1932 – HENRY EHLERS :: During one of my recent strolls through a flea market I was fortunate enough to find two advertising art magazines published in 1932 titled, Gebrauchs Graphik - Editions number 5 and 8. They are filled with examples of newspaper ads, posters, folders...from a period where the majority of display type was crafted by hand. Colour printing was expensive, so black and white was the name of the game. Attached are a few examples of beautifully designed ads by Henry Ehlers, for a powerful brand that is even more powerful today. Please note the hand drawn BMW logos...classic.

RETROACTIVE INTERACTION (RI) :: Thinking about visual communication is something we take very seriously at SILO. Whether it be a corporate design solution, or a concept for installation art, the message is key.

In creating RI, we got our hands on an old fashioned table juke box. The kind that used to adorn the tables of the deli’s and diners my parents took me to as a young child. Back then, I was fascinated by the look, the buttons, the letters, often fiddling and flipping with the machine without ever listening to the music inside. RI explores that concept, the interactivity with the buttons and panels – the machine – to view art rather than listen to music. Each panel hosts a different piece of art, each exploring the memories of childhood curiosity as well as the representation of smells and textures concerning the surrounding environment – the restaurant. RI also forces the user to use the machine in a term for which it was not intended, in turn allowing us to question the expectations we place on objects derived from their appearance...from their design.