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Overview
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Mark Murphy
www.murphydesign.com
Entrepreneurial artist and publisher Mark Murphy is renowned for celebrating the works of L.A.-based artists such as Brandon Boyd, front man for the rock band Incubus. By designing unique art and inspirational books — books that serve as works of art themselves — he showcases the artwork, ideas, and insights of fascinating individuals who create art that speaks to the common man. While focused on advancing these illustrators and other artists, Murphy is also firmly grounded in reality and expert at delivering top-quality pieces within the mundane parameters of a schedule and budget.
Broadly categorized as Pop Surrealism, the themes in the art that Murphy promotes range from the lofty to the humorous to the allegorical. In the pages of his books, you’ll see acceptance and alienation, violence and power, morality and ethics, underpants and heart-throb crushes. It’s all about fresh, original art that tells a story and invites a response. When art gets people talking — whether they love it or hate it, understand it or are mystified by it — everyone has an opportunity to develop new insights into our world.
Books of Art and Inspiration
Murphy collaborates with artists — many of whom fly under the radar and break convention at every turn — to propel an exchange of ideas. Since 1991, he has produced numerous websites and print pieces, three documentaries, and more than 30 books. Murphy’s stunning art books include high-quality reproductions of paintings, illustrations, sketches, and installations along with poetry, letters, and admitted verbal ramblings. Many of the books are monographs focused on a single artist, such as Tranquil Aftermath, a collection of paintings and drawings by Jonathan Viner that uses surrealism to portray the violence, alienation, morality, and power at work in New York society. Other books reflect Murphy’s interest in collaboration.
A prime example of a collaborative effort is Murphy’s book Dialogue: The Fine Art of Conversation {Inspirational Letters and Paintings}. Rather than celebrating found objects, popular with Surrealists and Dadaists, this book starts with “found words.” Murphy asked prominent artists to first find a piece of writing—whether a letter or card, a recipe or receipt, a quote or scribble. Then, each artist painted an interpretation of his or her found words. The book brilliantly combines the text and images to tell stories about the human condition that run the gamut from flight to food, love to lust, and life to death.
Case in point: Illustrator Anita Kunz, whose work graces the covers of Time magazine and the New Yorker among other prominent publications, contributed Karla Rauter’s Secret Fruitcake Recipe. She first presents the definitions of fruit and fruit cake—including “a crazy or eccentric person; nut”—then a scan of the yellowed notebook paper with the recipe scratched out in German. On the next spread, she illustrates her chosen words with a humorous image of a woman—a woman who obviously has enjoyed a lot of fruitcake—surrounded by two giant pieces of fruit. These four pages say so much about who we are: people who share recipes, eat too much, and can be a little nutty but still have fun.
On the book From the Murks of the Sultry Abyss, Murphy worked with Incubus’ Brandon Boyd to capture his imaginings in print. The book, which features special printing techniques that respond to the angle of light on the page, showcases Boyd’s journal entries, drawings, paintings, photography, and sketches. “Art is my window and my opportunity to let the butterflies in my stomach fly free,” says Boyd. “And whether you like how they look or sound in mid flight, know this, I don’t take myself that seriously.”
Through these remarkable books, Murphy showcases the art in an accessible manner that viewers can enjoy at their leisure, exploring the works again and again. As coffee table books, they’re sure to not only get people talking but actively advance an artistic style that started in the 1960s and continues to gain ground today.
The Power of Publishing
Working out of San Diego, Murphy produces his books in QuarkXPress 7.1 on a PowerBook G4 or MacBook Pro. What he appreciates about technology is when it doesn’t get in his way. “All a feature set is, is a toolset that enables you to do something,” he says. “I rely 100 percent on intuition in design. Then I leverage the tools to get the best results.” The quality of Murphy’s book is testament to the results he gets. Just look at the raves on his website—high-quality, beautifully designed, consistent, detailed—and you know you’re dealing with true works of art.
One glance at Murphy’s books and you’ll notice his devotion to typography. While his interest in software is simply as a means to an end, he is definitely impressed with the character spacing, line spacing, and powerful kerning controls (including the Kern/Track Editor) that are hallmark features of QuarkXPress. Color makes a strong statement in his books as well, so accurate color reproduction is imperative. As one customer says on Murphy’s website, “All I can say is wow! The details are amazing; from the book’s wrapper to the imprinted robot on the front cover to each page throughout the book you’ve done it right. Jeff Soto’s art is amazing in itself, but you managed to create another work of art in the book itself.”
In software, as in business, reliability is key. Murphy knows that to make a living, an artist needs to deliver. And to deliver work that accurately communicates the work of other artists or clients, he believes in collaboration. Murphy works closely with artists and clients to explore their product, messages, and audience; collaborate on concepts; articulate the final messages; and finally evolve the project into a complete piece. Throughout all the phases of collaboration, an integrated team communicates constantly with an eye toward solutions.
As the digital revolution continues, visual messages—art that tells a story—will continue to gain importance in our world. Today, Mark Murphy is at the forefront of that movement.
