Cable Guy

Came across this CableVision cover from 1982. Yep, that's me at my desk at good ol' Manhattan Design.

No Way, Dude!

Yes way, dude! That is me with an unidentified young woman. The photo was recently unearthed and appeared on the cover of a booklet created in conjunction with the MTV 30th Anniversary Party at Bob Pittman's house in Mexico. Unfortunately I couldn't attend the event. You can see the booklet and more MTV stuff on my oldest friend Fred Seibert's site.

8.1.81

August 1 marks the 30th anniversary of MTV. You can read my story about the creation of the original MTV logo here.

Beastie Byte

Someone e-mailed me this from The Daily Beast Media Gallery: 13 Worst Logo Makeovers. See my post from February 9, 2010.

I Want My... AIGA

AIGA NY is organizing an evening celebrating the creative history of MTV. I will be one of the speakers talking about the birth and early days of the MTV logo. Details here.

Back In The USSR

I was interviewed for a Russian web publication called f5.ru by its "newsmaker" Roman Samokha. It is in Russian so I have no idea what it says but it looks pretty good. You can go there by clicking here. Thank you Roman.

Flipside

Something to add to all the recent blogging about the "MTV-minus-the-Music" logo. A design I came up with for a 2-sided version of the original logo. The idea was that it could be used on a glass door or window.

I Want My . . . Daily News

I found out yesterday via email from Christina Kinon at the Daily News about the revised MTV logo. We spoke briefly and her article about the new logo scheme appeared in today's paper. A small excerpt:

Frank Olinsky and his team at Manhattan Design created the MTV logo when the network launched. When the change was announced yesterday, Olinsky wasn't feeling much nostalgia. "I had no idea" the change was coming, said Olinsky. "MTV now is a whole other reality than MTV was back in the day. Things change. The fact that it doesn't say 'music television' anymore, that's appropriate."

That 80s Show

I'm mostly awful at promoting myself. Here's an exception from the vault. A large promotional print piece (measuring 24 x 17 inches when folded open) for my good old studio Manhattan Design. Shown above is the fashionista cover photo of my partner Pat Gorman and myself taken by Caroline Greyshock and the inside spread, which required my extreme x-acto blade typography work. Can you believe the copy?!: "Billy Idol sums up their work as 'fuckin' brilliant" and "The whole world looks to Manhattan Design". Whoa!

WTF?

I was alerted to a post on Gawker related to layoffs at MTV. The posting was accompanied by this takeoff of the original MTV logo.

More Billy

The e-mail displayed in my previous post got me thinking about Billy Idol and MTV days. Here's a book cover illustration and design from back then. The iIllustration was done with Caran D'Ache Neocolor Water-Soluble Artists' Crayons on a black and white xerox.

Cake Like

Illustration done in honor of MTV's first birthday (1982).

Lost in Translation

Special collector's limited edition package designed for the 10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged CD (1993). Manufactured in Nepal with handmade and handprinted paper in conjunction with The Body Shop's Trade-Not-Aid Program. I recall being told that the band name and album title when translated into Nepali became something like: "A lot of crazy people. Wooden music." (Always thought Wooden Music would make a wonderful album title.)

Money for Nothin' and Chicks for Free

A recent e-mail exchange:

Frank,
I am working on a feature for (name withheld) magazine called "Rock's Secret Millionaires" that focuses on people whose work may be well known but whose names/stories probably aren't. (in-demand songwriters, session musicians, inventor of the Walkman, etc.) I know you designed the MTV logo, but I was curious as to whether you have subsequently retained the copyright to the image or had any sort of deal where you got a cut of merchandise sold with the image on it. Essentially, I'm trying to ascertain in the least tacky way possible whether you would qualify, however loosely, as a "millionaire." I apologize in advance for not finding a more graceful way of figuring this out. Let me know if you can help me out.
Thanks, D.

Dear D.,
Thanks for writing. And thanks for your tactful approach to the subject. Let's just say it's a classic blues musician story. Millionaire? Far from it. Good luck with your article. I'll read it.
Best, Frank

I figured as much. I suppose it's not surprising that in researching this story I've come across more people with stories like yours than those who have actually gotten the money due to them.
Take care, D.

Dear D.,
In the words of the great David Lindley, "Pay Bo Diddley (Pay Little Richard Too)."
Best, Frank