by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts | Apr 12, 2016
THE STROKES, THE GRID AND THE CURVES OF MAGIC Mark off the grid of proportion, reach for meaning, touch the reed, learn the language, lean in and listen to the ancient tales. That is where the alphabet comes from: the mists of time and mythic meaning, the archetypes...
by Tim Girvin | Artists, Concepts | Mar 15, 2016
Strategic Magic, Designed Mysticism, Metamagical Thematics. It’s been said that illustration, the real meaning of the word is a shining — to illustrate is “making bright.” But also — to purify. The image above, a sigil of the Heptameron Arbatel, Peter de Abano, 1575....
by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Storytelling | Feb 16, 2016
The Scribble Book | The Journal as Magic Markings I have some books, journals that I’ve made, that only contain scribbles. Scratching. Scarring. Scripting. What I think is: that the scratching and scribble of antiquity, the ancient sound of drawing, the scripting of...
by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Designers | Jan 7, 2016
The journey of designers invariably involves the alphabet — and most of the rest of us — yet oftentimes we forget the majesty and depth of that system of ancient marks. And most don’t comprehend that the alphabet, while perhaps mostly seen as a series of antiquated...
by Tim Girvin | Concepts | Aug 1, 2014
The Strategy of Marks, Meaning, and the Transportation of Magic: Intentional Transformation In my history, and a string of blogs, I’ve commented on the notion of design, magic and their intertwinement. It’s been pointed out by some that such a discussion is infertile...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts, Cool People, Designers, Storytelling | Aug 6, 2013
Designed Magic, Magic Designed. It’s been said that illustration, the real meaning of the word is a shining — to illustrate is “making bright.” But also — to purify. In a manner, thinking about illustration as a craft of communication...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts, Interior Design | Mar 13, 2013
Designing story, in place, the allegory of nature, space — in making a place I find myself in the study of the symbolic, the metaphorical — and, to the end, the magical. I recall when Apple defined the iPad as ‘magical.” An interesting choice...
by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Storytelling, Trends | Jan 16, 2013
The Letter form and the Design of Talismans Over the past several months, I’ve been talking to a younger person about the idea of the place of magic in a sub-current of popular culture [Supernatural;] in a manner, the interest in magic is an ever-popular...
by Tim Girvin | Artists, Places, Storytelling | Jul 29, 2011
I got a note from some friends at the Oxford English Dictionary. It was about this word, “abracadabra” — and perhaps you’ve got the same one, since you might have friends there too. Earlier in my life, studying the history of the word, the real...
