What do a ski lodge, an avant garde publishing house, and midcentury book design have in common? Actually a lot! In my new essay “Melting Legacies,” in the latest edition of
@hardpackmagazine , I write about how James Laughlin bankrolled his publishing company, New Directions, through the Alta Ski Lodge, a smart investment he made in his youth. An avid skier as well as a poet, his two passions coexisted side by side.
I started researching this story on a freezing cold day in early January at the Berg Collection at The New York Public Library where the original New Directions editions live.
I was first asked to write about the relationship between midcentury design and skiing. Editor
@zachseely suggested looking into Alvin Lustig, whose work is intriguing and attractive, but beyond that, I didn’t have a whole lot to say that hadn’t been said before. Upon further reflection, though, the attractive book covers mirror the commercialization of design in the mid-20th century. The early editions with weird instructions written by Laughlin felt more raw and experimental, and when Lustig came in the designs, the designs came out from the back of the book stores and into the front. A similar process was going on with the budding ski industry, too, which was nascent when Laughlin bought Alta and became more commercialized and “less wild” as he put it over time. Both ways of designing have merit, of course, but it made me think about how people and places and objects are glorified and remembered historically. What if Laughlin was remembered first as a ski enthusiast rather than a literary impresario?
As designers and writers, it's important to question the narratives we’re told. I find a lot of joy in bringing the nuanced, quirky little details more telling than the polished gravitas people become known for. The mess behind the polish!
@hardpackmagazine issue 5
Edited by
@zachseely and copyedited by
@alexisnowicki
Creative direction and design by
@_chrissant @_soonservices @bdunne_ @_ktokunaga 
![A few slides from my talk at @secacart a couple weeks ago. I talked a little about a “lo-fi” visual language and why it’s effective lately. I started with an essay I wrote last Fall about Trump’s use of charged humor and “political spam” that was easy to replicate and allowed third party efforts to join in, creating a consistent brand that was more ephemeral. On the other side, the Biden/Harris was more polished and expected, communicating “taste” through a refined visual language. When you can design by “vibes” (as shown in the interface of Figma slides), polished design loses impact and meaning.From there, I looked at internet art and publishing projects that use lo-fi approaches to create participation and shared authorship. In some ways, it’s a similar approach to what Trump’s brand is doing, but for a much more constructive purpose and specific audience.It’s interesting looking back on these slides after Zohran Mamdani’s historic win! His campaign’s visual language was somewhere in the middle between the Trump “anti design” route and the polished and familiar design language of Biden/Harris. His was both accessible and distinct, and populist in a different way. Polished enough to pull in interest and feel like a complete thought, while spirited enough to resonate with people of various backgrounds.In this talk:- “Welcome to the Post-Naive Internet Era” by Severin Matusek, Nick Houde and Paloma Moniz- "This is why Donald Trump Reminds You of an Infomercial" by me- Alt Text Selfies, produced by Bojana Coklyat, Finnegan Shannon, and Olivia Dreisinger- A Sexual History of the Internet, Mindy Seu- Vandalize Friend, Danger Testing- Notes, Daisy Alioto and Josh Zoerner- Syllabus Project, Julia Gunnison and Gillian Waldo- [Emotional Music Plays], Larissa Pham- Syllabus Project, Julia Gunnison and Gillian WaldoIg post assembled by the wonderful @eemilyyao](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6720481535341916544323_0_cb78d94f5dca8c549d5a44b4ebdca7bc.jpg?o=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&h=74727c3c38f097ce489cecc86a08750c)
