c) Lilo Fromm

Eine drollige Gesellschaft

Deutscher Bücherbund

(Germany, 1954, 1st ed.)

Hardcover, cover (c) Li Rommel

Eine drollige Gesellschaft

Otto Maier Verlag (Germany 1968)

Softcover, cover (c) Lilo Fromm

Finn Family Moomintroll

Penguin (Great Britain 1964, 2nd ed.)

Softcover, cover  (c) Tove Jansson

Komet im Mumintal

Otto Maier Verlag (Germany 1970)

Softcover, cover (c) Lilo Fromm

Magia d’inverno

Salani gl’istrici (Italy 1992)

Softcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

(I bought this one in Rome.)

Les mémoires de papa Moumine

Live de poche (France 1987)

Softcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

(Bought in Abidjan – yes, Ivory Coast!)

Les mémoires de papa Moumine

Live de poche (France 1986, 4th ed.)

Softcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Comic Strips

Tove Jansson was not only a wonderful writer but also a one-of-a-kind artist. In the 1950’s she was approached by an English newspaper to transcribe some of her stories from the books into comic strip form so as to make them accessible to an even greater audience. While she jumped at the idea and seemed to enjoy working in this format at first, after a few years she felt it was too much limiting her artistic impulses. This was when her younger brother Lars decided to take over the strips, a venture he continued to pursue for decades to come, syndicating them around the world trough Bulls syndicate.

Tove’s and Lars’ Moomin strips are unique in the world of comics – their humor is strange, to say the least, sometimes dark, often mysterious, and usually quite off-centered. Quite surprising by this token, I find, that they actually managed to find an audience at all.

Artistically, they rank among the very best that the world of comics has ever known, single-handedly employing two illustration styles – limited line strokes where too many details seemed unnecessary; and impressionist depictions of landscapes and weather phenomena to support the action, and also, I think, to please the artistic eye always in search of contemplation.  In particular, the way that the two Janssons are able to visualize forces driven by nature, such as stormy skies, ocean waves and grottos, I find unparalleled in the world of comics, with the exception perhaps of the likes of Carl Barks who created many of Donald Duck’s most captivating stories in the 1050’s and 1960’s.

Mumintrollet 5

Gebers (Sweden, 1960)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove & Lars Jansson

Mumintrollet 21

Almqvist & Wiksell (Sweden, 1974)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove & Lars Jansson

Mumintrollet 13

Gebers  (Sweden, 1970)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove & Lars Jansson

Mumintrollet 4

Gebers  (Sweden, 1958)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove & Lars Jansson

Mumintrollet 11

Gebers  (Sweden, 1968)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove & Lars Jansson

Mumintrollet 12

Gebers  (Sweden, 1969)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove & Lars Jansson

Mumin 5

Jensen & Palmgrens (Sweden, 1979)

Softcover, cover (c) Tove & Lars Jansson

Mumin 3

Jensen & Palmgrens (Sweden, 1978)

Softcover, cover (c) Tove & Lars Jansson

Mumin 7

Alvglans (Sweden, 1980)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove & Lars Jansson

Moomin Book One:

The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip: Drawn and Quarterly (Canada, 2006)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Moomin Book Two:

The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip: Drawn and Quarterly (Canada, 2008)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Moomin Book Three:

The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip: Drawn and Quarterly (Canada, 2008)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Moomin Book Four:

The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip: Drawn and Quarterly (Canada, 2009)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Jorden går under

Tigertext (Finland 2007)

Softcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Tove’s first comic strip from 1947

Die Mumins erben ein Schloß

Otto Maier Verlag (Germany 1974)

Softcover, cover  (c) Lars Jansson

Mumintal wird ein Dschungel

Otto Maier Verlag (Germany 1973)

Softcover, cover  (c) Tove Jansson

Secondary Literature

These are a few books and conference materials on the life and works of Tove Jansson which I have collected over the years. I am still kicking myself that I didn’t go to that Tove Jansson conference in Tampere in 1994 where the goddess herself was actually present…

Conference on Tove Jansson

Tampere, Finland (1994)

Excerpt from conference brochure

Illustration (c) Tove Jansson

Juhani Tolvanen:

Vid min svans!

Schildts (Sweden, 2000)

Hardcover, cover (c) ToveJansson

Mumin: Das Mumintal

Art Museum Tampere, catalog

Tampere, Finland (1991)

Softcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Boel Westin:

Tove Jansson -  Ord, bild, liv.

Schildts (Sweden 2007)

Hardcover, cover (c) Tove Jansson

Inside spread from

Tordis Ørjasæter:

Möte med… Tove Jansson

Gebers (Sweden, 1985)

Hardcover, image (c) Tove Jansson

Erik Kruskopf:

Bildkonstnären Tove Jansson

Bonniers (Sweden 1992)

Hardcover, images (c) Tove Jansson

Tampere Art Museum catalogue

Tampere (Finland 1992)

Cover (c) Tove Jansson