Overview
Buy
Documentation
Resource center
Downloads and extras
International versions
XTensions
Mark Murphy
www.murphydesign.com
Entrepreneurial artist and publisher Mark Murphy is renowned for celebrating the works of L.A.-based artists such as Brandon Boyd, front man for the rock band Incubus. By designing unique art and inspirational books — books that serve as works of art themselves — he showcases the artwork, ideas, and insights of fascinating individuals who create art that speaks to the common man. While focused on advancing these illustrators and other artists, Murphy is also firmly grounded in reality and expert at delivering top-quality pieces within the mundane parameters of a schedule and budget.
Broadly categorized as Pop Surrealism, the themes in the art that Murphy promotes range from the lofty to the humorous to the allegorical. In the pages of his books, you’ll see acceptance and alienation, violence and power, morality and ethics, underpants and heart-throb crushes. It’s all about fresh, original art that tells a story and invites a response. When art gets people talking — whether they love it or hate it, understand it or are mystified by it — everyone has an opportunity to develop new insights into our world.
Books of Art and Inspiration
Murphy collaborates with artists — many of whom fly under the radar and break convention at every turn — to propel an exchange of ideas. Since 1991, he has produced numerous websites and print pieces, three documentaries, and more than 30 books. Murphy’s stunning art books include high-quality reproductions of paintings, illustrations, sketches, and installations along with poetry, letters, and admitted verbal ramblings. Many of the books are monographs focused on a single artist, such as Tranquil Aftermath, a collection of paintings and drawings by Jonathan Viner that uses surrealism to portray the violence, alienation, morality, and power at work in New York society. Other books reflect Murphy’s interest in collaboration.
A prime example of a collaborative effort is Murphy’s book Dialogue: The Fine Art of Conversation {Inspirational Letters and Paintings}. Rather than celebrating found objects, popular with Surrealists and Dadaists, this book starts with “found words.” Murphy asked prominent artists to first find a piece of writing—whether a letter or card, a recipe or receipt, a quote or scribble. Then, each artist painted an interpretation of his or her found words. The book brilliantly combines the text and images to tell stories about the human condition that run the gamut from flight to food, love to lust, and life to death.
Case in point: Illustrator Anita Kunz, whose work graces the covers of Time magazine and the New Yorker among other prominent publications, contributed Karla Rauter’s Secret Fruitcake Recipe. She first presents the definitions of fruit and fruit cake—including “a crazy or eccentric person; nut”—then a scan of the yellowed notebook paper with the recipe scratched out in German. On the next spread, she illustrates her chosen words with a humorous image of a woman—a woman who obviously has enjoyed a lot of fruitcake—surrounded by two giant pieces of fruit. These four pages say so much about who we are: people who share recipes, eat too much, and can be a little nutty but still have fun.
On the book From the Murks of the Sultry Abyss, Murphy worked with Incubus’ Brandon Boyd to capture his imaginings in print. The book, which features special printing techniques that respond to the angle of light on the page, showcases Boyd’s journal entries, drawings, paintings, photography, and sketches. “Art is my window and my opportunity to let the butterflies in my stomach fly free,” says Boyd. “And whether you like how they look or sound in mid flight, know this, I don’t take myself that seriously.”
Through these remarkable books, Murphy showcases the art in an accessible manner that viewers can enjoy at their leisure, exploring the works again and again. As coffee table books, they’re sure to not only get people talking but actively advance an artistic style that started in the 1960s and continues to gain ground today.
The Power of Publishing
Working out of San Diego, Murphy produces his books in QuarkXPress 7.1 on a PowerBook G4 or MacBook Pro. What he appreciates about technology is when it doesn’t get in his way. “All a feature set is, is a toolset that enables you to do something,” he says. “I rely 100 percent on intuition in design. Then I leverage the tools to get the best results.” The quality of Murphy’s book is testament to the results he gets. Just look at the raves on his website—high-quality, beautifully designed, consistent, detailed—and you know you’re dealing with true works of art.
One glance at Murphy’s books and you’ll notice his devotion to typography. While his interest in software is simply as a means to an end, he is definitely impressed with the character spacing, line spacing, and powerful kerning controls (including the Kern/Track Editor) that are hallmark features of QuarkXPress. Color makes a strong statement in his books as well, so accurate color reproduction is imperative. As one customer says on Murphy’s website, “All I can say is wow! The details are amazing; from the book’s wrapper to the imprinted robot on the front cover to each page throughout the book you’ve done it right. Jeff Soto’s art is amazing in itself, but you managed to create another work of art in the book itself.”
In software, as in business, reliability is key. Murphy knows that to make a living, an artist needs to deliver. And to deliver work that accurately communicates the work of other artists or clients, he believes in collaboration. Murphy works closely with artists and clients to explore their product, messages, and audience; collaborate on concepts; articulate the final messages; and finally evolve the project into a complete piece. Throughout all the phases of collaboration, an integrated team communicates constantly with an eye toward solutions.
As the digital revolution continues, visual messages—art that tells a story—will continue to gain importance in our world. Today, Mark Murphy is at the forefront of that movement.